The consumer advocates at Consumer Reports have a reputation for systematically evaluating many categories of each vehicle it tests to come up with its recommended “Best Of” rating. For 2022, it has determined that the Chevy Traverse gets its Best of Midsize Three-Row SUV rating. Let’s be honest, these Best Of ratings are mostly the domain of foreign companies. So let’s look at why the Chevy Traverse tops other three-row SUVs like the Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot, and Toyota Highlander.

Hasn’t the Chevy Traverse gotten poor ratings in the past?

Since 2014, Consumer Reports has given the Traverse very poor ratings for reliability three times. The most recent was just last year. For owner satisfaction, it has also gotten poor ratings three times in the same period. But for the 2022 Traverse, it received no poor ratings, with the exception of fuel economy and third seat comfort. 

So that is a marked improvement over past ratings, which obviously helped it get its Best Midsize SUV nod. Those fuel economy numbers are 14 mpg for City driving, 28 mpg Highway, and 20 mpg for Overall economy. They are not as impressive as the Toyota Highlander, which has 21 mpg City and 29 mpg Highway. 

CR felt the V6 engine was never over-worked, with a nine-speed transmission presenting positive gear changing. The two combined gave testing confidence there was more power available if needed. 

The Chevy Traverse has a lot of cabin room and cargo space

The Chevy has a large cabin, with plenty of cargo space. Some of that feeling of space could be attributed to the massive glass roof panels. It didn’t care for the manual retractable rear sunshades. But Consumer Reports praised the 360-degree camera for aiding in backing up.

The infotainment screen is large and intuitive, which can still be an issue with some manufacturers. Two features that stand out are the screen being retractable, opening up a hidden storage compartment. And next to the screen is a charging pad. Just rest your phone on it for a continuous charge.  

Standard safety features include forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, and lane-keep assist. Also standard is the ability to set speed alerts and maximum audio volume control for young drivers. Once the young driver returns, a report can be accessed to review their driving. A rear-seat reminder will hopefully eliminate instances of drivers forgetting young children or animals in the rear seat.

Consumer Reports rates the LT the best value

For available trims, Consumer Reports recommends the LT version. It comes with leather seats, 20-inch wheels, surround-view camera, blind-spot warning, power rear liftgate, remote start, eight-inch touch screen with navigation and hidden storage, full camera rearview display mirror, rear parking sensor, and power front passenger seat with lumbar support. It feels this provides the best Traverse value. 

Above the LT is the Premium trim, and top-of-the-line High Country model. They add LED headlights, memory driver seat/mirror position/steering column, heated second-row seats, heated steering wheel, wireless charging, heavy-duty cooling, a trailer hitch, all-speed automatic emergency braking, panoramic sunroof, and a power-folding third-row seat.

Add to that its quiet cabin and comfortable ride without harsh kicks or pronounced leaning in turns, and it makes for an all-around great three-row SUV. Prices start at $33,700, going up to $53,400. There is also a $1,200 destination charge to add to those prices.