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Total NHTSA Complaints
88
Owner filings recorded
#1 Reported Problem
Electrical System
22 reports (25%)
Crash Incident Reports
4
Filings citing a crash
Fire & Injury Reports
4
0 fire • 4 injury filings
Defect Investigation Analysis

Executive Problem Findings

AutoUtility currently tracks 88 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse. Electrical System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 22 complaints (25% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 4 filings cite a crash, 4 report one or more injuries.

Methodology Notice: Consumer complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Filings are not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and do not constitute an audited component failure rate.
Incident & Severity Profile
  • • Total Owner Reports: 88 complaints submitted under federal penalty.
  • • Primary Subsystem: Electrical System accounts for 25% of submissions (22 reports).
  • • Secondary Systems: Engine & Cooling (18), Powertrain & Transmission (14).
  • • Crash Incidents: 4 filings cite an impact or collision.
  • • Thermal Incidents: 0 filings cite smoke or fire.
  • • Reported Casualties: 4 injury filings • 0 fatality filings.
Category Distribution

Reported Defect Categories for 2021 Chevrolet Traverse

Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records

Electrical System
22
25%
Engine & Cooling
18
20.5%
Powertrain & Transmission
14
15.9%
Brakes & Traction Control
9
10.2%
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
6
6.8%
#1 25% SHARE

Electrical System

22 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

✓ 0 Incidents
#2 20.5% SHARE

Engine & Cooling

18 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 1 Crash 🩹 2 Injury
#3 15.9% SHARE

Powertrain & Transmission

14 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

✓ 0 Incidents
⚠️ 1 Associated Recall Campaign
#4 10.2% SHARE

Brakes & Traction Control

9 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 1 Crash 🩹 1 Injury
Consumer Filings

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2021 Chevrolet Traverse

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Powertrain & Transmission ODI #11758560
Filed: 08/21/2026
Defect Report

"Transmission shutters at lower gear going from 20-30 mph approximately and at the speed of 60-70 mph. When this happens it causes a delay in acceleration and for the whole car to shake. This was also noted by my mechanic even after changing transmission fluid and had concerns for the safety if it..."

Engine & Cooling ODI #11757809
Filed: 08/18/2026
Defect Report

"The welding that holds the exhaust together has failed. They offer a Special Warranty to cover only the passenger side, however it has failed and exhaust is super loud. Also reading 4 codes from check engine alert. All are P0420 (cat convertor). The smell of exhaust and cat convertor is super..."

Engine & Cooling ODI #11749147
Filed: 07/08/2026
Defect Report

"The contact owned a 2021 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for an inspection, where a leaking oil pan gasket was diagnosed. The contact stated that the failure had also occurred on a 2019 Chevrolet Traverse he owned. Although the vehicle..."

Other / Miscellaneous ODI #11746551
Filed: 06/25/2026
Defect Report

"On [XXX] I purchased the vehicle from Bakersfield Hyundai within days I reported break failure and notified them about a noise that was coming from the SUV that sounded like a mini motorcycle, they first said (Xavier) that the noise would go away because it had just gotten serviced but they kept me..."

Engine & Cooling ODI #11737628
Filed: 05/13/2026
Defect Report

"Check engine light came on and I noticed that the cooling fan would continue running for several minutes even after turning vehicle off. Had a mechanic run the diagnostics and the code came back as a thermostat/cooling issue. Although when I called to make an appointment and told him the issue and..."

Multi-Year Trend

Complaint History for Chevrolet Traverse

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Chevrolet Traverse 313 10 5 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Chevrolet Traverse 291 8 5 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Chevrolet Traverse 360 13 3 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Chevrolet Traverse 456 9 2 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Chevrolet Traverse 403 14 3 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Chevrolet Traverse 219 11 8 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Chevrolet Traverse Current Page 88 4 3 Current
2022 Chevrolet Traverse 95 3 1 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Chevrolet Traverse 85 5 2 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Chevrolet Traverse 132 0 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Chevrolet Traverse 172 4 0 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Chevrolet Traverse 0 0 1 View 2026 Problems →
Exhaustive System Audit

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2021 Chevrolet Traverse

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 26 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Injury Entries Fatality Entries
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 17 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 14 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 11 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 7 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 6 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 6 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 3 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 2 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 1 0 2 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 1 1 0 2 0
AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 1 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
CARRY HANDLE, SHELL, BASE 1 0 0 0 0
CARRY HANDLE, SHELL, BASE,TETHER, LOWER ANCHOR (ON CAR SEAT OR VEHICLE),OTHER/I AM NOT SURE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Search Intelligence

Quick Answers: Common Problems & Reliability Questions for the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse

Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse

What are the most common reported problems with the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse?

In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse is Electrical System, appearing in 22 records (25% of submitted filings).

Secondary reported categories include Engine & Cooling (18) and Powertrain & Transmission (14).

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Is the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse a reliable vehicle?

AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 88 consumer defect complaints and 3 safety recall campaigns for the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse.

Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.

Source: NHTSA ODI & Safety Recalls Databases

Are there crash, fire, or injury reports associated with the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse?

Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse, 4 filings cite a crash, 0 cite smoke or fire, and 4 report one or more injuries.

Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Consumer Logs
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.