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Buick Terraza Owners: Meet the Members
I have the 05 Terraza myself and I have a quite of few problems at 300 miles so far. The flickering lights, horn doesn't want to work at certain spots, noisy interior (no wind noise, dealer says), loud clunk on rear end (decided to keep the orignal springs vs the softer, quieter spring with 600 pounds payload loss, manual doors hard to close from the inside (nothing they can do)
I just found out the Buick is selling the more upscale version of the minivan only in China! I am upset to find that they sell the van with sunroof, navigation system, power folding mirrors with integrated turn signals, dual automatic climate controls, three DVD screens, the features that you cannot get here in the U.S. http://gl8.buick.com.cn/en/
I just found out the Buick is selling the more upscale version of the minivan only in China! I am upset to find that they sell the van with sunroof, navigation system, power folding mirrors with integrated turn signals, dual automatic climate controls, three DVD screens, the features that you cannot get here in the U.S. http://gl8.buick.com.cn/en/
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Comments
I think some of the complaints of the GM vans are no different than the Honda and Toyota but are way more minor than Chrysler. For some reason the Japanese van issues are overlooked and the GM van issues are perceived as lemons. Why is this? Is it lemon or lemonade? I think its lemonade and sometime the idiosyncrasies of the van may make you pucker. But I like my van and as I guy ( yes ok I am being chauvinist) can live with the idiosyncrasies. Sorry but true. I'll keep this van until I have over 100,000 miles on it. :shades:
Chow
I have the CXL wit the tow package. Have had only one problem. The rear heater hose in the engine compartment coupling had a small leak. got it fixed with no other problems. It's been a real solid ride to date. Oh the horn spings where a little stiff at first. Just pressed on the horn a few times and it works great now. Guess the springs are stiff and so the horn won't work unless you press on it real hard at first. But they loosened up and worked itself out.
Does anyone have the flicker problem that also has the towing package? If not, should we all demand the higher amperage alternator be installed to fix the problem? I had the 105 amp. replaced, but still have a slight flicker at times. I wonder if the 125 amp would fix it.
I don't have the trailering package. They replaced the alternator and I can see some flickering at idle, it shows up at startup and goes away for a few seconds. Then, if I press the gas and put it in drive, and then park, it will flicker and goes away for a time until you do something. Rev the engine, it goes away fast. So, the new alternator did not fix the problem completely.
I'll have to see some more and if it still doing that, then I have to ask them to replace the 105-amp with the 125-amp one and pay the difference, if ever. At least, the flickering is not as bad as before. I didn't find this problem in any of the cars I've driven before the Terraza.
The manual driver sliding door takes some tries to get them to shut completely. Neither of the sliding doors have real handles to shut it from the inside. You have to grab on to the latch and try a couple of times to slam it. I am not too happy about that.
The van is quite noisy driving on the road. I guess the quiet thread tires haven't broken in yet. Otherwise the engine is relatively quiet. I had them to check out the windshield, but found no bad seals or air leaks. I hope it will not get any worse from here on out.
Disappointing about the horn issue, I was hesitant to have it done for fear that the dealer would damage the air bag or something else. However, my dealer did a nice job.
On the Saturnfans.com web site they are discussing a possible new alternator that GM is testing to solve the flicker issue. I plan to wait and see if that happens before requesting the 125 amp.
The tires are the source of your noise. Goodyear Integrity tires are low-end tires-see tirerack.com for what people are saying..its not good. Mine have been ok, but are getting noisy at only 15K. I plan to put some Yokohama Avid TRZ's on soon (good price, great ratings).
Separate issue-has anyone had a successful fix of the rattling passenger airbag? I'm really scared for the dealer to touch that.
I'll have to mention about the tires at the dealer sometime.
Do you notice some strange shake when you lift your foot off the brake from a stop? I found that it is noticeable on a level surface at stop lights or signs. It feels like the van is shaking laterally.
Also, the engine does not idle consistently at a stop. It rises and drops periodically. If it drops, you can feel the vibes on the steering wheel.
Well, wish me luck with the van.
This rattle is definitely coming from the right side of the dash. Other than that, our van is pretty tight.
I do know what you're talking about with the "shake" when you let your foot off. I've just always considered it a characterist of the van. It's not really bothersome to me, just how the transmission and engine are working at idle.
I've noticed too that the idle goes fairly low at times, but it's never gotten low enough to quit so far.
Thanks for the info on the airbag rattle, now that I know it can be fixed, I'll be sure to get it in before 20K.
