2021 Chevrolet Trax

The 2021 Trax is a first-generation change year. It launched with the carry-over 138 hp port-injected 1.4L turbo (LUV) and switched mid-year to the 155 hp direct-injected LE2. The LE2 version is scored as representative because it is the configuration Chevrolet carried into 2022.

Peak torque of the mid-year LE2 1.4L turbo. The early-build LUV made 148 lb-ft.

No major outlet ran an instrumented test of the 155 hp car. Performance databases estimate about 9 s, and Consumer Reports timed the 138 hp FWD Trax at 9.3 s.

The small turbo makes usable low-end torque but runs out of breath at highway speeds and sounds coarse when pushed. Reviewers call acceleration merely adequate.

The conventional six-speed automatic shifts smoothly in normal driving but is slow to kick down for passing.

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

On-demand AWD is optional across the LS, LT and Premier trims. It is a basic reactive system with no terrain modes or torque vectoring.

This is a car-based subcompact crossover with about 6.2 in of ground clearance and no off-road hardware, trim or drive modes. It is built for pavement.

At any point in the year there was one engine and one transmission for every trim, with no hybrid or EV option. Only the FWD/AWD choice varies.

EPA combined rating for the representative FWD LE2 configuration, mid-pack for a gas subcompact SUV. Early-build LUV cars were rated 1 MPG higher combined.

EPA city rating for the FWD LE2 Trax.

EPA highway rating for the FWD LE2 Trax.

The small 14-gallon tank limits range despite reasonable economy. Range is calculated from the EPA combined rating because fueleconomy.gov has no range field for gas cars.

EPA annual fuel cost estimate for the FWD LE2 Trax on regular gasoline.

Every 2021 Trax configuration runs on regular unleaded, with no premium requirement.

NHTSA rates the 2021 Trax five stars overall in both FWD and AWD form, with five stars frontal and side and four stars for rollover. 2021 is a late carry-over year of the first-generation (2015–2022) Trax.

The Trax has Good ratings in driver-side small overlap, moderate overlap, original side, roof strength and head restraints. It is only Acceptable in passenger-side small overlap and in the updated side test. With no front crash prevention offered and no rated headlights, it earned no award.

No 2021 Trax trim offers automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning or adaptive cruise. Those features left the lineup when Chevrolet dropped the Premier trim for 2021. The only assists are blind-zone and rear cross-traffic alerts, and only as an LT option. That leaves it far behind segment rivals that made AEB standard.

AEB was not offered on any 2021 Trax, so IIHS has no front crash prevention rating for it.

Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert come only in the optional $495 LT Driver Confidence Package and are unavailable on the base LS. Both only warn; neither brakes or steers, and there is no safe-exit alert.

The 2021 Trax offers no lane assistance of any kind: no lane departure warning, lane keeping or lane centering.

Every 2021 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 the car has no forward radar or camera-based assists, so no hands-free option exists.

The Trax uses halogen reflector headlamps with LED DRLs and no automatic high beams. IIHS rated the unchanged first-generation lamps Poor in its small-SUV headlight evaluation, with inadequate low-beam reach. IIHS does not list a separate 2021 headlight rating.

The tall, upright cabin gives a good view forward and to the sides. 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 on the LT, 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 seat has a tether anchor only, and the narrow rear bench realistically holds two car seats.

The 2021 Trax seats five in two rows on both LS and LT. It is a carry-over year late in the 2015–2022 first generation.

The tall, upright body gives generous front headroom for a subcompact.

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, Kicks and the newer Trailblazer all 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 glovebox-style upper dash bins, and on the LT an under-seat storage tray, a cargo shelf, a fold-flat front passenger seat and a 120V outlet. The console storage is small, though.

The soft seats stay comfortable on longer drives, but the LS offers little adjustment, a power driver's seat comes only in a package, 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 1.4T sounds strained under load, so the cabin is noticeably louder than newer segment rivals.

Every 2021 trim gets single-zone manual climate control. Heated front seats come only through an LT package, and no trim offers a heated wheel, automatic climate or ventilated seats. Remote start is standard on the LT.

For 2021 the Trax was a two-trim lineup, and the LS FWD with the 1.4L turbo four and six-speed automatic was the entry point at $22,595 delivered, below the floor of the SUV band.

The LT is the mainstream retail trim, adding cruise control, remote start and the option packages most buyers chose. At about $24,400 delivered it sits below the $27,000 floor of the SUV band.

No 2021-specific cost-to-own figure could be retrieved, so this blends nameplate estimates for the first-generation car. The 1.4L turbo and six-speed are simple, but an older design carries some repair exposure.

The 2021 model is now five years old, so observed used values stand in for a projection: KBB private-party values sit at about half of original MSRP and dealer retail near 57%, averaging around 53%.

