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Comments
mnyhats
I have seen the RDV wheel bearing problems mentioned quite a few times in the past couple of years at various automotive websites.Here is one from a Canadian RDV owner that lost both front wheel bearings and hubs.Notice that he had to wait a month for the parts as they were back ordered.That means that other RDV and Aztek owners were having similar problems.
What things have gone wrong with the car?
A wheel bearing assembly and hub had to be replaced at about 70000km at my cost even though the parts were back ordered all over North America. I waited about 1 month for the part.
At 82000km the battery is dead for no apparent reason.
At 82500km the paint is blistering off the hood.
At 82500km another wheel bearing and hub had to be replaced at a cost of $440 out of my pocket.
At 82500km the air conditioner broke. The condenser needs to be replaced at a cost of $550.
General comments?
I have found that I can't count on the quality of this car any longer. I have had to cancel vacation plans due to all the problems with this SUV at 82500km. I didn't feel safe to go a long distance with it. None of these recent problems are covered by the manufacturer due to the high mileage. I just think for $40,000 it should last longer than 2 years before it starts to fall apart.
Perhaps I should consider myself lucky. The ONLY problem I've had (so far anyway...) is the wheel bearing problem, which was costly enough but at least it's running very well again. I am getting a bit scared however. I just turned 67,000 miles and so far so good.... Oh, and I never had to wait for the new wheel bearings. They were available both times. As I mentioned in an early notice, my first one was fixed in half an hour.
Thanks again for the information. I'm loving this exchange of information.
mnyhats
Here is another RDV owner thats had wheel bearing trouble 3 times.Its too bad that lots of RDV owners havent complained at NHSTA.This review below is off another automotive website with quite a few RDV owner reviews.Some are happy and some arent.
( Maximum score is 100 )
Overall: ( 40 )
Comfort: ( 60 )
Performance: ( 40 )
Quality: ( 20 )
Appearance: ( 60 )
Comments
Favorite feature:
versatrack
Least favorite feature:
everything else
Advice to buyer:
buy a dodge
Detailed review:
I have owned a few buicks and my rendezvous is the worst car i have ever owned. First the gauge cluster went out at about 5000 miles. The headlights flash very quickly every once in a while. Valves tap all the time dealer said its piston slap but gm won't fix it. Wheel bearings have been replaced 3 times and right tierod once. Hood rusted all around edges and car is garaged. Air conditioning condensor went out. radio is broke stays on full volume and won't turn off even when keys out of ignition. Took staight to dealer and gm would not cover it want 350 dollars to replace.versatrack is great but the way the exahast is run over the rearend it ehcos in the spare tire well and makes the cabin noise level terrible can't hear kids in back seat. I will will not be buying another gm product thats for sure. I asked gm to buy this vehicle back and they refused now i will refuse to do bussiness with them for life.
mnyhats
When I shut off my vehicle after having the air conditioner or the defroster it makes a weird noise for a few seconds. Sometime it is low and sometime very loud enough for people to look at me. Have you heard of this? I've taken it to the dealer and he said it is something with the air conditioner and really can't be fixed. I just can't believe that everyone that owns the Rendezvous has this problem. Please respond anyone.
I just got my RDV back today for same stalling problem.
The dealer replaced "Ignition Switch" and "Ignition Relay" but can't guarantee if this will fix the stalling problem.
They also advised me to bring my car back next month to install a Computer Recording Device on my car since my car stalls every two to three months.
Its mostly the 2002-2003 RDV's having all the BCM,wheel bearing,and AC condensor problems.Your new Ultra will probably do just fine.
Thanks
Any thoughts?
Can anyone tell me - are the wheel bearings on the Buick Rendezvous' sealed? Can they not be greased or are you guys having this problem with the regular "greasing" of the wheel bearings? Just wondered if there is some way to prevent this problem or if its a manufacturer defect/ road hazard problem.