Regarding the reliability of these vans in general, I would like to point out that what's not being discussed in this forum is a good thing. There are apparently not widespread issues with the critical functions of the van, such as major engine or transmission failures. Although the 2005 vans were introduced with some (usually) minor issues, I really believe that once these are repaired under warranty people will have a very solid vehicle in terms of long-term performance. I haven't heard of anyone with an intake manifold leak. That alone is a huge improvement over the last generation of v6's (3.4, 3.8). My feeling is that the drivetrain will go 150K, easy.
Dave
The 3.9 liter has a different charging system that will avoid the light flicker and it also doesn't have the whistling noise. Also, I think the 2006's have revised door moldings and hopefully no rattling airbag. Unlike some, I think the 3.5 liter has adequate performance, but because of the issues above, I'd go with the 3.9. But, if you get a great deal and are willing to have these issues fixed, then go for it.
But otherwise I'd negotiate hard for a little more than $5700 off of MSRP.
The best part is that the 3500 is capable of easily exceeding the EPA highway estimates- we averaged 29.5 mpg on just over 11 gallons of fuel (under 1/2 tank for 360+ miles) going to WV this past week, and 26.3 on the trip back (I ran some local in-town trips before gassing up, which I'm sure lowered it by up to .5 mpg).
Both results were manually calculated, rather than trusting the DIC. GMs DICs are normally a bit liberal in my experience (including local driving in this van). But the trip to WV actually read about .5 mpg low, while the reading was dead on for the last fillup (the 26.3). Both were well above the EPA sticker (24 hwy, if I recall correctly).
Oh, and the van is also a superbly comfortable highway cruiser. :shades:
Considering the Sienna and Odyssey outsell the GM vans combined, I think the complaints on the NHTSA hold true and show that the Honda and Toyota vans are more trouble free.
But to a current owner of the vehicle, it doesn't matter. all that matters is your experience with the vehicle.
We really like our Buick Terraza. Just got back from 4 days vacation, put over 1100 miles on the van. Averaged over 25 mpg hwy and city driving on the trip, Have 5 of us in the van. The van operated wonderfully, quiet, smooth and was even peppy with the 3.5 ltr engine. My wife was driving around 80 mph and I was driving 75 mph. On the way home I sat in the back with my boys and watched a movie. It was great.
The only negative I would say is that I would like to see the seats in the middle row slide side to side so that you could put them together or apart more.
I would get the 3.9ltr engine, tow-package, and rear heater/ac options. Check out the car buying guide on Edmunds and go particularly to the maintenance section. You can then pull up the service bulletins and really get to see what the issues are on the vans that you’re looking at. Stay away from the Kia. It has many problems, and gets poor mpg.
Oh, we decided to go with GM as we didn't want to pay a $10,000 premium for the Honda or Toyota. We paid $26,000 and a similar Honda and Toyota was $35K plus. With a family of 5 we have many more things we can do with the extra $$$.
Good luck.
I do like that the new GM vans have a split rear seat, I could really use that a lot. It's great to hear you like the Terraza 'cause that's the van we like the most! It's been hovering on the top of my list. I like the added luxury and you get a 4 year warranty!!! All for about the same price as the other GM vans. My only regret would be that I would have to give up the wonderful service dept. my Chevy dealer has. They've been the best service dept. since I had my Infiniti years back.
I agree with you on the 3.9L engine. I read a lot of postive things about it and I would like to have it.
As far as cost, you're right. I've priced Honda and Toyota and in the Honda there isn't much room to negociate price and it's more than the Buick. The Toyota is way too expensive once you add options. In addition, you can't get the DVD system unless you get the Limited model!!!! Their packaging of options is still as bad as it ever was. I think the Toyota is a great product, but come on...it's a minivan.
I would have gone for the 3.9 ltr if it was available in 2005. Looks like in 2007 the 3.9 ltr may be standard.
How have your power doors been? That's the only thing I ever had problems with. Now they're fine, but I've heard of recent GM vans that have the doors opening on their own while the vehicles moving!!! My doors have never malfunctioned like that, thank goodness.
I heard the 3.9L will probably be standard too. However, I also heard that they may do away with the better suspension and sound deadening material as a cost cutting measure. Just when auto makers get things right, they always change it or get rid of it.
Regardless, you're starting to sell me on this Terazza van:)------thanks for the input!
We get lots of compliments on the Van. Lots of people ask what make is this?
And when they ride in it, they really like it.
We are pleased with our Terraza.We would like a softer ride,on the rear end.
I quiried Buick about a retro-fit for the shocks on the load levelling system.
There is no package made for a Terraza,yet.We will keep looking and hoping
to get a better ride.
We really love the 3.9 liter engine and are looking to buy an Enclave,when they smarten up and put in a good engine.
Any information about decent shocks can be emailed to me at
julius13@telus.net as I do not come to this site very often.
wesleyc