Reliable Auto DB

2020 Chevrolet Traverse reliability

Is it reliable?

The 2020 Chevrolet Traverse has 228 complaints with NHTSA after 7 years, or 12 per year. That is fewer complaints per year than most Traverse years here — under the median of the other years, which is 16. NHTSA has 8 recalls on file, including Curtain, Automatic transmission, and Tires.

2012 Chevrolet Traverse
Photo by MercurySable99, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Complaints

228

Per year

12

Recalls

8

Years on the road

7

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (70 of 228), then Powertrain (39) and Electrical system (28). Those filings include 11 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 6 that report an injury.

Next to 2019 and 2021

The 2019 Traverse has 405 complaints, 25 per year, and the 2021 has 89 complaints, 8 per year. The 2020 has fewer complaints per year than the 2019. The 2020 has more complaints per year than the 2021.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2020 Chevrolet Traverse. How we count. Data as of .

Recalls (8)

Recall air bags, side and window, curtain 2022-03-31 · NHTSA campaign 22V210000
Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Traverse and 2021-2022 Buick Enclave vehicles. The harness connector to the left or right side roof rail air bag may have incompatible electrical terminals, which could prevent the air bags from deploying in a crash.
Remedy Dealers will replace the harness connector to the roof rail air bags, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on April 29, 2022. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N212352140.
Recall powertrain, automatic transmission 2021-10-18 · NHTSA campaign 21V817000
Summary Braun Corporation (Braun) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Chevrolet Traverse wheelchair accessible vehicles with Power In-floor Ramp conversion. The screw and clip that hold the inner wheel-well plastic shroud in place may chafe against the transmission case, possibly resulting in a transmission fluid leak.
Remedy Dealers will replace the screw and clip, and inspect for signs of contact with the transmission, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 29, 2021. Owners may contact Braun customer service at 1-800-488-0359.
Recall Tires 2021-02-25 · NHTSA campaign 21V115000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT4, XT5, Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, Traverse, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, 2018-2021 Chevrolet Express, GMC Savana, 2019-2020 Chevrolet Blazer, Silverado 1500, GMC Acadia, Sierra 1500, and certain Continental tires sold to the aftermarket for various model year 2018-2021 vehicles. The affected tires were cured for too long during production.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the tires, replacing them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 22, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212329050.
Recall Tires 2020-11-05 · NHTSA campaign 20V684000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT5, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse vehicles and 2020-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles. The vehicles may have been manufactured with Continental tires that were overcured.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect vehicles and replace tires that have DOT number and production mold number combinations identified by Continental, free of charge. The recall began December 17, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202319030.
Recall powertrain, automatic transmission 2020-10-29 · NHTSA campaign 20V668000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Cruze and Buick LaCrosse, 2018-2020 Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Terrain, 2018 Chevrolet Malibu, 2019-2020 Buick Encore, Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT4, Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Acadia, and 2020 Cadillac XT6 vehicles. The start/stop accumulator endcap may have missing bolts.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the start-stop transmission accumulator and replace it if any bolts are missing, free of charge. The recall began December 15, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick Customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202313440.
Recall Fuel pump 2020-10-15 · NHTSA campaign 20V639000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT5, Cadillac XT6, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia vehicles. The fuel pump's jet nozzle may have a plastic burr remaining from the manufacturing process, possibly causing a blocked nozzle and an insufficient fuel supply to the engine.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump module. The recall began November 16, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick Customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202314760.
Recall air bags, side and window, curtain, inflator 2020-07-30 · NHTSA campaign 20V446000
Summary General Motors, LLC. (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT5 and XT6, Chevrolet Blazer, Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500 and Traverse and GMC Acadia and Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 vehicles. The diffuser component of the Roof-Rail Air Bag (RRAB) inflator may not have been properly crimped to the inflator and could separate from the inflator during air bag deployment.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suspect RRAB modules, free of charge. The recall began September 3, 2020. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-630-2438, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-333-4223, or Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300. GM's number for this recall is N202305380.
Recall structure, frame 2019-09-06 · NHTSA campaign 19V643000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse vehicles. The right-hand frame rail in the engine compartment may be cracked.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, replace the vehicle, free of charge. The recall began October 4, 2019. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-630-2438 or Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300. GM's number for this recall is N192268310.