Do keep in mind that although people are reporting problems here (and they are real), there are approximately 200,000 Rendezvous on the road right now. My point is that I believe there are a LOT more Rendezvous without problems than the ones with. All vehicle model lines have problems. But we have to keep this in perspective. How many owners have experienced bearing failure (or BCM failure or ... insert problem here ) ... out of how many Rendezvous total have been sold? I know several Rendezvous owners who have not experienced wheel bearing or BCM problems whatsoever. Not all Rendezvous owners are going to experience these problems. It would be too bad if you were discouraged from purchasing a Rendezvous based on the experiences of relatively few owners. Good luck!
Should you ignore these posts about Rendezvous problems? Of course not. Do these posts mean you will experience the same problems? Of course not. Keep it in perspective!
My guess is that either GM got a bad batch of wheel bearings on some of the early RDV's and Azteks or a poor job was done in packing grease in these bearings when new.GM needs to pick up the bill for premature wheel bearing and hub failure.Its just something that should never happen at low miles.
I drive a 1991 Buick Regal to work with over 150,000 miles on it and the bearings have never been repacked.
I farm and have many wheel bearings to keep greased and packed.Some of them have grease zerks so its easy to keep them full of grease.Those that dont I have to pull the wheel and hub off and hand pack the bearings.Its a dirty messy job but has to be done every few years.
CORRECTION: "Everyone" is not having trouble with Rendezvous wheel bearings. There have been some reports ... but out of 200,000 Rendezvous on the road, what percentage of people are having these problems? A very, very small percentage. I take issue with people who state that these problems affect all Rendezvous -- when in actuality, the percentage of affected vehicles is tiny.
I have 40,000+ miles on my Rendezvous and I'm on my original wheel bearings -- no probems whatsoever with my wheel bearings :mad:
Can the plastic panels be cut to accomodate speakers? Is the wiring already in place? Can the existing stereo handle the extra speakers?
Or, what about just replacing the rear door speakers, which are really, really lousy. The front speakers seem to be okay.
Any advice is appreciated....thanks!
I LOVE my RDV. It will be three years old in August. My first wheel bearing went bad at 53,000 and my second at 64,000. There is no maintenance on this part. I've heard that GM is using parts made out of the country (this makes sense to me) and that is the problem with the wheel bearing. I'm not as upset at my RDV as I am at GM for not standing behind the bad equipment, warranty or not. I figured I would drive RDVs the rest of my life because I love this one so much (2002). However, being angry at GM, I may never buy American again! They as much as promised they would pay for the second so I went to the dealership (their requirement) and paid $170 more than an independent charged to fix my first one. After making the commitment, they said they couldn't do it due to wear and tear. Most of my miles are highway because I live 25 miles out of town and I am not hard on vehicles. I was able to get 66,000 on my original tires. Couldn't do that if I was hard on the car. Hope you don't get to 53,000 and have problems. I have a friend who had problems with wheel bearings in the same area (53&64,000). Another strange coincidence? I don't think so. Good luck!
mnyhats :confuse: ">
Heres proof that the RDV and Aztek wheel bearing problem is pretty wide spread.GM needs to help you guys out.Its pretty obvious they got ahold of some bad bearings.I found a place where you can buy a new RDV wheel hub and bearing set for $157 each but one needs to be a fair mechanic to do this by themself.
omments
1. Posted Aug 12, 2004, 10:49 AM ET by Raj
Rendezvous?
I think you meant the Buick Rainier (the Trailblazer clone) rather than the Buick Rendezvous (the Aztek [blech!] clone).
2. Posted Dec 27, 2004, 2:09 PM ET by Jeff
Has anyone else had to have their wheel bearings replaced on the Rendezvous, I own a 2002 model and I had to have them replaced 2 times already, also since the bearings went bad, I had to replace my tires 2 times now and the vehicle is only 2 years old now. Can anyone do something about this>?
Maybe a recall??
