Kia Sportage vs Chevrolet Trax: which is more reliable?
The Kia Sportage and the Chevrolet Trax are level on the federal record — 73/100 against 74/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Kia Sportage
- 15 model years scored
- 2,540 owner complaints on record
- about 26 complaints per year on the road
- 45 recall campaigns, 26 safety-critical
- best year 2022 (91/100) · worst 2023 (33/100)
Chevrolet Trax
- 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)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Sportage against Trax
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.
What owners actually complain about
Kia Sportage
- Engine — 1,428 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 368 complaints
- Electrical System — 336 complaints
Chevrolet Trax
- Engine — 261 complaints
- Electrical System — 239 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 151 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
Kia Sportage — avoid: 2017, 2023.
Chevrolet Trax — avoid: 2024, 2025.
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 Kia Sportage prices at about $30,500 and a Chevrolet Trax at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 25.0 against 30.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Kia Sportage or the Chevrolet Trax more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Chevrolet Trax scores 74/100 against the Kia Sportage's 73/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Kia Sportage and Chevrolet Trax years should I avoid?
Kia Sportage: 2017, 2023. Chevrolet Trax: 2024, 2025. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Kia Sportage and the Chevrolet Trax?
The largest complaint group on the Kia Sportage is Engine (1,428 complaints); on the Chevrolet Trax it is Engine (261).
Is the Kia Sportage or the Chevrolet Trax cheaper to own?
A recent used Kia Sportage prices at about $30,500 and a Chevrolet Trax at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.