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Comments
The thought of our 2002 CXL AWD having a SC3800 and no electrical problems puts a huge smile on my face.To my knowledge the SC3800 has no intake gasket problems and very few problems peroid.It sure ran like a striped ape in our 98 GS Regal and would get 24+ mpg on trips with 3 of us at 75-80 mph,AC on,and tons of luggage.It loved mountain grades as we'd pass everyone.
Its time to wake up now and realize that it has a 3400 and plenty of electrical problems.Oh what could have been!!We are agonizing over whether to buy a GM extended warranty to 75,000 miles or send it down the road at a huge loss.After doing much research on here we will buy no 3rd party warranty.We will probably try this place I found on edmunds for a GM warranty.
http://www.capperautocenter.com/
We have been spoiled by Buick Regals for the past 20 years.Never had an extended warranty and never really needed one.The worst failure on one was a power window motor.Going from 240 horses in our 98 Regal SC3800 to the 185 horse 3400 was hard for us to take but we needed a vehicle that was easy for my wife to get in and out of due to health problems.
It does seem that quite a few of the newer vehicles are having problems these days.
I'll list the positives on our CXL
1 Wife likes it
2 Handles good
3 Roomy
4 Will haul good sized loads with rear seat down
5 Easy to get in and out of
6 Has OnStar
7 Love the heated leather seats
Today we were only offered $12,900 in trade for a new 2004 Honda Pilot EX-L.This is for a loaded 2002 CXL AWD that listed new for over $34,000 in March 2001 and now has 31,000 miles on it.They sure depreciate fast.Would love to see what a Buick dealer would offer for it on an Ultra.The Honda dealer says they are selling Pilots fast as they get them in with no rebates or special interest deals.It doesnt have the options as a CXL does but that 3.5 at 240 horses is OK.
I'm guessing we will keep the CXL for now.A GM extended warranty and new intake gaskets will see us past 75,000 miles when we will trade again.Just hope we can whip the electrical problems.
Also noted that the seat memory does not work and also the back up alarm.
No problem a new BCM
Also had them check the manifold and yes it to needs replacement.
This is on top of three towings, one ignition switch, one fuel pump, and one other BCM.
Hopefully the next 35000 miles are better.
Anyway Buick have given me a nice Ford Taurus as a loaner for however long they have the Buick.
Kiwi
Since someone asked, I have had no electrical problems. My RDV is a 2002 CW AWD with only the 1SB.
29,000 miles so far at an avg 19.5 MPG. Last reset at 3,000 miles.
Best regards,
Mark
Clarnece, NY
We no longer own our 2002 CXL AWD(See Problems-Solutions)but I still want to follow the RDV's to see how they are doing.I'm sure that theres some high mile trouble free RDV's out there.If so speak up.
It was somewhat bittersweet. My wife wanted the minivan because we just recently had a second child & she likes it's power sliding doors. I was only OK with the RDV. Since it's first week, the brakes have squeeked very loudly - to the point that people would sometimes look as you pulled up to a stoplight. There were multiple repair attempts but to no avail. During the last one, the service manager told me it was normal (!!!). Also, I think I was beginning to get the start of some of the BCM problems.
In any event, best of luck to all of you - and your RDV's...
Most places would only offer $13-14,000 for it in trade with only 31,500 miles on it.You still cant tell it from new.Finally we got an offer of $18,300 for it so we decided to let it go.Otherwise we would have kept it and put a GM extended warranty on it.
Theres lots of things we liked about our RDV but we just couldnt live with all the electrical problems that we were having.There doesnt seem to be any fix for them.We once had a 1986 Toyota Camry that had electrical problems.We fought it for 2 years and never did get it fixed.It continually blew fuses and we had no lights.
The straw that broke the camels back is that when we complained about our CXL to Buick Customer Relations they acted like we were the first ones to ever have BCM problems.We told them that Edmunds was full of Buick RDV's with BCM problems.I've counted over (60) RDV owners on here and other places with BCM problems and I'm sure its far more wide spread than that as lots of people dont even know about this place,wouldnt admit they are having problems, or dont have computers,etc.
