I didn’t love the Traverse.  Yes, I said that out loud and with that, I’ll tell you why.

As a mom, I need to love my car because I spend at least 50% of my day driving back and forth to schools twice a day and to run errands.  GM gave me a Chevy Traverse to borrow for seven days.  I loved the look of the Traverse and especially liked the color.  It was a creamy white.  It “looked” great, beautiful really.  I even loved the roominess of the interior.

After our first winter in Michigan, we purchased a minivan because it was such an ordeal getting my girls, that are still in boosters or car seats, in and out of our Volvo.  Even our Volvo SUV that we got rid of before our move wouldn’t have cut it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the spacious interior the Traverse had.  That, I liked a lot.

I also enjoyed the seat coolers!  I had never experienced seat coolers and they were a real treat Memorial Day weekend when the weather finally warmed up.  They cooled the seats quickly.

The height of the Traverse was perfect.  I didn’t feel as if I had to step up and pull myself into the car, yet I felt like I had great visual capabilities and the ride was smooth.

I was disappointed in a few things with the Traverse.  Especially if I am going to shell out 45K for a vehicle that was missing the boat and left me wanting more.  The first thing that was missing was the luxury.  The interior was way too basic.  There was nothing special…at.all.  It was way too dull.  I had tried the Jeep Grand Cherokee right after trying the Traverse and fell in love with the interior of the car.  There were so many “special” touches and the price point was about 5k less than the Traverse.

The Traverse was missing a moon roof.  It felt very dark and enclosed.  A moon roof would have been a nice touch.

I disliked the rear backup camera in the rear view mirror.  It was too small to see and seemed like a waste.  I like how my Honda Odyssey has the rear backup camera video in the navigation which is where the Jeep Grand Cherokee had their’s as well.  I felt like the Traverse’s was too small and I had to squint to see it.  My worst fear as a mom is my children being hit by a car in a parking lot.  The rear view camera in the Traverse was basically worthless.  There’s no way I would trust an older driver with poor vision to rely on the back up camera to see behind their vehicle while backing up.  I guarantee they can not see what is going on in the tiny mirror.

That brings me to the navigation.  There are times when I just don’t feel like chatting with someone and instead of having the standard navigation like I have in my Honda Odyssey and like the Jeep Grand Cherokee has, the Travers’s has On-Star.  I ended up using my iphone’s Google Map function as a navigation device because I just didn’t feel like calling someone every time I needed directions. I use my navigation at least a few times a week, it’s something I rely on and trust.  Plus, it’s free.  With On-Star, there is a monthly fee.  I wouldn’t want to pay extra for the service.

I really feel that GM needs to get a team of women into their headquarters to re-design the interior of the Chevy Traverse.  Besides the seat coolers and the roomy interior, the Traverse is lacking the special feel that would entice me to spend 45K.  It left me wanting more, more features that is.

GM gave me a Traverse to try out for seven days.  All the opinions stated above are mine and not influenced by anyone or anything.

Detroit Mommies Expert Contributor
Courtney is the traveling mom! She has 3 girls and is the founder of Detroit Mommies and currently lives in Florida. You can follow her on Twitter @courtneyRVL.
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Anthony from CharismaticKid

So here’s the question… are you going to buy a Chevy Traverse? 😉