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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  Great little car - 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier
  By Roger sharp - August 23 - 11:38 pm

  I purchased this cavalier convertible 6 months ago They rod bearing went out 2 months ago every body told me to replace them engine 2.4 oh dual cam But being a stubborn old man (80 years )old can do that myself it is then most complicated car I have ever worked on

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  traction control and stabilitrak systems 2nd time - 2010 Chevrolet Traverse
  By vbwolf1 - August 21 - 7:24 pm

  Has anyone experienced your 2011 Traverse having a sudden loss of power and loss of acceleration followed by error messages for both the traction control and stabilitrak systems?? This is the 4th trip to the dealer when for my car losing all power following by the above error messages. There is no warning only ding.ding..ding and loss of power!! The dealer has said it was a sensor problem, then tried taking out the transmission and working on its sensors, and today they say it is a throttle body issue. Help! Has anyone else had this issue and what finally fixed your car?? Thank you for your help! My car has been having this issue for the past 8 months and has about 65,000 miles. Prior to this there were no big issues or problems with the car.The first time the dealer thought this was the computer board and at the cost of $1009.00 I am still having issues. Called Chevy main number spoke to Gwendolyn and she is going to ensure the dealership in Waldorf Maryland fixes this problem she personally is going to call the dealership. I told Chevy this car is not reliable I am afraid to drive my car. Its only 5 yrs old with 67,000 miles and is acting like 20 yr old car....This year 2010 and 2011 needs to be investigated for possible 50 state recall, to pay all repairs from here on out because of this issue...I was coming from the vet today and the car just powers down, all controls read nothing ( no water, no gas, no speed, everything is off the charts)...this is scary, you can make the car go because the gas isnt going through the car. Something is stopping everything.

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  Cheaply made car - 2010 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Kyle - August 16 - 4:46 pm

  I bought this 2010 Equinox back in December of 2014. Since then I have had my car in the shop over 6 times. Im tired of it all. Plus I was getting about 31 mpg when I first bought the suv since then I am now getting about 22 mpg. Kind of a joke, Im tired of all the crap with Chevrolet. Im done with them and now am looking for another suv all together. Getting away from all of GM vehicles. My previous GMC truck had the same issues and also everything started to break on it one by one

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  5dr Sonic Turbo Automatic - 2012 Chevrolet Sonic
  By John - August 12 - 7:31 pm

  I did not pick this car - though I got it brand new - very grateful. But want to save potential buyers from getting duped. This turbo engine is very dangerous to drive - terrible lag. And car will not move when temperature is high. Seems to be worst at 100 degrees or above- but noticeable by 95. Do NOT buy a turbo of you live in a desert climate! Besides danger- it gets 16 mpg city and less than 30 hwy when it is hot! Dealer refuses to address issue or stand behind this car. Has been doing this since new. High temps means dangerous car with horrible gas mileage. I believe it is a design flaw. Also I have had a water pump and broken AC already . Car has 30k from commute and Ive only used premium oil and taken meticulous care of it. Transmission is now going nuts and the entire car rattles like a 67 Buick. Again hwy miles and never abused. I wanted to like this car and give Chevrolet a chance...but after two years I can say Id never buy another Chevrolet. Back to German, or Japanese:Korean if economy. Sonic is very safe and comfortable , spacious and quiet cabin, and has lots of features...but unfortunately the quality just isnt there. I doubt this vehicle will be running to 100 k miles. (Even with most all miles be freeway.) in addition trade in value is already 8 grand on this premium level car( a comparable Honda Fit would be worth much much more. Very high depreciation on sonic as they have become rental cars across the United States I guess) Bottom line is if you DO buy a sonic do not buy the turbo. Yes its more fun to drive because of torque but is annoyingly slow off the line always - and dangerously slow when engine temp is affected by summer weather. I wouldnt recommend anyone buy a Sonic. 16 MPG in town and the dealer says car is fine? Speaks volumes of Chevrolet product.

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  Overall one big giant shrug: "meh" - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By Maggie B. - August 12 - 12:41 pm