3. Posted Dec 27, 2004, 2:15 PM ET by Jeff
Anyone one else have the same problems on their Buick Rendezvous? the wheel bearings went out twice so far, and its a 2002 model. Of course I had to purchase new tires from the un even wear and tear it caused when the dealer could not find the new bearings for my buick. The brakes were also messed up, thus I had to pay for that fix as well. Shouldn't this have been covered under the warranty, since I did not build this car. Also, I am having problems with my All wheel drive being disabled and had to have the cd player replaced not to mention other problems to many to list.
4. Posted Jan 27, 2005, 4:49 PM ET by terry
I HAVE A 2002 PONTIAC AZTEK, SAME CAR BASICALLY.(I KNOW YOURS IS NICER). MY WHEEL BEARINGS JUST WENT OUT TOO, 42,000 MILES.WHAT A SCREW!!EVEN THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT HE SEES THEM IN THERE ALL OF THE TIME FOR THAT.PLUS THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE IGNITION. THE DEALER ALREADY PUT IN A NEW IGNITION SWITCH, STILL BROKE, DOING THE SAME THING!!I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU EXCEPT, DON'T BUY A GM PRODUCT. THEY DO NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS. AND TELL EVERYONE THAT YOU KNOW.HERE'S SOMETHING FUNNY, I WORK AT GM!GOOD LUCK.
5. Posted Feb 5, 2005, 9:00 PM ET by dave
I also have a Buick Rendezvous - $1100 bill for 2 front and 1 rear wheel bearings at 66,000 miles. Service manager says that he sees a lot of that on the Rendezvous and Olds Alero. I vote to recall the Rendezvous for bearings problems. Also had to replace CD player at 38,000 miles...$390
6. Posted Feb 5, 2005, 9:00 PM ET by dave
I also have a Buick Rendezvous - $1100 bill for 2 front and 1 rear wheel bearings at 66,000 miles. Service manager says that he sees a lot of that on the Rendezvous and Olds Alero. I vote to recall the Rendezvous for bearings problems. Also had to replace CD player at 38,000 miles...$390
7. Posted Feb 11, 2005, 4:28 AM ET by Brian
I also have a 2002 Pontiac Aztek and at 41200 miles my left front wheel bearing has gone bad. My mechanic is replacing it for $150, so $1100 for 3 wheel bearings sounds like a screw to me!
8. Posted Feb 12, 2005, 6:31 PM ET by Tim Garrison
Read the Rendevous comments so I might as well pile on. I have a 2002 Rendevous that I have spent $2000 on since I paid it off in Nov. The transmission blew up at 51,000 miles, I replaced 2 wheel bearings and now it is leaking a bright green fluid which the dealer can't seem to find the source of. I was told GM isn't using substanial enough parts for the purnisment AWD can dish out.
9. Posted Feb 24, 2005, 7:47 PM ET by Jeff
I see that everyone else has had the same problems with the Buick Rendevous, funny when I had my suv worked on, they tried to place the blame on my driving. So, $400 on new tires and now less than 8,000 miles on those new tires I find that I have to replace my tires again! seem that when the wheel bearings went out, they did not do a front wheel alingment at all, so needless to say I have to replace my tires again on a 2002 model. I will never purchase a new GM vehicle ever again, as most will stand behind me, GM does not stand behind what they sell. With as many Buicks that this has happened to, they know it was a design flaw, but they are unwilling to cover it, as it would cost them. Thats just the problems with wheels, not to mention the problems with everything else!
10. Posted Mar 31, 2005, 6:53 PM ET by Amy Farley
We bought a 2002 Rendezvous in nov. 2004. it was sold to us as a "gm certified" auto.. HA. just found out (it's march 2005) that it was never certified. the dealer gave us the "form" but it was never signed. NO wonder things are going wrong with this car..no parking brake, transmission broke, windshield wipers locked in middle of rain storm, .. and we have to pay for all of it.. WOW.
So, our question is.. is this deal void???
