Overview & Reviews

Chevrolet sells an impressively wide range of vehicles, from subcompact hatchbacks to huge vans and SUVs. If you're looking for a reasonably priced vehicle, odds are that Chevy will have something to fit your needs.

Chevrolet got its start in 1911. After William C. Durant had been ousted from General Motors, he joined forces with Swiss-born racecar driver Louis Chevrolet to found the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. The company's first offering was the Classic Six. Introduced in 1912, this five-passenger touring sedan could top 65 mph, fast for the time. Chevrolet's storied bowtie logo -- reportedly inspired by the wallpaper of a Paris hotel room that Durant stayed at -- made its first appearance in 1914.

By 1918, Chevrolet's profitability allowed Durant to purchase enough shares in GM to regain control. Chevrolet became another division of GM, and was its largest volume division by the mid-1920s. By 1927, Chevrolet outsold rival Ford, with sales in excess of 1 million units.

In the mid-1930s Chevrolet introduced independent front suspension, which provided a smoother ride over the rough roads of the day. The 1940s saw continued success with affordable coupes, sedans and pickup trucks catering to American families, farmers and businessmen.

By the mid-1950s, Chevrolet, GM's entry-level division, had added a V8 engine, power steering and brakes, power windows and air-conditioning to its list of available features, allowing luxury for those on a tighter budget. Around this time the iconic Bel Air model -- available in coupe, sedan, convertible and wagon body styles -- proved very popular. The company introduced its alluring Corvette in 1953; the vehicle was the first mass-produced car with a fiberglass body.

The 1960s saw the unveiling of the popular, air-cooled Corvair compact, which held the distinction of being the first domestic production car with all-around independent suspension. That decade also witnessed the launch of the compact Nova, the midsize Chevelle and the sporty Camaro, the latter Chevrolet's answer to the wildly successful Ford Mustang. The Camaro proved an instant hit, comprising 10 percent of Chevrolet's total sales in 1967, its first year of production.

In the 1970s, Chevy responded to changing preferences by introducing small cars like the Vega and the Chevette, and by downsizing larger models such as the Caprice and Malibu. The company combated the market domination of foreign nameplates in the 1980s by rolling out the Cavalier. By the end of that decade, trucks and SUVs had started to become increasingly popular with the general consumer, and the brand's mid- and full-size models continue to this day to be some of the most popular on the road.

The '90s and the early 2000s saw the company raising the performance bar with its Corvette (notably the Z06 and, later, ZR1 variants) and reincarnated Impala SS. Chevrolet's Silverado pickup truck and Tahoe/Suburban SUVs continued to be hits as well. By 2010, the Camaro had returned to the lineup after a seven-year hiatus.

Modern times have seen Chevrolet make significant improvements in its small and midsize car models and introduce the Volt plug-in hybrid. The latter provides a nearly 40-mile range on electric power alone, and adds to the company's already well-rounded lineup of cars, trucks and SUVs. Though today's marketplace is very demanding, Chevrolet seems poised to remain a power player through its affordable and innovative vehicles.

User Reviews:

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  Road Noise Anyone??? - 2010 Chevrolet Impala
  By 30_yr_gm_tech - March 7 - 9:28 am

  I am a 30 year GM Tech. Bought this pile of junk for my wife 2 years ago and now has 12K on it. We had a death in the family up north and drove the Impala 1100 miles up. Absolutely the loudest road noise I have heard from a New Car ever! Forget the trunk bowtie ornament falling off, the On-Star/XM Antenna flying off the car on the highway, one of the tire pressure sensors went out, and last week the AirBag light came on setting multiple codes. Ask me why GM doesnt want to hear from me!?!?! My wife and I have had it with the car, tried to trade it in for a quieter car and no GM Dealers want to give me more than half what we paid for it on trade. Even with only 12K on it! Calling GM again!!!

