[BowTie]

I checked out the thread that was sort of a roll call thing and thought it was great. But I'm new here and obviously a lot of you guys are owners so I want to pick your brain a little in regards to the Trax.

I'm currently seated in a chevy camaro and my time has come around where I need to get rid of it because of family reasons. No longer can I be a sporty guy as priorities and responsibilities are knocking on my door.

What I want to ask you all is what did you own before the Trax and what made you purchase (or lease) the Chevy Trax?

I'm sure I'm not the only one getting rid of a toy for this lol.

 

[beeguz]

I was always a pickup guy for my 4wd needs, before I decided on the Trax I bought a used Suzuki Grand Vitara, to see if I could haul what I needed and its 4wd capabilities.

I was impressed with its small park anywhere size and how it was so great in the snow, it hauled everything I needed the Trax was even bigger inside than the Suzuki.

I change cars like most people change socks I had a Trax last winter traded it on a Miata, then traded my new Corvette for a Cadillac ATS cp, then flipped that to buy a Buick Encore, all in the first 4 months of 2016.

Car changes are not unusual for me, I had hundreds of cars over my 50+ years of driving, I made a living flipping cars from the age of 13, I owned and drove just about everything I could m hands on, the muscle car era was my most favorite I bought and sold some of the really great cars of that time.( the car I miss the most was a 440-6 pack Cuda that I bought for almost nothing then tippled my money in a few weeks.

If I were you I would find a rental agency in your area rent a Trax or a Buick Encore for a week or weekend take it on a long ride, if you live in a snow region take it up to the mountains get the feel of it, haul some stuff in the back see if the vehicle is right for you.

Its worth a rental fee to not be disappointed after you had it for a week.

If you buy buy at least the 1LT or the Buick Encore Convenience, get the features that everyone winds up installing like cruise and remote start right up front its only going to cost you more later on.(installing the fog lights is easy and cheap on the 1LT, its not worth the money GM wants to move up to the 2LT or LTZ unless you want the sun roof and leather seats)

 

[James]

Back when the Trax was originally release there was just nothing like it aside from products like the Soul, which as great as it is doesn't appeal to everyone, just like how the Trax won't. So during those days, being the Chevrolet loyalist I was it was high up my list of vehicles to get.

 

[Flyinfool]

I still drive my big Silverado, the Trax is the wife's car. Before the Trax she had a Malibu, we both hated it. It was not comfortable to drive any distance, the gas mileage was not much better than my Silverado, and the wife had no clue where the corners of it were. She ran into things 6 times in the 4K miles that we had it. Before that she had a Mercury Mountaineer. She was constantly running into things with that one too and man could that thing drink gas. So far in 15 months she has not hit anything with the Trax, I guess that must mean that it has good visibility. Fingers are still crossed.
I could never give up my Silverado for the trax, It is way to small to haul the things I need to haul and I need real 4X4 to get where I need to go. The Trax does make a great grocery getter. We have not tried it on any kind of long trip, we always seem to take my truck.

 

[BlackTrax]

I bought a 2015 AWD Trax LT after having previously owned a series of Jeep Wranglers. While I loved the Jeeps, they really weren't the most practical for hauling a lot of gear and the gas mileage always left a lot to be desired.

I am finding the Trax much more comfortable and yet just as much fun to drive. It handles nicely, has great visibility, and consistently gets 28+ MPG. The ample cargo space and 350 mile range make it a solid rig for long distance road trips.

 

[petcan3]

I had two equinox 2010 and 2015 traded in the 2010 the 2016 TRAX was a super deal so far it's been great!!!!!!

 

[James]

I bought a 2015 AWD Trax LT after having previously owned a series of Jeep Wranglers. While I loved the Jeeps, they really weren't the most practical for hauling a lot of gear and the gas mileage always left a lot to be desired.

I am finding the Trax much more comfortable and yet just as much fun to drive. It handles nicely, has great visibility, and consistently gets 28+ MPG. The ample cargo space and 350 mile range make it a solid rig for long distance road trips.

I'm surprised you didn't go with the Renegade since often I find most people that are into Jeep products have a hard time moving away from them (for obvious good reasons)

Usually I see them move up or down a segment.

Do you ever see yourself sometime down the road getting the Renegade?

 

[BlackTrax]

Interesting that you mention it because the Renegade absolutely was my second choice this time around. The deciding factor was how much I liked the Sonic that my wife bought in 2013. I expect the Trax to serve me well, so it's unlikely that I'll be looking at anything else for quite some time.

 

[Traxjay]

For us my wife and I were looking for something with some size and some good gas mileage, two years and almost 50,000 later its been great

 

[Tracking]

For us my wife and I were looking for something with some size and some good gas mileage, two years and almost 50,000 later its been great

That's a heck of a lot of distance covered in 2 years

 

[Ysandro Villalba]

Well, this is gonna be interesting. My first car was a 2008 Saturn Aura XE (bought pre-owned with 390 miles on the odometer), which I absolutely hated due to some persistent mechanical issues, therefore trading out of it after I finished paying for it only to get into a 2011 Camaro LT RS(Cyber Gray-6 cylinder). That was definitely not a practical vehicle, being more so a hot-wheel for the summer months, and for someone more affluent...financial-wise. I loved the Camaro, it was sporty and it turned heads in the good-old days, but I needed something more friendly to my budget...in many ways.