11. Posted Mar 31, 2005, 7:35 PM ET by Amy Farley
these are our comments
12. Posted Apr 11, 2005, 5:37 PM ET by Ragnar Schreier
2001 Pontiac Aztek. Replaced Driverside Front Bearing at 19,000 Miles.(Warrenty) Replaced it again at 38,000 Miles (Warrenty Again) Replaced it again at 64,000 Miles (NO MORE WARRENTY)Now Both Bearings are Totaly Worn Out. I've Had it With Bearings. The Technician Says I Can't Drive it like this because The Wheel May Break Loose From The Vehicle. Maybe Then We Will See A Recall. Replacing Bearings 4 or 5 Times on a 4 Year Old Vehicle Obviously Doesn't Qualify. Perhaps GM is Waiting For Someone To Be Killed!
13. Posted Apr 11, 2005, 11:59 PM ET by Alan
On my 2002 Buick Rendezvous, the right front wheel bearing went out ($374)and the rear head gasket went out, both out of warranty about 40,000 miles. A sign of the head gasket problem was a small stain on the top of the engine near the side and a smell of coolant when the vehicle was brought in the garage when it was hot. The final sign was the temperature gauge rising near hot stopped at a stop light. At 58,000 miles there is a vibration noise at 2,300 to 2,500 rpm which I have noted is coming from the rear of the vehicle; possibly a rear wheel bearing. I had the transmission fluid changed about 50,000 miles instead of waiting to 100,000 miles because the color did not look good. The heads up display went out and a power control module was not right, both under the 36,000 mile warranty. It handles great in the snow and rain with AWD.
14. Posted Apr 13, 2005, 1:08 PM ET by Dave S
The front wheel bearings failed on my Buick Rendevous at 70,000 miles. I complained to everyone I could and basically just received lip service. Ridiculous. I will never buy a GM vehicle again. Not only have they lost my business, they will likely lost the business of the 100 other people I will tell about the poor service provided by GM. They definitely do not stand behind their products. My brother has a Toyota Previa that is over 12 years old and he has not had to put hardly any money into that car and it has 250,000 miles on it. GM needs to admit the problem with the wheel bearding is a defect.
15. Posted Apr 13, 2005, 2:58 PM ET by Dave S
The
My post from February 2005:
While I have no doubt that you can post lots of anecdotal anonymous unconfirmable posts gleaned from the internet, it doesn't mean that the Rendezvous isn't a great, reliable vehicle (unless you can post 200,000+ posts -- 1 from every RDV owner). The simple fact of the matter is that for every RDV owner who reports serious troubles, there are many, many others who have not had serious troubles!
Remember ... every single solitary make and model of vehicle will have some lemons. That's just the way it is. Are you somehow making this your life mission to bash Rendezvous and prevent people from buying them? Or, are you simply trying to generate sales of extended warranties?
Consumer Reports shows that each and every model year of the Rendezvous has improved, in terms of repairs and reliability. Consumers Reports made the Rendezvous a "Recommended Vehicle" in 2004. Even CR has acknowledged there were problems early on. OK, we get it, some Rendezvous will need repairs. But how many of the 200,000 on the roads are lemons? A few no doubt, but nowhere close to the amount you are suggesting.
I continue to recommend the Rendezvous as a great vehicle. I have a 2002 RDV CXL (with no extended warranty). Still on original BCM, no bearings problems, no electrical problems, no stalling, no bad mileage. 40,000+ miles and going strong! Of course, YMMV.
Now at 85,000 the SERVICE TRACTION SYSTEM and ANTI-LOCK BRAKE warning lights are starting to come on. Anyone know about this problem???? How do you diagnose, other than taking it to the dealer?
Well this is the RDV problems and solutions forum.Most people that come here arent exactly praising the RDV.The regular RDV owners forum is for that and I will stay off it.I'm not bashing the RDV,its the owners themselves that are.Anyone can do a web search and find what I'm finding.Theres alot of good things about the RDV and we were sad to see ours go.It had a fantastic ride,handled great, and was so roomy.
