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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  Be careful unless you enjoy tow truck rides. - 2012 Chevrolet Traverse
  By Eloise Mullen - January 2 - 2:58 pm

  I am the original owner of this vehicle. Since approx. 40, 000 , it has been in the shop for days at a time, at least 5 times. Convenient that the warranty was for 36, 000 miles. I have been stranded at least 3x, believed to be fuel pump issues. Audio system replaced twice ( I listen to news radio) ,sun roof leaked and a cadre of other issues. Cant wait till it is paid off, so I can trade in. My first car was a Chevy (74) and my last Chevy will be this one. Be forewarned

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  Dont buy it. - 2011 Chevrolet Cruze
  By Marissa - January 2 - 12:11 pm

  Ive had wayyyyy too much trouble with this car in the past year. Im at about 74,000 miles at the moment but its just recall after recall and problem after problem. I feel like Im at the dealer every other month. Im currently at the dealer getting a new turbo charger, last month the hoses were leaking and something was cracked, month before it was something else that I cant even remember. Its all been covered but its also all been a headache.

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  2005 POS - 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt
  By Jay P. - December 30 - 3:32 pm

  I bought my cobalt 2 1/2 years ago used from a dealer. Everything worked well and seemed like a decent car for me. Fast forward about 45,000 miles and Ive put almost 3,500 dollars in it just in the past couple months to keep it on the road. Im not beating the car to death and probably take better care of it than most. And just this week it seems I have more problems developing, on top of my already deteriorating trasmission and its problems. I would stay far far away from cobalts. Ive had to deal with multiple recalls - due to chevys incompetence and leading to many people getting in accidents and in some cases, dying. Im in the process of trying to sell this demon child.

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  Should have kept looking - 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Diane - December 30 - 9:41 am

  There was a recall on this car for the transmission 2 years after I purchased it. It was repaired. The next year, I was driving to work and noticed when I put my foot on the gas, it didnt sound right. About a mile later, the car began making an extremely loud noise then stopped running. Luckily, I had just gotten off the highway (rush hour traffic). The car was towed and the repair shop diagnosed it as the transmission. Again, it was repaired. Im still not pleased with how the car sounds and no longer trust it to go on a long trip. Also, I was told gas mileage was close to 30 miles to a gallon. Its not even close to that, even on highway driving. Ive had problems with the tires regularly needing air, even shortly after purchasing the car. Just too many problems for a new car.

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  Very Disappointed - 2015 Chevrolet Colorado
  By T. Wallin - December 29 - 8:51 pm

  First the good: The look of the Colorado is excellent. I think it is a very attractive truck. The options are great also. The one that I owned was loaded with all of the bells and whistles. The Dealership and Service Department was great also. (I just had to see them too much.) Now the bad: I also experienced the crazy shifting and total under powering of the truck as mentioned in other posts (The one I owned had the 6 cylinder in it). Several safety recalls, and having the torque converter changed out at 3,600 miles to try to correct the shifting problem, left me very disappointed in the Colorado. The dealer that I worked with was very understanding when I informed them that I did not buy a new vehicle to stay in the Service Department. I had an old car that was paid off if this was what I was interested in. Unfortunately, I decided to trade the truck in on a different vehicle. I had the truck 8 months, and felt like I would be better off just getting rid of the headache. Hopefully Chevrolet will get the bugs worked out in the coming years, but they totally missed the mark on this truck.

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  severe buffeting/booming, truck bought back - 2015 Chevrolet Suburban
  By Suburban Owner - December 28 - 7:19 pm

  Drive it a lot before you buy. These trucks have an issue where the roof comes detached from the roof bows. This causes cabin booming like being inside a big drum. The roof will start to flex causing pressure changes that hurt your ears. It sounds like driving with a window down when they are all up. Our dealer reattached the roof bows but they came detached in a few months and the issues returned. We are having our vehicle bought back by GM. Beyond this issue the truck is great. Fuel economy is incredible for a vehicle of this size. The interior is best in class. Unfortunately, this booming/buffeting issue is to hard to live with.

