2011 Chevrolet Traverse problems
NHTSA has received 945 complaints about the 2011 Chevrolet Traverse, and 23% of them involve engine. Next are steering (17%) and stability control (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 945 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 31 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 37 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 72,000 miles 768 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 83 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 66 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 121 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 170 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 115 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 114 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 55 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 25 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 16 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 768 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 72,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 84,000 miles (182 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 31 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 37 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2011 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Chevrolet Traverse with enough data (562 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Vehicle was traveling east on I-64 in norfolk, va. Occupants smelt fuel and pulled over. Witnesses advised that immediately pulling over the vehicle was on fire in the engine compartment and within 60 seconds the fire was observed in the front driver passenger seat area. The driver and passenger had moved to the back seat area to try and free a 4 year old child from the car seat. The female passenger then exited the rear driver window suffering critical burns in the fire.
Tl* the contact owned a 2011 chevrolet traverse. While driving 65 MPH on the highway, the driver fell asleep, veered off the road, and crashed into a tree. The side air bags deployed, but the driver's side and front passenger side air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The driver and front passenger sustained whiplash. Two child passengers experienced whiplash, bruises, and cuts. Another child passenger was shaken up and experienced low blood pressure.
I was turning on a green arrow from an on ramp. A woman in an large ford van hit the rear door and quarter of my vehicle on the driver side sending us up and in a circle. We came down hard after a complete circle. The airbags did not deploy. Onstar did not work. My husband went to the hospital via ambulance and my mother and I received significant bruising. I hit my head so hard on the driver side window it threw my glasses into the passenger floor.
My wife returned from the dealership after receiving an oil change and tire rotation. She parked the car in the driveway at the house and exited the vehicle. After about 10 minutes my family got in the vehicle. I smelled a burning odor while walking to the vehicle. My wife cranked the vehicle and immediately there was white smoke coming from under the hood. I opened the hood and there was a fire burning in the engine compartment. We got the family out of the car and I grabbed a water hose and put the flames out.
The engine time chain is bad. If the time chain finishes braking it will kill off all the engine making the repair over $5,000 it seems like is a very common problem on these cars with the 3.6 vvt v6 engine, as I have seen people go thru this also online many people were talking about how unrelaible these cars are on that way. I have different quotes from different mechanic shops the lowest been $2,500.