Chevrolet Trax vs Toyota Corolla Cross: which is more reliable?

The Chevrolet Trax and the Toyota Corolla Cross are level on the federal record — 74/100 against 72/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.

The record, side by side

Chevrolet Trax
Chevrolet Trax · Wikimedia Commons

Chevrolet Trax

74/100 mean
  • 10 model years scored
  • 932 owner complaints on record
  • about 25 complaints per year on the road
  • 20 recall campaigns, 12 safety-critical
  • best year 2022 (94/100) · worst 2024 (44/100)
Toyota Corolla Cross
Toyota Corolla Cross · Wikimedia Commons

Toyota Corolla Cross

72/100 mean
  • 4 model years scored
  • 282 owner complaints on record
  • about 28 complaints per year on the road
  • 6 recall campaigns, 6 safety-critical
  • best year 2022 (86/100) · worst 2023 (35/100)

Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.

Year by year: Trax against Corolla Cross

The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.

YearTraxCorolla Cross Gap
202547 AVOID85 BUY-38
202444 AVOID84 BUY-40
2023—35 AVOID—
202294 BUY86 BUY+8
202194 BUY——
202080 BUY——
201970 BUY——
201884 BUY——
201781 BUY——
201674 BUY——
201576 BUY——

What owners actually complain about

Chevrolet Trax

  • Engine — 261 complaints
  • Electrical System — 239 complaints
  • Unknown Or Other — 151 complaints

Toyota Corolla Cross

  • Engine — 123 complaints
  • Electrical System — 88 complaints
  • Unknown Or Other — 53 complaints

Both nameplates have Engine as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.

Years to avoid on each

Chevrolet Trax — avoid: 2024, 2025.

Toyota Corolla Cross — avoid: 2023.

A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.

What each costs today

A recent used Chevrolet Trax prices at about $30,500 and a Toyota Corolla Cross at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 30.0 against 32.0 MPG combined.

Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.

FAQ

Is the Chevrolet Trax or the Toyota Corolla Cross more reliable?

On the NHTSA record the Chevrolet Trax scores 74/100 against the Toyota Corolla Cross's 72/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.

Which Chevrolet Trax and Toyota Corolla Cross years should I avoid?

Chevrolet Trax: 2024, 2025. Toyota Corolla Cross: 2023. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.

What goes wrong on the Chevrolet Trax and the Toyota Corolla Cross?

The largest complaint group on the Chevrolet Trax is Engine (261 complaints); on the Toyota Corolla Cross it is Engine (123).

Is the Chevrolet Trax or the Toyota Corolla Cross cheaper to own?

A recent used Chevrolet Trax prices at about $30,500 and a Toyota Corolla Cross at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.

More head-to-heads