Jim Park’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS’s Quality:
As often as people complain about cheap GM plastic, these complaints fall on deaf ears year after year. Upon lifting the hood of our TrailBlazer SS, I tried to grab the hood support rod but it was stuck on its plastic clip which is part of a larger plastic plate – every attempt to pull the rod from its clip lifted the entire plastic plate that spanned the width of the engine bay. So inevitably one must hold the unusually heavy hood with one hand while picking apart the clip with the other. At $32,000 for the TrailBlazer SS, customers would gladly pay another $150 for hydraulic hood lifts if it meant that the heavy hood wouldn’t mistakenly drop on the hand trying to pry the rod away from its clip. The plastic engine cover flaps wildly when flicked with a finger, exposing a cheap and chintzy effort at glamorizing the engine bay, a technique perfected by the Germans and Japanese but executed half-heartedly by Chevy.

The interior does no better to indicate improvements in quality. The center console holding the shifter, cupholders and storage compartment shudders and moves as one single flexible unit from casual pressure. The cloth upholstery looks cheap. The fabric is less than stylish with thin seams making the seats look more like patchwork than an integrated collection of bolstering cushions. Knobs for the climate and stereo controls wiggle in place with a lightness only GM can attain. The stereo suffers from poor audio imaging and clarity, resulting in sound quality marginally better than AM radio. The brake pedal of our test model made a sound of air being expelled from a fireplace bellow – hopefully a situation unique to our truck. The front passenger airbag cover did not fit tightly but instead could be pressed like a big rubber button, a button that would seem to tell the airbag to deploy. Yikes!

Unfortunately, the choice in materials and execution made our TrailBlazer SS look more like a fleet rental vehicle than a special limited-edition tire scorcher.

Christian Wardlaw’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS’s Quality:
Frequently held up as the poster child for slipshod build quality and budget materials, the TrailBlazer isn’t as bad as some reviewers make it out to be. Yeah, the headliner is fuzzy and cheap looking, the seat fabric isn’t going to win any design awards, and the carpeting is low rent, but the plastics and other parts aren’t awful. The upper dash panel is covered with a matte-finished, soft-touch material that’s much better than the glossy hard plastic in a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The black plastic surrounds on the dash don’t reflect much light, the turn signal stalk is nicely dampened and feels solid when activated, and the controls are on par with others in the class in terms of refinement and appearance. It wouldn’t take much effort on GM’s part to make the TrailBlazer a nicer ride inside.

Build quality could be improved, as evidenced by the extremely sloppy fit of our test truck’s front fascia and rear tailgate. In front, the fascia was tucked under on the right side and bowing out on the left side. In back, the giant gap between the tailgate and the left side of the SUV was wide enough to swallow my Bic pen. I also noticed other issues with door fit, the rubber trim around the windows, and the rear bumper cover. Inside, the TrailBlazer’s parts and pieces display lots of flex when pressure is applied, including the A-pillar covers and the center console. The driver’s airbag cover was mounted askew, and the pod containing the controls on the driver’s door panel popped up with little effort.

Thom Blackett’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS’s Quality:
All-new or extensively redesigned models from General Motors, including those heading to Chevy dealers, have generally shown much improvement over the past several months. Though technically a new trim, the 2006 TrailBlazer SS isn’t really a new vehicle, so it’s not surprising that any quality gains are absent from this model. Outside are the same deep valleys between the headlights and fenders, the dark crevasses where the fascias (loose in front) join the sheet metal, and the misaligned tailgate. It doesn’t get much better inside. Whether it’s the cheap plastic used everywhere (except for the padded dash cap) or the loose pillar covers, there’s not much to compliment here.