The 2026 Chevrolet Trax opens at $21,700, or $23,495 once the $1,795 destination charge lands, which keeps it among the least expensive new vehicles sold in the United States. It was also the best-selling vehicle in its segment during 2024, on 200,688 deliveries.
Both of those facts are the reason it deserves a careful look rather than a quick one.
What a buyer gets is a 178.6-inch crossover with 54.1 cubic feet of maximum cargo, a 137-horsepower three-cylinder, a conventional six-speed automatic and front-wheel drive. What a buyer cannot get, at any trim or any price, is all-wheel drive, a tow rating, a different engine, or a complete federal safety score.
And the engine that comes in all five trims is the subject of an unresolved class action filed against General Motors in March 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Pricing runs $21,700 to $25,400 across five trims, plus a $1,795 destination charge that applies to all of them.
- Prices rose for 2026. The LS moved up from the 2025 car’s $20,500 start, and destination climbed $400. Chevrolet added no new standard features, only paint colors, wheel locks and center caps.
- One powertrain, no options. A 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder making 137 hp @ 5,000 rpm and 162 lb-ft @ 2,500 rpm, a six-speed automatic, and front-wheel drive on every trim.
- No all-wheel drive at any price, which separates the Trax from most of its class. The first-generation car offered it through 2022.
- EPA-rated 28 city, 32 highway, 30 combined, with a 393-mile gasoline range. The engine is flex-fuel capable.
- NHTSA has not issued an overall safety score. Frontal crash earned five stars for the driver and four for the passenger, rollover four stars, and the side crash test is unrated.
- The 1.2-liter engine faces a class action filed March 7, 2026, alleging connecting rod failures. The allegations are unproven.
- Cargo is a strength. 54.1 cubic feet maximum and 25.6 behind the rear seats, more than the pricier Buick Envista on the same platform.
Pricing and What Changed for 2026
| Trim | MSRP | With $1,795 destination |
|---|---|---|
| LS | $21,700 | $23,495 |
| 1RS | $23,200 | $24,995 |
| LT | $23,200 | $24,995 |
| 2RS | $25,400 | $27,195 |
| ACTIV | $25,400 | $27,195 |
Five trim names sit at three prices, because 1RS and LT are matched and 2RS and ACTIV are matched. At both of those rungs the choice is styling against equipment rather than more car against less, which the full trim walk covers in detail.
Prices went up for the model year. The 2025 LS started at $20,500, and the destination charge rose $400 to reach $1,795, so the delivered entry price climbed roughly $1,600. Increases on other trims were reported in the $400 to $800 range.
Chevrolet added no new standard equipment in exchange. The changes for 2026 amount to new exterior paint colors, wheel locks and center caps.
Specifications
| Specification | 2026 Chevrolet Trax |
|---|---|
| Engine | 1.2L turbocharged three-cylinder (LIH), flex-fuel capable |
| Power | 137 hp @ 5,000 rpm |
| Torque | 162 lb-ft @ 2,500 rpm |
| Transmission | Six-speed automatic |
| Drivetrain | Front-wheel drive |
| EPA fuel economy | 28 city / 32 highway / 30 combined |
| Driving range | 393 miles gasoline, 288 miles on E85 |
| Fuel tank | 13.2 gallons |
| Fuel type | Regular unleaded |
| Length | 178.6 in |
| Wheelbase | 106.0 in |
| Width (excluding mirrors) | 71.8 in |
| Height | 61.7 in |
| Ground clearance | 7.3 in |
| Cargo, seats up | 25.6 cu ft |
| Cargo, maximum | 54.1 cu ft |
| Curb weight | 2,994 lbs |
| Seating | 5 |
| Towing | Not rated |
| Final assembly | Changwon, South Korea (engine built in Mexico) |
Two entries deserve emphasis. At 178.6 inches the Trax is longer than the Chevrolet Trailblazer that costs more than it, and its 54.1 cubic feet of maximum cargo beats the Buick Envista built on the same platform by 12.1 cubic feet.
The six-speed automatic is worth noting for a different reason. Much of this class has moved to continuously variable transmissions, and a stepped automatic is something a meaningful number of shoppers look for specifically.
