[red_rider]

No doubt CNET is bogus at writing real car reviews, but I just can't get past how bloated the Traverse looks (compared to, say, the stance of the Flex). It looks like its trying to have sleeker, minivan-like or even wagon-like styling, but still sits way up like an SUV. Like the 50's chevy car that I saw on Monster Jam the other day, totally doesn't match. Also the plastic-looking trim at the bottom of the Lambdas doesn't help either. Body color all the way would look nicer IMO.

 

[andretti2008]

IMO The Traverse is a well made car from GM. I am a car lover so I dare to be bias when speaking, the Honda, ugly, Toyota, although its got a nice design, it looks rather cheap. I think the reviews could have been better because GM is really working hard and it shows, yet it could have been alot worse.

Out of all the "L's", I say the Chevy hands down. It has a German look to it which IMO is great!

 

[Highlander]

So the ONLY thing I don't like about the traverse is that you can't get the heads up display... yeah, I know... I can tilt my down eyes about 5 degrees and see my speed but give me a break, I'm a wife-certified dork and I WANT IT!

Another reason for me to go with the Acadia (Beside the fact that Acadia looks 10x better IMHO.... Then again, even my wife says all of these Lamda's are too "girlie" and wants a Tahoe. Then again, in a pinch, the Tahoe can pull my camper unlike the Lamdas so I have to agree with her comment not only on the looks, but on the specs as well.

Back on topic, I think most of us agree that CNET should stick to reviews of gadgets and leave vehicles to the professionals.

 

[CmicasatheGreat]

I said in my neck of the woods! Plus, I'm sure most of those Traverses went to Avis or Enterprise!

I think GM, in its infinite stupidity decided that since Chevy was jealous yet again of the other divisions' successes it needed a vehicle too.

Why not just make GM into Chevy and Cadillac? There seems to be little product being offered to the other divisions that Chevy will not get its grubby hands on.

Actually More Ford by percentage went to Rental than GM.. they were third after Chrysler and Hyundai/Kia

 

[member12]

No doubt CNET is bogus at writing real car reviews, but I just can't get past how bloated the Traverse looks (compared to, say, the stance of the Flex). It looks like its trying to have sleeker, minivan-like or even wagon-like styling, but still sits way up like an SUV. Like the 50's chevy car that I saw on Monster Jam the other day, totally doesn't match. Also the plastic-looking trim at the bottom of the Lambdas doesn't help either. Body color all the way would look nicer IMO.

The Edge is the king of bloated jelly bean crossovers now.

How some people are in love with it is beyond me. The lambda products and the Ford Flex look better in every way.

 

[Shotgun]

I think GM, in its infinite stupidity decided that since Chevy was jealous yet again of the other divisions' successes it needed a vehicle too.

Very true. Many on the site said the same thing when the Traverse was announced. I guess it was to put a pacifier in the Chevy dealers' mouths. The Traverse, to me, is nowhere near the looker that the Acadia, Enclave and Outlook are. They have identity, whereas the Traverse looks thrown together and out of place. Also, the Traverse pricing is about $5,000 too high across the board. If you want a Chevrolet, you don't want to have to pay Cadillac prices.

But, in their defense, GM's option packages on vehicles lately has left much to be desired. For instance, in the Traverse, to get memory seats you have to get the LTZ package with a whole bunch other crap you may not want. It's the same way for the Acadia. Trucks and SUV's are similar also. Must get the "top package". I've heard many say that's a reason they like Saturn is b/c of the ability to option differently, but I've never tried, so I'm not real sure of the accuracy.

 

[sepi]

The Traverse I sat in a weekend or a so ago was nice enough - it showed that interior design is far ahead of exterior design at GM - yet there was little proof that assembly ease was part of the design. I still continue to see inattention to gap fits on GM products and these new interior designs don't mask the panel fits, they exacerbate them.

The Enverse and Outcadia class GM CUV's still suffer from GM's awful right leg intrusion by the instrument panel/console though at least these monstrosities can seat 4 in comfort - something that few GM products save from the Aveo can do these days.

I found the Traverse to be a cartoon vehicle on the outside - huge Chevrolet caricature grill and headlights and the rear end of the Enclave with some of the curves removed. The Traverse is neither handsome or ugly. It is as if the blandness of the late Ford 500 has now found a home in GM design - nothing evokes passion - it reeks with compromise and committee input. Not a shred of exterior design talent is evident.

And for all of the words hyped upon the Traverse, it is nothing special. It has less than a year window on direct injection gasoline engine over the competition from Detroit and it isn't the first to use the technology anyway. When you strip this one attribute away from the Traverse, you have not one compelling advantage over any other similar sized CUV. And for all of the hype of the exterior style, it remained a bathtub when looking outside of it - a feeling of compression that was lacking in the Ford Flex I saw which sat better, had more room, and had better interior styling and panel fits than GM could ever dream of having. And at least the Ford took the effort to show passion on the outside - a distinct impression that someone gave a damn to push the envelope in one direction while the rest of the world was trying to make swoopy the next nirvana. Unlike the Flex which seemed to both offer practicality and design attention to detail, the Traverse just showed an attempt at something - not sure what - it wasn't pretty, it wasn't roomy compared to the Flex - it didn't even try to give you an impression of spaciousness - it was an existential blob of nothing - it neither made you want to flee or to desire to spend time with it. It was like a dish of cream of wheat without milk or sugar or fruit. Nothing bad - just nothing great.

