2020 Chevrolet Trax

The 2020 Trax (first generation, pre-2021 engine update) uses the 1.4L turbo rated 138 hp, the only engine offered and below the segment band floor.

Peak torque of the sole 1.4L turbo; low for the segment even though it arrives early in the rev range.

Consumer Reports timed the 138 hp FWD Trax at 9.3 s, and performance databases put the LT AWD at 9.5 s, among the slowest in the class.

The small turbo has useful low-end torque but feels strained at highway speeds and gets buzzy when pushed; reviewers call it underpowered.

The conventional six-speed automatic shifts smoothly in normal driving but is slow to kick down, adding to the sluggish feel.

Chevrolet does not recommend trailer towing with the first-generation Trax, so it carries no tow rating.

On-demand AWD is optional on every trim (LS, LT, Premier), but it is a basic reactive system with no terrain modes.

A car-based subcompact crossover with about 6.2 in of ground clearance and no off-road hardware or trims; built for pavement.

One engine and one transmission for every trim, with no hybrid or electric option; only the FWD/AWD choice varies.

The EPA combined rating for the volume FWD configuration is above average for a gas subcompact SUV.

EPA city rating for the FWD Trax.

EPA highway rating for the FWD Trax.

The small 14-gallon tank limits range despite decent economy; computed as tank × EPA combined MPG.

EPA's current-price annual fuel cost estimate for the FWD Trax on regular gasoline.

Every trim runs on regular unleaded gasoline, with no premium requirement.

NHTSA rates the 2020 Trax five stars overall, with five stars for frontal and side impacts and four for rollover. 2020 is a carry-over year of the first-generation (2015–2022) Trax.

The Trax rates Good in driver-side small overlap, original moderate overlap, original side, roof strength and head restraints. It rates Acceptable in passenger-side small overlap, where the belt allowed excessive forward excursion, and in the updated side test. With no autobrake and Poor headlights, it earned no award.

No 2020 Trax offers automatic emergency braking or adaptive cruise on any trim. Forward Collision Alert and Lane Departure Warning are standard on the Premier and optional on the volume LT through Driver Confidence II. Blind-zone and rear cross-traffic alerts are likewise an LT option, and the base LS gets none of these.

The 2020 Trax has warning-only forward collision alert with no autobrake, which earns IIHS's lowest Basic rating. Pedestrian detection is not available.

Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert are standard on the Premier and optional on the LT. The base LS cannot get them. Both are alert-only, with no braking intervention and no safe-exit alert.

Only a camera-based lane departure warning is offered, standard on the Premier and optional on the LT. It has no steering intervention, lane keeping or centering.

Every 2020 Trax has conventional cruise control only. Adaptive cruise and highway assist are not offered on any trim.

Super Cruise was never offered on the Trax, and it lacks adaptive cruise and lane keeping, so there is no hands-free option.

The Trax uses halogen reflector headlamps with LED DRLs and no automatic high beams. In IIHS's small-SUV evaluation, the unchanged first-generation lamps were rated Poor, with inadequate low-beam reach in the curve tests. The 2020 IIHS page carries no separate headlight rating.

The tall, upright cabin gives good forward and side sightlines. Thick rear pillars and a small rear window limit the view out the back. A rear camera is standard and rear park assist is available, but there is no surround-view camera.

IIHS rates the LATCH hardware Acceptable. Both outboard positions have full LATCH, but the lower anchors sit deep in the seat. The center position has a tether only, and the narrow rear bench realistically holds two car seats.

The 2020 Trax is a carry-over year within the 2015–2022 first generation and seats five in two rows on LS, LT and Premier.

The tall, upright body gives generous front headroom for a subcompact. The first-gen body dimensions are unchanged from 2017 through 2022.

Front legroom is on the short side and the cabin is narrow (54.1 in shoulder room), so taller drivers feel hemmed in.

The boxy roofline gives good rear headroom, the rear seat's one real strength.

Rear legroom is adequate but tight for adults, and 52.8 in of rear shoulder room makes three across a squeeze.

A two-row subcompact crossover with no third row.

Cargo space behind the rear seat is small even for the subcompact class. HR-V and Kicks both offer more.

Maximum cargo room is below the SUV band floor. A fold-flat front passenger seat helps with long items, though.

It has several useful touches for its size: dual upper dash bins, an under-seat storage tray, a fold-flat front passenger seat and a 120V outlet on LT/Premier. The console storage is small, though.

The soft seats stay comfortable on longer drives, and in 2020 the LT and Premier offer a six-way power driver's seat and the Premier adds heated front seats. The LS still offers little adjustment, and the narrow cabin and tight rear bench limit comfort for adults.

