2014 Chevrolet Captiva Sport Consumer Reviews
Most Helpful Reviews
Positive Review
This review is of the 2013 Chevy Captiva Sport LTZ FWD (17K -$19,499) we recently purchased as a GM certified used vehicle. It is a somewhat unusual model from Chevy in that you can only find them used in the US. I stumbled across them when searching for Compact SUV's (CUV's) at local dealerships (CR-V, Rav4, Escape, Tiguan, and Equinox) and the Captiva was the best balance for our needs. It was an almost new (2013) vehicle, with <20,000 miles, luxury trim features, and many beautiful design elements inside and out...for less than $20,000! --Value: This is not to say that other vehicles in the class are not available at that price, but you are often stuck with the base trim level or higher miles or older vintage. I suspect the reduced price point is an unintended benefit of not actively marketing this model and only having it available as a used vehicle. Throw in the Chevy/GM Certified Used vehicle perks and the age-old ritual of negotiating with the sales manager (no hassle/no haggle places are nice, but better deals exist if you are willing to play the game) and the final all-in price is real tough to beat. --Reliability: This section is mostly speculation since our vehicle is a 2013 with 17k on it. However, it is worth reiterating that the GM Certified protections should keep the vehicle running the obligate number of years. The drivetrain is modern but strait forward technology: A 6-speed automatic transmission (MH7-6T45) jointly developed with Ford and used in other vehicles without massive recalls. The 182 hp 2.4L 16VVT Ecotech (LEA) Direct Injected 4-cylinder engine (i.e. not turbo/super charged = less parts to break and less stress on the parts) also used in many other vehicles without issues. The rest of the Captiva's major components have been in use globally since about 2008 when the first version of this vehicle was introduced as the German engineered Opel Antara and brought to the US as the Saturn VUE. In searching the info available online this vehicle has a pretty good reliability history. --Quality: My wife really likes the "touch" qualities of the Captiva compared to other vehicles in the class. Her own specific description is something akin to how she describes high-end clothing and accessories, but with the excitement of finding them 1/2 off. I thought everything felt sturdy and without rattles, nice vault-like doors, good fit and finish overall. Crash test data from its 2008-10 Saturn VUE days is also reassuring to the build quality and engineering (a touch of the German style heavy-duty build similar to VW/BMW/MB, I suspect from Opel roots). Had to give 9/10 since there were a few of the "nice for Chevy but not Buick/Cadillac" moments with material choices and equipment options. Compared to the other vehicles we tested it came off on par with the much much more pricey upgraded Tiguan and way better than similarly priced CR-V/Rav4's. (Quality is revealed with time so its off to a good start but this is also partially opinion and speculation so please perform due diligence and test drive the actual used vehicle you are interested in, this is my impression from personal experience with 3 separate vehicles we test drove, and the admittedly short period of ownership with the LTZ we eventually bought. With that disclaimer, I am really impressed with the Captiva's overall quality) --Driving Dynamics: WARNING- My wife and I are not drag racing, autobahn driving, or super-stretching the milage. This review is limited to real-life congested city/suburban and highway "road trip" milage. That said, at 3,900ish pounds and with 182hp it is not going to move like a much less fuel efficient high performance combo would. For our purposes it is more than adequate. I have no idea what my wife's 0-60 has been when commuting, but even in the Eco mode there has been plenty under the hood to get from red light to red light effectively. On the highway the engine is responsive but quiet at just about all reasonable speeds, and the trans shifts intelligently. No joke, the vehicle handles like a BMW or Audi in terms of cornering and steering...solid (thanks Opel), liked it way better than the other CUV's we tested. Dare I say it was kind of fun to drive for its easy road confidence and great vantage point (big deal for my wife but a driver of any size can appreciate). 