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 Vehicle! - 1997 Chevrolet Suburban
  By J.R.Gibbs - April 28 - 10:18 am

  We purchased one for family traveling and some trailer towing.. Ours has 185,000 miles on the original engine, transmission. We have had no real problems with it, except we did replace the water pump and radiator due to minor issues unrelated to the quality of the vehicle. This is a very well- built vehicle, and I would recommend it to anyone. Recently, driving 1800 miles and back, we averaged 20.9MPG with the cruise set at 75MPH. If you take care of this vehicle and get one that has not been driven by an idiot kid, you should be totally fine. I do recommend you totally flush out the Dexcool coolant(red) and replace it with green or yellow, as Dexcool is known for destroying gaskets...

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  Colorado Dutch - 2006 Chevrolet HHR
  By Dutch - April 27 - 11:22 pm

  The hhr is wonderful on mpg ( 34 on road) 27 in town. Made several long trips. Ride is not the best a little stuff but road ability is fine. Space good for 4 adults and 5 good size bags. Interior is tight for a 230# 6-3 man. The auto is excellent for city driving easy parking turning and good space behind 2nd. Seat. It would be a wonderful car for mother conducting her duties. Not fancy but simple operations.

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  Excellent Choice - 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe
  By Mark - April 27 - 1:10 pm

  This vehicle is a pure joy to drive. Excellent handling for a vehicle this size. The interior is not just leaps- and-bounds above the outgoing model, but is wonderful compared to its competition. I purchased the LT3 package with the sunroof and I do not regret anything yet (hopefully that will not change). Chevy interiors always had ease of use, but now there is some style as well. The exterior is sharp, crisp and put together with very little seam separation, a definate plus over last years model. Looks are subjective, but I dont think there is a better looking full size SUV on the market today.

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  Go ahead, get one! - 2006 Chevrolet HHR
  By Perry - April 27 - 11:06 am

  The wife says it is "Zippy" but I like to keep the revs down and the MPG up (32 on the highway, 25 average). There are no lights in the glove box and I cannot turn on the dome light from the front. Also only one cup holder in the back & seating for 3.(!) Not near enough storage for stuff like CDs. Love having the 6disk MP3 player for *hours* of mucic. Moon roof is cool as is the little spoiler the wife had to have. Running boards get in the way when getting out though they look cool. (I think I would opt to not have them.) Very quiet ride and smoooth ride! Overall great car but needs more (better) storage solution.

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  Great small SUV - 2010 Chevrolet Equinox
  By phil clark - April 27 - 11:06 am

  Mine has the V6 option. Rides great and more room than you would expect especially in rear seat area. Son in law says there is more room than in my Avalanche. The gas mileage on the V6 is not what they had claimed with best ever less than 20 combined and if mostly in town drops to 15 or so. Still improvement on the Avalanche I traded in, but could be better. Hopefully that improves once broken in and get past the first oil change too. Interior is very stylish with a friend comparing it to cars like the Lexus,now thats a step up for GM. Shows they are moving in the right direction.

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  Typical GM - 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe
  By JCK105 - April 26 - 11:37 pm

  I bought this Tahoe a few years ago with around 40K miles on it. The speedometer broke at 60K, and shortly after GM recalled them, but by that time I was at 71K, so they would not refund me the $600. Overall it is comfortable, and fun to drive. Typical GM though, many interior lights are burned out, and everything is starting to rattle. Other than that, there have been no major problems.

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  GM stop making lemons! - 2000 Chevrolet Malibu
  By MikeDJ - April 26 - 6:09 pm

  We bought our 2000 Malibu couple of years ago, thinking is a good balance between price, performance and quality! We were sooo wrong! Although the price was cheap, but not cheap enough to justify the poor performance and the overall quality. The engine is a junk (we had to replace the intake gasket), the A/C system has to be recharged monthly (the compressor and few other things has to be replaced)-still is not working properly! Overall costly repairs!!!

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  Fair Overall Waiting for Problems - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By E.G. - April 26 - 10:46 am

  Extremely poor visibility when backing due to limited window area and wide rear roof pillars. Center console had poor fit due to popping clips. Entire console had to be replaced. Steering at high speeds is very tight, causing light drifting. Rear folding seats dont go down flat enough for proper storage, and trunk height is too low. Pleasing body style and good paint quality.