Most people that come here are looking for solutions for their problems.It seems like quite a few RDV owners are loosing wheel bearings which is a safety issue.It also gets real expensive paying for them out of your own pocket after your warranty is gone.If enough owners would complain to the NHSTA maybe GM would have to stand the cost of all the RDV owners with bad bearings.Bearings should never go bad before 100,000 miles.
Didnt you read in several posts where garage owners and service managers say that its very common for RDV's,Azteks,and Aleros to loose wheel bearings?
By the way I see you had a AC condensor go bad after your warranty was up.How would you feel if you had to pay for it yourself like lots of RDV owners have had to do?
By the way here are the rest of the posts from that site I just recently found..
16. Posted Apr 18, 2005, 10:44 PM ET by Rob Neitzel
Wondering if this bearing issue exists on model years other than the 2002 Rendezvous. I'm looking at a 2004.
Thank for all your input.
17. Posted Apr 28, 2005, 7:09 AM ET by Susan Hodo
I was extremely surprised to find that there were so many problems with these wheel bearings. I just had my brakes replaced on a 2003 Rendevous @ 36,000 miles and was told my 2 front wheel bearings have gone bad and are causing the grinding noise I'm hearing.
Rob, I don't think I would buy a 2004. It looks like it's gotten worse and not better since I've only made it to 36,000 miles.
18. Posted May 5, 2005, 5:05 PM ET by john
have a 2002 rendezvous have had to replace both front wheel bearings both under 50,000 miles
19. Posted May 5, 2005, 11:29 PM ET by Richard Williams
I bought a 2002 Rendevous with 51,000 miles on it at the end of March '05 from our local Lincoln-Merc. dealer. It's been well cared for but I bought a 3 year extended warranty for it - sounds like that was the wise thing to do. When I got home from buying the car the annual Consumer Reports auto report was waiting for me and it showed that the Rendevous had slipped in its reliability rating and was no longer recommended by CR. The former owner provided the maintenance records and they show that a left front wheel bearing was installed at 32,264 miles. After putting about 1200 miles on it, I still like it and have no complaints.
20. Posted May 15, 2005, 10:08 AM ET by Scott
I had the front bearings replaced on my '02 at about 20,000 miles. On another issue, TIM above mentioned the "mysterious green fluid". I also had that problem (has since disappeared) but nobody could figure out what it was??!! I think I'm starting to hear the bearings problem again, so maybe I'm going to have to replace them AGAIN! Our RDV us now out of warranty. Our dealer has always been very helpful and has covered some things under warranty that maybe they technically shouldn't. I'm just wondering when my luck is going to run out.
WE've always loved this car, but now we just worry about what is going to happen next.
~Ken
What I think folks need to take from his comments is that if you own one of the few RDV's that is destined to have a problem, you can bet it's going to be a BCM, A/C compressor, wheel bearing, manifold gasket, etc. that fails.
More importantly, if it happens to you out of warranty, you will likely be left out in the cold by your dealership and/or GM.
Honestly ask yourself - if your front wheel bearings failed tomorrow and the dealership quoted you $1200 to fix it (with no help from GM), wouldn't you feel a little victimized?
Nice to see you are still lurking around this forum. You are absolutely correct. I think Buick should step up to the plate and take care of this or any other documented problems that the RDV has accrued.
I have noticed that most of the problems other than the wheel bearings have occurred on the models with the most toy's (options). Mine is the bare bones model. I have had it since July 2001 and it has been one of the most enjoyable vehicles I have owned. It has become a very popular vehicle in North East Ohio. Maybe a little to popular for my liking.
You would think Buick would want to make it's customers happy and take care of these problems especially the BCM's and wheel bearings.
Ken
I'm not really mad at the Buick RDV,its more with GM and the way they treat their customers.We were loyal GM customers for many-many years but our one year of Buick RDV ownership cost us a $5,000 loss and thats alot of money now that my wife is ill and can no longer work.
