Posted by: @frozenfilmguy

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I'm in the process of pursuing Alaska Lemon law for my 2025 Chevy Trailblazer Activ (AWD). The transmission died at 5,000 miles. I had to initiate lemon law to force corporate to expedite the valve body. I'm looking for a reliable AWD suv for winter conditions. Been eyeing a Honda Pilot or a Rav4. @ThatCarGuy any recommendations? Thank you! 

That's a bummer, only 5,000 is crazy. 

Are you looking for that same size SUV?

I think the Pilot will be more reliable than a Chevy for sure, larger than a Rav4 and probably feels a bit more substantial on the road, has more storage etc. The new Passport is cool too. I have a friend that bought a new CR-V and so far they love it, zero issues so far. 

The Rav4 might be a good consideration and probably more reliable. The new generation Rav4 looks nicer to me, and a bit higher quality, but I haven't been in them yet.  

The Mazda CX-5 might be in the same size range, I have friends that have had zero issues with recent Mazdas and they claim to like them a lot. They are made in Japan I believe (double check the sticker). 

Larger/more pricey SUVs...

My wife is driving a 2024 VW Atlas but I think they are quite a bit bigger than the trailblazer (has about 10k miles with no troubles so far). People hate on VW but she/we ended up driving every midsized and they seemed to feel the best built to us and the largest before jumping to full sized, we don't plan to keep out of warranty though (100k). The Atlas, at least in 2024 has an Aisin (Toyota transmission) which I feel a little better about than GM/Ford transmissions. 

So far the 2025+ 4runners haven't had many issues.

If you want something that will last 500k miles, takes a beating and just needs very little maintenance for long term ownership, you could get a 5th generation 4runner (sold until 2024), but they are command a pretty steep price. 

Hope this helps. I would drive all of them, spend your time looking at the quality, look at the sticker and try to find out where the transmission/engines are manufactured. Use Carcomplaints.com or NHTSA to lookup complaints for powertrain related issues, sometimes it's easy to tell if models are experiencing issues early on. Facebook group are another source of truth, find a large group for the model you are looking at and you'll get a feel for common issues. 

This is incredibly helpful! Thank you so much! I direct anyone who asks me about cars to your YT channel! Your insight, knowledge, and your videos are incredibly helpful!

As an Alaskan, it's pretty important to have a reliable AWD vehicle that can get you thru the winter months. Sometimes Anchorage can see 6" to a foot and a half overnight. Having a vehicle that can seamlessly sail thru those thick snowfalls is paramount, especially since our winters are 6+ months.

Not only did Chevy violate AK Lemon Law(LL) by not responding to me in writing within 30 days of my first LL letter (which they received after sitting on my vehicle for the first 30 days) But they also failed to conform/fix the vehicle within the 30 days of receiving my first letter. The LL letter did what I intended it to do, kick Chevy corporate's butt into gear to send the valve body. But once the dealership received the valve body, it sat for another 2.5 weeks before they even started working on it. And to add insult to injury, the valve body (part #24053270) isn't one of the newer 3rd generation ones that mitigated the issue where people are finding aluminum shavings inside (learned from watching your videos). And my particular dealership Chevy of South Anchorage has the WORST customer service. 

I bought the vehicle on 9/11/24. And in the year that I've owned it it's been sitting at Chevy for OVER an entire Quarter! 2.5 weeks back in January when the back-up camera failed. And now 76 days (almost my entire summer)  for the transmission issues!

@ThatCarGuyOnline, Thank you so much for the valuable insights! I will continue to support your channel with traffic & engagement in any way that I can! Thank you again for caring to respond! You could've re-directed my to your car buying guide. Your personalized response reinforces that you're my favorite auto expert on YT! I hope you have a fantastic weekend!!!

I actually think i'm incorrect about there potentially being a newer lower valve body. This article seems to rule out there being an updated lower valve body. (see article below)

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2025/08/next-gen-gm-valve-body-now-arriving-at-dealers/  

Update (10/01/25): the dealership won't refund me, they're pointing the finger at Chevy corporate. So, I have to escalate with them. However, I believe the dealership isn't being entirely truthful as to when the valve body arrived. I think it sat for 2 weeks after they received it. But we'll see what corporate says after I show them the evidence I have. 

Man what a ridiculous situation. So did they repair and get it back to you already, or are you still waiting?

I would guess that GM/Chevy is very seasoned at just dragging people along and waiting for litigation at this point. If you can exercise the lemon law and have a lawyer contact GM, that seems to trigger the fastest results from what I see in forums and groups. I'm not sure if that's how you got them to expedite the repair?

I've read through quite a few situations where GM/Toyota or whoever would drag customers through the mud until something official came in from a lawyer, many times it triggered a buyback of some sort (but not all). 

If you initiate things through a lawyer it might be best not to take the car back even if they claim to have it ready, I'm guessing if you have evidence that clearly falls within lemon law rules, you can eventually get a buyback from corporate. Usually the buybacks are worth more than you'll get on trade, but it does depend on the deal. 

Let me know how it goes, curious to see how it all turns out.