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:

• 

  Happy Camper - 2004 Chevrolet Silverado 2500
  By John Kiernan - February 20 - 6:26 am

  Bought the truck New no problems for 11 yrs sold it and got a 14 1500 in its place love My Chevy s.

• 

  2013 captiva sport is awesome - 2013 Chevrolet Captiva Sport
  By greg - October 8 - 7:17 pm

  my 2013 captiva is smooth and quiet on the highway. It gets about 35 mpg it is comfortable and great for carrying cargo. The only issue is that the styling is getting very outdated, after all it is just a rebadged saturn vue. Overall I am very satisfied with the captiva.

• 

  2001 Chevy Astro Van - 2001 Chevrolet Astro
  By Joe Lizak - September 28 - 12:21 am

  Bought my 2001 Astro Van in 2017. It has 107,000 miles on it. Previous 2 owners were 70 years old so its in real good shape. Interior looks brand new. My plan is to travel with my Australian Shepard up the west coast. I bought a folding mattress and take the seats out so I can sleep in my Astro van. Hotels are like $100 a night now. I replaced the radiator, water pump and thermostat. Tune up (plugs, wires, distributor and rotor) and she seems to run fine. I am a fanatic about filters and oil changes and coolant levels so in the long run this van should last me many many miles. From now on it will never be a half quart low on oil... ever. Same with coolant. I love how you feel so high up in the drivers seat, you can see everything. I just took my van for a 250 mile trip and it travels fine. Very comfortable. I cant wait to get a nights sleep in the back. Sure is a lot of room. Hope my dog likes it.

• 

  The SS impala is a great car - 2007 Chevrolet Impala
  By Craig - January 20 - 11:36 am

  Ive had my Impala SS for a alittle under a year now and I love it. Ive had to put some work into it since then though, I bought the car with 80,000 miles on it and it was in great condition. Whoever owned it before me took great care of this car. However the repairs i had to make were very costly, i had to replace the alternator, the battery and get a full brake job. Not sure if its something I did to it or if it was just long over due. This car will sometimes turn heads but not that much since I live in the DC area and everyone drives a benz, BMW, infiniti, and some of the other luxury brands. Im not a fan of the front wheel drive and the interior is lackluster but those are things that are manageable. I love the big factory brand wheels and I can never keep the sunroof closed. The leather seats are comfy and the SS decals are nicely placed throughout the car. The trunk is huge and there is plenty of space in the interior. Dual pipes look nice on the car and overall adds to the performance I think. Its a nice size car and really fun to drive.

• 

  Present Imperfect - 2015 Chevrolet Corvette
  By EasternShoreMan - January 13 - 4:31 pm

  The 2015 Corvette StingRay is a helluva buy, but it has too many flaws and compromises to be a "great" all around sports/touring car. First, the good parts: The styling is, from most angles, gorgeous. Many "Corvette guys" do not like the rear end because it lacks the traditional round taillights. This is merely a matter of taste. Overall, the exterior design is a a winner even if it does create a bunch of nooks and crannies to clean. The engine also does not disappoint. The StingRay has gobs of muscle and a wonderful Made in USA V-8 sound. The car is built low to the ground. It can be difficult for older folks to exit and the long nose makes for visibility challenges in parking lots with concrete barriers. The rear hatch has a troublesome latch assembly which needs to be slammed shut rather than merely closed and the automatic hatch opening switch on the dash is positioned too close to the drivers door I have opened the hatch with my knee a dozen times slipping into the drivers seat. And, of course, the car is PLASTIC, which takes some getting used to if this is ones first Vette as it is mine. Those who live in a four season climate need to consider whether they want the "summer only" 20 inch rear tires. I have no idea whether the Goodyears are really unmanageable below 40 degrees as the warnings state. My choice was the Michelin year round set up. Whatever, this is not a snow car, at least not with me behind the wheel. Where the StingRay disappoints most is inside. Here the layout is good and straightforward but the materials used are just so-so, closer to WalMart than Brooks Brothers. No matter what color interior you choose, it will be mostly black. It is unlikely your salesman will tell you that on a sunny summer day the amount of glass in this car makes the cockpit uncomfortably hot (even with the A.C. cranked up full bore) unless you are willing to take out the roof panel or buy an after-market insert. The seat belt guides are poorly positioned and I have given up on trying to keep mine in the intended track. Similarly, the seat release is placed quite low and would be more user-friendly if it were higher on the seat back. The basic seats themselves are comfortable, even for a full days drive but why GM skimped on standard heating - something that comes on Japanese cars costing half as much - is a mystery. The Navigation system is a real P.O.S. It is very slow in taking input and recently in driving through a strange city at night, the spoken directions lagged reality by a block or more. Overall it is a disgrace to General Motors. Nor am not a fan of the other techno stuff, but maybe that is just age talking. I refuse to accept the facile explanation, "well, what do you expect, its a Chevy." I believe Detroit can design and the UAW can build an automobile just as well as Klaus and Helmut in Stuttgart. The idea that "they are trying to sell it to kids," is also a non-starter how many kids can buy a $60,000+ two seat car? Dont misunderstand, this is super car FOR THE MONEY, but it could be so much better! Looking forward to the C8.