The short wheelbase and firm tuning produce a choppy, busy ride over broken pavement, and the car feels unsettled at highway speed.

Road noise is constant and the 138-hp 1.4T sounds strained under load, so the cabin is noticeably louder than newer segment rivals.

Every trim gets single-zone manual climate control. Heated front seats are standard only on the Premier, and no trim offers a heated wheel, automatic climate or ventilated seats. Remote start is available on the upper trims.

The 2020 LS FWD, with the 1.4L turbo four and six-speed automatic, was the entry trim at $22,295 including destination. That is below the floor of the SUV band.

The LT was the mainstream retail trim of the 2020 lineup. At about $24,460 delivered it sits below the $27,000 floor of the SUV band.

No 2020-specific cost-to-own figure could be retrieved, so this blends estimates for the nameplate. The same approach was used for the other first-generation years, which share the 1.4L turbo and six-speed drivetrain.

The 2020 Trax was sold new with heavy discounts and at high fleet volume, and it has depreciated steeply. KBB records 47% lost in three years and lists poor resale as a weakness, so 48% retained at five years is consistent with its observed curve.

GM's 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper coverage is the industry minimum and the bottom of the band. The Hyundai Kona and Kia Soul offer 5 years/60,000 miles.

Powertrain coverage of 5 years/60,000 miles is the floor of the band. It is half the 10-year/100,000-mile term Hyundai and Kia give their subcompact SUVs.

Chevrolet included one maintenance visit in the first year/12,000 miles, plus 5 years/60,000 miles of roadside assistance and courtesy transportation. OnStar and the 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot were trial subscriptions only.

$24,460 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (48% retained, or about $11,741) leaves about $12,719 in depreciation. Add the projected $6,000 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $18,719 in total.

The 2020 Trax is a late carry-over of the first generation (2015–2022). J.D. Power scores its quality & reliability at 85 ('Great'), but U.S. News and RepairPal place the Trax only mid-pack in its class. The signals are good but mixed.

Chevrolet sits in the upper half of recent dependability studies without reaching the top tier: it tied for 3rd among mass-market brands in the 2024 J.D. Power VDS and placed 5th overall in 2025.

No NHTSA safety campaign covers the 2020 Trax. It misses the top band because earlier cars of the same generation had recalls, including welded front lower-control-arm joints on 2017–2019 cars and airbag-module campaigns.

The 2020 Trax uses GM's long-running 1.4L turbo four with a six-speed automatic. Many of these engines reach high mileage, but the family has known age-related faults: turbo problems, PCV/valve-cover and coolant leaks, and oil consumption past about 100k miles. The history is mixed, with no catastrophic pattern.

Even after the 2017 interior refresh, the Trax cabin is mostly hard plastic on the dash and doors. Reviewers rated it behind rivals such as the HR-V, Kona and Seltos for perceived quality.

This Korea-built design was well into its production run by 2020 and draws few assembly complaints. The control-arm weld recall ended with 2019 builds, and electrical faults remain the most-reported owner issue.

With roughly 2,800 US franchised dealers, Chevrolet has one of the densest service networks in the country. Its service satisfaction is good but trails the mass-market leaders.

The first generation had a long production run, and its 1.4T engine is shared with the Cruze, Sonic and Encore. That keeps parts cheap and plentiful with a deep aftermarket, and routine running costs are below average.

Every 2020 trim uses a 7-inch touchscreen, and no larger screen was offered.

2020 is the year the Trax moved from MyLink to Chevrolet Infotainment 3, which is simple and reasonably responsive and keeps physical climate knobs. The small screen still looks dated next to rivals.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on all trims but work over a USB cable only. Wireless projection was not offered on the first-generation Trax.

No 2020 trim lists built-in navigation; voice control is a basic Bluetooth/phone-assistant passthrough. Owners depend on phone projection.

The volume LT gets a basic six-speaker stereo with Bose seven-speaker audio optional; the Premier makes the Bose system standard. The Bose upgrade is decent for the class but not premium-grade.

Motorcycle-inspired analog gauges with a 3.5-inch driver information display; no full-digital or configurable cluster is available.

The Trax predates GM's Vehicle Intelligence Platform, so it gets no meaningful over-the-air updates. Software updates are done at the dealer.

The myChevrolet app with OnStar offers remote lock/unlock, remote start on equipped cars, vehicle locate and diagnostics, and a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot is standard. Most functions need a subscription and there is no digital key.

It has only two USB ports, no wireless charging on any trim, and a 120V outlet on the upper trims. That is thin for 2020.

