CarComplaints.com Notes: There are a fair-number of power steering related complaints which is a continuation of problems from the previous model year. Considering the problem tends to happen beyond the standard warranty (73k+) it's best to avoid this vehicle or at least be prepared for the $1,300+ repair.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
80,039 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
When driving 2 different days this week on highway with cruise set service traction control light and service stabilitrak light came on.when car turned off it will go off and not come back on for a few days.
Vehicle was 2011 Chevy Traverse w/ AWD with history (four instances) of engine oil leaks/requiring engine removal and reinstall. Vehicle was on interstate when AWD/vehicle stability control lights went on. Dic indicated 'service stabiltrack', 'service AWD' and 'AWD disabled'. at that time, vehicle was 'chugging' but shortly after chugging got much worse to the extent that the vehicle could not accelerate or maintain speed at cruise, or without cruise up normal hills on an interstate. When gas pedal was pressed further, RPM/speed would increase but then drop sharply (500-1000rpm) multiple times and no further power could be applied. Vehicle slowed down to about 50mph at the top of a hill. Happened for the next 15-20 miles until it could be pulled over. Vehicle was taken in once right after original occurrence, all three lights had gone off at point and vehicle drove normally after that. Service center indicated a wheel censor (front right) was reading defective information. They cleaned 'dust' from the sensor. Happened again about two weeks later, similar circumstances/results. Service center indicated wheel sensor was bad, they replaced (at my cost) and had no further instances for about four months. Similar situation happened again today (7/19/2014, conditions and results). However, the engine chugging was much worse and vehicle could not be driven safely on the interstate, would not accelerate or maintain safe interstate speed.
Hesitation upon acceleration.incident reported to cox Chevy 08/23/11, maher Chevy 11/02/12,04/16/14 and an accident 06/07/14 with bodily injury hitting a concrete wall.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 mph, the reduce engine speed warning message illuminated and the vehicle independently decelerated. The failure was recurring. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated that the throttle body position sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle has not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 76,780.
While driving on the highway, multiple warnings and lights came on and speed was reduced by the engine to 20 mph from 65mph. If there had been another vehicle behind us at the time we would have easily been hit because of the rapid deceleration. The fix was to replace the throttle body on the engine. After much research this appears to be a very common issue in Chevrolet vehicles, and because of the manner of the vehicle slowing down so rapidly I fear that there have probably already been accidents related to this issue.
- Cottage Grove, MN, USA
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The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated while traveling approximately 75 mph the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact had to coast vehicle onto the emergency lane. The following warning light indicators were illuminated, service engine light, engine power reduced, and service traction contol sensor as the vehicle stalled. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle at least three times. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and then it stalled again. An authorized dealer diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 59154.
My check engine light came on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. On Friday morning, while driving to work, my car accelerated and then slowed down; going from approximately 70 mph to 15 mph. When I took it to the dealer they called me back and said the throttle body had gone bad and had to be replace. I was told by several other people that a throttle body should not be going bad this early in a car; as a matter if fact I have drive several cars well over 100,000 miles and never had a problem with the throttle body. This needs to be a recall because this is a family vehicle and many people are transporting precious family cargo. A car should not forcibly be decreasing from 70 to 15 mph. Having a bad crash is an understatement. Also the air conditioning has already had to be checked. This vehicle is putting a bad taste in my mouth. Anymore problems and it will get traded in. I will not get another Chevrolet for sure.
Driving on the highway and all of a sudden there was an alert on the dashboard saying that "traction control off" then immediately after another alert came on stating that "engine power has been reduced". I was unable to accelerate fully. I turned the car off and back on and it reset it but the same alerts came back on minutes later. The next day I took it to the dealership and they said the throttle body had to be replaced. This seems to be a common occurrence for these vehicles and after researching online I have found hundreds of others that have had the same problem. This is extremely dangerous and Chevy/GM should seriously consider recalling this part.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph, there was a sudden loss of engine power as the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 48,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated while traveling 65 mph, the vehicle erroneously accelerated. The vehicle continued to accelerate for several minutes. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 26,285.