The RDV's have some serious problems that GM needs to address.Heres a company thats built millions of 3100-3400 V-6 engines from 1995-2003 with known intake and head gasket problems.Theyve gotten away with this without any recalls despite 10's of thousands of complaints on the internet.Many owners have spent anywheres from $750 for intake gasket replacement and up to over $6,000 for complete engine replacement as a result of anti-freeze getting in the oil.Some are making payments on vehicles sitting in their drive ways with blown engines because they simply dont have the money to buy a new engine.I've seen the statement on the internet many-many times that "I'll never own another GM vehicle as long as I live" and now we wonder why GM is in serious financial trouble.
GM has built who knows how many tens or 100's of millions of vehicles since the early 1900's but in 2002 and 2003 couldnt even design a hub and wheel bearing that would last on a Pontiac Aztek or a Buick RDV.This is unexcusable and GM should have to pay for every last bearing and hub thats gone bad before 100,000 miles..You pay $30,000+ of your hard earned money and have to wonder if the wheels are even going to stay on your vehicle.This is deffinitely a safety hazard and will get someone killed some day.I once lost a front wheel off a 2 ton farm truck due to wheel bearing failure and its not a fun thing to have happen.
I can overlook some of the RDV problems but ones involving safety I cant.Several times we were driving after dark and due to BCM failure all we had left was an engine running,.the headlights were on,and we had On Star.We had no other electrical functions and had no tail lights.One time we were 40 miles from home and went home the back roads.Thank goodness it always happened while I was driving as my wife would have freaked out if she had been alone.It got to where she hated our RDV and was afraid to even drive it after dark.I was more in favor of keeping it than she was.When we called GM customer service they acted like we were the first ones to ever have a BCM to go bad when here at Edmunds there had already been many-many complaints.
JK27,it amazes me how you defend the RDV no matter what.When someone posts about a bad RDV you have to tell them how great yours is.Do you work for Buick or GM?You seem to think its perfectly normal for your RDV to loose head gaskets and an AC condensor before 40,000 miles.I for one believe that in this day and age of $30-40,000 vehicles we should expect more out of our vehicles than this.
Its late and past bed time.I bet I still own and drive as many or more liscensed Buicks than anyone else on here.
As I have said ad infinitum ... all models of all manufacturers will have some problems -- it's simply a function of mass production and assembly lines. With ~ 200,000 Rendezvous on the road, I would certainly expect that there would be some problems.
Regalluvr -- you know I don't work for Buick or GM -- I'm a corporate attorney. This is my first Buick (GM) purchase ever. I'm very pleased with it (even though it's not an "American" car -- as it was assembled in Mexico).
As for warranties and length, I think that Buick gave a pretty good warranty on the Rendezvous. However, when you as a purchaser go into the transaction, you know up front that the warranty is finite. If you're not comfortable with that, buy an extended warranty. Nobody forced you to buy this car. Nobody prevented you from buying an extended warranty (in fact, I've never heard of a new car dealer that did NOT try to sell the extended warranty). So ... caveat emptor. It almost sounds like you EXPECT Buick to pay for all repairs -- no matter when it occurs (in terms of time or mileage). However, that's not what your contract reads. If you didn't like the contract, you should not have purchased the vehicle.
You got rid of your Rendezvous two years ago. Move on! As I've pointed out, Consumer Reports has indicated that the Rendezvous continues to improve every single year. All your whining about 2002 model year Rendezvous problems aren't even relevant any more -- as the new Rendezvous have been improved, in terms of repairs and reliability.
OK ... the horse is now officially dead. Stop beating it! :mad:
Have a nice day... :P
Thank you, I will have a nice day
If you've never been burned with a lemon you have no idea how frustrating it can be. And if you've been through the nightmare you want to warn others and you feel the need to vent. Thankfully there's the internet and you can reach millions of people.