The LS uses a traditional key with a remote fob. Proximity keyless entry and push-button start come on the LT (per trim listings) and Premier. There is no phone-as-key or hands-free liftgate.

A rear camera is standard. Rear park assist, blind-zone alert and rear cross-traffic alert are an LT package option and standard on the Premier, and no surround view is offered.

No head-up display is offered on any 2020 Trax.

The high roof and upright doors make loading a car seat easy and LATCH rates Acceptable, but the rear seat is short on legroom and narrow, and 18.7 cu ft of cargo space barely fits a stroller plus groceries.

It earns five NHTSA stars overall, but automatic emergency braking and lane keeping are not offered on any trim. Forward-collision and lane-departure warnings plus blind-zone alert are LT options and Premier standard. That is a clear gap for a family car.

The tight rear bench, lack of rear vents or rear USB, noisy cabin and small cargo hold make it a poor multi-hour family car.

Light steering and a compact footprint make it easy in town, but the choppy ride and the 138-hp engine's weak highway merging add fatigue.

EPA 26/31 mpg city/highway (28 combined, FWD) on regular fuel. Consumables are cheap, but fuel economy trails Kicks and HR-V.

At 167.2 in long with a roughly 35 ft turning circle and light steering, it is easy to thread through the city. Rear park assist is an LT option and Premier standard.

It is not rated to tow and its cargo area is small, so it is not meaningfully work-capable.

The mature Gamma II platform and 1.4T are cheap to fix, but the powertrain is lightly built and the interior plastics are budget-grade. It is not a work tool.

A 120V outlet on upper trims and a fold-flat passenger seat are the only work-oriented provisions, and there is no upfit ecosystem.

It is a poor highway companion: noisy, darty and choppy, with no adaptive cruise or lane assist. A 14-gallon tank and 28 mpg combined give about 390 miles of range, which is decent.

Optional AWD and roof rails help on gravel and in snow, but ground clearance is only about 6.2 in and it cannot tow a small trailer.

The 60/40 folding rear seat and fold-flat front passenger seat let it carry long items, but total volume is small and there is no factory hitch.

It feels nimble at city speeds, but the tall, short-wheelbase body leans and feels nervous on curvy roads and at highway speed.

Light and quick steering helps in town, but it is numb and darty on the highway and needs constant small corrections.

Four-wheel discs give adequate, predictable stops for a light subcompact. Reviews raise no braking complaints, but no standout instrumented distances were found.

The 138-hp 1.4T and conventional six-speed automatic are smooth in normal driving, but the 2020 engine (before the 2021 bump to 155 hp) feels underpowered when merging, and kickdown hesitates.

The small turbo four drones and sounds coarse when worked hard to merge or climb.

The compact footprint gives a tight turning circle for an SUV. The first-gen chassis is unchanged, and sources agree on about 35 ft.

The upright seating and big glass give good sightlines and easy entry, and a six-way power driver's seat is available on LT/Premier. The LS seat has little adjustment and the cabin is narrow.

It is an appliance-like runabout. The nimble city feel is its only playful trait, while the weak 138-hp engine and choppy, darty chassis leave little to enjoy.

Every 2020 Trax gets the new Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system with a 7-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot and a rear camera. However, automatic emergency braking was not offered on any trim, and forward-collision and lane-departure warnings, blind-zone alert and heated seats were options on LT or Premier only.

At $22,300–$30,400 delivered, the Trax pairs a low price and a punchy 155-hp turbo with deep 2020 discounts. Against that, its cabin quality, safety tech and ride trail newer rivals, and poor resale erodes the saving.

The lineup has three trims (LS, LT and Premier), each available with FWD or AWD, plus LT appearance packages such as the new Midnight Edition. There is only one engine and transmission.

2020 was the Trax's second-best US sales year, at 106,299 units, only slightly below the 2019 peak despite the pandemic. That put it among the top sellers in the subcompact SUV class, although part of the volume went to fleets.

Chevrolet is a neutral mainstream badge. The first-generation Trax was known mostly as a budget and rental-fleet crossover, and its weak resale reflects that.

The 2020 Trax was among Chevrolet's most heavily incentivized models. Offers included 15% cash back in the mid-2020 Open Road event, 0% APR for 84 months, and a $2,300 bonus on remaining 2020 stock into early 2021.

2020 was the sixth US model year of a generation that went on sale for 2015, with its only refresh for 2017. The 2020 update was limited to infotainment, and the newer Trailblazer arrived for 2021 in the slot just above the Trax.

Reviewers found the Trax practical and fairly priced but faulted its ride, cabin materials and limited safety tech, and it ranked in the lower half of the class. It won no awards or comparison tests.