• 

  10,000 miles in 6 months - 2015 Chevrolet Equinox
  By jim - January 12 - 7:16 pm

  Leased a 4 cylinder as was not sure I would like it and the lease cost was excellent for 12,000 miles per year. Overall the vehicle is smooth, stops as predicted, and very quiet. I did not think I would like the center console with all the buttons but found just the opposite, as all the buttons are easy to understand and reach. Using a touch screen in a car can be difficult and dangerous as it takes your eyes off the road to long. Hence I use the buttons and really like the back button to return to the previous screen, just like a computer. The seats are comfortable on long trips and the vehicle rides nice. It is a SUV so the handling is just normal. Engine does not have a lot of pick up but the trade off is very good gas mileage. The chevy My Link is excellent and even read my text messages. Trunk area is not large but put down the seats and it has plenty of room to move furniture..... I would like to see a turbo in this vehicle as it would improve performance. Not sure Chevy will do this as it is their base brand. If they did I would consider buying one, not lease. I did drive a 6 cylinder GMC version and it was horrible. The one thing I dont like is the exterior styling. It is pleasant but very boxy. I will probably lease this again if the lease is a great price. Not sure the long term trade in or sale value is good enough to buy it.

• 

  Oldie but goodie - 1996 Chevrolet Lumina
  By MacBob - January 5 - 7:03 pm

  Bought car in 2015 with only 68k original miles. Automatic, power steering/doors, and a/c. Solid 6cyl 3.1engine although is noisy at startup until warms up. Found out is normal for this motor. Comfortable car and good on gas. Smooth on highway. One problem area is the 3.1 engine lower intake manifold gasgets, they tend to wear out quickly. Had mine changed and used stronger gaskets..problem gone. Original stereo not bad, decent sound. Nice cloth interior, not fancy, but looks good. Overall, good transportation car that is dependable.

• 

  Good Value for a Commuter Car - 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt
  By Troy Crawford - January 4 - 9:58 am

  I purchased this car as a commuter vehicle and it has not disappointed. I needed to be able to squeeze 3 kids in the backseat in a pinch, but knew that 95% of the time it would me driving to or for work alone. To be clear, it is a cheap car - the interior is not fancy, it comes with very few features and it does not have the performance of the 250hp sports car. However, it does get from A to B reliably and I have had no maintenance issues and my actual mileage is around 34 mpg. To be clear, if you are attempting to impress dates or beat people of the line, it is not the car for you. If you are looking to for a cheap sedan which for a daily driver which can fit a few passengers in a pinch, you are going to be hard pressed to find a better value.

• 

  Enjoyable car, but not best of the best - 2015 Chevrolet Malibu
  By Brad - December 29 - 3:53 pm

  Ive had the car for a year now. Ive never owned a car that had an MSRP of over 25k, so I only have so much to compare it to. Overall I have greatly enjoyed owning this car. For the bad: In that time, I have had it in the dealership for issues three times. The first was the airbag module gave up the ghost (it just popped the warning light, nothing bad occurred). Second time was for an OnStar module recall. Third time was for the hands-free calling not working. Turned out the hands-free calling not working was because they put in the wrong OnStar module during the recall appointment. All of the work of course was done for free as it was under warranty. Each time they arranged a loaner car that was in impeccable condition. Each time the dealership was friendly and polite. For the good: I have found this car to be quite comfortable. It is by no means a luxary sedan, but six hour drives in it didnt overly fatigue me or expose uncomfortable parts of the seats. It handles quite competently under all the weather conditions Ive had it in (hot, cold, rain, and wintery mix) and has always made me feel safe. It has plenty of power to get up to highway speed by the end of the on ramps. I was originally skeptical of the electric power steering but have come to enjoy how precise it seems to be. I personally like the stop-start tech, and it does seem to legitimately boost MGP. Of course, it remains to be seen what the extra starts does in terms of engine wear. I like the styling in general, and I like the accent lighting and size of the buttons on the various dash controls (for when wearing gloves). I especially like that it has power seat high adjustment on the base model. Annoyances: in the base model, bluetooth does phone calls but doesnt support music streaming from your phone. This seems to be purely a software roadblock put in place to try to sell the higher trim levels. The times the start-stop does NOT kick in seem to be a bit random sometimes. I know it is based on battery levels and accessories in use and whatnot, but I see no reason why after driving 20+ minutes highway time in mild weather, with minimal accessory and HVAC use, why it would not stop the engine when you pull up to a stoplight at the bottom off your off-ramp, when you are not doing stop-and-go traffic. Also, while the transmission is largely competent, it does not seem as smooth or as intelligent as comparable Mazda models that my friends have.

• 

  2013 Impala LTZ made a frugal man happy. - 2013 Chevrolet Impala
  By Steve - December 23 - 10:38 am

  Well, Im on the cusp of my 31st birthday and I have decided to finance my first vehicle. I love cars. I played racing games growing up, I watch Top Gear, Im in the loop. Speed, Power, and Style are all highly appealing to me. But, with that said, I live in the city. I commute to work everyday. I hope to travel. And, Im not rich. I needed a car that fit my profile and the deal needed to be right. The Impala was the perfect selection. I dont give a care about its dime a dozen style, or its plastic interior, its a great car. These new V-6s crank out power with zero effort. I absolutely love when it comes time to pass or merge, it just tickles me pink. Luckily, I wont be cruising any mountain ranges any time soon like your latest Acura commercial, so I dont need sports care steering. Honestly, the steering isnt great. The steering wheel is tight and it doesnt attack corners, but it doesnt matter. I dont need that when I pull into Walgreens. The cabin has all the space you need, and plenty of road presence. Everything everybody likes about the cars in these reviews are true. In short, I just wanted to drop in and advise not to split hairs over professional reviews. They are after innovation, design, and refinement. The Impala lacks primarily in innovation. However, this will save you thousands. When I was looking at a $13,000 Impala thats fully loaded at 55k miles and its right next to a Honda Accord with the same mileage but at $17,000, the decision was clear to me. Its all about the driver.