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  Volt performance excellent - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By craigrc53 - March 6 - 12:35 pm

  I live in North Dakota and have 4000 miles on my Volt in 2 1/2 months of ownership. I warm my car before leaving home in the AM and at night before leaving the office. It is nice and warm when I get in it for my drive to or from work. Of the 4000 well over 1/2 are highway miles. My overall mileage including warm up and highway miles is about 60 MPG. No other car on the market will perform at that level and certainly not with the solid ride, quiet interior, great sound system and at least to my taste, good looks. I expect my overall gas mileage to climb significantly as warmer weather approaches and I have fewer long trips and, as a result, will have a higher percentage of elecectric mi

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  can I take this one back - 2010 Chevrolet Aveo
  By pgana - March 5 - 3:50 pm

  I bought this one based off of my understanding of its gas mileage and reliability. The first one I am good with as I get 26 MPG at my job and 38 Highway, especially coming off of owning an SUV, but my happiness stops there. The reliability on this is horrible, I have had it in the shop 3 times since I bought it in June. The interior design is very lousy too, can not find much of anything positive about that neither, especially the idea of the so called dome light, perhaps in the worst location I can think of for a dome light. the doors are very poorly built and very flimsy. and horribly noisy too. Lousy factory stereo system.

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  Cruze Eco Automatic, 2012,CJ - 2012 Chevrolet Cruze
  By cjcruze - March 5 - 12:24 pm

  I have had the Cruze for 5 weeks and driven 1500 miles. Very pleased with the car on all fronts--comfort, quietness, handling, economy, and available trunk space. No defects on delivery no problems encountered thus far. So far I have averaged 38.3 mpg in a combination of interstate, urban, and exurban driving.

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  Sonic LTZ Turbo 1.4 Hatchback - 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
  By daveh14 - March 4 - 8:57 pm

  Just purchased a week ago. Car rides and handles great. Had a hard time finding the turbo model - bought it sight unseen as it was in-transit to the dealer. Makes driving enjoyable again (my previous car was a mini-van). Getting great fuel mileage, so far, averaging about 36 with a high of 41 (and thats doing about 70 on the highway). Comfortable seating and looking forwards to a cross-country trip this summer.

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  Good car - 1996 Chevrolet Corsica
  By bamaminchew - March 4 - 5:04 pm

  I bought my 96 Corsica last year for $450 cash. The car looks like absolute crap, but it runs great. It has 159000 miles on it and still purrs. I feel that I have already gotten my money back out of this car. The interior headlight and wiper controls on those older Chevys are not designed very well so I have had to rig them up so they will work. No complaining from me though, this car gets me from point a to point b reliably.

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  Part 2 of Midlife Crisis - 2011 Chevrolet Camaro
  By dirizzil - March 4 - 8:59 am

  Traded in my Lexus IS for an 11 2LT. Own the car for a year now and put 10K miles on it. Styling, both inside and out is exceptional, performance is excellent, comfort is good, and fuel economy is as good as you can expect for a car like this. For those who complain about cramped back seats, you simply bought the wrong car for your intended use. Overall the car offers fantastic value and great driving experience. Attracts a lot of attention, including police(had my day in court). You cant get most of the features the 2LT offers in a Mercedes, etc unless you spend almost 2X the 30K. Really? $55K and no xenon lights, parking sensors, premium sound, folding rear seats or auto start.

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  Good car for a good price - 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt
  By s1l3nt_1nc - March 3 - 3:26 pm

  A good relieable fun to drive car for a good price. However I have run into some minor cosmetic issues. I have a Automatic LT model and the red light that shows you what gear you are in is stuck. The plastic clip that you press to change gears broke off and my trunk light no longer works. However it runs great and is fun to drive. Gas mileage is OK but could be better. Overall good for the price. One more bit of advice. Get a spare key! If your battery dies and you try to start the car your key will be stuck in the ignition until you can jump the battery. There is a way to manually get the key out but you would have to get into the steering colum to press a tiny button which is hard to see.

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  Fantastic car - best Ive ever had - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By dderamus - March 3 - 9:22 am

  I just purchased a Volt great car: great performance, really fun to drive, amazing torque, very high quality build, been running it almost entirely on electricity (like many Americans, radius of my daily driving is not more than 35 miles), the gasoline engine kicks in seamlessely to extend range to 300+ miles (at approx 40 mpg), and easy to recharge at night (at a small fraction of the cost of gasoline). Im 64", 2 kids, and we fit fine. Technology integration very well done - nav, backup camera, etc. all works seamlessly (incl hard drive dvd player easy ipod/iphone connect voice recognition). Electric really does make driving fun again!

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  Buyer Beware!!!! - 2002 Chevrolet Blazer
  By maxum12 - March 3 - 12:39 am

  Great Truck if you want to drive in first gear only. One month after buying it used the tranny went out, it only had first gear, and I had to replace the tranny. No warranty, $1500.00 out of pocket. Have experienced rectal bleeding from taking up the poop shoot from mechanics. Dealers happy, Banks happy, Mechanics happy, guess whos not happy???