The Chevy Trax. Bought my wife one brand new a couple years back, mid trim level and right off the truck with less than a mile on it. It was $23K, cheaper than some of the USED cars we were looking at. She loves it, it has CarPlay and OnStar and a few safety options but otherwise is very bare-bones and really feels like it was made with a focus on just driving. We haven’t had any issues with it so far.
Bought a new 2027 Chevrolet Bolt a few months ago. I paid $26,300 out the door, but I think the base model can be had for a few thousand less. It's a pretty no-frills car, just no Android Auto which was disappointing but the built in Google Maps navigation is a good enough substitute. I'm happy with it and it's saved me a bundle in fuel.
I went to look for a small pickup like the older ford rangers. The sales guy apologetically told me all they had on the lot was a Chevy Colorado work truck version. I ended up getting it. Fanciest version of a work truck I’ve ever seen! CarPlay, and backup cam we’re really the only things I wanted. $25,000 less than the next model that I would’ve had to wait a year for it to be built.
The engines are absolute gutless turds, the transmissions suck and the infotainment screen glitches out and the dashboard screens are notorious for failing, which makes it impossible to read your mileage.
I begged my mom to find an old, clean, low mileage compact SUV like a RAV4, CRV or even a Tracker and my (long retired) used-car salesman father sold her on buying a new ‘19 Trax with a warranty. Guess who wishes they listened to me 70K miles later?
It’s the Chevy Sonic of compact SUVs, the absolute cheapest commuter car that GM could make for a profit.
Seconding that first paragraph. My dad bought a Trax and the infotainment system has been an absolute nightmare. Locks up, can't manual reboot, disconnects Andoid Auto all the time... just horrible.
I should clarify that I bought a ‘25, so a current gen trax not a previous gen one. It has a different infotainment system and different powertrain, it doesn’t have much more power but the vehicle itself is much lighter so it has a lot of agility. Feels a lot like driving an older Honda civic back when they were fun to drive still. Only been a couple of years though so can’t speak on the reliability.
ETA: low mileage RAV4s in good condition sell for $40-50K, so literally twice the price of the vehicle we are talking about.
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u/NoForever3645 10d ago
The Chevy Trax. Bought my wife one brand new a couple years back, mid trim level and right off the truck with less than a mile on it. It was $23K, cheaper than some of the USED cars we were looking at. She loves it, it has CarPlay and OnStar and a few safety options but otherwise is very bare-bones and really feels like it was made with a focus on just driving. We haven’t had any issues with it so far.