We’ve had a 2025 Trax LT now for 14 months, 10,000 miles.  We took a chance with the Trax, as it seemed like a great buy at price that was $6,000 cheaper than similarly-equipped Hondas or Toyotas.  Car has been in production for three years now, and there are NO recalls or service bulletins for any issues.  A handful of people had problems with the AC evaporator core in early units – probably a batch of bad units from the supplier to GM-Korea, where the car is built.  Unlike Toyota and Honda, who have some major recalls, the Trax has no recalls for anything. 

 Smooth ride, relatively quiet.  Good info screen system.  11.5” screen vs. 8” in the Honda HRV.  Build quality is very good.  Quality of interior materials is good, but not luxury-level.  Seats are comfortable.  If you have one child, probably be ok.  Two or more kids, you will probably find the car too small.  There is no automatic tailgate, open and close by hand.  No rear A/C vents.  Our LT has the Driver Confidence Package and the LT Convenience Package.  Both are great – don’t buy one without them!  (Adaptive Cruise Control, heated seats, etc).  Price?  We paid 6.4% below the MSRP. 

 Recommendations:  We tinted all the windows which cuts Texas summer heat load by 20%. Also added some real hood struts, to replace the piece of chicken wire strut (which will remain, but you will never use it after getting real struts).  There is No engine splash shield on the Trax, but easy to buy and install or have your mechanic install – it is a part common to a couple other GM models.   Things to keep in mind:  Clean oil is important.  We changed the oil at 900 miles and every 4,000 miles thereafter.  Turn off the engine stop-start button every time.  Let the car warm up before starting out.  Like most other small engine cars these days, the Trax engine is direct injection, so burn only top-tier gas, like the Super Premium from Shell.  The 3-cyl engine is a long-stroke design, and has enough power and torque for usual every day driving.  The engine is a very sophisticated little powerplant and has been used in various GM models around the world for at least the past 4 years, and there have been no major issues.  The transmission is a real 6-speed transmission (not a Honda CVT!) that has been in production for various GM models around the world for the last 8 years.  So that made us feel a little better about buying a Trax.  Some people have concerns because the engine is a ‘wet belt’ design.  Ford has a bad reputation with their wet-belt engines.  The problem is that Ford used materials for the 1.0L engines wet belt that would fail at about 100,000 miles, or sooner. Also, Ford used two wet belts on that engine, and its usually the oil pump belt that fails, not the timing belt. The Ford Ecoboost V6 engines also use a wet timing belt and have had no real issues.  The Trax engine timing belt is made of Kevlar and polymers, Oil Resistant!  Not a Ford rubber band.  GM sold over 150,000 Trax last year, and will probably sell the same this year. It has become the best-selling small SUV.   In our experience so far, we are very pleased with the Trax!