Model years Chevrolet Traverse
2012 Chevrolet Traverse
This year drew an ordinary 354 complaints for a Chevrolet Traverse — the model's median is 291. What they were about is the unusual part: 30.8% of them mention traction, against 11.8% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Chevrolet Traverse, which began in 2009 and ran to 2017. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 354 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 291 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 19 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- traction — 30.8% of this year's complaints, against 11.8% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: traction, traction control, stabilitrak, engine power.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING ON A 50 MPH ROAD IN MY 2012 TRAVERSE THE CAR SUDDENLY SLOWED. THE MESSAGES "TRACTION CONTROL OFF", "ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED", "SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL", AND "SERVICE STABILITRAK" CAME ON. THE SUDDEN DECELERATION FOR APPARENTLY NO REASON WAS INCR…
ALL OF A SUDDEN THE VEHICLE DISPLAYS SERVICE STABILITRAK, TRACTION CONTROL OFF, ENGINE POWER REDUCED. THEN THE VEHICLE HAS VERY LITTLE POWER TO ACCELERATE OR NAVIGATE HILLS. WHEN IT FIRST HAPPENED TO ME, I PULLED OUT OF OUR DRIVEWAY AND IT JUST WASN'T RUNNING…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 15V415000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 14V266000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V118000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 12V151000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 21V246000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Traverse was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse? What happened to yours?
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