And in a few months the Traverse will have to deal with a 355 hp DI Flex with all wheel drive. Passion gets attitude. Traverse will remain a bowl of now cold cream of wheat.

 

[04bonnie]

Great review. I have been looking at the Traverse and the Outllook/Acadia to replace our TrailBlazer EXT. I agree on his pricing comments. We have $7500 in rebates/GM earnings to use and it's still hard to swallow.

Any reasonable equipment on an AWD puts you over $34K and that's w/out leather. A base FWD model is $31K. I wish they had a nicely packaged AWD model for under $30K.

Do some time researching the options of all 4. Look at the Buick Enclave CX cloth with 8 passenger. Keep the options light, and you end up with a luxury Lambda, that's not really any more than the Chevy. Plus, you get some standard features that you have to upgrade in trim level on the Chevy and GMC, AND the Buick has the better warranty, and quiet tuning. However, the Chevy can tow 5200 pounds, and the Enclave can tow 4500.

 

[mot76]

So the ONLY thing I don't like about the traverse is that you can't get the heads up display... yeah, I know... I can tilt my down eyes about 5 degrees and see my speed but give me a break, I'm a wife-certified dork and I WANT IT!

You can bet if they had a Pontiac version, it would have HUD. Call it the Trans Verse. But, then again, they would say it's a rebadge, even though just about every other GM division has one. But, don't dare call them rebadges.

 

[Michael_S]

IMO, the Traverse is a good vehicle that is arriving at the wrong time. It's too expensive,especially when compared to the Uplander, too heavy, too large, gets poor gas mileage, and is not as polarizing as the Ford Flex. Up here in Canada, the Uplander and Montana short wheelbase vans are big sellers because, other than AWD, they can do everything the Traverse, Outlook, Acadia, and Excelle can do for far less money.

Access to the third row is easier in the Traverse.

The Traverse is also faster, although of course most buyers really don't care how quick their 7-passenger vehicle is.

But the real important difference is this:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=647
http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site...bd57e3dc1f885dfc38c35a67789/?vgnextoid=c95df2905bf54110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD

The Traverse is a crash safety all-star- perfect score in all tests - with all safety features standard, including side curtain airbags and electronic stability control. The GM minivans had mediocre side impact crash safety, and I'm not even sure if stability control and side curtain airbags are available.

 

[slowinthefastlane]

I think GM, in its infinite stupidity decided that since Chevy was jealous yet again of the other divisions' successes it needed a vehicle too.

I believe that I read here that the real reason for the Traverse was that GM really needed a volume seller in order to make the Lambda platform profitable. Enclave and Acadia have higher prices and have a smaller customer base. Saturn Outlook sales have been anemic.

I'm pretty sure that over time the number of Traverses sold will meet or exceed the total number of Enclaves, Acadias, and GMCs combined.

 

[BuickBoy]

IMO, the Traverse is a good vehicle that is arriving at the wrong time. It's too expensive,especially when compared to the Uplander, too heavy, too large, gets poor gas mileage, and is not as polarizing as the Ford Flex. Up here in Canada, the Uplander and Montana short wheelbase vans are big sellers because, other than AWD, they can do everything the Traverse, Outlook, Acadia, and Excelle can do for far less money.

I just went to Toyota's web site and priced a top-of-the-line Highlander at $41,000. Since this Traverse was an LTZ they should be comparable altough I fell the LTZ offers much more. $2K more for the Traverse NO BRAINER!

 

[zlohban]

My next company ride is the Traverse which will be much better then the Dodge I now drive. You fleet haters......get mad as you want, I'm going to enjoy my next ride. They will lease about 5,000 from GM in '09 including the Buick Lucearn?, and the newer Bu. I will gladly pick the new Traverse. I prefer it over the Enclave and Saturn reminds me of my wife's SRX, simple clean lines and functional.

 

[red_rider]

The Edge is the king of bloated jelly bean crossovers now.

How some people are in love with it is beyond me. The lambda products and the Ford Flex look better in every way.

I agree the Edge has the weirdest proportions of all. The Taurus-X was the closest to what I would like, but even that should've just been a Taurus wagon. No lift kit necessary.

 

[tollytime]

I have a GMC Envoy right now........sticker was $30,500.....just a base 4X4. If I move up to the Traverse.......the price will kill me..........it's a big hulk of a thing.......ugly. Why don't we have something like the size of an S-10 Blazer. Why didn't they take that platform, give it a more fuel efficient engine and give us a vehicle that tows, doesn't need a camera to park and is under $30,000?????
I give the Traverse about two years and it will be a Pontiac Aztek...........
The Equinox is O.K. but tows nothing and rides like a 3/4 ton Truck!
P.S. I just got a special offer from the GM Card...........took $3000 off a Traverse....but my Envoy, a 2008, is selling as a program vehicle at a local dealer for an advertiised 50% off the original sticker. This is great trading material.
My friend just tried to trade on an 09 Malibu until he found out that GM had raised the Malibu price by $900 right before the $1200 rebate................
GM can shove this overpriced junk!