Complaints by component (228 total)

Engine
70
Powertrain
39
Electrical system
28
Engine and engine cooling
25
Fuel and propulsion system
16
Seat belts
9
Service brakes
9
Steering
7
Air bags
6
Suspension
5
Back-over prevention
4
Seats
4
Wheels
4
Exterior lighting
3
Fuel system, gasoline
3
Structure
3
Speed control
2
Visibility and wipers
2
Carry handle, shell, and base
1
Forward collision avoidance
1
Lane departure
1
Other or not sure
1
Tires
1
Visibility
1
Show 16 more Show less
Crash-flagged

11

Fire-flagged

1

Injury reports

6

Death reports

0

Complaints filed per year

112020142021102022352023482024612025492026
Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings
  • "The rear power liftgate closed on my finger severing the top part of my finger at the base of the finger nail."
    Unknown or other · filed 2026-09-22
  • "On September 18,2026 owner #3 bought the vehicle on December 9,2026 at the time of purchase it had 46,545 on September 17 check engine light came on and the diagnostic code came up as P0171 lean bank one from Pep…"
    Unknown or other · filed 2026-09-21
  • "While the gears are shifted to park, as soon as the car is turned off, a message pops up advising me to "Shift to Park". The car will already be in park. I have to with jiggle the gear shift or turn the car back on and…"
    Unknown or other · filed 2026-09-15
  • "My Autostop feature failed to work and did not restart my car on 2 occasions. 1) My kids and I was a stop sign at an intersection and the car would not turn back on. I had my truck towed. The next business day they told…"
    Unknown or other · filed 2026-09-09
  • "The front intermediate exhaust pipe mounting bracket weld fractured at the engine manifold, causing the exhaust pipe to break completely loose. We can now actively smell raw exhaust fumes inside the passenger cabin…"
    Engine · filed 2026-09-03

NHTSA crash ratings

Version Overall Front Side Rollover
2020 Chevrolet Traverse SUV AWD 5 stars 4 stars 5 stars 4 stars
2020 Chevrolet Traverse SUV FWD 5 stars 4 stars 5 stars 4 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim Engine Transmission Drive City Hwy Combined Annual fuel cost
Traverse all-wheel drive 3.6L, 6-cyl Automatic 9-speed All-wheel drive 17 25 20 MPG $3250
Traverse front-wheel drive 3.6L, 6-cyl Automatic 9-speed Front-wheel drive 18 27 21 MPG $3100

Specs and fitment

2nd generation, 2018–2023
Body styles SUV
Oil 0W-20 (3.6L V6); 5W-30 (2.0L turbo where equipped) , 6 qt capacity
Tire size 255/55R20 to 255/65R18 (trim-dependent)

Known issues for this generation

Recall 20V-668 covers certain 2018-2020 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles among other GM crossovers: the start/stop transmission accumulator end cap may have missing bolts, which can lead to a transmission fluid leak and possible loss of propulsion. Dealers inspect the accumulator and replace it if any bolts are missing. Recall 23V-042 covers certain 2023 Chevrolet Traverse and Blazer vehicles: left-side half-shaft assemblies may be missing a retaining ring, which can allow the half shaft to disengage and cause a loss of drive power.

Compare

Previous year 2019 Chevrolet Traverse Next year 2021 Chevrolet Traverse See every Chevrolet Traverse model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse reliable?

The 2020 Chevrolet Traverse has 228 complaints with NHTSA after 7 years, or 12 per year. That is fewer complaints per year than most Traverse years here — under the median of the other years, which is 16. NHTSA has 8 recalls on file, including Curtain, Automatic transmission, and Tires.

What are common problems with a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse?

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (70 of 228), then Powertrain (39) and Electrical system (28). Those filings include 11 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 6 that report an injury.

Is the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2019 Traverse has 405 complaints, 25 per year, and the 2021 has 89 complaints, 8 per year. The 2020 has fewer complaints per year than the 2019. The 2020 has more complaints per year than the 2021.

Has the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse been recalled?

The 2020 Chevrolet Traverse has 8 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse?

Owners have filed 228 complaints about the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse is 20.5 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What generation is the 2019 Chevrolet Traverse?

2nd generation (2018-2023).

What engine oil does a Chevrolet Traverse use?

5W-30 (dexos1)

What does NHTSA recall 21V-782 cover on the Chevrolet Traverse?

Recall 21V-782 covers certain 2013-2017 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles and 2008-2017 Buick Enclave vehicles: the driver's air bag inflator may explode during deployment due to a manufacturing defect, sending sharp metal fragments into the cabin; dealers replace the driver's air…