24-26mpg in town and 29-30 mpg highway is what we have averaged so far. --Design In and Out: My wife had a stronger opinion regarding CUV style than I did. In my opinion it is a class where form should follow function and you wont have beauty pageant winners. But the Captiva is at least sensible enough to be the girl next door when it comes to exterior style. Too much extraneous body cladding and busy lines seemed to turn my wife off, and as she pointed out, would look dated in just a few years. I like the tasteful use of chrome and the generally athletic cut of the body, with a few details to add an upscale presence (fog lights, skidplate detail, rood racks, front fender vents with turn signal, nice window tint, high end wheels) seem to add to the impression of quality without being "blingy" or cheesy. Inside, it looks better than average, with the same impression as the exterior. Not a lot of design just for the sake of design stuff, more clean and user friendly than the dizzying number of buttons and plastic pieces in some competitors. I think this is a case of German influence in the Teutonic method of clean design. Either you like it, tolerate it, or don't care for it, but it is well thought out and user friendly. The dash and gauges are aesthetically appealing and look like Jaguar or Mercedes with white on black and ice-green accents. The wheel is great, leather wrapped with radio/phone and cruise controls (the plastic/metal insert on the lower half will undoubtably wear and scratch but looks nice now). The center console is fine, radio/CD unit is relatively basic looking compared to what is available in high end vehicles, but in fairness this vehicle was never meant to compete with luxury brands. The technology is on par with competitors and the bluetooth works great. --Comfort and Convenience: Great center console storage space and nice cup holder size. The leather seats fit me (6'0") and my wife (5'5") well and she loves her heated seats. She loves the backup camera and sensors, sunroof, and open/generous window feeling of the vehicle compared to others we tested. Great head room all around even with sunroof space in the headliner. The fold-flat rear seats are easy to fold down and also recline comfortably, pretty good leg room and recently fit 3 across in booster seats with no hassle when called upon. Rear cargo space is as expected, came with basic cargo net, but I will likely get the rail-based cargo net system off ebay/amazon to keep groceries from flying around. Spare is under the cargo area floor with some additional storage space available in the area around it. Wish there was separate opening of trunk door and glass of the rear but not a big deal. Remote staring is cool but I haven't used it yet except to test it since our car is parked in a garage most of the time. Wish there was a little more leather/soft material on the doors and armrests but the plastic is probably a more realistic material for weathering the abuse of an everyday vehicle. Lastly, I wish the key was a flip/folding style key for pocket comfort and reduced bulk compared to the separate key and remote fob (I'm used to just my '05 Jetta flip key and house key, my wife somehow has many more keys but can just toss the whole cluster in her purse so less of a problem for her) but I guess it is much cheaper to replace keys this way. --Overall: 10/10 for us. We spent a lot of time searching for the right vehicle and were pleasantly surprised to find the Chevy Captiva Sport as the right vehicle for the two of us and our soon to be expanding family. From a purely utilitarian perspective we wanted a vehicle of a certain size and functional capacity for a price within our budget, with safety as a primary concern. The rest of the subjective and objective components of this vehicle made it an even more ideal fit for us. We were not particularly concerned about the lack of mainstream recognition for this model since it just reduced the price we paid for more premium amenities. Not surprisingly we have begun to see more and more Captivas on the road and around town as the secret seems to be out on this capable and efficient vehicle. I don't usually review products online but this vehicle deserves some kudos for its balance of classic good looks, user friendly demeanor, and overall value.
VS
Critical Review
I have owned this vehicle since 2016. I have put the majority of miles on it so I know it well. For the past year it has been a money pit mostly related to electrical issues. It frequently doesn't start. Even though it has had a new battery, new transmission, new fuse box. While driving the RPM and odometer gauges sometimes quit working even though car is still going(although there is a notable loss of power). Sometimes it won't shift gears and RPM will run high(around 4000). I have noted many reviews with electrical problems and ask why no recall.
2014 Captiva Sport Reviews
Showing 8 of 75 reviews.
Fine drive
Always something wrong
If you have the choice, don't buy this car. If you don't have a choice, get a warranty! It gets me around, but theres always a level of anxiety. There's always something wrong with it. I didn't think I'd need the warranty so I didn't get one. I regret that every time it makes a noise, jolts or anything. Just wanted to give a fair warning to anyone wondering about this car.
