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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  2015 Equinox LT2 - 2015 Chevrolet Equinox
  By MI_Yooper - July 26 - 10:15 pm

  Bought the vehicle due to ease of controls and fily features. However after driving 1000 miles reliably I need a jump everyte I want to drive it. Seems this is a common problem. Woyld like to hear if anyones dealer found a solution to this! Seems like something is taking the power out while I sleep..I am guessing its the onstar and the advertised wifi(?)..

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  A mediocre SUV - 2015 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Dean - July 25 - 1:56 pm

  I recently received my Equinox as my company car. Overall, it is not a bad car, but I hardly see why one would purchase it retail unless a good deal was offered. Ill keep the review simple: Pros: - Rides well and is reasonably quiet if you do not press the accelerator too hard (the 4-cylinder is loud when pressed). This is definitely one of the quieter small SUVs out there. - It handles fairly well for an SUV and comes with great Michelin Latitude tires (a huge plus) - The my link infotainment system works well and is a synch to use. - A/C blows nice and cold - great for those of us in the South - The rear seat has good leg room - Great crash test scores - Build quality seems good - The lane departure warning is helpful Cons: - The turning radius is 42 feet - HORRIBLE!! This thing is a chore to park in tight spaces. It is way easier to park our longer and wider Toyota Sienna (40 foot turning radius). - Speaking of our Sienna, averaging 22 MPG in mixed driving with a V-6. The Equinox is getting an average of 21 in mostly highway driving. - People who say this thing accelerates adequately must be coming from a 3 cylinder or live in a completely flat area. I have driven 4-cylinder accords (3 of them), a 4-cylinder fusion and a 4-cyclinder Rogue. All were easily quicker than this car. Even more sadly, our Sienna would sprint circles around this thing - yes a minivan beating a cool SUV. If you have to accelerate on an incline for freeway speeds, good luck! - The cargo area is relatively small. We had a Rogue before (second generation), and it had way more usable space in the cargo area. Granted, you can slide the rear seats, but then you kill your rear leg room. - Finally, the seat comfort is lacking. The front seats are hard, and are fine on short distances. However, any journey past 2 hours, you will have a sore rear. The rear seat is great for leg room and is more comfortable, but sit in either outboard seat, and you notice a huge gap between it and the door. This translates into less hip room. Not sure why Chevrolet did not stretch the seat out more - there is room to do so. Other small SUVs I have been in do, and they score the same in side crash tests. Overall, this is not a bad SUV by any means. It certainly gets the job done. However, the sticker on my model is right at 30k. There are way better choices for this amount of money (think Rogue, CR-V, Santa Fe, Edge). I am not a crossover guy really, I like the most bang for my buck. You can have a Toyota Sienna LE for about the price of this thing. You get triple the room, a more comfortable ride, better fuel economy and better acceleration. Plus, getting kids in and out of it is so much easier.

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  Best Vehicle I have ever owned - 2010 Chevrolet Camaro
  By Aaron K. - July 24 - 11:29 pm

  This was the first car I ever ordered at a dealership. I picked most options, SS with RS package, black with inferno orange interior and orange racing stripes. Six speed. I have had it 5.5 years now which is the longest I have ever kept a car. It has over 51,000 miles on it so it is not a show car. Virtually no problems with it, only one: the seat heaters quit working after 4 years but now I dont drive it in the winter any more. Those first 4 winters I had a snow tire and wheel package and never got stuck once (I live 50 miles north of Detroit). I have owned about 18 cars and pickup through the years and I can say this one has been my favorite. I have gotten more comments on this car than any other car I have owned combined (and mostly from women) and that includes 2 Corvettes, 2 Escalades and a new Mercedes E55 AMG. My teenage boys both hope they will get this car someday...we will see.

