GM builds the Chevrolet Trax and the Buick Envista on the same architecture, with the same 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder, on identical 106.0-inch wheelbases. Neither can be ordered with all-wheel drive.
The Buick costs more and holds 12.1 fewer cubic feet.
That trade is the whole product plan. Buick styled the Envista as a low, long-tailed thing and charged a premium for the look, spending cargo volume to get it. Whether that is worth $1,400 is a taste question a spec sheet cannot settle.
What the spec sheet can settle is the third car in this group, and what the complaint record says about the engine all three share.
Key Takeaways
- The Trax and Envista share a wheelbase exactly. Both measure 106.0 inches, both use the 1.2-liter turbo three-cylinder, and neither offers all-wheel drive.
- The Envista is four inches longer and holds 12.1 fewer cubic feet. Maximum cargo is 42.0 cubic feet against the Trax’s 54.1, and 20.7 behind the rear seats against 25.6.
- Adjusted for sales, the Envista’s complaint rate is no better than the Trax’s. For 2024 the figures work out to roughly 86 per 100,000 for the Buick against 70 for the Chevrolet.
- That reverses the engine ratings. Raw databases rate the 1.2-liter worse in the Trax than in the Envista, and the gap disappears once sales volume is accounted for.
- The Encore GX is the one that adds all-wheel drive, along with 50.2 cubic feet of cargo, starting at $26,200.
- All three share recall 23V744000, the Virtual Cockpit Unit software campaign covering 2024 Trax, Envista and Encore GX vehicles.
- The Encore GX has the calmest recent record, with complaints falling every year from 63 for 2020 to 13 for 2025.
The Envista Is a Trax in a Different Suit
| Specification | 2026 Chevrolet Trax | 2026 Buick Envista |
|---|---|---|
| Engine | 1.2L turbo I3 (LIH), 137 hp, 162 lb-ft | Identical |
| Wheelbase | 106.0 in | 106.0 in (identical) |
| All-wheel drive | Not offered | Not offered |
| Overall length | 178.6 in | 182.6 in |
| Cargo, seats up | 25.6 cu ft | 20.7 cu ft |
| Maximum cargo | 54.1 cu ft | 42.0 cu ft |
| Entry MSRP | $23,200 (LT) | $24,600 (Preferred) |
Four extra inches of body producing 12.1 fewer cubic feet of usable space is an unusual result, and it comes from roofline. The Envista’s tail slopes where the Trax’s stays square, which reads better in a parking lot and carries less on a move.
Buyers who look at these two and see a Chevrolet and a Buick are seeing badges. Underneath, the running gear is common.
What the Buick Badge Costs
| Trim | MSRP |
|---|---|
| Chevrolet Trax LT | $23,200 |
| Buick Envista Preferred | $24,600 |
| Chevrolet Trax ACTIV | $25,400 |
| Buick Envista Sport Touring | $26,100 |
| Buick Envista Avenir | $29,400 |
| Buick Encore GX (from) | $26,200 |
Entry to entry, the Buick asks $1,400 more. At the top the Avenir reaches $29,400, which is above a loaded Trax and into Encore GX territory.
Interior materials and equipment differ between the brands, so the premium is not purely cosmetic. The mechanical package underneath is the same, and the smaller cargo hold is a real subtraction rather than a different flavor of the same thing.
The Encore GX Is the One That Adds All-Wheel Drive
Neither the Trax nor the Envista can be ordered with driven rear wheels. The Encore GX can.
It also carries 50.2 cubic feet at maximum, which sits between the Envista’s 42.0 and the Trax’s 54.1, and it offers a 1.3-liter three-cylinder alongside the smaller engine rather than the 1.2-liter alone.
Pricing starts at $26,200, $3,000 above a Trax LT. For a buyer who needs all-wheel drive and wants to stay inside GM’s small-crossover family, the Encore GX and the Chevrolet Trailblazer are the two answers.
The Engine’s Record Travels With the Engine
Reliability databases rate the 1.2-liter three-cylinder worse in the Trax than in the Envista. In the Chevrolet it carries 203 complaints at roughly 139 per production year. In the Buick, 65 complaints at about 44.
Sales volume produces most of that spread, and correcting for it changes the answer.
| Model year | Vehicle | Complaints | US sales | Per 100,000 sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Chevrolet Trax | 141 | 200,688 | 70 |
| 2024 | Buick Envista | 44 | 51,316 | 86 |
| 2025 | Chevrolet Trax | 65 | 169,408 to 204,731 | 32 to 38 |
| 2025 | Buick Envista | 24 | 58,456 | 41 |
The Envista sells roughly a quarter as many units as the Trax and collects roughly a third as many complaints. Per vehicle on the road, the Buick’s rate comes out level with or slightly above the Chevrolet’s in both model years.
Fire reports follow the same pattern. Six against 2024 Trax models and two against 2024 Envistas, which is about 3.0 and 3.9 per 100,000 respectively. Those counts are small enough that a single additional filing moves them noticeably, so the useful conclusion is that neither badge is clearly better rather than that the Buick is worse.
Two consequences follow, and the second one matters more.
Engine ratings drawn from raw complaint volume are not comparable across vehicles that sell in different numbers. The same 1.2-liter appears in reliability data as a worse engine in the Trax purely because more Trax buyers own it.
And the failure pattern is not a Chevrolet problem. It is an engine problem, and it shows up in the Buick at the same rate once the arithmetic is done properly. Buyers moving to an Envista to escape what they have read about the Trax are buying the same powertrain and, on this data, the same odds. The class action filed against GM in March 2026 names the Envista and Encore GX alongside the Trax and Trailblazer for exactly that reason, and the failure pattern is covered in our report on the 1.2-liter.
