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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
88,572 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Chevrolet Traverse engine problems

engine problem

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2012 Chevrolet Traverse Owner Comments (Page 3 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #72

May 282018

Traverse

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The engine started running like a old, old tractor. I was told the motor keeps losing oil pressure known that type engine has problems but yet no recall. I spent thousands of dollars to pay for a new motor and installation on this. Just got that fixed and now the transmission went another expense on my part. What next!! this car is a lemon law problem!! what can I do about it" please help!! wheres the recalls?" this 2012 Traverse is scary to drive not known whats next going to happen on the road. Cant go anywhere that involves distance.. I was stalled in the intersections in town on a busy street with little children and an elderly lady.

- Poplar, WI, USA

problem #71

Jul 282019

Traverse

  • 148,000 miles
I have a 2012 Chevy Traverse, ive only owned it less than 2 years and had issues with service stabilitrack/traction control at least 6 times. When this happens the car looses power, my check engine light comes on, ive even had black smoke come out of my hood and tail pipe trying to keep it running on the highway so my family and I werent killed. I have taken it to the dealership and the codes it throws makes no sense. After they wipe the codes, let it sit its fine for a few weeks. I know im not the only Traverse owner with this issue, is it going to take a family dying on a major highway, or a child being killed because their parents lost power in their only car in traffic and a truck hit them. Please please fix this issue. I dont wanna die because I bought a Traverse. I cant afford another car payment right now.

- Athol, MA, USA

problem #70

Jul 102019

Traverse

  • 90,000 miles
The contact owned a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse. While the vehicle was parked at a grocery store, the engine caught on fire. The contact stated that the entire front end of the vehicle and the engine were badly burned. The fire department extinguished the fire. A fire report was not filed. The contact stated that he was not aware of any warning indicators being illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and deemed destroyed. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The cause of the fire was not determined. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #69

Jun 142019

Traverse

  • 70,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My car has been very well taken care of and still is only at 70,000 miles. Prior to a 1000 mile road time with my husband and two children I went in for a regular maintenance and to prep for the trip. After getting back my struts went out, apparently a Chevy defect. After paying upwards of $1,000 to replace and check everything we headed on the road. No less that 60 miles from home, while going 65 on the freeway, my car lost all power. Power steering, ac, the whole thing just shut down! we barely made it to the side of the freeway to be safe from the traffic, again, my children are in this car in 90+ degree weather on the side of a freeway! I am now in the process and finding out that Chevy, american made crap, has had this happen before to families, putting them at risk, leaving them stranded and has not done any recalls on this dangerous matter. The car didn't slow down, it lost power, it lost everything and we would have be slammed by multiple other cars if my husband didn't make a fast move off the freeway. How can a long time, again american, car manufacturer produce such a defective vehicle that can't even make it to 100K miles? so now I am paying on a vehicle that I don't even know what will cost because I have to tow it to someone while still making payments. Do not buy Chevy!

- Central Point, OR, USA

problem #68

Sep 262018

Traverse

  • 55,000 miles
I was driving with my children while exiting a highway off-ramp, and our Chevy Traverse suddenly malfunctioned and I temporarily lost power steering/control of the car, had no acceleration, and all instruments went wonky (turning on/off, going back and forth). I was forced to pull off the highway off-ramp onto a dangerously narrow shoulder with minimal room, and had to coast the car to the end of the off-ramp-- and then was stuck at the off ramp at a red light in rush-hour traffic. After towing the vehicle to the dealership, we replaced the battery at the suggestion of our local Chevy dealership. Then about 4 months later, the problem has happened again as I was exiting our driveway on my way to work. We had it towed to our local Chevy dealership, and after 4 days of running diagnostics and test driving it, they finally concluded it was a faulty transmission module. We now have to pay $ $1,700 out of pocket to repair the car, as were one year over the 5 year warranty (but only 55K miles on the car). At the time this happened, our Traverse only had approx. 57K miles on it.

- West Hartford, CT, USA

problem #67

Apr 292019

Traverse

  • 82,000 miles
My Traverse came to sudden stop in middle of road with no warning. I had it tow to a mechanic who found the engine had seized. No lights, no noise, onstar diagnostic check was clear. Traverse had 82K miles. With research and talking to multiple Chevy dealership mechanics, this is a known problem happening with Traverse. I was lucky not to be driving on the interstate, lucky I was driving on a side street going 25 miles. I had my children with me!!! this could have caused death to my family!!! this is a death trap and needs to be recalled before there are serious injuries up to and including death! please for the safety of our children look deeper into the issue with the engine.

