Chevrolet Trax Years to Avoid: No Year Stands Out

Years to avoid: No year stands out Every ranked year drew 7 to 56 complaints, under twice the 32.5 complaints of a typical Trax year.
Best years: No year stands out Only the 2021 drew under three quarters of the 32.5 complaints of a typical Trax year since 2016, but it is next to a partial model year with few sold.

Based on owner complaints filed with NHTSA in each model year's first three years, not adjusted for sales. The 2024 to 2026 models are too new to judge. See every year ranked

Data: US EPA and NHTSAUpdated Nov 11, 2026

Every model year since 2015 in one place: EPA fuel economy, NHTSA recalls, owner complaints and crash test ratings. The best fuel economy rating, 30 mpg combined, arrived in 2024 and has held since. The Trax went on sale in the US for the 2015 model year.

Trax problems by year, ranked by owner complaints

How the years are ranked

Model years ranked by owner complaints filed with NHTSA in their first three years (model year Y: filed by the end of Y+2), so every year is measured over the same time on the road. Years without three full years of data, and launch or final years with very few sold, are left out. Counts are not adjusted for how many were sold.

A typical Trax year drew 32.5 complaints in its first three years: the median of its years since 2016, higher than the median of all its ranked years (31). Years to avoid drew at least twice that, and at least 50. Best years are up to three years since 2016 with the fewest complaints, each under three quarters of a typical year since 2016 (32.5), with no open NHTSA investigation and no do-not-drive or park-outside recall that covers all versions; the 2020 is never picked, as its first three years fell in the pandemic. How the verdict works.

Model year	First 3 years	All complaints	Recalls
2019 Trax Most described: the check engine light coming on, then loss of power or limp mode	56	136	2
2018 Trax Most described: suspension part problems	40	102	2
2017 Trax Most described: the check engine light coming on, then loss of power or limp mode	39	114	3
2015 Trax Most described: the check engine light coming on, then airbags not deploying in a crash	31	96	7
2016 Trax Most described: the check engine light coming on, then loss of power or limp mode	26	120	5
2020 Trax Most described: the check engine light coming on and overheating or coolant loss	26	98	0
2021 Trax Most described: smoke or a burning smell	7	26	0

Compare other models' worst years in the worst model years guide.

Check your Trax for open recalls

Opens NHTSA's lookup in a new tab; your VIN goes to NHTSA, not to us. The VIN is on the driver's side dashboard, the door jamb and your registration. Safety recall repairs are free at Chevrolet dealers.

How to check a car for recalls, step by step

Get a vehicle history report from EpicVIN (opens in a new tab): a paid report with the car's title, odometer and salvage records, from an approved NMVTIS data provider. Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you buy. If you typed a full VIN above, the link sends it to EpicVIN and opens its checkout page for that VIN. Check the price before you pay: EpicVIN's $1 trial lasts 3 days, then becomes a monthly subscription until you cancel ($49.99 to $99.99 a month on its pages as of Oct 2, 2026). Disclosure

Year by year

Model year	Best rating	Recalls	Complaints	Crash test
2026 MPG · Recalls and problems	30 mpg Gas	0	20	Not rated
2025 MPG · Recalls and problems	30 mpg Gas	1	108
2024 MPG · Recalls and problems	30 mpg Gas	1	184
2022 MPG · Recalls and problems	27 mpg Gas	0	9
2021 MPG · Recalls and problems	28 mpg Gas	0	26
2020 MPG · Recalls and problems	28 mpg Gas	0	98
2019 MPG · Recalls and problems	28 mpg Gas	2	136
2018 MPG · Recalls and problems	28 mpg Gas	2	102
2017 MPG · Recalls and problems	28 mpg Gas	3	114
2016 MPG · Recalls and problems	29 mpg Gas	5	120
2015 MPG · Recalls and problems	29 mpg Gas	7	96

Owner complaints by model year

All complaints filed so far. Counts rise with sales volume and with time on the road, so recent years look better than they may turn out. The highlighted bar is the model year with the most complaints in its first three years.

2019: 136 complaints

Show as a table

Owner complaints by model year, Chevrolet Trax
Model year	Complaints
2015	96
2016	120
2017	114
2018	102
2019	136
2020	98
2021	26
2022	9
2024	184
2025	108
2026	20

Best combined rating by model year

The best-rated version in each model year. Gas: 27 to 30 mpg (2015 to 2022, 2024 to 2026); 30 since 2024.

2026: gas 30 mpg

Show as a table

Chevrolet Trax best combined mpg by model year
Model year	Best gas version
2015	29
2016	29
2017	28
2018	28
2019	28
2020	28
2021	28
2022	27
2023	–
2024	30
2025	30
2026	30

Every Trax year's ratings in one table

Questions

Which Chevrolet Trax years should you avoid?

No Chevrolet Trax year stands out enough to avoid: none drew twice the 32.5 owner complaints of a typical Trax year or more in its first three years. Counts ranged from 7 to 56. Complaints can't tell you whether a particular car is sound, so whatever the year, check its open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before you buy. Safety recall repairs are free at Chevrolet dealers.

What are the best Chevrolet Trax years?

No year stands out as best. Only the 2021 drew under three quarters of the 32.5 complaints of a typical Trax year since 2016, but it is next to a partial model year with few sold. The 2024, 2025, and 2026 are not ranked yet: they have had fewer than three full years on the road. The 2022 is left out as a partial model year with few sold.

Which Chevrolet Trax years have the most problems?

Counting owner complaints filed with NHTSA in each model year's first three years, the 2019 (56) drew the most, then the 2018 (40). Owners of the 2019 most often describe the check engine light coming on, then loss of power or limp mode.

Which Chevrolet Trax years have the most recalls?

The 2015 has the most safety recalls in NHTSA's file (7), then the 2016 (5). A recall can cover a problem that affects only a few cars, so open a year's page to see what each one covers. No recall for 2015 to 2026 models tells owners not to drive the car or to park it outside.

What are the most common Chevrolet Trax problems?

In the 1,013 owner complaints NHTSA lists for 2015 to 2026 models, apart from warning lights, owners most often describe loss of power or limp mode (85 complaints); smoke or a burning smell (65 complaints); and suspension part problems (53 complaints, most of them for the 2017, 2018, and 2019). One complaint can describe several problems. Each year's recalls and problems page lists what owners describe for that year.

Which Chevrolet Trax year has the best MPG?

The best EPA fuel economy is 30 mpg combined, first reached by the 2024 gas version and matched by every year since.

Sources and method

US EPA fuel economy data (fueleconomy.gov), file dated Nov 4, 2026.
NHTSA recall file dated Nov 12, 2026 and owner complaint file dated Nov 11, 2026; NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings.

Complaint counts are unverified owner reports and are not adjusted for sales volume. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.