Calendar-year sales stand in for model-year populations throughout, which is imprecise but applied identically to both vehicles, so the ratios hold better than the absolute figures. Independent trackers also disagree on Chevrolet’s 2025 Trax total, hence the range.
Recalls
One campaign covers all three vehicles. Recall 23V744000 addresses Virtual Cockpit Unit software that can blank the instrument panel at startup or while driving, and it applies to 2024 Buick Encore GX, Buick Envista and Chevrolet Trax vehicles.
That is the Envista’s only campaign to date, and the Trax’s only campaign in its current generation.
The Encore GX carries two more, both older: 20V588000 for electronic brake boost sensor contamination on 2020-2021 cars, and 21V440000 for an emergency jack that can fracture on 2020-2022 cars.
No campaign against any of the three concerns the engine.
Which to Buy
Buy the Trax if you want the most cargo for the least money. It holds 12.1 more cubic feet than the Envista and costs $1,400 less to start, running the same engine on the same wheelbase.
Buy the Envista if you want the way it looks. That is a legitimate reason and the honest framing of the choice, because the styling is what the extra money and the lost cargo volume buy.
Buy the Encore GX if you need all-wheel drive. Neither of the other two offers it, and the Encore GX splits the difference on cargo at 50.2 cubic feet.
The Encore GX also has the calmest recent trend, with complaints falling every model year from 63 for 2020 to 13 for 2025, which is the shape of a design being sorted out over time.
Do not switch badges to avoid the engine. All three use it, all four GM nameplates are named in the same litigation, and the complaint rate per vehicle sold does not favor the Buick.
Verdict
The Envista is the Trax with different sheet metal, a nicer cabin and a $1,400 premium, and the styling costs 12.1 cubic feet of cargo. Anyone choosing between them on anything other than looks and interior trim is splitting a single vehicle in two, because the wheelbase, the engine and the absence of all-wheel drive are common to both.
The Encore GX earns its separate place. All-wheel drive, a second engine option and 50.2 cubic feet make it a different proposition rather than a rebadge, and its complaint counts have fallen every year since 2020.
On the engine, the badge changes nothing. Per vehicle sold, the Envista’s complaint rate matches or slightly exceeds the Trax’s in both 2024 and 2025, which means the reliability databases rating the engine worse in the Chevrolet are measuring sales volume rather than engineering. A buyer worried about the 1.2-liter cannot solve that by walking to the Buick showroom.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Buick Envista the same as the Chevy Trax?
Mechanically they are close to identical. Both use GM’s 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder rated at 137 hp @ 5,000 rpm and 162 lb-ft @ 2,500 rpm, both ride on a 106.0-inch wheelbase, and neither offers all-wheel drive. The Envista is four inches longer overall, holds 12.1 fewer cubic feet of cargo because of its sloping roofline, and starts $1,400 higher.
Which has more cargo space, the Trax or the Envista?
The Trax, by a wide margin. It holds 54.1 cubic feet with the rear seats folded and 25.6 behind them, against the Envista’s 42.0 and 20.7. The Buick is the longer vehicle, so the difference comes from its lower, more steeply raked tail rather than from a shorter body.
Does the Buick Envista have all-wheel drive?
No. Every Buick Envista is front-wheel drive, the same as every Chevrolet Trax. Buyers who need all-wheel drive within GM’s small-crossover range should look at the Buick Encore GX or the Chevrolet Trailblazer, both of which offer it.
Is the Buick Envista more reliable than the Chevy Trax?
Not on the complaint record once sales volume is taken into account. For the 2024 model year the Envista logged 44 complaints against 51,316 sold, or about 86 per 100,000, while the Trax logged 141 against 200,688 sold, about 70 per 100,000. The 2025 model year lands in the same place. Databases that rate the shared 1.2-liter engine worse in the Trax are reflecting how many more Trax buyers own it.
What is the difference between the Buick Envista and Encore GX?
The Encore GX offers all-wheel drive and a 1.3-liter engine option, holds 50.2 cubic feet of cargo against the Envista’s 42.0, and starts at $26,200 against $24,600. The Envista is the lower, more styled car and the less expensive one. Both share GM’s small-crossover architecture with the Chevrolet Trax.
Do the Buick Envista and Encore GX have the same engine problems as the Trax?
They use the same 1.2-liter three-cylinder, and the class action filed against General Motors in March 2026 names the Buick Envista and Encore GX alongside the Chevrolet Trax and Trailblazer. Adjusted for how many of each are on the road, the Envista’s complaint rate is level with or slightly above the Trax’s. Switching badges does not change the powertrain.
Have the Trax, Envista and Encore GX been recalled?
All three share recall 23V744000, which covers Virtual Cockpit Unit software that can blank the instrument panel at startup or while driving on 2024 vehicles. That is the only campaign against the Envista and the only one against the current-generation Trax. The Encore GX carries two additional older campaigns covering brake boost sensor contamination and an emergency jack that can fracture. No campaign against any of the three addresses the engine.
Sources and Disclosure
Specifications and pricing are manufacturer figures verified in July 2026 and exclude destination unless noted. 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 by calendar year, used as a proxy for model-year populations; independent trackers disagree on Chevrolet’s 2025 Trax total, which is given as a range. The manufacturer provided The Weekly Driver with a 2026 Chevrolet Trax 1LT, which supplied the photography published here. No driving evaluation informed the analysis.
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