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

Powertrain coverage of 5 years/60,000 miles is the floor of the band and 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 Wi-Fi hotspot were trial-only; GM's 8-year OnStar Basics inclusion did not arrive until the 2025 model year.

$24,395 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (53% retained, or about $12,929) leaves about $11,466 in depreciation. Add the projected $6,000 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $17,466 in total.

2021 is a late carry-over year of the first-generation Trax (2015–2022). J.D. Power gives it a quality & reliability score of 85 ('Great'), clearly ahead of the 2022's 78. RepairPal ranks it only mid-pack in its class, so 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 2021 Trax. It falls short of the top band because the first generation had earlier campaigns, including welded front lower-control-arm recalls and airbag-module software recalls on 2017–2019 cars.

The 2021 Trax uses GM's long-running 1.4L turbo four (155 hp / 177 lb-ft) with a six-speed automatic. Plenty 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. It is a mixed history with no catastrophic pattern.

By 2021 the Trax cabin design was nearly a decade old and mostly hard plastic on the dash and doors. Reviewers rated it behind newer rivals such as the HR-V, Kona and Seltos.

By 2021 this Korea-built design had years of production refinement behind it and draws few assembly complaints. Electrical faults are 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 ran for years, 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.

Both 2021 trims use a 7-inch Chevrolet Infotainment 3 touchscreen. No larger or navigation screen was offered once the Premier trim was dropped for 2021.

Chevrolet Infotainment 3 is simple and reasonably responsive, and physical climate knobs remain, but the small screen and dated graphics look old next to 2021 rivals.

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

No 2021 trim offers built-in navigation, and voice control is a basic Bluetooth/phone-assistant passthrough. Owners depend on phone projection.

The only audio system is a basic six-speaker stereo with SiriusXM. The Bose upgrade left the lineup along with the Premier trim.

Motorcycle-inspired analog gauges with a small 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 Connected Access offers remote lock/unlock, remote start (LT), vehicle locate and diagnostics, but 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 LT. That is thin for 2021.

The LS has a traditional key with a remote fob. The LT adds remote start, and keyless open/push-button start comes only through the LT Convenience Package. 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 LT options only, and no surround view is offered.

No head-up display is offered on any 2021 Trax.

The high roof and upright doors make loading a car seat easy, 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, but no 2021 trim offers automatic emergency braking or lane-keeping, and blind-zone alert is an LT option. That is a clear safety gap for a family car next to 2021 rivals.

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, a compact footprint and a torquey-down-low turbo make it easy in town, but the choppy ride and weak highway merging add fatigue.

EPA 24/32 mpg city/highway (FWD) runs on regular fuel. Consumables are cheap, but fuel economy trails Kicks, HR-V and Trailblazer.

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 optional only.

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 the LT 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 cruise control only on the LT and no adaptive cruise or lane assist. A 14-gallon tank gives decent but unremarkable range.

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 for the 155-hp car.

The 1.4T's low-end torque and the conventional six-speed automatic are smooth in normal driving, but kickdown hesitates and the engine runs out of breath at highway speeds.

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. Sources agree on about 35 ft.

The upright seating and big glass give good sightlines and easy entry, but the LS seat has little adjustment, the cabin is narrow, and a power seat requires a package.

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

Every 2021 Trax gets 10 airbags, a rear camera, and a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. But no trim offers automatic emergency braking or lane-keeping, which the Kicks, Seltos, HR-V and Chevrolet's own Trailblazer include as standard. Cruise control and remote start are LT-only.

The Trax is cheap, and its 155-hp turbo four is livelier than some rivals' base engines. But at about $22,600–$25,000 delivered it gives up standard safety tech, cabin quality and space. KBB points buyers to the Kia Seltos for better value at similar prices.

The 2021 lineup was cut to two trims, LS and LT, with one engine and a FWD/AWD choice; the Premier was already gone. That is close to take-it-or-leave-it, with a few LT packages for flexibility.

Trax sales fell about 60% in calendar 2021 to 42,590 units, the bottom of its segment by Q4. GM shifted chip-limited production to the newer Trailblazer and wound the aging Trax down.

Chevrolet is a neutral mainstream badge. The first-generation Trax was known mostly as a budget and rental-fleet crossover, which weighs on its image and resale, and owner sentiment is lukewarm.

Early 2021 still brought the usual Chevrolet cash and low-APR offers on the Trax, but as the chip shortage deepened through the year, inventory tightened and discounts shrank industry-wide.

2021 was the seventh US model year of a generation that launched for 2015, with only a 2017 facelift since. The platform was outdated, and GM had already launched the Trailblazer above it.

Reviewers rated the aging Trax near the bottom of the class for space, safety tech and refinement, and recommended newer alternatives. It won no awards or comparison tests.