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:

• 

  Bought used - 2005 Chevrolet Impala
  By Obelisk - September 2 - 10:36 am

  I bought my 05 Impala 3.4 after losing my first car in an accident. I was quite surprised by how solid the car was. It had 139000 miles on it, and was mostly clean and cared for. Only had to replace a few things, as is normal for a used, ten year old car. My friends and I love the car, and its far more comfortable than what they drive (One has an 07 Camry, which felt awfully stiff to me). The stereo is great and the sound quality is clear. Although, if you leave the CD tray on too long, it glitches and skips parts of the song (about 5-10 seconds of it). Drive it to college and work on a daily basis, and it just keeps on going, no matter what happens. Very reliable, although gas mileage couldve been made better. Pros: Feels like a couch Responsive and accelerates quickly (For gearheads) Great engine sound and pretty good performance for a sedan Great stereo Transmission is quick and smooth Looks great in gray Cons: MPG is a bit sub-par Only one key, trunk needs a separate key. Probably cant get it when buying used. Can be a bit bouncy on hard bumps.

• 

  terrible - 1998 Chevrolet S-10
  By donnag - September 2 - 12:32 am

  terrible, great ride, but terrible on reliability, it just brakes! and chevy doe not stand behind it!

• 

  Oh what high hopes I had for a GM vehicle - 2012 Chevrolet Cruze
  By John S - September 1 - 5:50 am

  So this is my first delve into buying a GM vehicle for about 15 years. But it probably will be the last one I will ever buy. My wife and I thought we were buying a good used 2011 Cruze LTZ. Only had 29,000 on it and looked great! Oh but how looks can fool you, turbo went out a month into ownership, how does a turbo fail with 29,000 miles? OK well then we think OK fluke right. No, then a few thousand miles later water pump leaking. OK, well maybe another fluke. No, water pump replaced 15,000 miles ago?? What? A water pump that lasts 15,000 miles? So these two engine parts should last well beyond what they have and obviously being on third water pump in 34,000 miles does not seem to indicate GM has done anything to actually fix this problem. Guess every third oil change I need to replace water pump? The car drives fine, but the 18" low profile tires are expensive to replace, why you would put 168 MPH rated tires on a econobox car Ill never figure out? Then you have the questionable turbo issues, oil sludge potential, I have seen these engines with less then 50,000 miles have total engine failure due to oil lubrication issues. Now you have the reduced value of the car because these issues are getting worse. I would not recommend this car to anyone at this point from my 4 months of ownership. If you do have one, make sure to change the oil, use synthetic if you want the engine to last to 100,000 miles, watch coolant levels, burn better gas for improved MPG and dont expect GM to do anything about these issues.

• 

  SS = Super Sport or Super Steal - 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt
  By R.D. Hesler - September 1 - 1:51 am

  WOW what a fun car! Turbo kicks in FAST! Bought a stage 1 kit to boost HP another 30 HP from 260 HP to 290 HP! I love the RPD (reconfigurable performance display) allows the driver manipulation of traction control, stability control, "shift points", and the engagement of Competition Mode, as well as information regarding the cars engine torque and horsepower, g-force, boost, wideband air fuel ratio, barometric pressure, temperature, and battery voltage. This little rocket ship will fly. I love beating those wanna-be fast & furious car!! Fun for a old guy like me. I see GM performance is dropping this turbo engine( refined to 275 HP) into their 2016 base Camaro.

• 

  Problems with this Chevy - 2009 Chevrolet Impala
  By Kellie Leonard - August 31 - 8:12 pm

  I purchased this car used back in 2010 with average miles. Now on my 6th year everything is going wrong. Heres what went wrong and not under warranty seeing the five (5) years are up: 1.) Car wont shift out of drive into park. $300.00 visit to the Chevy Dealer to fix. 2.) ABS light, and reduced power light came on. Another $350.00 trip to the Chevy Dealer. 3.) Now a load tapping noise from the glove box area. Another $350.00 trip to the Chevy Dealer to fix. 2 of my 4 door locks dont work properly and my check air bag light is now going on. I can only wonder how much more this will cost me!!! Very disappointed in the quality of my Chevy Impala. Dont buy!

• 

  Drives smooth as a new car should....but - 2013 Chevrolet Cruze
  By MIchelle - August 31 - 4:02 pm