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  not worth it! - 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Emily - December 12 - 10:28 am

  The gas and brake pedals are super sensitive. This car also sucks on gas. Im putting $10 in every other day and im only renting the car while mine is being fixed. I would definitely not recommend this carm

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  At Least Ive had No Car payment - 2007 Chevrolet Uplander
  By ShirleyDriver - December 9 - 10:59 am

  This van was actually a gift from my parents (to which I am thankful), but man it came with some baggage. On my van the automatic sliding door was the first to go. It would get stuck open or think it was open and run down my battery. Then the remote keyless entry went south and my alarm would go off anytime my keys were near the vehicle. The gas gauge would show empty right after I put 21 gallons of gas in the vehicle then would bounce between full and empty until my engine light would come on. Its a regular occurrence to see a "check stability control" to come on and for the anti-lock breaks to not be working. The glove compartment handle completely broke off - had it repaired, but today wont close sometimes. The DVD player will not play new DVDs (not talking bluerays - DVDs), but does play older ones made before 2010. Reading others reviews I think I finally know what the rattling is at low speeds. Also the transmission (as many others have said) slips BADLY. I am so ready to be done with "Shirley" (as we named her on a road trip that I think was delayed because we wound up on the side of the highway with a blow-out from that low right tire). Even with brand new tires my front right tire always loses air - I have had this looked at over and over leaving the technician scratching his head. It ALWAYS happens.

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  Dont buy into the hype... - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By T. Lewis - December 5 - 10:15 pm

  I bought this car because my husband is a Prius owner and we have become gas snobs over the last few years. The car was pricey for a Chevy (this is my first American brand car), but with the fuel economy rating (99 mpg is what the tag said), I figured it would pay for itself soon. I live in Cincinnati and bought the car in the summer. The battery gave me about 50 miles per charge and I was filling up once a month. Once the winter hit, the car ran mostly on gas (the engine had to come on to warm the car) and my battery miles were reduced to 28-31 miles per charge and my fill ups were weekly instead of monthly. In short, in the winter months, I am averaging around 40 mpg. I considered trading it in this year (the car is 3 years old with 40k miles) and discovered that the trade in value of the car is @ $12k, which is a considerable depreciation from the $38k price tag 3 years ago. Huge let down.

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  Buyer beware - 2015 Chevrolet Camaro
  By Scott Lang - December 4 - 10:13 pm

  This car is excessively noisy on the highway. The layout and positioning of the gauge package is such that the climate controls make reading some of the gauges difficult or impossible. There is nothing precision about the power top. When closing the top it requires muscle power to pull the top down to the point it is flush with the top of the windshield so you can manually lock it in position. Have have now owned two BMWs with power tops that not only lie flush with the top of the windshield but lock themselves. With an MSRP of over $40,000.00 you would expect the car to have push button starting. Not this car. Not only does it not have this feature the ignition is located on the steering column in a place that cannot be seen from the drivers seat unless you lean over and look around the side of the steering wheel. Also the key fob for this car does not have the flip out key, just a big empty space. It has a regular key hanging from the fob. When I asked why I was told that drivers kept breaking the flip out key off in the ignition with their knee. On a recent trip to Northern Virginia I deviated from the planned route. Traffic was bad and having lived up there I knew a bypass route. I expected the navigation system to "recalculate" after it told me to turn around a given number of times as every other Nav system Ive owned. Wrong! After directing me to turn around about 6 times the system locked up. The only way to unlock it was to pull off the road, stop the engine and then restart it. The Nav system then rebooted. I called Chevrolet to inquire about this and after requesting the cars vin they came back and said the Nav system on my car does not recalculate. I asked who made the system and was told Panasonic. If Panasonic really did make it it was to Chevys specs. The car has great lines but it is only a facade. After purchasing this car I also bought a Suburu Forester touring model. Its sticker was over $7000 less but it has dual zone auto climate control, adaptive cruise control, lane deviation, obstacle avoidance, cd player, and push button start. All items not to be found on the Camaro. And US manufacturers wonder why they are loosing to the imports.