Forget the old family truckster: the 2018 Chevrolet Traverse is an affordable crossover with a refined personality and an upscale feel available at a reasonable price point.
That's high praise for a family hauler that easily meets the criteria for The Car Connection's Best Car to Buy 2018. The 2018 Traverse follows a familiar formula for crossovers: a high seating position, a roomy and multi-configurable interior with seating for up to eight, and lots of safety equipment.
MORE: Read our 2018 Chevrolet Traverse review
All 2018 Traverses use a 310-horsepower V-6 engine paired to a 9-speed automatic that together provide more than sufficient thrust to motivate this full-size crossover around, even when fully laden. Even the most basic Traverse LS—at around $35,000—is well-equipped with Apple CarPlay, three-zone climate control, and HID headlights. Keep ticking options boxes and the range-topping Traverse High Country could almost be a full-on luxury vehicle.
If there's anything that could hold the Traverse back, it's that Chevy is proving stingy with advanced safety tech. To get automatic emergency braking—which can stop the vehicle automatically if it detects an impending collision—you'll have to step up to the Traverse Premier trim level. Some rivals, like the Honda Pilot that won our top award a couple of years ago, have wisely democratized advanced collision-avoidance features.
Under its Chevy-styled skin, the Traverse is essentially the same vehicle as the more luxo-laden Buick Enclave—also a candidate for this year's top award. Will our team prefer the Chevy's value-laden approach over the Buick's cossetting, or will another vehicle win out to become our latest Best Car to Buy?
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