RoadVitals

2009 Chevrolet Traverse

Recalls, owner-reported complaints, investigations and safety data

Data refreshed

Owner complaintsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
448
Latest Jan 18, 2026
Safety recallsA safety recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle has a safety-related defect or does not comply with a federal motor vehicle safety standard. Recall repairs are free. Whether a specific vehicle is covered depends on its VIN — a recall listed for a model year does not necessarily apply to every vehicle of that year.
8
Latest Jun 30, 2015
InvestigationsNHTSA opens an investigation to examine whether a safety defect may exist. An open investigation is not a determination that a defect exists, and many investigations close without a recall. Investigations can, however, lead to one.
3
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
19
16 injuries, 0 deaths reported

Overview

Our database contains 448 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, most frequently naming the steering, engine and powertrain (other) categories. 8 safety recalls have been issued covering this model year; 3 NHTSA investigations name it; and 1,217 manufacturer communications are on file.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

What owners report

Complaints grouped by the component NHTSA recorded

Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.

Safety recalls

8 campaigns cover this model year

Recalls apply to specific vehicles, not to every vehicle of a model year. Check your VIN with NHTSA or your manufacturer's dealer to confirm whether a recall affects your vehicle.

Check a VIN on NHTSA.gov

STRUCTURE:BODY:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE

Jun 30, 2015
691,144 units potentially affected
The defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2012 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured January 3, 2007, to February 29, 2012, 2009-2012 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured July 6, 2008, to March 9, 2012, 2007-2012 GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured September 15, 2006, to February 29, 2012, and 2007-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured August 17, 2006, to March 18, 2010. The affected vehicles, equipped with the power liftgate option, have gas struts that hold the power liftgate up when open. These struts may prematurely wear and the open liftgate may suddenly fall.
The risk: If the open liftgate unexpectedly falls, it may strike a person, increasing their risk of injury.
The remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the power liftgate actuator motor control unit so that the motor will prevent the rapid closing of the lift gate, free of charge. The recall began on November 15, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, and Saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. GM's number for this recall is 15240.
General Motors LLCManufacturer number 15240View on NHTSA.gov

SEAT BELTS

May 20, 2014
1,339,355 units potentially affected
The defect: General Motors is recalling certain model year 2009-2014 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through May 14, 2014, Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured June 6, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured April 9, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and 2009-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through March 18, 2010. In the affected vehicles, the flexible steel cable that connects the seatbelt to the front outboard seating positions may fatigue and separate over time.
The risk: If the steel cable becomes fatigued and separates, the seatbelt may not properly restrain the seat occupant increasing the risk of an injury in a crash.
The remedy: General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, repair and replace the lap pretensioner, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. An interim notice will be mailed to owners in July 2014. A second notice will be mailed to owners once parts become available. The recall for the 2009-2010 model years began on July 11, 2014. The interim letter for the 2011-2014 model years were distributed on July 11, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-462-8782 (GMC), 1-800-553-6000 (Saturn). General Motors recall number for this campaign is 14187.
General Motors LLCManufacturer number 14187View on NHTSA.gov

AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW

Mar 17, 2014
1,176,407 units potentially affected
The defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2013 Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia and 2009-2013 Chevrolet Traverse and 2008-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles. In the affected vehicles, increased resistance in the driver and passenger seat mounted side impact air bag (SIAB) wiring harnesses may result in the SIAB and seat belt pretensioners not deploying in the event of a crash.
The risk: Failure of the side impact air bags and seat belt pretensioners to deploy in a crash increase the risk of injury to the driver and front seat occupant.
The remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the affected harness connections with soldered connections, free of charge. The recall began on June 16, 2014. Buick owners may contact the owner center at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet owners at 1-866-694-6546, Saturn at 1-800-553-6000, and GMC owners at 1-866-996-9463. GM's number for this recall is 14030. Note: Vehicles repaired as part of Customer Satisfaction Campaign 10085 and special coverage 10335 have already had the subject condition repaired and therefore are not included in the safety recall.
General Motors LLCManufacturer number 14030View on NHTSA.gov

Safety investigations

NHTSA inquiries naming this vehicle. An investigation is not a finding of a defect.