- New Smyrna Beach, FL, USA

problem #66

Jun 032019

Traverse

  • 115,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The check engine light came on showing codes P0018 and P0019, the vehicle will start to idle and the traction controls come on and the vehicle goes into safety mode not able to go above 30 miles/hour. Mechanic stated that it was indicating issues with timing belt, but that it was very common for this vehicle to have issues with timing belt tensioners going bad.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #65

Mar 012017

Traverse

  • 81,000 miles
Traverse came to sudden stop in middle of road with no warning. Tow to mechanic who found there was no oil. Zero oil leaks located; appeared to have burned all oil in between oil changes. Traverse had 81K miles and was just a few months outside of the power train warranty at time. Almost 7 thousand dollars spent on new engine. We also own a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu with 72K miles that we recently discovered had no oil on dipstick in between oil changes. Added two quarts of oil, which only got it to bottom of dipstick. We have now heard many examples (friends/family) in which this is happening to Chevrolet's with under 100K miles.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

problem #64

Jun 012017

Traverse

  • 60,000 miles
Engine seized while driving on the freeway. No oil in engine. Never had a leak, changed oil 2800 miles before incident, the oil pressure gauge read normal, no idiots lights on the dash. Where did the all the oil go in 2600 miles?

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

problem #63

Jun 052019

Traverse

  • miles
My complaint is while I'm driving my car is it loses all power and shuts down and most cause me to wreck, luckly I was able to come to a complete stop before wrecking. We have seen this problem with alot of Chevy Traverse.

- Reeds Spring, MO, USA

problem #62

Jun 032019

Traverse

  • 140,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The vehicle began running rough on the highway and a display said service battery charging system. Pulled to the shoulder and turned off car. Attempted one restart but the engine sounded rough so shut it off immediately. Car towed to mechanic. Mechanic found 3 codes related to the timing chain and metal shavings in oil and filter. Engine needs to be replaced.

- Hawley, MN, USA

problem #61

May 092019

Traverse

  • 126,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse. On three separate occasions, the traction control indicator illuminated and the vehicle decelerated. The vehicle lost power steering ability, but was able to coast over to the side of the road. In addition, on two occasions, the vehicle was restarted and able to drive normally. The vehicle was taken to yark Chevrolet (located at 9830 waterville swanton rd, whitehouse, oh 43571, (419) 877-7658) where it was diagnosed, but a failure code could not be found. The contact also stated that the failures recurred a third time while driving 70 mph. In addition, the engine failed and the steering seized. The contact was able to coast the vehicle to the side of the road, but failed to restart. The vehicle was towed back to yark Chevrolet where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the repair fees. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: [xxx]. the approximate failure mileage was 126,000. Parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Whitehouse, OH, USA

problem #60

Apr 302019

Traverse

  • miles
Email to jack danielson from constituent regarding her 2012 Chevrolet Traverse.

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #59

Apr 212019

Traverse

  • 70,000 miles
While driving on the highway at 55mph my vehicle seemed to suddenly drive rough and I thought I was going to lose control or a blown tire or something. I lost power and my vehicle began to slow down on its own. Things began to light up on my dash about the stabilitrak system needing servicing. This was terrifying since cars were flying by me and I was in the middle lane. This has happened more than once even on local roads at slower speeds such as 30mph. Why is there no recall for this? there are so many complaints and families are in these vehicles including mine. I am also getting a check engine code for timing. My vehicle is just at 70K miles and I use it as a daily driver to/from work and primarily just in my town. Furthest I drive is 20 minutes down the highway to a relative and back. Please fix this with a recall! it is extremely unsafe! the recall shouldn't be issued once there is a tragic death, it should be issued before!! I've already had to deal with my wipe blades coming off and hitting each other because the bolts came loose while I was driving home in heavy rain and there was a recall for that! this stabilitrak and timing recall needs to happen.

