Used Chevy Traverse

An ideal choice for families on the go, the Traverse earned outstanding safety ratings. Drive with confidence knowing that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety considers the Traverse a Top Safety Pick with perfect scores of “Good” resulting from front, side, and rear-impact crash testing. How does the Traverse keep its occupants safe? For starters, the cabin is supported by standard equipment like front, side-impact, and side-curtain airbags across all three rows of seating. Other standard fare comes in the form of an electronic stability system, traction control, and four-wheel-disc antilock brakes. Additional safety measures are designed specifically with younger occupants in mind. For example, the second row features latch child-seat anchors, as well as top-tether anchors, and the their row is outfitted with a top-tether anchor.

When it comes to reaching your destination safely, the Traverse has got you covered.

Although features like seating for eight is standard, along with the availability of front of all-wheel drive, regardless of trim level, the Traverse does offer some notable variations between its five models.

Starting with the entry level LS, which offers basic features and comes with steel wheel and black mirrors, consumers can move up to the LT for details like body-colored moldings and alloy wheels, measured at 18 inches. The LTZ bumps up the wheels to 20 inches and is the fully loaded version of this crew, complete with backup camera, navigation, along with heated and ventilated seats – all standard. Optional equipment includes a panoramic sunroof and DVD player for the backseat passengers’ entertainment needs. Speaking of the backseat, if you prefer captain’s chairs to the standard second row of seating, you’ll want to target the higher trim levels, like the LT’s sub-trims – LT1, which comes with alloy wheels, steering wheel mounted audio controls, trip computer and power driver’s seat, or the LT2, featuring triple zone automatic climate control, power tailgate, and stereo system from Bose, and certainly the top of the line LTZ.

All five trim levels share an impressive cargo capacity. With the third row in place, the Traverse offers 24.4 cubic feet of space, which jumps to a whopping 116.4 cubic feet once the seats fold flat.

Focusing on the first generation, starting with the debut 2009 model year, the Traverse was rated at 17 city, 24 highway mpg from the four-wheel drive setup, with all-wheel drive returning 16 city and 23 highway mpg from the standard 3.6-liter V6 engine, rated at 281 horsepower, operated by six-speed automatic transmission. For added oomph, the LTZ is outfitted with a dual exhaust system, which delivers 288 horsepower. If towing is a performance priority for you, the Traverse boasts best-in-class towing capacity of 5,200 pounds, when outfitted with the right equipment. To put that in perspective, the competition at the time could only manage an average towing capacity between 3,500-5,000 pounds.

Thanks to its four-wheel independent suspension, drivers report a smooth and quiet ride from the Traverse, with an athletic stance on the road that gives it a somewhat sporty feel.

Initially priced to start between $28,255 – 45,000, a used first generation Chevy Traverse can be found priced anywhere between $8,500 – $18,500. Considering that it offers some of today’s features and technologies, like the rear back up camera and DVD entertainment, a used version is great way to take advantage of this crossover’s capability at a fraction of the original cost.

But, for some extra enhancements, check out a few notable upgrades released for the 2013 model year…