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  Gives Cheap a whole new meaning. - 2009 Chevrolet Aveo
  By David Albee - July 24 - 8:50 pm

  I have had my Aveo for going on 5 years now. I should have walked past it the moment that I ran my fingers over the grill and the black paint powder that came off on my finger was present. Now the entire reason for my purchase was that I needed a vehicle that I could drive into the dirt. I commute to work everyday and any vehicle was going to be getting aged prematurely. However, this does not excuse the wiper blades disintegrating in the second month of ownership. I understand that Korea may not have the winters that we Canadians do but wow! Anyhow, new blades on moving forward. Wait, what is that awe-full racket? It cant be the engine already... For crying out loud it sounds like the engine is trying to leap out from under the hood.... Notice in the mail, "Dear Aveo owner please proceed to your nearest Chev dealer to get your wiring replaced as the engineers have discovered an issue with the gaps of your spark plug and wiring harness." As my car is lurching and crying "No kidding there is an issue." . Okay so contact my dealer that I purchased my car from, "Sorry, we cant help you with that." "We dont have the parts to fix it right now.". Click... Wait, what? Yo Rick, I need you to put new plugs in and wiring. "Isnt that a recall? Shouldnt your dealer do that?", to which I replied. "Yes", "Yes they should." "So can you do this?" Driving my now behaving Aveo out of Ricks shop and noting the it will be a cold day in hell before I go back to the dealer. Not long later. "Hmmm, are my headlights dirty?" After looking I realized they were not dirty just one of the bulbs had burned out. No big deal, I have now replaced 3 bulbs. The creme de la creme had to be driving to work one morning and there was a little bit of snow on the road. I am Canadian and have been driving this road since 1989. No problem........ So why am I now staring at a terrified lady facing me and we are traveling in the same direction. I mean her eyes were like dinner plates. After I hit the drifted snow on the side of the road I have come to realize yet another issue with the Aveo. The rear brake has a tendency to lock. Terrifying right... I mean the freaking pad came off the shoe inside the drum...... Think about that for a second.. They are supposed to be molecular bonded to the shoe to prevent that sort of thing from happening. "Yo, Rick!!" "I need you to take a look at this rear brake, something is definitely [non-permissible content removed]!" "Umm, Dave the drum is really stuck on there." - "I know, I scared the H*** out of some lady in a SUV that was behind me, I was looking at her while i was going backward." A couple hours later... "Dave, I have never even heard of this happening." "Once i manage to get the drum off the pad was off the shoe.." Do not under any circumstance buy this vehicle, it redefines cheap and I would swear substandard parts. I honestly can not express how confused I am about how this actually made it to market. Oh and now the screws to the air filter have corroded and I will have to likely cut them and tap them to change the air filter.

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  Big Mistake - 2007 Chevrolet TrailBlazer
  By bill - July 24 - 2:53 pm

  I was looking for something smaller, by smaller, I mean smaller than my F-250 Super Cab, I needed to pull my boat and a small trailer. I saw the Trailblazer on line and thinking the price was to good to be true, I soon found out it had big problems. First I took it to my local mechanic, told him to go over it top to bottom and fix anything he saw wrong. He told me the front differential had no oil in it, they replace the belts, hoses and looked over the brakes and changes the oil. I had a new windshield installed, then I noticed oil on my driveway, the diff was leaking badly, I had to wait 2 weeks for parts. The instrument cluster was a mess, the tachometer did not work and the oil pressure gauge was pegged out, $230 to repair. I got lucky on the diff it was a seal but getting parts took 2 weeks and cost me $248 to fix. I have a Honda Pilot and my insurance was costing me $66 a month, when I got the bill for my Trailblazer it was $124 a month, WHY? I ask. The underwriter said it cost a lot more for parts and that GM parts were much larger, Honda uses small panels than GM. Another thing I noticed was that the engine seemed very nosy, I check the water pump and all the bearing, but the all seemed good, I am a little worried about the inline 6 noise, but so far the car seems to be running good. The sunroof did not work, I decided I never use it anyway why spend the $$s on repairing it. I am very picky about my cars, I grew up in a family of mechanics, and I can repair most minor issue, but in the long run I wish I had never taken the bait on this car, as my old Daddy used to say "if it to good to be true it probably is." What seem strange was it was a low mileage SUV. My F-250 has over 209,000 mile runs like a charm and everything works, the problem was it is hard on gas with that huge V-10 Ford block and hard to park. Live and learn.