EA20002ClosedEngineering Analysis

Outboard Front Seat Belt Anchor Cable Failure

Opened Aug 31, 2020
Closed Aug 30, 2024

On August 31, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Engineering Analysis (EA) EA20002, as an upgrade of Recall Query (RQ) RQ19003. This investigation, related to recall 14V-266, was opened to investigate instances of detachment of the flexible steel seat belt anchor cable attached to the outboard side of the front seats in vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The subject vehicles included model year (MY) 2009 through 2014 GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and Chevrolet Traverse SUVs as well as MY 2009 through 2010 Saturn Outlook SUVs. These vehicles were previously repaired for this defect under recall 14V-266. The subject vehicle population is approximately 1.3 million vehicles. Special Coverage N192219480, issued in June 2019, addressed the subject defect in vehicles that previously received the recall remedy repair for subject recall 14V-266. The Special Coverage allows for component replacement for 12 years or 180,000 miles from the initial sale date, whichever comes first. Special Coverage N192219480 instructed service technicians to inspect the driver’s seat belt anchor cable for any damage to the protective sleeve and if damage was observed, the cable was replaced with a new sleeve as well as a new closeout piece that relocated the cable to mitigate the subject condition. In view of the Special Coverage conducted by General Motors, the high detectability of the subject failure, and the low rate of occurrence, this Engineering Analysis is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov. Please see the attached document “EA20-002 Detailed Closing Summary” for more a detailed closing resume summary.

SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGELed to recall 21V245
RQ19003ClosedRecall Query

Seat Belt Anchor Cable Failure

Opened May 28, 2019
Closed Aug 31, 2020

On May 19, 2014, General Motors LLC (GM) notified the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) that it would conduct Safety Recall 14V266 to address fatigue and separation of the flexible steel cable that connects the front outboard seat belts to the seat-mounted belt pre-tensioner in 1.4 million model year (MY) 2009-2010 Saturn Outlook, 2009-2014 Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse (Lambda Platform) vehicles.The remedy was to inspect for signs of damage and replace pre-tensioner anchor cables as needed. Re-work was conducted to relocate the pre-tensioner anchor cable out of the occupant entry path. ODI has subsequently received four (4) Vehicle Owners Questionnaires (VOQ) reporting anchor cable separations with no apparent warning in covered vehicles after the Recall 14V266 remedy had been applied.ODI opened RQ19-003 to assess the effectiveness of the actions GM took in Recall 14V266 and review the full warranty and complaint data related to seat belt anchor cable separations and replacements. ODI continues to receive occasional cable failure complaints both for the subject vehicles and other GM models and model years that have also been previously recalled addressing this condition.Although the cable separation complaint rate is very low, over the past three years ODI has received two (2) additional VOQ?s citing belt cable separations for Lambda platform vehicles outside the scope of recall 14V266, (11217092, 11118075) and complaints for other GM models covered in a number of similar Safety Recalls:* 15V269, 2011-12 Chevrolet Malibu (11181115, 11288168); * 16V209, 2014-15 Silverado 1500, Sierra 1500 (11254364, 10935183, 10953851, 11025376, 11282043, 11288701, 11309884); and * 16V518 2014-16 Caprice Police Pursuit, SS (10905644, 10990669, 11340893).ODI's review of GM's data confirms the low potential failure rate for the vehicles covered by recall 14V266. However, ODI believes that complainants may not recognize accumulating cable fatigue damage from the visual cues available in routine vehicle use.ODI is upgrading RQ19-003 to an Engineering Analysis to more closely assess seat belt conditions and strength levels in the field. This work will include the collection of seat belt samples from a wider range of recalled and peer vehicles for detailed analysis and testing.The ODI reports (VOQs) associated with this RQ19-003 can be viewed at NHTSA.gov under the following reference numbers: 11144704, 11076704, 11185619, 11151922, 11164011, 10967518, 11113486, 11115648

SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE
AQ10001ClosedAudit Query

Fleet Vehicle Recall Completion Audit

Opened Nov 18, 2010
Closed Dec 28, 2015

On November 18, 2010, NHTSA's Recall Management Division (RMD) opened an audit query (AQ10-001) to investigate recall remedy completion by rental car companies on safety recall campaigns.It was expected to provide the agency an indication of how completely and how quickly rental car fleets perform necessary recall-related remedies on the vehicles owned and then rented/leased for use on the roadways.RMD queried three (3) major motor vehicle manufacturers (Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors) and requested data regarding completion figures for fifteen (15) discreet safety recalls.Analysis of this data demonstrated that rental car recalls completion was neither complete nor consistent.The rental car companies representing the largest market share in the industry were then queried as to their respective policies for the rental, lease, and sale of vehicles with open recalls.The data and responses from the manufacturers and the rental car companies can be found in the document repository by accessing the ?Associated Documents link above.In December 2015, Congress enacted the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.One section of the Act prohibits rental car companies from renting, leasing, or selling motor vehicles subject to open safety recalls.With the passage of the FAST Act and its prohibition, there is no continuing need for the agency to investigate rental car recall completions.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The agency reserves the right to open any future investigations, including audits of individual recalls, or groups of recalls, or rental car companies, to examine more closely safety recalls performance and completion issues in this area.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Recent owner complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA, shown in the owner's own words

Driver assistanceEngineFuel system
Filed Jan 18, 2026

Limp mode. It doesn't have speed only goes about 10-20 mph, doesn't give any gas it'll stall act as if it wants to shut down. Transmission Shift Cable. Stalls want let me get gas or nothing slowing down in traffic, it just gives up. No. yes. others Check engine light, Stabilitrak/traction control system, ABS sensor Whenever the check engine light came early part of December.

