Interior

The Chevy Traverse is really easy to live in, whether you’re a front- or rear-seat dweller. Living in the car wasn’t much of an exaggeration for our return trip home, which took nearly 12 hours. With an expectation of heavy traffic, we rallied the troops early and piled half as many people and twice as much luggage into the Traverse. Unfortunately, an early morning snowstorm caused gridlock on mountain passes with no turnaround opportunities. On the bright side, it was the perfect opportunity to find all the Traverse’s interior features. My kids watched three movies on the DVD player, which could be operated with a remote control from the backseat. I liked this because I didn’t have to blindly try to find a movie’s special features using the front console. When necessary, managing things with the entertainment controls in the front was straightforward and intuitive. My sister and I oscillated between listening to the satellite radio and Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love,” which I’d downloaded to my iPhone before we left for home. Thank goodness for excellent in-car entertainment or we’d have been toast. As with any self-respecting family car, the Traverse had lots of storage space for all my little travel must-haves. My purse fit nicely between the driver’s door and seat, and the center dash console held my toll pass and a package of wipes. It could even accommodate a spare diaper if needed (I’m thankful I didn’t need that). The center console and cupholders were just right and even allowed for two different positions for your elbow -- a fine feature indeed. One of the best features of the Traverse is the configurability of the second-row seat. It can slide forward or back to give legroom to second- or third-row passengers; it can be folded in multiple ways to easily allow munchkins, even 6-foot-tall ones, to crawl into the third row. The center seats recline, which should make child-safety-seat installation easier. For the teenage set, it offered a great place to lay back and catch some zzzzs. The deep tracks in the floor that allow for all this flexibility are really the car’s biggest nemesis. I don’t know about your children, but mine seem to come with crumbs and tiny toy pieces that were instantly attracted to the giant holes in the floor. IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT Storage Compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Ample Cargo/Trunk Space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Fair/Galore

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