"Mom, can we keep it?"
- -- My daughter, immediately after her first ride in the Chevy Traverse
My initial thought upon seeing the shiny new Traverse I was to drive for the next week was, "That thing is HUGE."
I had known I would be getting a crossover vehicle that seats seven, and I knew that GM was positioning it to compete with the Toyota Highlander, Ford Flex and Honda Pilot... but this baby felt a lot larger to me than my husband's Pilot. (It's about a foot longer, which explains how much roomier the interior feels; especially in the second and third-row seats.)
What I didn't know was how attractive it would be. Chevrolet has not been known recently for innovative styling on its vehicles -- but the Traverse is a beauty. I had it parked right next to a Lexus RX350 (which I think is the gold standard of luxury SUVs)... and I thought mine looked better.
I was reminded of a conversation I had with GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz last year, who acknowledged that the company had erred by not paying enough attention to their products' quality or its styling -- especially when it came to the interiors.
So I was pleased to discover that Traverse is gorgeous inside, too. The model I drove was pretty nicely loaded: heated power leather seats and leather wrapped steering wheel, dual climate control, Bose audio system, OnStar service (which includes navigation).
The luxury extended to the rear seats as well: The second row seats were captain's chairs and my young passengers had their own climate control system and the ultimate kid amenity: rear seat DVD entertainment system (with wireless headsets AND a remote control), and a second moon roof. Is it any wonder my daughter wanted me to keep the car?
But I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy driving it. I'm not really an SUV person. Aside from the issue of global warming, I have just always been more comfortable driving - and parking - smaller cars. However, now that my daughter is growing into a teenager... and I'm now a part of a carpool... a larger vehicle makes sense to me.
The Traverse gets an estimated 17 miles per gallon in the city and 24 mpg on the highway, which isn't terrible (considering its size). It would be even better if Chevrolet comes out with a hybrid version (like its Tahoe, which gets similar mileage despite being a lot larger).
Mileage aside, I wondered if I could get used to driving such a large vehicle.
I discovered I could... and it didn't take any time at all.
For one thing, the Traverse is super easy to handle (that must be the "crossover" part of the equation -- driving it feels more like an auto than a truck). In fact, the turning radius is somewhat tighter than the little Volvo S60 I currently drive, making parking a snap.
Even better is a super cool ultrasonic rear parking assistance system, complete with rear view camera. Every time you go in reverse, an unobstructed camera view is superimposed on your rear view mirror. And as you back up, the system emits an audible beep every time you encounter something in your path.
I have to admit that the first time I saw this thing it kind of freaked me out. And then, I started to really like it. One of the things I DON'T like about my current car is its humongous blind spots that make reversing out of a parking space a dangerous proposition. While you can't rely totally on a rear view camera system like the one in the Traverse, it can help you see the stuff that wanders into your blind spots. This soon became my favorite feature on the vehicle.
My husband's favorite feature turned out to be the comfy seats. He's not the best passenger in the world, and wasn't too pleased to hear that I was the only one with permission to drive the Traverse. We took it out to Pomona over the weekend for our daughter's state gymnastics competition. The traffic on the way home was miserable, but my husband didn't mind - because he actually FELL ASLEEP. (In nearly 20 years, this is something he has NEVER done when I'm driving. He's usually too busy cringing to get that relaxed.)
We enjoyed the ride in the Traverse so much that I ended up doing all the driving for the rest of the weekend... and took over most of our group's daily carpool duties. (Sorry about that GM, but this should explain why I returned the car with nearly 800 additional miles in the space of a one week!)
With that much driving, I feel I really gave the Traverse a good test - and it passed. If I decide to get a crossover for my next car, this one will definitely be on my list.
Looking for a new car in SoCal? Or just an aficionado? I'm giving away a family four-pack of tickets to the Los Angeles Auto Show. Enter at SocalMom here.
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