Only Buick knows how many RDV BCM's are going bad and they arent talking.When our BCM's went bad they were always on back order so it must be a ton of them.
From 1995-2003 GM built the 3100 and 3400 V-6 engines knowing that the intake gaskets were prone to leak.Why does it take them so long to fix a problem?To this day they wont even admit that there ever was a problem.The internet is full of unhappy 3100 and 3400 owners with leaking intake gaskets.I see new posts every day on this.They need to admit that some Buick RDV's are having electrical problems and try and come up with a fix for them.Its too good of a vehicle to not try and fix it.
Its just a shame about all the RDV problems as it was such a great idea.We like our new Toyota HL but theres things it doesnt have that the RDV did have.We wish we could have kept our CXL but we just didnt feel good about it.We sure do miss it at times.
I made my last post at problems and solutions and this is my last post here since we no longer own a RDV.Good luck to all RDV owners.I know that alot of you arent having problems.
That said, from various complaints here it certainly seems that *something* is going on. I agree with regalluvr2 that replacing the BCM seems like it is a 'symptomatic' fix when a vehicle goes back multiple times for the same problem. The dealer mechanics are obviously not finding the 'real' problem. (E.g, a cable that is getting abraded? A bad ground? etc.)
Thanks in advance for your help.
Andre
Comprehensive list of the problems: 1) The driver seat lumbar knob broke off and 2) my right passenger sideview mirror doesn't always return to its proper place after backing up. Aside from those very minor nits ... I've had no problems. Great car! I'd buy another one in a minute. Excellent luxury, phenomenal stereo, LOTS of room, good in Wisconsin snow (I got the VersaTrack AWD), good mileage and OUTSTANDING ride.
I had come to this board to ask if anyone knows if you can add the 3rd row seat to a CX (I realize it doesn't come in cloth, at least according to the '03 brochures, but as long as it coordinates I don't care). The dealership immediately said no, but since the cars come off the same assembly line and from what I can tell from the brochure the CX Plus package, which has the 3rd row seat as an option, is all trim and accessories, no real difference in structural.
Now, I guess first questions first, have people had repeat problems with BCM's, or once they are fixed are they all right? If it looks like it could be a continual issue, I obviously don't want to put a lot of money into the vehicle. We drive our cars forever, my '96 Explorer which the RDV is replacing has 106K on it.
Any thoughts? I have come to really love driving this vehicle, after admittedly initially thinking it was too 'mimi-van' for my SUV tastes. Until this opportunity came along, the intention was to try to get another year or two out of the Explorer, then get a new one with the 3rd row seating.
Not surprisingly, when I called yesterday and asked the dealership to take a look at the brakes after reading these boards since it's sitting there for a week - ours squeak also - I asked about the BCM history, they said they've only replaced one or two and that it hadn't been a big deal for them -
superb 3.4L powertrain. Superb aerodynamic control with virtually zero wind noise at hiway cruise. Excellent seating fabrics and well executed stitching detail. Excellent second row seating, my teenagers were impressed. Decent fuel efficiency 26.3 mpg. Roomy interior. Easy parking space manuevers by virtue of short front/rear overhangs.
Now for the downside. logwagonly ponderous handling. Undertired with firestines? Wierd rubbery wiggling ride vibration over irregular road surfaces. Underboosted clumsy steering. Totally unreadable dash gauges in daylight, drab and generic monocolored "mass produced" shot out of a giant injection moulded dashboard--lacking even a pretense of labor intensity. Wierd seat adjustment mechanisms, impossible to figure out how a particular lever does anything. Intrusive and dangerous parking brake pedal (As a physician, I've seen these pedals actually embedded in the shreaded flesh of a drivers left leg in side impact collisions). My 2cents. Not a bad vehicle depending on what discount they give, but not a car for the person who really likes the driving experience, IMHO!