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  I love driving now! - 2015 Chevrolet Malibu
  By Amber - July 24 - 2:22 pm

  This car was a huge upgrade from my 99 Pontiac. I love how quiet it is and it handles really well. The technology is great and I havent had any problems with connecting to local radio stations or XM stations. The car can only connect via bluetooth to one phone at a time, which can be inconvenient. The back up camera is nice because its kind of hard to look out the back window. The seats are really nice - the drivers seat has lumbar support so long trips dont make my lower back sore. My favorite part about the car is the auto stop/start engine - its fun to come up to a red light and see if the car will auto stop!

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  Best car experience ever - 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt
  By K. Bristol - July 23 - 5:18 pm

  To be fair, I drove my Cobalt 323,624 miles, no extra maintenance, 37 lifetime combined mpg, 40 mpg in final two years, beautiful blue paint in great shape after 10 years in the Colorado sun, interior decent given its use, engine in perfect condition. Transmission finally gave after 2-3 car-lives. I get paid for driving, and this car not only paid for itself, but then 4 more times! There is nothing wrong with these cars. Miles were approximately 50/50 miles city/highway. And no, Im not slow, I drive assertively, but not aggressively. Two occasions I scored 44 mpg round trip Denver to Gr. Junction.

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  really nice car - 2014 Chevrolet Impala
  By Phil T - July 22 - 12:35 pm

  I bought the base LS model for styling and price. You get more than expected and I can only nit-pick for anything negative. Mostly I dislike the tiny temperature display on the radio-need glasses to read it. And the radio seems to be created for computer geeks and technology experts. Too complex. Needed to return to dealer just to set FM stations and learn sequence of control settings. But this car is the best of 32 or 33 I have ever owned.

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  Amazing!! - 2014 Chevrolet Sonic
  By Victoria Hudgins - July 21 - 7:00 pm

  They are really amazing!

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  horrible gas mileage - 2015 Chevrolet Equinox
  By marty - July 21 - 1:36 pm

  Ive had this vehicle for going on 4 months now. I switched from hyundai and kia to the chevy line specifically because I wanted to buy american. Mistake. I live in the northern virginia area, so most of my driving is city, but I visit my parents and my boyfriend frequently and both require highway driving. My office is exactly 3 miles from home - I am averaging between 16 - 19 mpg. This low average is even after Ive noticed how low it is and specifically try to drive conservatively. I feel irresponsible and embarrassed to drive a vehicle that receives such low mileage and I never would have switched had I known this was going to be the case - since switching from my kia, nothing about my commute or habits have changed and Im averaging about 10 mpg lower in this new vehicle. In addition to the low mileage - the engine sounds horrible. It literally sounds like it is eating gas the way it has to chug for any sort of pickup. I have asked several other Equinox owners about their mileage and they all agree on how horrible it is. One lady also said that her car goes through so much oil that the dealership had to replace the engine because it was burned out her vehicle is barely a year old. Other than this major complaint, my other 2 are fairly minor. The seats themselves (shape, support) are very comfortable, but the material is horrible. It doesnt bother my boyfriend, but when Im wearing a skirt, it is itchy and painful due to the hole-y pattern. The other complaint is the highly reflective material used on the trim around the gear shifter. When the sun hits it correctly, it is blinding. Things I do like: layout of the electronics panel and dials, leg room, ceiling height (Im 511), trunk space, back up camera, interior lighting, rear window wiper AND wiper fluid (this is an awesome feature). Unfortunately, all of the pros are completely outweighed by the gas mileage issue. I have officially logged a complaint with Chevy and anyone else who is experiencing this issue should too!