I'm a Trailblazer junky and I know what you mean. I spent plenty of time driving an Acadia and it's really two worlds apart. The Acadia is a lot more car than it is truck. The Acadia is an excellent choice for someone who wants to skip the minivan and move up to the luxury CUV or SUV. Although, mid-size SUV guys like us are left in the cold. We demand a lower base price and higher utility performance on the entry model. We don't want all the bells and whistles, but we expect the towing equipment and capacities to be standard. I'm getting 17mpg like the Traverse, but my Trailblazer is way smaller in space and seating. You might think this is a bad thing, but it's really ok with me, because I need to hook up my Boston Whaler and take it to a launch ramp 6 hours away from home. I don't want to spend past the mid 30's to tow my boat and have a comfortable ride. I don't want a pickup either. I guess we must be a dying breed.

 

[Gm786]

http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=322058

Overall it was very favorable review for the new Chevy Traverse. The Traverse is a nice looking crossover inside and out. Yeah it would of been nice if GM would of given it push button start like some of its competitors have but aside from that its a fantastic crossover. I've seen a few on the road and my brother in-law's neighbor just bought a new 09 Traverse LTZ and I have to say that pictures don't do it justice. The overall design is extremely appealing! :yup:

 

[chevypowa670]

Overall it was very favorable review for the new Chevy Traverse. The Traverse is a nice looking crossover inside and out. Yeah it would of been nice if GM would of given it push button start like some of its competitors have but aside from that its a fantastic crossover. I've seen a few on the road and my brother in-law's neighbor just bought a new 09 Traverse LTZ and I have to say that pictures don't do it justice. The overall design is extremely appealing! :yup:

agreed, its alot nicer looking in person. Which is usually the case with alot of vehicles

 

[member12]

I agree the Edge has the weirdest proportions of all. The Taurus-X was the closest to what I would like, but even that should've just been a Taurus wagon. No lift kit necessary.

Looks like that will be what the new Ford Explorer is.....an even taller Taurus X.

I'm a Trailblazer junky and I know what you mean. I spent plenty of time driving an Acadia and it's really two worlds apart. The Acadia is a lot more car than it is truck. The Acadia is an excellent choice for someone who wants to skip the minivan and move up to the luxury CUV or SUV. Although, mid-size SUV guys like us are left in the cold. We demand a lower base price and higher utility performance on the entry model. We don't want all the bells and whistles, but we expect the towing equipment and capacities to be standard. I'm getting 17mpg like the Traverse, but my Trailblazer is way smaller in space and seating. You might think this is a bad thing, but it's really ok with me, because I need to hook up my Boston Whaler and take it to a launch ramp 6 hours away from home. I don't want to spend past the mid 30's to tow my boat and have a comfortable ride. I don't want a pickup either. I guess we must be a dying breed.

You are not a dying breed....that particular market was filled temporarily with soccer moms. There's still a lot of people out there that don't want a full sized truck or SUV for off roading or towing.

There's nothing in a Chevy dealership for people like you anymore. I traded mine in for a Silverado....when I would probably have been more happy in a 4Runner.

 

[emg77]

I never thought I would buy a Chevy (We've owned Oldsmobiles, Buicks, GMC's, and Saturn's), but our lease was up on our Envoy XL and we actually bought a Traverse about 2 weeks ago. I have been very pleased with it. It's a hard car to get excited about, but it does everything very well. (It's comfortable, get's good gas mileage, accelerates well, and holds my family).

I don't feel that the Traverse is overpriced in the lower trims, but it does get pricey quick with options. In my opinion, people who are buying the LTZ trim should be considering the Enclave. The LTZ is a luxury SUV with a Chevy badge, and is priced accordingly. I looked at the Acadia and Traverse, and I choose the Traverse for one main reason. The Acadia felt stripped down inside in it's lower trim levels. The Chevy in LT1 trim did not have a "stripped down" feel in the interior. For under $32,000 I have everything I need (Direct injection V6, 6 speed, seating for 8, XM radio, Onstar, Ultrasonic parking sensors, Leather steering wheel, driver information center, and much more.). It is a very nice looking vehicle on the outside in this trim too, with nice Alloys and lots of chrome.

This is my wife's car, and it's the family hauler, but I am impressed with it so far. We did get about $9,000 off MSRP with the employee discount and rebates, so out the door we were around $23,000. That was a bargain.

I should add that the FWD is great in the snow. We've had quite a bit of snow in Michigan this month, and the Traverse has been better in the snow than any vehicle I have ever owned, even in FWD trim.

 

[spishak]

Quite expensive for me at the moment.

I might buy it the next year.