Last May, i posted an uncomplimentary review of the Chevy Traverse I rented for a week while my daughter and her family were in town. Well, they are in town again and they rented a Traverse for the week. It has 30,000 miles and it is just as noisy, rough riding, and poor handling as the last one. Its riding on Bridgestone tires, fairly new (manufacture date of November 2022), so I must conclude that the vehicle is pure, unadulterated junk. There is no excuse for a large, expensive ($80,000 MSRP) vehicle to ride like this.
I think driving a brand new traverse is fine. Your definition of noisy is different than mine.
I drove our work equinox often and it was no luxury car but it was fine. Ur saying a traverse is 2x worse? Nah.
I had a Buick Enclave as a rental more than once and I liked it so much that I thought about replacing our Silhouette with one in 2019. As you may know, the Traverse and Enclave are built on the same platform.
I suppose that the difference might be differences in Buick and Chevrolet manufacturing parts. The Silhouette I mentioned above was quiet, comfortable and handled well for a minivan. I liked it so much that I referred to it as our limousine. One of our neighbors had a Pontiac Montana that they didn’t like much. They replaced it with a Chevrolet Venture that they weren’t fond of either. They bought and sold both of those minivans while we owned the Silhouette. All three were based on the same platform. Maybe the Traverse is another poorly executed design like the Venture and Montana were.
If it makes you feel better, I drive a 2002 Daewoo Lanos, with approximately 98,800 miles on it. Even though this was literally the cheapest new car you could buy in the U.S. at the time, and even though it has needed more than its fair share of repairs considering the relatively low miles, it is actually a very comfortable car. I have been very satisfied with the ride quality, handling, and performance of this car. This is also the only vehicle I have ever owned with a functioning A/C and heater.
So the question then becomes…Are my expectations too low? Are your expectations too high? Or is the Traverse really such a piece of junk that a 21-year old economy car with nearly 100,000 miles bests it? Who knows? But I’m sure someone smarter than me could figure it out!
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You have to try hard to get the Traverse to $60K (High Country + all options). I’m not disputing whether it’s a great vehicle or not, it’s just not a $80K vehicle.
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Its been my experience that buick tunes their suspensions more towards a smoother quieter ride than Chevy. @Mustangman could probably provide some insight into this.
Yes, Buick generally tunes their cars soft because that is what their buyers expect. Chevy owners want things firmer. I am not familar with the Traverse’s chassis so I don’t know what they have to work with.
I’m pretty sure that if @old_mopar_guy was able to drive your 2002 Daewoo Lanos for a weekend, he probably woudn’t declare it to be better than the Chevy Traverse
@old_mopar_guy seems like a tough customer and he often has some good points to make
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Car & Driver says it’s not so bad at the basic trim but the higher in the trim levels you go it doesn’t hold up for the price. Might have been the traverse that was in a comparison test and scored dead last, save it for the rental fleet was the final verdict.
Can’t speak to the Traverse driving experience, but a few years ago I rented a Chevy HHR and thought it had a superb ride & noise level, & nearly perfect road tracking. It had a few other issues, but the ride quality was excellent.
I think we’ve had a few Traverse-owning posters here. As I recall they were reporting unusually difficult to diagnose symptoms. If I were looking to buy a new vehicle, that would be my main Traverse worry.
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Consumer Reports review:
The midsized Traverse’s roomy and quiet interior, very comfortable ride, and responsive handling make it a viable alternative to full-sized SUVs, such as the Tahoe. It’s also a competent challenger to established three-row midsized SUVs.
The 3.6-liter V6 engine supplies quick acceleration and gets 20 mpg overall. The front seats and the second-row captain’s chairs are comfortable, and the third row is roomy.
What do they know.