2011 Chevrolet Traverse problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Steering (144) · Engine (112) · Vehicle Speed Control (56)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Chevrolet Traverse model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
496 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (5)
Air Bags:critical Fasteners 2021-04-08 · campaign 21V246000 · 108 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2010-2015, 2017 Buick Enclave, 2010-2019 Chevrolet Traverse, and 2011-2016 GMC Acadia vehicles. The side curtain air bags may not be properly attached.
Risk: Unsecured side curtain air bags may not perform as intended, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, realign or replace the weld nuts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 24, 2021. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N202321200.
Structure:body:hatchback/Liftgate 2015-06-30 · campaign 15V415000 · 691,144 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2012 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured January 3, 2007, to February 29, 2012, 2009-2012 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured July 6, 2008, to March 9, 2012, 2007-2012 GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured September 15, 2006, to February 29, 2012, and 2007-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured August 17, 2006, to March 18, 2010. The affected vehicles, equipped with the power liftgate option, have gas struts that hold the power li
Risk: If the open liftgate unexpectedly falls, it may strike a person, increasing their risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the power liftgate actuator motor control unit so that the motor will prevent the rapid closing of the lift gate, free of charge. The recall began on November 15, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, and Saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. GM's number for this recall is 15240.
Seat Belts 2014-05-20 · campaign 14V266000 · 1,339,355 vehicles
Defect: General Motors is recalling certain model year 2009-2014 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through May 14, 2014, Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured June 6, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured April 9, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and 2009-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through March 18, 2010. In the affected vehicles, the flexible steel cable that connects the seatbelt to the front outboard seating positions may fatig
Risk: If the steel cable becomes fatigued and separates, the seatbelt may not properly restrain the seat occupant increasing the risk of an injury in a crash.
Fix: General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, repair and replace the lap pretensioner, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. An interim notice will be mailed to owners in July 2014. A second notice will be mailed to owners once parts become available. The recall for the 2009-2010 model years began on July 11, 2014. The interim letter for the 2011-2014 model years were distributed on July 11, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-222-
Air Bags:side/Window 2014-03-17 · campaign 14V118000 · 1,176,407 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2013 Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia and 2009-2013 Chevrolet Traverse and 2008-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles. In the affected vehicles, increased resistance in the driver and passenger seat mounted side impact air bag (SIAB) wiring harnesses may result in the SIAB and seat belt pretensioners not deploying in the event of a crash.
Risk: Failure of the side impact air bags and seat belt pretensioners to deploy in a crash increase the risk of injury to the driver and front seat occupant.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the affected harness connections with soldered connections, free of charge. The recall began on June 16, 2014. Buick owners may contact the owner center at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet owners at 1-866-694-6546, Saturn at 1-800-553-6000, and GMC owners at 1-866-996-9463. GM's number for this recall is 14030. Note: Vehicles repaired as part of Customer Satisfaction Campaign 10085 and special coverage 10335 have already had the subject condition repai
Visibility:windshield Wiper/Washer:linkages 2012-04-09 · campaign 12V151000 · 47,846 vehicles
Defect: GENERAL MOTORS (GM) IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 CHEVROLET TRAVERSE, BUICK ENCLAVE, AND GMC ACADIA VEHICLES CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN ALASKA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH DAKOTA, UTAH, VERMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN, WYOMING AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. SNOW OR ICE BUILDUP ON THE WIN
Risk: IF THIS OCCURS, DRIVER VISIBILITY COULD BE REDUCED, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Fix: GM WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL TIGHTEN THE WIPER ARM NUTS, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 20, 2012.
Service bulletins (1,460)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-04 · PIP4902W · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-04-01 · PIT3271Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates information about how to determine if a wheel and tires size change is available.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP6104 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates the steps on how to save a gds2 session log and upload to a technical assistance case in cx connect.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP4902V · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-01-08 · PIP4902U · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2025-11-20 · PIT5214G · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have had multiple repair attempts that are being performed on customer’s vehicles that exhibit vibration conditions without utilizing the support of general motors technical assistance center. if va
Showing the 6 most recent of 1,460 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-10-06 · Tires“in summary, a business is selling unsafe "sidewall patched" used tire. on sep 20, 2025 i purchased four used tires for my 2011 chevy traverse in this business. mike's tires plano [xxx] ) [xxx] [xxx] ten days later, one of the tires started to have a slow leak. on oct 5, 2025, i visited a nearby national tire & battery store to have it checked…”
2024-10-08 · Vehicle Speed Control“components related to timing chain failed, and vehicle is currently available with plans to sell to a salvage yard by 10/25/24. my 9 year old and i were at risk of collision when the vehicle failed. i was driving approximately 70-75 mph when we started to lose power. at 65 mph, i managed to cross 2 lanes of highway traffic and stopped on the shou…”
2024-09-18 · Wheels“as i am driving down the road the service stable trak light and abs lights pop on and the brakes sieze up so bad you cant get the car to stop and brake pedal to unlock as well as when you try to turn the steering wheel locks …”
2024-07-30 · Lane Departure: Blind Spot Detection“my timing and my energy is going bad..i don’t know the problem.im new on having my own car..and when i got it everything was great at first but two trips going too chicago it started going bad …”
2024-04-10 · Electrical System“this vehicle is notorious for multiple electrical failures. the alternator fried the battery fried, both of which were replaced. this vehicle still wouldn't start. the wiring harness to the pcm is notorious for having shorts. the pcm itself is notorious for going out really early. this vehicle is almost undrivable and it dies while you're in the mi…”
2023-07-10 · Structure“the contact's friend owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. the contact stated that the liftgate failed to function as designed. the contact stated that the liftgate would spontaneously slam shut. the contact related the failure to nhtsa campaign number: 15v415000 (structure). the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dea…”
2023-07-05 · Air Bags“side curtain airbags deployed driving 70 mph on i94 outside of monticello, mn after drifting onto the rumble strip. upon turning back there was a loud bang from the side airbags deploying. the drivers side came down and hit my daughter in the side of the head, the passenger side didn't come down all the way missing my 86 year old mom as she is 5 ft…”
2023-06-28 · Engine · 125,000 mi“the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. the contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 45 mph, the rpm became elevated, and the check engine warning light illuminated before the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. the vehicle could not be restarted. the vehicle was towed to the local mechanic. the cause of the failure was n…”
2023-06-08 · Steering“care loses connection shuts off while driving and unable to accelerate. loses steering control…”
2023-05-30 · Seat Belts“my driver side seat belt cable snaped. all i did was go to put my seat belt on. there was no warning no warning lights no nothing. this is a recall (recall no. 14v266000 recall date; 05-20-2014) for these vehicles manufactured june 6, 2008 thru may 14, 2014 but as i was told by gmc not for my vehicle vin number. i was told by them i may have speci…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.