We were moving from South Carolina to Wisconsin which is a 1,000 mile trip. On the morning of February 9th, 2013 we were about to enter cincinnati on the second leg of our trip when all the sudden the dash displayed a message that said trak system failed, soon followed by another message indicating the engine power had been reduced. The vehicle went from 60 mph to approximately 20 mph and the engine began to shudder with a feeling of loss of firing cylinders, and loss of vehicle steering control. So we pulled over, read the book, and shut the car off like it said, waited 15 seconds and then turned the car back on. The car was fine and we finished that leg of the trip hoping nothing else would happen. It happened on a very busy stretch of I-75N near covington, ky and it could have caused a crash. My entire family was in the car. So I called and spoke to a GM technician at tire discounters in cincinnati who stated it probably is your throttle body as he had just repaired the same issue on another GM car. Being that it was Saturday, there was nothing I could do and we had to still travel an additional 300 miles to Wisconsin. The car only had 45,000 miles on it the day of incident. The next day February 10 2013 we continued our trip and right in the middle of Indiana the same issue happened and again we took the same action. Again it could have caused an accident but we were able to pull over. On Tuesday February 19, 2013 I took the car in to be looked at by andrew Chevrolet in glendale, wi and the diagnosis was the same. The throttle body had gone bad and would need to be repaired for $519. The service manager stated that they too had changed them on multiple cars. GM needs to recall the 2011 Traverse and repair this part before someone gets in an accident and gets killed. I also noticed this is the second time in three months NHTSA has received a complaint about this issue. Udpated 03/14/13
The contact rented a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while traveling 60 mph, the vehicle lost acceleration power, as well as traction control. The vehicle was able to be driven to the dealer where it was confirmed that the throttle body failed. The contact also stated that the windshield wipers failed due to cold weather temperatures. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 47,450 and the current mileage was 47,950. The consumer stated the dash displayed a message that said trak sys failed, soon followed by another message indicating the engine power had been reduced. The vehicle went from 60 mph to approximately 20 mph and the engine began to shudder with a feeling of loss of firing cylinders, and loss of vehicle steering control. The consumer called the renal car company, and he was advised to shut the vehicle off, wait 15 seconds and restart it. Over the next two miles the consumer could not get the vehicle to go over 15 mph and the trak came back on with the shuddering of the engine.
I was driving 65 mph when the accelerator pedal stuck and accelerated to 85 mph. The brakes were disabled for approx 5-7 seconds. After 5-7 seconds passed, the brake system began to work again and I was able to slow down and eventually stop the car.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while traveling 45 mph, the vehicle failed to respond to acceleration attempts. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal several times before the vehicle responded accordingly. The vehicle was not taken to a mechanic. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,641 and the current mileage was 6,975. Updated 11/14/12 the consumer stated the failure recurred in October. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The failure could not be duplicated. The dealer suggested the problem was bad gas. Updated 11/16/2012
The Traverse was parked in the lot of the local grocery store, when started and placed in reverse it backed up just fine, however putting it in drive it broncoed up and would only go 30 miles per hour. This has happened 3 times. Now the power steering unit whines, the seats in the back do not recline well and the middle seat belt in the middle seat locks and I am unable to secure my 2 year old in his carseat. I am not pleased at all with the 2011 Traverse, I should have stuck to my first thoughts and bought the suburbon that I know. The Traverse is the worst vehicle I have ever owned, while it was being repaired at the dealership, they offered me another one to drive....I laughed, I went and rented a Yukon. Now when I go out of town I rent a vehicle my $40,000 Traverse sit in the driveway as a lawn ornament. Chevrolet in Florida got me real good, now they state I am upside down in this vehicle and am not able to trade without a big down payment. Funny they sell me a lemon and I can't even make lemonade with it. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Pullling up to the airport parking as I was getting my ticket to enter the parking lot the gate open and I step on the gas to continue when the truck shifted to the right being in between two barriers the truck did had minor scratches on the right bumper when it shifted to the right I could not go forward or reverse I got off to see what was wrong and I saw something under the right tire I got back in the car but could not move I got off again and took a good look and I saw the tired rod was broken the inside look like an explosion on the inner right side I call onstar and they provided me with a tow truck we took it to the dealer where it was bought on Monday my husband call and they said they couldnt cover it cause it was due to a collision we said but we didnt crash or hit anything only when it shifted but had nothing severe on the body they said no contact your insurance we call Chevrolet corporation and they said they believe the mechanics and they were not going to fix anything so they made our insurance pay for the damage which we believe its very unfair having a warranty we got the vehicle back and we hear a noise the tires has 2 gashes it took them 2 days to call back and said nothing is wrong with the vehicle and the tire at the moment they check it was not like that but now they notice is damage and they made us call our insurance again because they were not going to pay for anything or fix it. I believe this is the worst service and most of all I could of lost my life due to this incident or lost my baby since I am pregnant. I have pictures to prove where and what happen to it also tow truck man said it was the axle/tire rod when he pick it up.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the rpms suddenly increased but the vehicle would slow down suddenly. After attempting to accelerate, it would not do so until a couple of moments later. The failure occurred on an intermittent basis for the past three months. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they were unable to diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,500.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Chesapeake, OH, USA