Somehow I happened by a Chevy dealership outside of town and fell in love with a 2012 Equinox LT (remote start, sun-roof, back-up camera). That thing had everything I needed and then some, and even though it was a 2.4 L4, it was so freaking thirsty, probably more-so than the Camaro. I had to use the "ECO" button on that SUV to cut-down on fuel consumption a bit...I have no idea if that actually worked though! For whatever reason I still felt like that purchase had not been a financially-sound decision on my part, therefore I walked into another Chevy dealership a year later and walked out with a Chevrolet Sonic LS (automatic), bare-bones and all, but the car was amazing on the road! What I loved the most was the dashboard. It was just...different. I hadn't seen anything like it, at least anything I could honestly compare it to! The year before I got rid of the Equinox I remember googling "Chevy Equinox 2017" in google-images, and the results brought up a couple of photos displaying the Chevy Trax. I found out more about the Chevrolet Trax, and became more interested as I was digging around. At that time it seemed the Trax was staying in it's current market, which was outside the U.S, which was not good for me...as I wanted that to be my possible next vehicle. During the fall of 2014 I found out Chevrolet finally caved and they decided to move some of their Trax market over here, therefore by December it was confirmed that some dealerships would have available some of these units for test-drive.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it into one for a test-drive until January 22, it was then I saw my first Trax in person and decided on three different trims: LS, LS AWD, and LT FWD. The LS AWD felt a bit too heavy, so there was zero-quick acceleration! The LT was too expensive for what it actually was, which is a tiny car with remote start and a back-up camera. The backup camera came standard on all trims of the Trax, as did the USB-port connectivity, 7" tap-screen, and the 1.4 L4 turbo engine...my first turbo engine! After test-driving the chosen trims and seeing the dashboard...I JUST COULDN'T LEAVE WITHOUT IT! So I financed mine then and there.

I have no actual ware-and-tear info to report since I only use my Trax for work-commute and the occasional trip to the bike-trail in the forest-preserve, ten minutes away from my place. I don't carry anything in my Trax (i fyou count groceries as something), or anyone other than myself...so there is no info there either. If it's spacious or not, I have no clue as I only use the driver-side seat. So far I cannot report on actual reliability for the vehicle either due to the fact I only have about 6,617 miles on it, that is yet to come!

In other words, the only reason I bought the Trax was for the dashboard and it's SUV qualities, nothing more...I REALLY LOVE MY TRAX!

 

[DustTrax]

Such enthusiasm! Glad to hear that you like your Trax, it's the perfect size to fit everything you need even on weekend snowboard trips.

 

[Tornado_735]

I drove a Trax early in '16, and was quite impressed with it. I didn't make a move on it then, because I just wasn't in a place, financially to do it.

Later in '16 I drove a v6 Dodge Challenger, and a '16 ecoboost Mustang. I liked them both, but I wanted to give it some thought.

I decided neither one of those would be practical, considering my girlfriend was going to be the primary driver, so I started weighing my options.

She and I rented a 2016 Equinox (FWD 2.4) and despite my hate for the 2.4, we were quite impressed with the Equinox. I started running numbers, and found that we couldn't afford a 3.6 AWD Equinox unless it was several years old. We wanted something new. This led me back to the Trax.

I went one day after work to see if there were any more AWD '16 Trax left on the local Chevy lot. There was an Awd LS with the ugliest colored interior I had ever seen. Next to it, there was an LTZ Midnight Edition that I really was smitten with (and had a $6k rebate) but the fact it was FWD completely killed it for me.

I found my LT sitting on the pre-owned section of the lot with 2400 miles on it; it had been the dealer service loaner. I took it for a test drive, and the rest is history.

The way I tell people is this: I wanted a Sonic for the longest time, but I also wanted the AWD. The Equinox was more car than we needed, or could really afford, so we got the best of both worlds, which is exactly where the Trax fits in.

 

[beeguz]

I loved the look of the Equinox but I didn't like the size or the fuel mileage, I think GM has a winner with the Trax and Encore.

Everyday I dive my Encore I like it more.

 

[HWDTRAX]

I just traded in my old 2006 Chevy HHR for a 2017 Trax. I wanted to keep the compactness of the HHR and still carry a good amount of cargo. Must say the Trax is way superior to the HHR when it comes to handling. Parking is so much easier now.

 

[Ysandro Villalba]

HWDTRAX I kid you not...that thing fits in my bedroom, all I have to do is drive it upstairs. Handling is amazing as well...I have to be real honest here, there is nothing I hate about my Trax!

 

[James]

HWDTRAX I kid you not...that thing fits in my bedroom, all I have to do is drive it upstairs. Handling is amazing as well...I have to be real honest here, there is nothing I hate about my Trax!

That was my exact reaction after driving a Trax rental, funny enough. Had it for a week while my vehicle was in the shop and if there's way to proof a vehicle for yourself its by a test within that duration of time.

However before I venture into a newer 2017 Trax, looking towards the Japanese brands will be my first move; CH-R or the new Nissan Juke are my other options. In for hearing input anyone has on these.

 

[Jobu]

Juke is a blast but its tiny, back seat unusable for adults, tiny trunk.
HR-V has no engine and uses a CVT. but the Manual is quite good.

 

[Ysandro Villalba]

James, you should test-drive all the vehicles available in this market: Juke, HR-V, Renegade, Encore, Mazda CX-3, Subaru Crosstrek, MINI Cooper Countryman, Toyota RAV4, Subaru Forester, and Hyundai Tucson...or at least some of them. I think, once you've driven a few of these you might have a better idea what you're dealing with here. Trust me, you don't want to jump into a purchase without first getting to know other similar models.

 

[Ysandro Villalba]

James, now I'm not advocating Ford in an way here, but you might do well waiting a little bit more. Ford is fixing to bring over their Ford EcoSport to compete against the Tiny-Titans for 2018, and I believe it's around the same type of vehicle as all of these models. They will have a variety of engines available, and you'll be able to add it to your ever growing list of test-drivers.