  OK the car in my opinion is over priced and these are the reasons why. 1. the dashboard, well I dont even know what that is other than plastic. This makes it very easy to wipe down. I mean a damp cloth with a little light weight cleaner (I use organic cleaners) and wham it looks new again. Problem I cant see that dashboard lasting and would be really surprised if it did. I keep my windows and the car covered to protect it so maybe this will help. 2. I have had to have rusting bolts replaced (MY car is 2 years old, 2013. With 28K miles on it. I bought it with 68 miles). In addition, the paint job wasnt all that great and after getting home with my car I noticed foggy areas on the paint. They fixed that for me right away but still I was left without my car for 3 days. 3. The paint is some type of silicon? Therefore press your nail in it and it leaves the impression. That is so not cool. Think about it. 4. The seats could use much improvement. I bought pads for them because they are sunken and not padded well as on many imports. My car was 18 years old so it took me a few weeks to notice this. I wish I had noticed before that. lol 5. The molding around my car which is the only metal I think it has after 2 years was discolouring and spotting. It got blamed on the rain. Really? Serioulsy? You think the rain did that but didnt touch the paint? I dont think so. Either way it had to be replaced. It really looked like a car that was 20 years old and Id had it for 2 years! Not cool. Not cool at all. Really bent me. 6. The seat covers, cloth on the seats, they do not hold up well. They do not clean well. Get covers if you buy this car. I already had to have one of the seats replaced. This was done a little over 1 year of owning the car. At that time there was another lady having the same thing done and she had had her car about the same length of time. 7. Due to the material they used for the interior it will show every mark. I mean if you vacuum and the vacuum drags across the "plastic" around the door near the dashboard or even where the gears for park etc are. It will leave a scratch. I also had that area replaced due to the scratching much to my vain due to they scratched [non-permissible content removed] out of it while replacing it and the old piece had less markings. :() 8. Lastly the key has buttons for opening the door and starting the car. Somehow for me it is super easy to hit and not notice I opened the trunk. Now please understand Im good to my cars. They laugh at me at the dealership and tell me my car is spotless. I laugh because Im bringing it in for a detail when they tell me this. My Toyota was a 93 and I bought it with 2000 miles. Not one spot on my car. No one believed me when I told them it was 20 years old. They thought it was a 2003 or so. :) I take very good care of my belongings inside and out. The bumpers were still jet black! No cracks, no marks on the inside! No tears in the seats nothing. What I do like about the car. 1. It is new and drives very smooth. The turbo has great pickup. Though a slight delay which is common in a turbo it can move when needed. 2. On a scale 1 to 10 the interior sound is about at an 8. With the radio on a 9. I dont listen to my music loud so its not a drowning out reason. 3. Love the layout of the buttons and accessories. Love how you can see the air pressure in the tires etc. Love all of that stuff. Love the extra pocket on the passenger side and both of the doors big pockets for stuff. The extra storage on the dashboard and I love the adjustable seat belts. 4. My car came tinted and due to the tint, within legal tinting, and the slant of the front windshield I no longer need sunglasses. Living in FL and in 2 years not one time did I need them. So much better for your eyes. Love it! 5. The trunk is big! Much bigger and much more room than I initially thought. I can really pack it! And the seats lay down. 6. I can actually start my car from inside. That is just so amazing and awesome to me. 7. Its a new car so it is to be excepted but it drives really smooth and handles the road well. No issues with sudden idiot drivers next to me or in the rain. 8. The radio and all works great but Im not into the On star at 226 a year. Sorry but that is a bit pricey and then you have to pay for the satellite radio. Maybe if it were all in one at 200 but never the less I had a taste of onstar and well emergency services left me laughing [non-permissible content removed] it was so embarrassing to use them. They simply tell the operator at 911 what you are saying. I mean really? And then when I said the car in front of me is on fire they said..."Is there smoke?" I nearly died. Thank God animal control came by and had a fire extinguisher on hand. No kidding. 9. They have many usb ports in which I have never used a one. Overall I really like the car. Really I do. I get very good gas mileage and I enjoy driving it. If it werent for GMs cheap parts...

• 

  After 5 years I still regret buying this thing. - 2010 Chevrolet HHR
  By Nic - August 31 - 3:10 pm

  Problem #1 HHR would show the no seat belt light for passenger when no one was sitting there. Dealer claimed cell phones caused it to malfunction Problem #2 The car would like autobrake rapidly causing the car to slowdown, and shake. It was very scary when it happened. The "ESC" or something was cutting on. Would have to pull over and restart the car. Dealer claimed they never heard of the problem but I found on line forums where others had this issue. Problem #3 Recall, after recall, after recall Problem #4 The door handle is made of cheap plastic and broke. Dealer wanted like $400 to fix it. Found a replacement on Amazon for $50 and put it in my self Problem #5 Rotor and brakes when out. I think Problem #2 cause this. Cost me $530 to fix. Other issues.

• 

  2013 Malibu - 2013 Chevrolet Malibu
  By Tanya - August 30 - 10:46 pm

  I just got my 2013 Malibu I really like the car but I only had it a week & its overheating already gotta take it 2 get fixed asap

• 

  A lot of room for everybody!!! - 2015 Chevrolet Traverse
  By Manuel - August 30 - 10:22 pm

  After shopping around for a little while I was impress with the 2015 Traverse LT I ended up leasing. Very nice vehicle, feel great, equipment is awesome, phone connections, nice radio, hands free including heated cloth seats. Large and nice Interior , even in the third row, my three kids are an easy fit and my two teens fit nicely on the second row captains chairs. Very good family car.

• 

  Electrical problems - 2013 Chevrolet Malibu
  By Patrick - August 30 - 1:51 pm

  My 2013 Malibu 2LT is having a major issue that can cause a serious accident.. The steering and all electronics shut down while Im driving. The motor remains running but all electronics shut completely down. The dealer wont fix this issue and I will put the biggest lawsuit on Chevy if I get into an accident