What a Loaded Example Costs
Options move this car further than the trim ladder does. A 2026 Trax 1LT carrying four packages documents the arithmetic.
| Line | Price |
|---|---|
| LT base | $23,200 |
| Sunroof Package (power sliding sunroof, wireless charging) | $895 |
| Driver Confidence Package (rear cross traffic alert, blind zone alert, adaptive cruise, rear park assist) | $795 |
| Midnight Edition (17-inch gloss black wheels, blacked-out exterior trim) | $695 |
| LT Convenience Package (heated steering wheel, heated front seats, keyless open) | $595 |
| Destination | $1,795 |
| Total | $27,975 |
That total sits above a base ACTIV and within a few hundred dollars of a front-drive Chevrolet Equinox, which is a larger vehicle. Anyone considering a heavily optioned Trax should price both.
What the Trax Cannot Do
Three absences shape this car more than any feature does.
No all-wheel drive. Not on the ACTIV, not for extra money, not as a dealer add. The Chevrolet Trailblazer offers it for $1,600 to $2,000 and most import rivals charge $1,200 to $1,500, which makes the omission a product decision rather than a class norm. The full explanation is here, including why the question is asked so often.
No tow rating. Chevrolet publishes none. A buyer who needs to pull even a small utility trailer is looking at the wrong vehicle.
No engine choice. Every trim gets the 1.2-liter, and there is no upgrade for buyers who want more than 137 horsepower.
The Engine Question
General Motors faces a class action filed on March 7, 2026 alleging that the 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder is defective. The named plaintiffs’ 2024 Trax suffered a broken connecting rod at 11,581 miles, and the suit covers the Chevrolet Trax and Trailblazer along with the Buick Envista and Encore GX.
The allegations are unproven and the case has not reached a ruling.
What sits alongside it is a public complaint record showing engine failures early in these cars’ lives, documented at roughly 9,500 miles, under 14,000 and 17,000 among others, and replacement engines that ship from South Korea on waits owners have measured in months. Nine complaints against 2024 and 2025 Trax models involve fire.
Context belongs with those numbers. The Trax sells in large volume, and complaint totals track sales, so its raw counts are lower per vehicle than several rivals. The concern is the severity and timing of the failures being reported rather than their frequency. Our full report on the 1.2-liter works through what the data supports and what it does not.
Buyers who want the longer view should also read the year-by-year reliability history, which separates this car from the first-generation Trax sold through 2022 on a different platform and engine.
Safety Ratings Are Incomplete
NHTSA has not assigned the 2026 Trax an overall vehicle score.
| Test | Rating |
|---|---|
| Overall vehicle score | Not rated |
| Frontal crash, driver | 5 stars |
| Frontal crash, passenger | 4 stars |
| Side crash, front seat | Not rated |
| Side crash, rear seat | Not rated |
| Rollover | 4 stars |
Frontal results are solid. The gap is side impact, which has not been tested, and without it no overall score can be calculated. Buyers who weigh crash ratings heavily should treat this as missing information rather than as a poor result.
Standard driver assistance is more complete. Chevy Safety Assist brings automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, following distance indicator, IntelliBeam automatic high beams and forward collision alert. Adaptive cruise control, rear cross traffic alert, blind zone alert and rear park assist arrive in the Driver Confidence Package.
Who It Suits
Buyers who need a new car under $24,000 delivered. The LS at $23,495 including destination is one of the few new vehicles left at that number, with a full safety suite and phone integration.
Buyers who want cargo room for the money. 54.1 cubic feet beats the more expensive Envista by a wide margin and sits close to the Trailblazer’s 54.4.
Buyers who want a conventional automatic. A six-speed rather than a CVT is increasingly rare at this price.
Not for anyone who needs all-wheel drive or towing. Neither exists here at any price, and rivals sell both.
Not for anyone unwilling to carry the engine risk. The litigation is unresolved, replacement engines are slow, and that uncertainty is real even though the failure rate per vehicle is not extreme.
Verdict
The 2026 Trax does the thing Chevrolet needs it to do. It puts a new, warrantied, well-equipped crossover in a driveway for $23,495 delivered, with more cargo space than a Buick costing more and a conventional automatic in a class abandoning them. Being the segment’s best seller on 200,688 deliveries is not an accident.
The gaps are equally plain. All-wheel drive is unavailable at any price in a class where it costs $1,200 to $1,500, there is no published tow rating, and no overall federal safety score exists because the side crash test has not been run. Prices rose this year without a single new standard feature to show for it.