NHTSA ID
11711721
Incident
Jan 18, 2026
Engine
Filed Jan 25, 2024

I just bought the car from sb auto . The car I had for 4 days wasn't making funny nosies nothing. The timing went when I was driving the car it came to a dead stop lost power steering . Had me and my son in the car thankfully I was Turning into a complex when it happened. It's got 159163 miles

NHTSA ID
11567801
Incident
Sep 6, 2023
Powertrain (other)
Filed Aug 23, 2023

The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that when she started her vehicle and shifted into drive (D) and depressed the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact stated that she attempted to drive the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to exceed 20 MPH. The contact stated that the check engine and TPMS warning lights were illuminated. The contact parked the vehicle nearby her residence. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed and had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

NHTSA ID
11540277
Incident
Aug 15, 2023
Mileage
110,000 mi
ElectricalPowertrain (other)Steering
Filed Apr 24, 2023

I bought the car in August of last year and drove it for about 3 days before it started giving me problems. First incident I was driving my children home from the hairdresser and the car completely went out us on the highway, after repeated attempts for a half hour or so I was able to start it and drive it back home very slowly..this happened twice I went to get it diagnosed and codes came up for crank shaft sensor and o2 sensor, before I could even get that fixed more problems came up, the steering wheel began to become stiff and almost impossible to turn, while picking my son up from school I was trying to pull away from the curb in the drop off spot and almost hit another car and a child because the steering wheel stiffened up on me!!! I was told I would need an entire steering rack!!! ...also the key has gotten stuck in the ignition and wouldn't start and I had to have it towed to a mechanic for that as well. Driving up hill one day I lost power that made it seem like it was stuck in low, then we lost reverse altogether as well as the ability to climb hills. I got the transmission repaired, barely made it home before it started doing the exact same thing, no reverse and won't go up hills, so I had to get it towed back to the shop to fix it once again, now I find out that the computer went bad as well and was causing the car to perform in neutral. This car has given me nothing but problems since I bought it! It is very dangerous to be on the road! I don't understand how they're even still in circulation!! This is by far the worst experience I've ever had with a vehicle! Upon doing research online I seen that there were HUNDREDS of people with these cars experiencing the same problems. Something has to be done!! I had the car almost a year and only got about a week's worth of use!!

NHTSA ID
11518764
Incident
Sep 3, 2022
Engine
Filed Jul 11, 2022

I bought my car and not even a month later I was driving off the interstate and it shut down on me. I had it towed to my house and it won’t start anymore. The car makes a funny clickin noise. It could have killed me if I would have wrecked.

NHTSA ID
11473430
Incident
Jul 11, 2022
AirbagsElectricalPowertrain (other)
Filed Apr 1, 2022

Wiring failing, abs won't work, track control not working, reverse camera, stable track,

NHTSA ID
11459250
Incident
Apr 1, 2022
Filed Nov 23, 2021
Fire reported

The car appeared to have lost power, not while entering the freeway. I pressed on the gas, but it made a loud sound and barely moved. I then saw smoke, pulled over and the car cut off. The car continued to smoke. I opened the hood, and it was a fire under it. Prior to driving, the check engine light was on.

NHTSA ID
11441528
Incident
Nov 23, 2021
Airbags
Filed Nov 20, 2021

Airbag “Service Airbag” light appears on dash intermittently.

NHTSA ID
11441133
Incident
Nov 19, 2021

Manufacturer communications

A bulletin sent by a manufacturer to its dealers. Not a recall, and repairs are not necessarily free.

13598

New Vehicle Monitoring Programs Section in IVH

PIC5650M

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an intermittent no crank, no start, or start stall concern with the security light coming on. Technician may find Diagnostic Trouble Codes B3055, B3060, B3935, C0750, C0755, C0760, C0765, and/or C0775.

PIP5601C

This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.

PIT5074R

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about the use of J-35616-64B and Mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.

PIT5074R

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about the use of J-35616-64B and Mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.

PIT5074R

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about the use of J-35616-64B and Mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.

Manufacturers file copies of the bulletins they send to dealers with NHTSA. These often describe diagnostic or repair procedures for a known condition. They are not recalls: repairs described in a bulletin are usually only free if the vehicle is still under warranty or the manufacturer has extended coverage.

Compare model years

Complaint and recall counts across every year of this model

Chevrolet Traverse by model year
YearComplaintsRecallsInvestigationsIssue Index
2026201052.4
20251710043.2
20241290043.1
2023852056.4
2022951051.0
2021863057.6
20202178060.4
20194003056.2
20184542052.6
20173603052.5
20162915050.5
20153135051.7
20145477255.2
20131614255.4
20123545255.1
20116085254.3
20106685255.0
2009Viewing4488358.4
2008000

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers. Older model years have had longer for reports to accumulate.