  Having previously owned a second gen Prius, a 2006 Ford Fusion, I got to feel very different rides and experience very different levels of sorrow at the gas station. On the one hand, the Volt will get most folks super far on the just electric mode, but on the other the ride is still hybrid and numb. The efficiency drops when Im in standard city or suburban stop and go traffic, accelerating to 45 on most roads is fine until I have to stop and do it again literally 2 miles later and the electric range just plummets. There is almost no way to recoup ones range by barking or cruising so dont have your hopes up if you previously owned a Prius or other hybrid. Then in dense city areas the efficiency goes up marginally until the city driving is over and then the range just drops as soon as youre back on the highway. That point is especially true for most N Americans outside of largely dense cities. Then there is the technology. Hybrids are the vehicle equivalent of smartphones. The Insight and Prius were the smart phones before Apple iPhone and Volt, Tesla and Leaf are the equivalent of those that came after. Having owned the 2nd Gen Prius it was like having one of the rock solid 3g phones before the iPhone: I thought it would be cooler to upgrade and now I regret it. Sometimes we are too set in our ways to upgrade our hardware, I say this as a millennial btw. The Volt is more like a shiny iPhone 4. One in which you cannot in fact turn off most notifications during meetings. One in which the phone (car) will tell you that you put your phone in your purse or took it out of your pocket or that its about to turn off due to low battery and so on. And these alerts are not mute-able! Imagine that. Its insane the amount of bells, bongs and rings this Volt makes. I remember the backup signal on the Prius, that was the only alert, and it was bothersome but I would appreciate having only that over all the other alerts on the Volt. And to think I havent brought up the entertainment system. You have a smart phone or iPod and plug it in and select your favorite band and then ... wheres the album list... so you select a song. Now that great song is playing and the next song is whichever song is alphabetically later in the song list. So think you can remember that bands best album you loved? No, sorry, scroll through the millions of albums and now the songs will play in Alpha order from the album you just selected. If that sounds "smart" then you my friend belong in a VOLT. The touch controls are sometimes responsive and sometimes require a little extra prodding below the touch screen. So memorizing the touch buttons by feel is now impossible. And if you once had a Prius in the always hot SW, you probably got used to adjusting the climate on the steering wheel, and now you get to shift your eyes away from the road, onto the center console, over the the split climate section and adjust every two seconds since eco mode on the climate control is as effective as having a golden retriever pant on your for cooling. Yay, Volt! Now youre turning left, trying to see past the giant six inch pillars which are still in the way no matter whether you lean left or right and then check your rear view mirror which now is misaligned due to slightly shifting your seat and the rear window couldnt possibly get any higher/narrower/less effective now could it? Sure the Fusion has absolute crap rear-view and so do most chunky-reared sedans, but this here Volt is a purported Hatch! So surely you have more window and a better view.. sorry no, this a Volt and even worse, a Chevy. In summary, SUV drivers may love the fuel efficiency and Prius owners may love to up their smugness with this green-hov-sticker qualifying car but the vast majority hate the numb steering, the dead until youve hit something braking and the lack of visibility due to crash test standards where we absolutely must be able to flip five times into a moving train and live. But honestly, give me a plug-in Golf and lets call it a day. This is still a Chevy after all.

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  Why would you need a HORN?! - 2012 Chevrolet Equinox
  By connie - August 10 - 1:52 pm

  We have owned out 2012 Equinox since Dec. of 2011. Beginning in Jan. of 2015 the horns have gone out 4 times. Thanks to the extended warranty we purchased when we bought the car , they have been replaced 3 times. The first time they went out the dealer said it was a very unusual happening , this was January 2015. Mar. 2015 they quit working again and were replaced with the comments that they didnt think they had ever replaced them twice on a vehicle like this. May 2015---out again. This time I made a call directly to GM and was told that this hasnt happened before. I really dont care about before but do care about my car. After explaining the horn troubles twice they decided that it might be water but DUH I live in northern Iowa and the roads do get wet! They then transferred me to a senior advisor and I retold my story. Her solution was that I had bought the extended warranty so no problem--get them fixed. I said I had 50,000 miles left but at the rate they horns were going out I would have to return to the dealer 25 more time. Her response was simply that the warranty would cover them!! Who cares--each time it is a 20mile drive each way , and about an hour repair time...WHO is reimbursing me for that? She then suggested that I not use the car wash, the same one I had washed it in for the first 3 years of ownership and the horns were fine . Again MY PROBLEM not theirs! The solution that was finally given my dealership was to drill holes in the horns for water to seep out..so after the last car wash I did not have horns for 2 weeks while I waited for the water to drain. Second complaint--- at 59,000 miles the seat is cracking. I was already very unhappy with the leather seats due to the little tiny holes in the leather that fill with any little piece of whatever is on them . The only way to get them clean is to poke each little hole with a toothpick. Not satisfied but I know it is me getting the stuff on the seats so I was tolerating this. But torn seats !! Not happy. It has only twice in 3 years met the advertised 30 mpg. 21 to 26 is much more normal-again disappointing! Needless to say an Equinox will not on my list of vehicles to purchase again!

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  2003 GM fuel pumps defective. - 2003 Chevrolet Malibu
  By Eric Puckett - August 6 - 12:45 pm

  My 2003 Chevy Malibu fuel pump went out. While looking for a new one I found some interesting facts. 1 website had over 90 complaints on that part for that model and year of GM cars. Normally parts for cars interchange every 5 years. The 2003 GM models fuel pump was only put on cars that year. That makes me believe that GM knew the pump was defective. Wy else would GM only install that pump for 1 year when they always use parts for 5 years. Something to think about.

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  need a better transmission - 2008 Chevrolet Equinox
  By nick Brown - July 31 - 8:25 am

  Ive had for a year now dont drive it every day and took a trip from Ohio to Tennessee and the transmission started to slip more and more. When I came back home it got even worse took it to AutoZone and ran it on computer and found out that the transmission speed sensor was causing the problem and trying to get this part is a big deal no one cares it even chevy dealers parts way to hard to find. But other than that the suv is great enjoy driving it when can.

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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.