The vehicle seems to be designed for simple repair jobs and replacement parts of the cheaper side. But so far little repairs have been quite a nuisance. So either I've had poor luck or these aren't the most reliable cars. I would suggest just buying a rough chevrolet equivalent like a Trax or an Equinox, but it you really think you've found a good value in one of these, I'd say it's okay, but definitely get a warranty. I did buy it with just over 100,000 miles so naturally, you can't expect to not have to deal with things wearing out. Minor inconveneices so far have been, two brake calipers seizing up (ruining the rotor in one case), and the need to replace the rear CAT converter. The big problem, however, has been that somehow the little 4 cylinder engine in this thing burns oil like a V12 with 200,000 miles, so KEEP A VERY CLOSE EYE ON THE OIL LEVEL! Luckily for me, the problem revealed itself to me before serious damage was done because the low level caused the timing belt tensioner to get a bit worn and triggered a warning message about the exhaust cam being out of phase. But the crazy thing about this engine, is that it will continue to properly pump oil to the main part of the engine successfully even at very low levels, before you ever get a low oil pressure warning. So the most critical parts of the engine will continue to get lubrication, but I think the timing chain system won't and, of course, it's harder on the engine with regard to parts getting hotter than normal. This engine (the 2.4L Ecotec with direct injection) is the same one used in many many GM models like Equinoxes and Cruz's, so don't be scared of everything with this engine. I think it's a quite good 4-cylinder engine, and I actually appreciate the compact and simple design. But from what I've read there were a large number of engines made for this model where the piston heads somehow didn't meet the intended tolerances, which results in the pistons not sealing the oil out of the chamber well. This tiny defect is what makes it consume so much oil! Thankfully, I'm aware of it now, so it's not too big of a deal to check every few weeks and add a bit.
Comfortable
Burns oil
I wouldn't have got this if I know about oil problems. It will burn through oil like crazy. 5 months after buying it the timing break off with no warning light came on before hand and deal told me to change oil only every 6 months with them. Always check oil level weekly and change oil ever 3 months on this car. Cost me 3000$ for another used engine. Car only had 62000 mile on it 2hen this happened.
Roomy, rides great and have even slept in the back
They done make them anymore
Bought this used with 77,000 miles on it 7 yes ago (2016). We live in ohio, have made 7 trips to Daytona Fla., trips to Tenn., Maryland, Indiana, Canada...and now has 118,000 miles on here and have only changed oil, rotated tires, new battery, catalytic converter..it runs like the day we bought it GREAT!! Wish they still made them, we'd have another.
Pretty roomy up front and in cargo area
could use more power, aforementioned chevy quality
I bought this car in 2015 with about 30k miles - its now 2022 and I have 100k miles. Its been a good car for the time I've owned it. I bought another vehicle a yr ago so this is my weekend vehicle now. Its a Chevy so its going to have Chevy issues - its not high end so you'll have minor issues like a trim clip breaking, or the paint having a few minor cracks. Overall for a 9 year old car its really held up. I've paid for a few interior trim pieces to be replaced - was able to buy the part on ebay and do it myself for next to nothing (and I'm a 50 yo woman). The fabric seats have held up well even with all 15 of my foster dogs. They only repair I can remember getting done aside from regular maintenance, was some sort of buildup that was causing it to stall, but once that repair was made it ran perfectly.
Economy, reliability, comfort, load carrying.
Some controls poorly placed
Bought this used from Enterprise in 2015. getting 30 mpg on a road trip was easy, as long as you don't stray too far from the speed limit. Power seat is very comfy, handling is really good, as is the view out. I like the sound system. The ride is comfy and quiet. Measure interior against a friend's Ford Escape; it's close but the Chevy interior is a bit wider. It's no hot rod, but it'll easily get to 60mph on an up-ramp without distressing the drive train. I'd buy it all over again. Low maintenance: replaced a front hub
GOOD
NOTHING
RUNS GREAT NICE CAR TO DRIVE LOVE THE COLOR NEW TIRES RUNS LIKE A KITTEN AND GOOD GAS MILAGE INTERIOR IS VERY GOOD ALLSO HAS SPEAR TIRE AND HAS ALL YOUR BASIC NEEDS AND IS VERY SPACIOUS AND ALLLSO NO LEAKS IN CAR OR ANNY OTHER PROBLEMS IAM VERY HAPPY WITH THIS CAR ONLY PUT 4000 MILES ON IT IN 8 YEARS IT IS A VERY NOCE CAR OVER ALL JUST NEED TO NO HOW MUCH THE VALUE OF IT
Gas mileage wasn't bad.
Many
The clear coat (?) On the entire hood bubbling and peeling off. Interior cheap and plastic. Day 1 the cd player ate my cd and never gave it back. Numerous problems under the hood.
