Chevrolet is ending American imports of the Captiva Sport, a fleet-only crossover that was popular with rental car companies.
With the introduction of the Trax, Chevrolet no longer needs the Captiva Sport in its lineup. The Captiva was originally designed to pick up the slack of the Equinox, which was in tight supply when the Captiva Sport was introduced in 2011. Automotive News reports that the Trax, built in Korea, is expected to take up the position that the Captiva did, and also offer a third crossover option for Chevy’s retail customers.
Despite the enthusiast interest generated by the Captiva’s fleet-only status, the Captiva received two damning reviews from both Jack and Bark M. On occasion, I’ve been offered a Captiva as an “upgrade” from my usual Escape or Impala at the Avis counter, and I’ve declined every single time, based on the condemnation of Jack and Bark. I may not get a chance to review a rental Captiva, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be missing much.
These make a great cheap used crossover, if that’s where your interest is
I agree with every word in your comment, except “great”
Ok, “functional”
Several people in my town have picked up used Captivas.
As near as I can tell from watching the same people drive by a couple of times a week while I’m out jogging in the morning, the drivers seem satisfied – the cars are well maintained, and the drivers look comfortable.
My guess is that the Captiva matches the expectations of a used car buyer pretty well. For a new car muyer, not so much. Selling them to fleets and then reselling them as used was probably a pretty astute buniness decision.
So, yeah, it probably is a pretty good cheap crossover, assuming you really wanted a used car.
I had to look up the Chevy Trax. It’s the Chevy version of that Buick Encore. When painted brown, the Encore looks like a flea.
Ever drive behind an Encore with their cute little flea-butts? Adorable
If it’s starting from a stop, you get an almost infinite amount of time to enjoy those gentle curves.
The Buick you Want to Hug
No, but sometimes I just want to flea pinch those darling little Encores
If the horrendous Aveo was a crossover, this would be it.
No, no. No flea pinch.
I’d like to beat it with a hammer.
I’ll bring the sledge.
Considering that the Encore uses the same Gamma II platform as the Aveo (known here as the Sonic), the Encore is indeed an Aveo crossover. Well, actually, Chevy is introducing a new subcompact SUV called the Trax (which is basically a downmarket Encore)…so *that’s* your Aveo crossover.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Gamma_platform#mediaviewer/File:Chevrolet_Trax_-_Mondial_de_l%27Automobile_de_Paris_2012_-_004.jpg
Apparently Mercedes-Benz thought the Encore was so cute, they designed their new little crossover (GLA) to look just like it:
http://www.sensethecar.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2015-Mercedes-Benz-GLA-1.jpg
… but the thing is MB’s little flea-butt crossover sells for twice that of Buick’s flea-butt crossover and MB sells every one they make
Well, because it has that little three-pointed star on it, Sir!
“If you build it, they will come”. (MB Loyalists, that is)
loils
I ravishingly, exultantly, deliriously *adore* the Encore, dahlings.
I did Lie2me, except it was a Renault Encore.
That’s right, there was a Renault Encore, horrible little car. Why would Buick want to steal the name?…
This is a clever ploy by Chevy to make us millenials lust for the nostalgia of our youth. Trax, released for the Gameboy in 1991, was one of my favorite games as a child.
http://www.blamethecontrolpad.com/trax/trax.htm
Yeah, it’s always about you millenials, blah, blah
Timely! I’ve been seeing these little CUVs on the roads of south Florida for a while now and always wondered where the hell they came from. Searching for it while driving was dangerous, I’d forget by the time I got next to a computer, 4 weeks would pass – another Captiva sighting, I express my wonderment aloud, lather, rinse, repeat.
If I die today, at least my need for Captiva knowledge will be satiated. But what about my need to drive one? Hmmm….
Used Captiva’s will be swell and so will the Trax. Tall & cheap.
Pray tell your definition of “swell” and how, in this instance, it applies.
not as cheap as you think… usually within a few dollars of an Equinox – which is a better vehicle.
“Pray tell your definition of “swell” ”
Tall & cheap.
Sounds like 28’s last girlfriend
Good riddance to bad rubbage! I rented one of these turds for about three weeks back in the autumn of ’12, worst car I’ve ever had forced upon my person.
Meh, ya get what ya pay for.
I do like how this was considered an upgrade over an Impala… lol
Captiva?! Sounds fancy…
Great! Thanks!
“Rubbage”? Is that a conglomeration of rubbish and garbage?
Bad news for Carmax customers who want an SUV but can’t qualify for an Escape or Rogue.
I thought Nissan was going to continue to make the old Rogue for fleet?
Yup, Rogue Select. I’ve seen one with rental passengers in it, in standard Rogue red.
Woohoo subprime is saved!
Let them eat cake!
I had a Captiva as a rental. The TTAC review was spot on – it is tossable – handling is really surprising.
That is the only nIce thing that can be said.
It is otherwise a steaming pile of crap. Cheap interior materials, uncomfortable seating position, infotainment a decade outdated, gutless, noisy, poor use of space exterior dimensions vs interior, poorly built.
Hated it, and I’ve turned them down when offered as an “upgrade.”
I knew something was up on this when I saw in GMs October numbers only 3 dozen Captivas had been delivered.
Betcha bottom dollar five or six years from now the door handles all have that notorious Daewoo “greasy” appearance.
These have been rolling around since 2007 as the ’08-10 Saturn Vue, and I haven’t noticed any door handle problems with them.
The Captiva was really one of the worst new cars available. And they weren’t cheap, based on MSRP. I guess the fleets bought them by the hundred, so maybe there was a $7-10k discount per unit?
Hundreds – try thousands per month.
That door handle is a global part. It is the same one used on the Sonic, Cruze, Malibu, Volt, Camaro, Encore, Verano, LaCrosse, Regal, SRX…et al. None of those cars has that “greasy” Daewoo problem.
For being “fleet only,” I have seen lots of these with people clearly owning as their personal car. I don’t think the fleet bit was stuck to all that well at any point. There are two or three in the garage here at work.
One of my customers bought a slightly used one for his 18 year old daughter.
He was ranting and raving about how nice it was.
I chuckled and thought to myself “the poor girl”.
CoreyDL, many of these “fleet only” vehicles are released to dealers as “Program Cars” at ~15K miles on the clock and sold on the used-car lot with the remaining factory warranty.
I once bought a 1988 Towncar from Budget in Tuscon, AZ, for super cheap, and sold it to a guy in my area for a $1000 clear profit.
That makes sense, wouldn’t take long for them to show up on dealer lots that way.
Rentals only hold on to their cars a couple of years. A quick search of he internets will show a huge inventory of former fleet models for sale now.
I have sampled numerous examples of the Captiva Sport (and after they’d been abused in rental fleets for several thousand miles). Honestly, the only thing wrong with it is that it doesn’t have GM’s latest “Global-A” electronics architecture (but neither do the Lambdas), and for that reason it feels a bit dated…and of course the stigma attached with buying something that was without doubt a secondhand, ex-fleet vehicle. That’s it. Other than that, it wears decidedly better styling than the Equinox and Terrain, has ample space, handles well, and can be had with large alloys, a backup camera, remote start, sunroof, and even MyLink with navigation. Most people don’t even know that it’s fleet-only. I think it’s a fine vehicle.
And as far as being a “fleet queen”, quite honestly, most Chevrolets are. Nine out of ten times I rented a compact (or in Hertz’ language, mid-sized) car with no reservation, I got a Cruze without requesting one (which was fine, because it was what I had wanted).