Video: 2013 Chevrolet Traverse
By Cars.com Editors
February 4, 2013
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About the video
When Cars.com reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder says large-family-vehicle shoppers would be “nuts” not to consider the 2013 Chevrolet Traverse, he means the Traverse-averse literally should seek psychiatric help.
Transcript
(car hood closing) (upbeat music) Hi, I'm Joe Wiesenfelder with Cars.com. When we staged a comparison test among large crossovers with three rows of seats, the 2012 Chevy Traverse came in second place behind the Honda Pilot.
Why? While there were a few things we didn't like about it, Chevrolet has addressed a lot of those for this redone 2013. Let's see how they did. One of the things we didn't have too much of a problem with was the front end styling. They changed it anyway. Most of us find that it's actually a little bit worse, but you know, your results may differ. The rear end is a different story. It had really dreadful squinty, taillights, big, broad rear end. I never liked it. They've improved that quite a bit. Larger taillights and general improvement without making it look like a minivan, which is always a risk with a vehicle this big. Well done. Oh, we found the previous generation to be really comfortable car, relatively quiet to drive. We find this 2013 to ride a little bit more firmly, and that's probably because of these 20-inch wheels. This is an LTZ trim level. That's what this comes with. The lower trims have seventeens and eighteens. One of the things we dinged the car for in 2012 was interior quality. And they could not have done a better job improving that. This is the LTZ top trim level, but you can see all sorts of soft touch treatment on the top of the doors, on the dashboard too. And when you're looking at fake aluminum, you know, imitation metal, it doesn't get much better than this stuff. Another big improvement is in the center control panel. That was pretty low grade. Before 2013, they've improved the look and the size and feel of the ventilation controls much, much better. The touch screen in this one. Now there's a standard backup camera. We're not crazy about the touchscreen in the optional navigation because it's not that big. Some vehicles now have about an eight-inch diameter screen. They can do better in that regard. And then there's the capacitive buttons on either side of the screen. They are non-mechanical buttons. They're supposed to just sense when you touch them. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't. And then there's the problem with gloves. If you drive in the winter, as we do here, you got nothing. Fortunately, the touchscreen still responds with gloves. I don't know why they add this feature at all. Capacitive buttons need to go away. Our experience has been overwhelmingly positive for the 2013 Traverse. One thing that's been bugging us, a really bad squeak here in the center console when you're in motion in a new car, you don't want to hear that. There are a couple of interesting safety additions. The head restraints now adjust four and fth. Now you might never notice if the head restraint's too far back, unless you get rear-ended and you get injured, but you might notice if it's too far forward. So having the adjustment is great. Another innovation is a center airbag between the two front seats. This is to protect you in a side impact from, you know, hitting surfaces or even the person next to you. It can help like spouses from butting heads, literally butting heads, figuratively I don't think that feature exists yet, but you'd make a lot of money with it. Now being such a big vehicle, this obviously is great for families. The second row, if you look at the dimensions, there's a little bit less leg room than you'll find in the Mazda CX-9, a Honda Pilot, Ford Flex, but it has this nice sliding feature. So if there's no one behind you or they're small, you can give yourself more room. My knees are raised a bit, not super comfortable, but it's certainly workable. The Traverse gives you the choice of a three position bench seat or two captains chairs like this, regardless of the choice, you've got this great feature. When you slide the seat forward, the cushion pops up vertically. It gives you a lot of room for even a tall person to get in. So for me, six feet tall. I'm fine with headroom here, plenty of room, not the case with the Mazda CX-9 and with the second row, you know, moved up a bit, I've even got leg room. So if you're looking for a three-row vehicle, without going to a minivan in particular, you can do much worse for space than the Traverse. Now, 24.4 cubic feet of cargo volume behind the third row, the Traverse has more than its competitors. And if you don't have anyone in the third row, you can of course fold it down. With all of the seats folded, you get more maximum volume in this thing than you do in the other three-row crossovers. If you're considering a big family vehicle, even a minivan, you'd be nuts not to look into the Traverse. Seriously nuts, get your head examined. (car revving)
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