Catalytic converter failure on the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse
Only 5 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When catalytic converter failure gets reported
There are 5 reports of catalytic converter failure on the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, 5 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 110,000 miles. It is the 22nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 185,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $900–$3,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 7 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2012, at a median of 200 miles, and latest on the 2009 at 185,000 miles.
By volume the 2018 carries the most reports, with 19; the 2009 has 5. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Driving down i30 at approximately 65 MPH, vehicle slows down to 20 MPH without any warning. The engine light came on soon after or maybe as the speed dropped. Shook me up luckily there was very little traffic and was able to pull over to the side. The vehicle was not shaking or showed no sign of damage other than it not wanting to go past 20 MPH. The incident happened one exit away from the dealership where I get the vehicle serviced and decided to drive it there. I am being told by the dealership that the catalytic converter fell apart and damaged engine cylinders 3 and 5 so I will be needing the engine replaced. Do not know if the catalytic converter that failed was the one the dealership replaced in april 2014. *tr
The 2009 chevrolet traverse is a hazard to drive! This is the 3rd major break down in the last 4 years and is also currently under recall for bad airbags and seatbelts, whereas should there be an accident, the actual deployment of said bags would "injure the occupant" (recall words). In 2012 the entire power steering system failed. Later recalled and good thing I was in they driveway and not the interstate! 2013 the catalytic converter system failed to a tune of $2,020.84 - totally out of pocket expense, and once again, the engine could have caught fire and caused injury. 2015 just a few weeks ago, the transmission fails completely and is estimated at $3,896.36 at just over 100,000 miles, less than 5 years old. All chevrolet traverses are potentially hazardous and should be totally recalled. Thank you *tr
Also reported on the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse
Other steering problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Other powertrain problem
Loss of power steering
Other engine problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 5 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 5 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does catalytic converter failure happen on the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse?
Across 5 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 185,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is catalytic converter failure on the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse?
5 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed