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Pontiac Torrent

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Comments

  • exalteddragon1exalteddragon1 Member Posts: 729
    you should drive the torrent yourself and find out why.

    I do agree, however that without the 3.6 or 3.9L this car is going to be a tough sell, but you can argue its interrior is better than the toyota and it does have more flexible space with the second row seat that slides back and forth.

    Also, even a fully loaded torrent will not run you 30K, wereas the toyota can easily topple 30K.
  • joey2brixjoey2brix Member Posts: 463
    on a fully loaded Torrent is $29.9K. True, everyone should at least get $500-900 off MSRP, but that's still 29 grand for 185HP and 18MPG! Poor value in my book. No other min-SUV is using OHV engines! If I wanted a cheap Asian motor, a Kia Sorento still costs thousands less.

    True, a fully loaded RAV4 with V6, leather, 3rd row seat, etc. tops out over 30K if you can find one. But at that price you could get a Highlander with all the same options for less then 30K since there's plenty available with discounts.
  • tripowergtotripowergto Member Posts: 83
    When does the 3.9 engine become available? 2007 model year or sooner? There is nothing wrong with OHV engines, I prefer them in the V8 variety.
  • joey2brixjoey2brix Member Posts: 463
    With Suzuki importing their own 3.6L to the plant for the XL-7, GM would probably just use that motor option in '08. They probably have some agreement with the plant in China for the cheap 3.4L.
  • big_prizebig_prize Member Posts: 50
    "I don't know why people are comparing the Torrent with an M-B or BMW. The new RAV4 has much better value, interior, price, and engine. A fully loaded Suzuki Grand Vitera MSRP's for under 25K. Why would anyone pay 28-30K for a Torrent with an obsolete 3.4L, made in China, engine that only get's 18 MPG? "

    Agree that the Torrent isn't in the same class as a BMW, but it is a nice vehicle for the class. The RAV4 is a nice value, no doubt, but I can't stand the styling (purely subjective). To me, the Torrent is way-better in the styling department.

    Built-in-China aside (why, GM?), the 3.4L, while not my first choice of engines, does fine. I suspect many would be happier with it rather than a RAV4 with a 4-cyl (a V6 RAV4 negates your pricing/value points). Your 18MPG comment is misleading. The EPA rates it 19/24, and before anyone springs the "real world" defense, many people are getting near these figures. I got 21 on my second tank ( when new vehicles usually don't live up to sticker during break-in).

    As for Torrent pricing, our FWD model with leather seats stickered under 25K, and we didn't pay anywhere near that (23K, 20K after GM card rebates). I don't think that the RAV4 or Grand Vitara will price very competatively with a Torrent.
  • pisulinopisulino Member Posts: 78
    Anyone considering the Torrent should have a serious look at the Saturn Vue. Both the Torrent and Nox are based on the Vue's chasis.

    However, the VUE offers the Honda engine and transmission, polymer panels and 4 years of refinement.
  • joey2brixjoey2brix Member Posts: 463
    4WD loaded GV is $24.6K, Base model 2wd is $19.2K and all have a 2.7L V6

    You should get at least $500 of MSRP (or more). I've got a GM card also but not fair to factor that in.
  • gljvdgljvd Member Posts: 129
    Why is it not fair to factor in ? I have a gm card with close to 3k on it . I'm going to factor that into any choice I make. As it is right now I can get a fully loaded torrent for about 2.5k more than I will be able to buy a fully loaded Jeep Compass (and most likely the patriot I want) That is certianly going to factor into my purchase choice
  • joey2brixjoey2brix Member Posts: 463
    The GM card is a great ideal for GM. Any incentive that holds you to the brand is great for them. But it probably took you a few years to build up a good incentive plus GM made money off of you by getting a piece of your credit card activity. Most people don't have a GM credit card.
    If one SUV has more room, safety options, better engine and probably the same gas mileage for the same price, isn't that a no-brainer choice?
  • kfrielkfriel Member Posts: 31
    Well our no longer new Torrent has now had it's second incident. Again with my lovely wife at the wheel, collided at speed with a 4X4 wooden fence post. So back to the body shop and another new front bumper and something about the ac condensor and radiator.

    She has been "grounded" to ride her motorcycle to work only, as long as weather permits. She is much safer that way.

    First time at 3000 miles rear ended somebody in the rain.
    Thank you for the bandwidth. Truck seems to be holding up fairly well.... resale value errr not so much.
  • gljvdgljvd Member Posts: 129
    Its a good idea . The card is a card . Its a plus . I'm sorry you don't have one and I'm sorry others don't . however you can go and sign up for one at anytime and start earning money . So its fair to compare to any other incentive.

    The torrent for many is a very good deal as they can get up to 3k more off the cost of the car.

    The good thing about the card is that then by using it for repairs or tune ups at the dealer you get more money back from gm .

    I believe jeep had this too. Mabye not anymore though.
  • rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    torrent now has 6100 miles on the clock. no issues or complaints. oil life monitor came on at 5500 miles. gas mileage has consistantly be 23.5-25.5 mpg. lots of people seem to like the looks of this auto.
  • kfrielkfriel Member Posts: 31
    Good report glad to see an update. Same here oil service about 5700 miles. No issues, just got it out of the body shop due to wife's second incident. Still tight as a drum 7110 miles currently getting about 17mpg AWD city/LA commuting traffic.
  • yogimagsteryogimagster Member Posts: 7
    Hey envoysle! I just purchased my 2006 Pontiac Torrent about two weeks ago and absolutely love it! I did have a G6 but I had so many problems with it, plus I needed more room but refused to drive a standard size SUV and immediately fell in love with the Torrent after a short test drive.

    Mine has the V6, but I decided to go with the front wheel drive versus the AWD, I didn't see the need for it, but so far I love the vehicle and everything about it. Drives great, very easy to manuever and definitely easy to get in and out of and has a ton of room on the inside. You will not be disappointed in the Torrent, trust me.
  • boater3boater3 Member Posts: 1
    Has anyone trailered a boat with a Torrent? I need to be able to pull 3000lb boat and trailer.
  • kfrielkfriel Member Posts: 31
    I've had a class 3 hitch installed 3rd party Hitch is Draw-tight. I have a two motorcycle trailer and a couple 400+ street bikes. Careful though read the manual section about towing.... MAX load w/passengers and baggage/beverage of your choice IN the truck is supposed to be 3000lbs. I'd also make sure the tounge weight is <500 lbs. Yes a little gut-less on the hills but no overheat or trans problems. I am AWD
  • joey2brixjoey2brix Member Posts: 463
    I do have a GM Card, but only the original GM card holders are allowed to cash in the full $3500 on a single car. Plus you can only accrue $500/year, so 7 year wait to save that kind of money. If you converted your account or any new card holders have discount limits of $1000-2000 depending on the model.

    And using the original GM card @ GM dealerships does not gain you the double points.

    I'll probably still get the Torrent, but I'm concerned about the cheap engine that was put into it.
  • bosi77bosi77 Member Posts: 37
    Does anybody have any info on the 2007 Pontiac Torrent GT ( more powerful engine)?
  • yankeeclipperyankeeclipper Member Posts: 11
    If you go to the GM card site there is a list of how much they allow on each model. The Torrent and Equinox have a limit of $1,000.
  • yankeeclipperyankeeclipper Member Posts: 11
    A fully loaded Torrent will sell in my area for about $3,000 off sticker. Plus a $2500 rebate
  • yankeeclipperyankeeclipper Member Posts: 11
    In Scottsdale Az the dealers will take as much as $3000 off sticker and there is a rebate.
  • topgun0467topgun0467 Member Posts: 5
    Just picked up my Torrent last Monday and drives real nice.. I don't understand all the fuss about the 3.4L engine but it is nice and smooth, quite and accelorates nice... I Traded in a Chevy Blazer 01 for it... The only couple of complaints I got are the sun visors are a bit cheezy and I really miss my dial a temperture climate control.. The power window switches are ok in the center however I kind a wished they light instead of total darkness... The leather package is nice... My friend drives the BMW X3 and he is considering on trading it in for the Pontiac Torrent. The color I picked is Black and it is amazing how much heads it turns... other then the Torrent Logo in the back there is nothing on the truck that says Pontiac.. I really do not understand why.. Ireally hoped that the the radio came with the MP3 when I got the sun and sound package... Pontiac should consider upgrading the radio to have the MP3 rather then giving you a 6 CD changer and no MP3...it seems that they went backwords on the technology...
  • rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    glad to hear your torrent. we bought( wife's car) a black fwd torrent at christmas. we have 8200 miles on it. plenty of power, 23.5 - 27.8 mpg. oil life monitor came on at 5500 miles. no issues at all. the nice thing about the torrent is the rear doors make it easy for elderly people to get in and out. quiet,comfy and like you said "black turns heads".
  • kfrielkfriel Member Posts: 31
    Congrats and welcome to the fold. I hear ya about the lack of the Pontiac logo. I thought that was stange also. Went to parts and got a chrome license plate holder for the back that just says PONTIAC :) enjoy
    Black AWD in So Cal
  • topgun0467topgun0467 Member Posts: 5
    just filled second tank of gas... So far it got 20.6 miles to the gallon... Not bad for motor not being broken in yet... Dealer told me for my first oil change to be around 1000 miles... I always thought it had to be done at 500 miles... any suggestions out there?? :confuse:
  • kfrielkfriel Member Posts: 31
    I asked same question when I got mine. Salesman said "nope no need just bring it in when service light comes on". Said to self "geez what do salesman know anyways". Proceeded directly to service manager whom promplty said "Nope no need just bring it in when the service oil light comes on". Service oil light came on at ~5500 miles. First service perfomed then ~$50. 8800 miles and all is well. Looking for service light which will then be Maintence II on the sched.
  • topgun0467topgun0467 Member Posts: 5
    Has anyone added bluetooth technology in the Torrents radio?? If so What are you using.. Does the radio go on mute when lets say a call comes in are you able to get over existing speakers and is the istall easy?? :confuse:
  • topgun0467topgun0467 Member Posts: 5
    Just found out from Crutchfield that the opening for the torrents radio is slight bigger the a double din radio... because the stock radio has all the factory chimes build in to it they currently do not have an adopter to make the chimes work. So I am a bit more disapointed with the torrents radio... first was the sun and sound package you loose the MP3 and now this... can anyone help with this??
  • whaas1whaas1 Member Posts: 11
    So I am just about to purchase a Pontiac Torrent and then tonight did "more" research. So I ran into the service bulletins. There are 18 already! And some are quite serious. Then I looked up the 2005 Equinox and wow there were 118...are you kidding me?

    Does anybody have comments on this? I looked up many competitors to the Torrent / Equinox and the service bulletin numbers don't even come close. Even my 2003 Mazda 6 (1st year it was introduced) had way less than half the amount than the 2005 Equinox. Quite Scary.
  • amdaxiomamdaxiom Member Posts: 3
    Well, couldn't resist getting a Torrent with the 0% for 72 months. Especially now that interest rates are on the rise that's saving me a ton of money. Got my Torrent with leather, cd/mp3 player, xm radio, for 22500, used 3300 in GM card credit so got it out the door for 21300. The whole things is financed for 72 months with 0 down so I got my brand new Torrent for 296 a month, nothing down. Woohoo.
  • whaas1whaas1 Member Posts: 11
    You got a pretty good deal...I got $22,400 without the leather/xm radio/mp3, hmmm actually you got it under invoice. How did you slip that by?

    I wish I would have used my GM card more often now, I had the one where there was no max...$1,500 GM points is good though
  • m4825m4825 Member Posts: 11
    Hey Whass....

    I actually own an 05 Equinox and also bought a new 06 Torrent for my daughter a few months ago. I have had my Nox for a year and a half. Other than paint chipping off the buttons on the radio, a small flaw in the leather of the drivers seat,and the infamous coolant smell, our family has never had a problem of any other kind with our two cars.

    The only problem we have had with our Torrent so far is the CD player had problems tracking and was promptly replaced by our dealer.

    Would I recommend these CUV's? Definitely...

    We run our Equinox frequently to our son's house in the mountains, and yes we actually do achieve 25 MPG on the open highway. The Torrent also delivers about the same mileage- even though it is brand new still with about 2K on it. Our Equinox has about 28K of city/ highway driving on it.

    I would not be too concerned by service bulletins, as they are just that - not recalls. GM seems to be more on the ball with getting info out these days to cover items that have popped up based upon feedback from their service department to their engineering staff. I only wished Ford had as good of a communication line with their service people years ago when I bought one of their products. :sick:
  • amdaxiomamdaxiom Member Posts: 3
    The MSRP was 23965, I got it for 22600, which the dealer printed out and showed me was invoice (not sure if he was lying). But the base price was 21400 and there was around 2K in options plus destination of 590. The options were trim interior design, 6 power power drive seat, xm, cd/mp3 player, 17" wheels, steering wheel mounted radio controls, leather wrapped steering wheel. What's interesting is it doesn't say leather seats, just trim interior design, but they are definitely leather seats (or a fake leather). I guess trim interior design means leather.

    In any case the 22600 + ttl came out to almost 25K, and then I had my 3300 in gm card rebates so my total out the door was 21300. Luckily I have the old GM card which earns a max of 500$ a year but I can spend the entire amount towards the purchase of a car. It caps out at 3500 though because the earnings expire after 7 years.

    In any case I've had the car now for 4 days and I love it. Just ordered mats which my car didn't have but my salesman got them for me for 78$. Additionally I have to get the rear cargo shade which my car didn't have as well but will pick them up from a different dealer for 152. For some reason the dealership I bought the Torrent at is quoting 355 for it.

    Great car, great price, I can't believe the negative reviews on it. Now, if I had purchased the car for 27K that would be a different story I suppose. Oh yeah, my dealership jacked my coin holder on the way out too, so I asked my salesman to get me one and he said he would. I can't believe they would take the coin holder out of the armrest, is that being cheap or what?
  • tim66tim66 Member Posts: 22
    Just a heads up if you take your Torrent in for service. The engine holds 4 quarts with filter. Got mine back and the bill stated 5 quarts and filter. I pulled the stick and it read about 1/4" over full. Needless to say it went directly back to the dealer. This gave me a good reason to change my own oil from now on. Hmmm, wonder how many Torrents are running around with 5 quarts in them?
  • rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    glad to hear about your new torrent. we bought our fwd torrent in dec. 05 and really like it. have 10,000miles on it and have reached 29.5 mpg on one trip of 180 miles. what cargo shade are you refering to?????
  • big_prizebig_prize Member Posts: 50
    whaas1,

    We've had our Torrent since March, and although we've only put a couple thousand miles on it, we've had no problems so far. In fact, we love it. Also, we've had good experience with fuel economy, never doing any worse than the sticker suggests. In fact, on one trip, we got 27 MPG.

    I'd say that given that the Torrent is more or less in its second year (since it's more-or-less identical to the Equinox), the bugs have probably been worked out by now. There are Equinox and Torrent owner websites with help on problems if you'd like to browse what problems people have had (I can't post the links here due to Edmunds' rules).
  • rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    we have 10,000 miles on our torrent now. zero problems. we took a short trip of 184.1 miles and used 6.25 gallons of gas. this comes out to 29.45 mpg. not too bad for a trashy outdated V6. our torrent is fwd and the trip was all highway driving on gently rolling roads. we love the car.
  • amdaxiomamdaxiom Member Posts: 3
    The cargo shade or the cargo cover - it covers up the rear and retracts back when not needed. There are holes in the sides for it if you take a look at the back. My torrent didn't come with it.
  • rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    i have seen the holes for the shade. where do you get one?
  • buddy443buddy443 Member Posts: 6
    Thanks for the heads up about the 4/5 qt. oil. We just had ours changed. Before I picked the Torrent up after the dealer changed the oil, I saw the billing was for 5 qt, and had verified in the manual that it states "4 qt. with filter". When I showed the manual to the guy at the service dept. his response was "go ahead and drive it anyway; it won't hurt anything", even after showing him that it clearly states in the manual the engine can be damaged by overfilling! Needless to say I refused to take the vehicle until the extra oil was removed.
    The guy says they have changed lots of Torrents and have put 5 qt. in all of them!! But now I doubt the credibility of the service department at the dealership -- saying to ignore warnings in the manual!
    Again thanks for the heads up about it.
  • balt1974balt1974 Member Posts: 1
    has any one had a problem with a noise in the right front. It sounds like it is a suspension noise and is only noticed when the bumps in the road are severe or close together.
  • buddy443buddy443 Member Posts: 6
    I have not experience front end noises. Just the rear noises mentioned in Message #876.
  • jacksericjackseric Member Posts: 33
    Coin holder in the armrest? Does everyone else have one of these? I wondered what the little clip looking thing in there was for, since a quarter won't even fit in it...

    Grr... that makes me angry.

    What about this Cargo Cover/Shade thing? Anyone have any luck finding one? My dealer says it doesn't even exist. Can anyone get me a part number? Please? Any luck finding one from a 3rd party?
  • rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    i have ordered a cargo cover from pontiac dealer in shenandoah Iowa the other day and will pick it up tomorrow. it will cost about $89.99 (?). took them less than a week to get it. i will post part number after i get it home. our torrent has the ebony interior, the cover is to be the same color. my dealer says if you have the cargo organizer option on your torrent the cargo cover won't work,, but will inquire more about this when i pick mine up. they are just newly available.
  • jacksericjackseric Member Posts: 33
    That's exciting because I've been beating my head against a wall for a week just trying to find one. (from Pontiac or elsewhere)

    I don't have the organizer option, but I do have the spots in the back to install the cargo cover into. I also have the ebony in leather... I wonder if the cover will be leather also? $90 seems about right for a leather one, but pretty expensive if not.
  • jacksericjackseric Member Posts: 33
    OK, I just got back from my dealership. They confirmed the cargo cover is now an available accessory, for $90 as rhouser2 indicated. I'm a little confused on the matter of the coin holder, however. They tell me that no such thing even exists. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Any chance someone has a picture of what it looks like that I can take into the dealership with me?
  • rhouser2rhouser2 Member Posts: 114
    picked up my cargo cover today. have not installed it yet.
    part number is 17802625. mine is ebony in color. $89.00 and tax.
  • jacksericjackseric Member Posts: 33
    Awesome! You should post a picture once you've installed it! Thanks for taking the time to post!
  • kfrielkfriel Member Posts: 31
    10,450 miles $100 bucks loving it. This thing is SO low maintenance
  • jacksericjackseric Member Posts: 33
    What did you get for your $100? At what mileage did you get your first service done? What was done then and how much did it cost you? Is anyone here running synthetic oil?
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