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  my first electric car - 2015 Chevrolet Volt
  By Jim - April 26 - 6:56 am

  Ended up buying an electric car after being exposed to my sons leaf. The leaf was not considered as his is now 2 years old and he has already lost 20% of battery capacity. He has a 2013 which had the heat sensitive battery My least favorable experience was of course the buying experience. (How can they get you to pay more). Stickered at over $40000 as They had added $1700 for window tinting, plus car had navigation and premium bose sound system $995, premium trim package $1395 which included heated front seats, suede interior leather, rear center pass thru armrest, - crystal red tint coat $495, Cargo area cover $110 and cargo net $90. When I first saw the sticker i just told them i never pay for window tinting. So they came back with a new sticker of $38,800 (the $1700 for window tinting had disappeared). The end result was i got the car for $35000, about $3800 below the adjusted sticker of $38800. I probably would not have purchased this car had it not been eligible for the $7500 federal tax credit (which reduced my purchase price to about $27500.) I tried using the AAA buying service. He came back and said "you will pay at a minimum $35000 - they could not get a price lower than that". That being said, the volt is an impressive car. It was a good choice for us as the 45-47 mile range pretty much covers all of our trips. (factory estimate 38 mile range)- increase is due to 1) most of our driving is in ideal moderate weather 2) our driving is typically at 40-50 mph in suburban driving. 3) I also drive in "LOW". (This should be called economy as its purpose is to provide much more battery charging when U let up on the gas. It has no impact on gearing. 4)There typically are no more than 2 people in the car and we are both under 160 lbs. - less weight-longer battery range. (UPDATE DEC 20 CHG SHOW 48 MILE RANGE AVAILABLE BEST EVER!!!) Now for more good news.The volt is an impressive car!!! I love the volt. It drives beautifully, is quick, quiet, and reliable(based on others comments plus our experience so far). We purchased the car in October and have 8700 miles on the car. We are averaging just at 300 mpg!!!! and have used 29 gallons of gas) I just also read an article indicating that going back to 2010 there has pretty much been no battery degradation due to 1.the cooling systems and 2.not allowing the battery fully discharge. A great feature for us is that you can preheat or cool the cabin while the car is plugged in - this saves battery by getting the car cabin to a comfortable temp before you drive. Their are only a few items that I dislike most of which are minor. 1. the cabin is small and confining - We of course knew that when we purchased it and we can live with that. 2) the cars air dam will often scrape the curb when you park so need to be careful when pulling in to a parking spot. (did not realize this initially) 3)car is very low and visibility is less than I would like but again we knew that when we purchased the car. 4) the car has 2 levels of 120 volt charging , 8amp and 12 amp, you may not be able to get a full charge overnight using the 8 amp setting - especially if you need the car early in the am. The 12 amp level must be manually set each time you charge as the car always resets to the 8 amp setting. 5) By far the one feature that to me is most serious is the console controls for heat, cooling,radio etc.-they are absolutely terrible. There are no buttons,indents, etc. that identify by touch where each item is controlled, just a place in the center of the dash between the driver and passenger seat where you touch. Which means u must take you eyes off the road to do pretty much anything just to find the correct place to push on the console. 6)The malls in our area have electric chg. stations but they do not fit the volt so often can not chg. when out and about. Also, as a side note some interesting items re. the volt. (At least interesting to me) 1(the cars operating systems are complex- for example, it has several cooling systems, the car will also automatically run (but only for a few minutes)the ice if you run exclusively on electric as that is needed to maintain the ice components. 2) Car is to be kept plugged in when not in use as that maintains the correct battery temperature. the car will automatically run one (or more?) of the cooling systems if parked in a hot Phx. garage - our garage will get to over 100degrees in the summer. IT will also run the battery heater in cold weather to maintain the correct battery temp. 3)As an side benefit , Our power company now has a time of day program where we can pay only $.06 per kilowatt if we charge at night so we will be switching to that this month. 4) Car charging can be set to automatically charge only on off peak hours. All I can think of for now as I am not in any way techi and am learning as I go. Overall a wonderful car!!!!

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  Idaho Z06 - 2006 Chevrolet Corvette
  By idaspud - April 25 - 10:42 pm

  Acceleration is unbelievable, control and cornering is excellent, ride comfort is good, interior quality is mediocre at best. Gas mileage is great too, get around 32 on the highway. Most fun car to drive I have ever had and Im 66.