I would have loved to have owned one the the "good" RDVs. The '02 I had was a nightmare and after a month of fighting I was given a choice of ONE RDV on the dealer's lot in a buy back. I'm shocked at how Buick has cut corners on my '05. The interior is crap compared to the '02, cheap fabric, cheap looking dash. I never would have chosen this car but after being without a car for a month I caved. I've already had problems with this RDV not starting. I'm going to get out of it while it has very few miles and I will still end up losing money.
From my experience with GM I will never buy another car from them and I have never owned anything but GM cars. But they lost my business and my respect and I will tell every person I can about what lousy treatment I received when I had a problem. I will post my experience on every message board I can find.
Thanks again, Regalluvr!!! And to you too Ckinny!
Mnyhats1
By the way jk our 2002 CXL has only been gone for a little over a year now.It was 3 weeks and 3,000 miles from being out of warranty when we dumped it..It was either buy an extended warranty and put up with it being in the shop all the time or get something more dependable.We liked many things about our RDV but its reliability wasnt one of them.
Personally I think a 3 yr-36,000 mile factory waranty is pretty pathetic in a day and age when many vehicles reach well over 200,000 miles.I sure hate having to pay well over $1,000 for a factory extended warranty but for peace of mind I would highly reccomend one on a Buick RDV.I cant get over how GM says wheel bearing and hub failure is normal wear and tear on RDV's,most with well under a 100,000 miles..What a bunch of BS!!!!
We found out how little our 2002 CXL was worth when we went to trade.Heres a fully loaded 2002 CXL AWD that listed new for nearly $37,000 and most dealers were only offereing $14,000 for it being 2 years old with only 33,000 miles on it.Thats some pretty high depreciation.
By the way I put absolutely no faith in Consumer Reports.I'll take the opinion of the people that post here on Edmunds any day.What a fantastic site!!We now base our vehicle purchases solely off whats said on here.
JK,my son will soon take his LSAT and hopefully will get a full ride to law school.He wants to be an environmental lawyer!
This will be it on here for awhile.Too many 12 hour days at work,too much farming,and now that tractor pulling season is here I have 2 pulling tractors to keep going.My first hooks are tonite.
JK,keep defending those RDV's but take it easy with those posting on here with problems that are wanting a little help and sympathy.
I'm not saying you're not having problems. Nor am I saying that Rendezvous DON"T have problems (I've had a couple of significant problems with mine, thankfully they were fixed and paid for by Buick).
Fact: it's a big bummer that you're experiencing mechanical troubles
Fact: ALL makes and models of cars have some mechanical troubles, problems and need repairs.
Fact: ~200,000 Rendezvous have been sold.
Fact: There are relatively few posts about problems with Rendezvous. Relative as in relation to the 200,000 that have been sold.
Fact: You knew going into your purchase the length of the warranty and what it covered. If that wasn't good enough for you, you shouldn't have purchased (or you should have purchased an extended warranty. (my wife bought a Hyundai Sonata and she's very happy -- nice warranty!) The GREAT majority of cars carry a 3 year, 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. As far as I know, only Hyundai and Kia offer a 5 year, 60,000 mile warranty, with ten year powertrain warranty.
Fact: Buick Rendezvous continue to improve in quality and problems have been reduced. Consumer Reports now states that the 2004 Buick Rendezvous has "Better-than-average overall reliability"
Fact: The 2004 Rendezvous is now a Consumers Reports recommended buy.
I'm not the enemy here. I'm a fellow Rendezvous owner who is simply posting MY experience with MY Rendezvous. I thought that's what forums were for. It's absolutely fine that people post about the problems they have. Just don't make sweeping generalizations based on RELATIVELY few reports of problems. Maybe I'll have trouble down the road (I hope not, but if I do, I'll report back).
As for me "not understanding what it's like to own a lemon", that's simply not correct. I filed a "lemon law complaint" against Isuzu and won. Believe me when I say I know what it's like to have a car that is not fixable. It was a nightmare and I ended up purchasing the Rendezvous after that car was repurchased by Isuzu. What a GREAT improvement.
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