Compare the2023 Chevrolet TraverseVS 2022 Toyota Highlander

For enhanced safety, the Chevrolet Traverse’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Toyota Highlander doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

The Traverse has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Highlander doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Traverse and the Highlander have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Chevrolet Traverse is safer than the Toyota Highlander:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Chevrolet Traverse is safer than the Toyota Highlander:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The Traverse’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Highlander’s (6 vs. 5 years).

There are over 2 times as many Chevrolet dealers as there are Toyota dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Traverse’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Chevrolet vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Chevrolet third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 25 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 14th.

The Traverse’s 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 15 more horsepower (310 vs. 295) and 3 lbs.-ft. more torque (266 vs. 263) than the Highlander’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Motor Trend the Chevrolet Traverse is faster than the Toyota Highlander:

The Traverse FWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Highlander (19.4 vs. 17.9 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Traverse AWD’s standard fuel tank has 3.8 gallons more fuel capacity than the Highlander (21.7 vs. 17.9 gallons).

The Traverse has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Highlander doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Chevrolet Traverse higher (6 out of 10) than the Toyota Highlander (5). This means the Traverse produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Highlander every 15,000 miles.

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Chevrolet Traverse, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Highlander.

The Traverse stops much shorter than the Highlander:

For better traction, the Traverse has larger tires than the Highlander (255/65R18 vs. 235/65R18).

The Chevrolet Traverse’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Toyota Highlander only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Traverse has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Highlander doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Traverse has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Highlander doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Traverse’s wheelbase is 8.7 inches longer than on the Highlander (120.9 inches vs. 112.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Traverse is 2 inches wider in the front and 1.6 inches wider in the rear than on the Highlander.

The Traverse RS AWD handles at .81 G’s, while the Highlander Platinum AWD pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Traverse RS AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Highlander Platinum AWD (27 seconds @ .65 average G’s vs. 27.7 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

The front grille of the Traverse uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Highlander doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Traverse uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Highlander doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Traverse has 1.6 inches more front headroom, .9 inches more front hip room, 2.9 inches more front shoulder room, .6 inches more rear headroom, 3.5 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.1 inches more third row headroom, 5.8 inches more third row legroom, 2.9 inches more third row hip room and 2.5 inches more third row shoulder room than the Highlander.

The Traverse’s cargo area provides more volume than the Highlander.

Pressing a switch automatically lowers or raises the Traverse High Country’s third row seats, to make changing between cargo and passengers easier. The Highlander doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Traverse can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Traverse can be unhitched and driven around locally. The Highlander can’t be towed flat on the ground.

The Traverse uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Highlander uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Traverse Premier/High Country’s standard easy entry system raises the steering wheel and glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Highlander doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Traverse’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Highlander doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

Consumer Reports rated the Traverse’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Highlander’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

The Traverse’s optional rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Highlander offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Traverse is less expensive to operate than the Highlander because typical repairs cost much less on the Traverse than the Highlander, including $112 less for a starter, $12 less for fuel injection and $546 less for a timing belt/chain.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Chevrolet Traverse and the Toyota Highlander, based on reliability, safety and performance.