- Glen Burnie, MD, USA

problem #58

Apr 022019

Traverse

  • 130,000 miles
This has happened twice once with our kids in the car on the way home from the airport and once to my wife on her way home from work. Both on the freeway at 65+ mph. Driving fine then all of a sudden violent shaking, and loss of power. Cannot steer at 65 mph that is literally deadly. Service stabilitrak light comes on, traction control off light comes on, and reduced engine power light comes on. Extremely dangerous and had a 6,4, and 2 year old in the vehicle. The fact that this hasn't been addressed as a recall is absolutely absurd. I went through 16 pages of complaints on a Chevrolet forum about this issue. How many does it take before the problem is addressed" does someone need to die" from what I understand it may not be worth taking into a mechanic as they have not been able to nail down the issue and I don't have thousands of dollars to pour into a problem that doesnt have a sure cure. Abaolutely ridiculous to be doing freeway speeds and then not be able to steer. Do something about this.

- Allenton, WI, USA

problem #57

Mar 252019

Traverse

  • 84,500 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse. While driving approximately 30 mph, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to bob johnson Chevrolet (located at 1271 w ridge rd, rochester, NY 14615, (866) 915-9664) where it was diagnosed that the timing chain assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 84,500.

- Rochester, NY, USA

problem #56

Apr 032019

Traverse

  • 131,000 miles
I was driving my Traverse on an on ramp to the highway when the check engine light came on. The dash said service stabilitrac, engine power reduced... just as I was about to merge into traffic. I lost acceleration and had to take the shoulder of the highway to avoid getting run over by a semi that was at highway speed! I can't believe there isn't a recall or something for this extremely dangerous issue!!

- Depere, WI, USA

problem #55

Mar 072019

Traverse

  • 107,000 miles
I noticed the car running a bit rougher than normal and advised my husband. Then the car took a couple attempts to start. My husband researched the issue with an oem reader and received error codes that indicated it might be the timing chain. We took it to our mechanic who agreed but advised us that GM had a tib which extended the warranty to 120,000 miles due to a problematic issue with their timing chains. We had the vehicle towed to a GM dealership. They confirmed that the timing chain was loose and advised that it damaged the engine which would need to be replaced at the cost of $9000. My husband contacted GM several times only to be advised that, although the same issue, the tib did not apply to our VIN. I have contact GM several times to discuss why this seems to be a chronic problem with Traverses for several consecutive model years, however they are not willing to discuss the issue as their canned answer is it's outside the warranty period. We have 107,000 miles on our vehicle and would never have purchased this car had we been aware of the catastrophic issues with the timing chain. I have been online and see so many families experiencing this same issue with no assistance from GM. They offered us $3000 towards a new car, however, at this time, we are not in a position to readily accept a car payment. We have two sons in college and are not looking at having to go into debt to correct a problem that we don't believe we should be having. The car was at the dealership and received a 153 point inspection only 4 weeks prior to this timing chain failure and they did not report any issues to us. With the number of consumers reporting this issue, I hope there will be an investigation and compensation to those of us who trusted in GM to manufacturer a car that we could enjoy after it was paid for. We paid our final payment in November of 2018.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #54

Mar 212019

Traverse

  • 70,000 miles
Stabilitrak/ traction control turns off suddenly while driving without reason. ABS brakes light comes on in message center. Vehicle suddenly loses power and engine idles rough. Occurs suddenly without warning leaving driver/passengers stranded in dangerous roadways. Vehicle only has 70,000 miles and is serviced regularly. Vehicle was serviced two months ago for this problem, where an alignment temporarily fixed the problem. Two months later, problem returned.

- Billings, MT, USA

problem #53

Jan 232019

Traverse

  • 100,000 miles
In December of 2018 I took my car to diane sauer in Warren Ohio because the stabilizer traction control light came on and the car was driving very rough. I took it to diane sauer and service manager keith said nothing was wrong with it and didn't charge me for the diagnostic report. I took my car back in January 2019 with same problem but worse. So bad I got off the by-pass and had it towed. Diane sauer had my car for two weeks and never called about the car. I had to repeatedly call them. After two weeks they say the engine was gone. Keith told GM it was due to lack of maintenance. I provided GM and diane sauer with all receipts of my oil change. I bought that car from diane sauer brand new!!! I took care of the car and after seven years they say the engine is gone!!!! no way!!! I took great care of that car!!! diane sauer needs to stand behind their products!!!! diane sauer would not be in business without your customers who support your business!!!! stand behind your products!!!! be honest!!! the trust is gone!!!!!!

- Warren, OH, USA

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