The open question is the engine, and it should be weighed rather than dismissed or inflated. A class action is pending, owners have documented failures well under 20,000 miles, and replacement engines come from South Korea on months-long waits. Per vehicle sold the Trax does not generate unusual complaint volume for its class. What it does carry is an unresolved question that a buyer signs up for, and that is worth pricing into the decision rather than discovering later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a 2026 Chevy Trax?
Pricing runs from $21,700 for the LS to $25,400 for the 2RS and ACTIV, before a $1,795 destination charge that applies to every trim. That makes the entry price $23,495 delivered. A well-optioned LT with four packages reaches $27,975.
Did the 2026 Chevy Trax get a price increase?
Yes. The LS moved up from the 2025 model’s $20,500 starting price, and the destination charge rose $400 to $1,795, so the delivered entry price climbed roughly $1,600. Increases on other trims were reported between $400 and $800. Chevrolet added no new standard features for 2026, only new paint colors, wheel locks and center caps.
What engine does the 2026 Chevy Trax have?
A 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder, GM code LIH, rated at 137 hp @ 5,000 rpm and 162 lb-ft @ 2,500 rpm, paired with a six-speed automatic driving the front wheels. It is the only engine offered, on all five trims, and it is flex-fuel capable. The same engine appears in the Buick Envista and in base Chevrolet Trailblazer and Buick Encore GX models.
What gas mileage does the 2026 Chevy Trax get?
EPA ratings are 28 mpg city, 32 highway and 30 combined for every trim. Gasoline driving range is rated at 393 miles from a 13.2-gallon tank, and the EPA estimates annual fuel cost at $1,650. Because the engine is flex-fuel capable, running E85 reduces rated range to 288 miles.
Does the 2026 Chevy Trax have all-wheel drive?
No. Every 2026 Trax is front-wheel drive, including the ACTIV, and no option package or price adds all-wheel drive. The first-generation Trax sold from 2015 through 2022 did offer it. Buyers who need it should look at the Chevrolet Trailblazer, which adds it for $1,600 to $2,000.
How safe is the 2026 Chevy Trax?
NHTSA has awarded five stars for driver frontal crash protection, four for passenger frontal and four for rollover, but the side crash test is unrated and no overall vehicle score has been issued. That makes the federal picture incomplete rather than poor. Chevy Safety Assist is standard, covering automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, lane keep assist, forward collision alert and automatic high beams.
How much cargo space does the 2026 Chevy Trax have?
25.6 cubic feet behind the rear seats and 54.1 cubic feet with them folded. That is 12.1 cubic feet more than the Buick Envista built on the same platform, and within 0.3 cubic feet of the larger-looking Chevrolet Trailblazer.
Is the 2026 Chevy Trax a good car to buy?
It is a strong value for buyers who need a new vehicle near $23,500 delivered and who do not need all-wheel drive or towing, offering competitive cargo room and a conventional six-speed automatic. The reservation is its engine, which faces an unresolved class action filed in March 2026 and a complaint record showing failures under 20,000 miles with replacement engines on months-long backorder from South Korea.
Where is the Chevy Trax built?
Final assembly takes place in Changwon, South Korea. The 1.2-liter engine is built in Mexico and the transmission in South Korea. Parts content is listed as 2 percent US and Canadian, with Korea at 50 percent and China at 19 percent.
Sources and Disclosure
Trim pricing and equipment are Chevrolet’s published figures, verified against chevrolet.com in July 2026. Specifications, package contents, package pricing, EPA ratings, safety ratings, parts content and the as-delivered total come from the window sticker of a 2026 Chevrolet Trax 1LT and from published spec databases. Complaint and recall data comes from the NHTSA databases and The Weekly Driver’s reliability records; complaint counts are owner filings and are unverified. Sales figures are US deliveries for calendar 2024. Prior-year pricing is drawn from published reporting on the 2026 increase. The manufacturer provided the vehicle that supplied the photography published here. No driving evaluation informed this analysis, and no observed performance or fuel economy figure is reported.
Michael Kahn
Michael Kahn is the writer, photographer, and publisher behind The Weekly Driver. He cares about how cars drive and what they're like to own. He covers automobile industry news, car shows and events, and new car reviews. The reviews come from behind the wheel: day trips that favor back routes, treating a good meal as half the reason to go. He directs and produces the visual media, matching each car to a setting and mood that fit it. When he's not reviewing new cars, Michael races paddleboards, camels, and ostriches, along with the occasional exotic car on the racetrack, and has driven in every state and country visited.
https://theweeklydriver.com