Any thoughts.
I believe the current 2004 options allow the new 3.6L cadillac engine only in the Ultra and in CXL AWD Plus. 2005 may have CXL FWD with the new 3.6 liter engine.
By the way, we recently brought a dryer in a factory box - it fit in with much room to spare. Still very happy with our '02.
Regards,
Taras
> insulation on wiring harness, creating a short...
That is good to hear.
Re: my message 3682, I've taken the RDV in for service (scheduled oil change, lube, etc) and had them look at that underdash rattle again. They found it this time - slightly loose hinge on the hood. While there, I asked the service advisor about BCM problems. He said he has never seen one yet... (This is from a moderately large Silicon Valley dealership.) Again, I think folks who are being told their BCMs are bad should be insisting that the mechanics look a bit deeper.
No question the Affinity tires suck. They need to be at 35 psi or so for 'ok' handling. But ours has now gone through the first two at only 14k miles - just from normal street wear. Replaced the two with B'Stone Dueler H/L in the rear. Will replace the Affinities in front by fall.
> Underboosted clumsy steering.
Never noticed this. Perhaps the rental had a problem?
> Totally unreadable dash gauges in daylight,
HUD is available...
> drab and generic monocolored "mass produced" shot out of a giant injection moulded dashboard--lacking even a pretense of labor intensity.
Ultra trim is available. Lots of wood dash kits on ebay.
> Wierd seat adjustment mechanisms, impossible to figure out how a particular lever does anything.
Have not had a problem with it. But ours has the memory seats.
> Intrusive and dangerous parking brake pedal (As a physician, I've seen these pedals actually embedded in the shreaded flesh of a drivers left leg in side impact collisions).
Interesting observation. Never thought much about it.
You probably haven't shopped many vehicles. Most are plastic and most have upgraded models. If you're comparing it with automobile dashes from luxury line cars, it ain't gonna compare. > Weird seat adjustment mechanisms, impossible to figure out how a particular lever does anything.
> Weird seat adjustment mechanisms, impossible to figure out how a particular lever does anything.
The owners manual explains it very well on my Buick. Have you read the owners manual and tried the seats with it in hand?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
My mechanic said not to change out the Dex-Cool on the RDV until the warrenty was up. Until then, he said to change it every two years just to be safe.
If you ever see how bad the sludge build up can be, you will not take a chance. I highly recommend changing the Dexcool well before the GM recommendation.
P.S. Change your long-life plugs at around 60,000 miles otherwise they can freeze in the engine and you will a nice big bill for extracting them and having the threads re-done.
I believe I read that the air causes a chemical breakdown affecting hoses.
Change DexCool every two years. Keep it for its better protection of metals and no silicates, but CHANGE it. You can do it yourself in most cases for many people.
Change your 100K plugs at 60K. I think I beat that by a few thousand. Cheap insurance against frozen threads... They only cost 6 or 8$.
I'm more concerned about sealed ball joints on my LeSabre than I am about the DexCool.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Air pockets that would cause a car to overheat could be the reason that gaskets fail. Overheating warps metal mating surfaces and gaskets won't be able to seal the surfaces.
I have been following this Dexcool story for years and believe that if it is the Dexcool causing problems the repair shops would have a long line of cars waiting to get repaired.
Maybe all of the people who own GM cars that I know have just been lucky so far.
* My radiator coolant is an opaque orange -- is that Dexcool?
* If I need to add additional coolant, do I have to add the same coolant, or can I add any quality coolant? Any recommendations?
* Can I purchase Dexcool anywhere -- or just through the dealer?
* Does anybody know what Buick's recommendation is on when you replace the coolant?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Only add dexcool.
Can buy at ADvance auto
Pep Boys, Kmart. Texaco brand
GM brand, I think I've seen another
that says dexcool.
Buick's recommendation???
I'd do it myself at 2 years.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Anyway what is a good price to pay for CXL AWD with 3.6L?
Thank you all..