Pontiac Torrent

cnichols138

ok. I asked my master installer Brother inlaw about our situation. There is a device for around 90 dollars that plugs into the block and give you the aux port. of course the labor charges if you cant do it your self. So there is a way but 90 dollars seems a bit steam to me.

jackseric

Ouch! $90 seems really steep! Does anyone know if the XM controller/receiver is internal to the factory head unit, or does it reside elsewhere in the car? I wonder what the output from that looks like?

cnichols138

for what i was told and showing the installer the back of the radio (Pic later in the forums) he said that the XM in controlled by the radio. and the the XM attena feeds into the wireing harness of the radio and plugs into the back. Most likely in the Anttena spot just like the Car attena. If you are looking in the back of the radio...the large plug is speakers and amp most likely while the smaller of th two is the POWER, ground Ect.

What he has is access to a website that showed him what part he needed for the Torrent/Equinox to take control of the XM portion. Now he looked up my radio..which just happens to be the 6 disc in dash cd player. If you dont have that...yours may be cheaper...who knows.

cnichols138

http://www.autotoys.com/x/cust/product.php?productid=5535&cat=0&page=1

We need something like this..but since my radio is XM ready...i need additional parts.

Look are around the 90 must have been his price.

LOL

jackseric

I have the same radio you have. It really burns my butt, that I had to choose between the 6 disc in-dash cd player, and the in-dash cd player that will read MP3 cds. In fact the radio thats in the 2007 Torrents has BOTH! But that's another issue all together.

Hmm... can your source share what that controller is and/or where to get it? I'd like to find out more...

jackseric

Oh... it looks like I may be screwed and stuck using an FM Modulator... because I don't own an Ipoop... I bought a Creative Labs Zen Touch. Same as an Ipod but more reliable battery (with longer battery life), and 40GB of storage for the price of a 20GB Ipod.

Hmm... trying not to get discouraged.

cbayko

If you look through the website you linked to with the cool car accessories; http://www.autotoys.com/x/cust/product.php?productid=2521 it appears they make a device that should work with the Torrent '06; that uses RCA plugs; so you could connect any external device to the radio. You would just need to change the output of the creative to RCA plugs; believe you could do that?
Then you wouldn't have to have an FM Modulator.

pondscum

That's a real bS reply from the dealership about mid way through 2006 the coin holder was dumped. You might want to have them go to Pontiac.com, torrent, then the photo gallery. its clearly there in the 2007 model photos. ">

pondscum

any chance there is a part number on it somewhere?

pondscum

Has anyone opted for the front and rear "mudflaps" or as GM calls them, "Molded Splash Guards"

rhouser2

we have them on our tnt. they work great and look great as well

tim66

I have them on my Torrent and the keep a lot of dirt off the vehicle. Funny thing,only the back ones have the Pontiac logo. note..one of the back ones was mounted on a slant and looked cheesy...I remounted it straight. Have owned it a year this month and no mechanical problems only wish the mileage was better. The average was 18.6 for the last six months.

tim1021

Wife and I bought an 06 last week. Got it brand new, i think 110 miles at the time of purchase. It was a loaded too, Sun/Sound package, 6 CD changer...the works.

Price was 20,900 including all the rebates, they came down an additional $750 off that and paid off my 03 Grand Am.

Drove it off the lost for $21650, including tax & title.

This is the 3rd Pontiac we've owned, preivous 2 were Grand Am's. They've all been good cars, the 03 GA had nearly 70,000 miles on it and it was in terrific shape mechanically and aesthetically.

We love the extra room and getting a baby seat in and out is much easier.

The steering wheel controls are kind of small, and i'm not a fan of the window controls (too low, and they're not backlit so they're impossible to see at night).

Has anyone else had issues with other drivers "flashing" you (not in the good way) thinking your brights were on? It's happened to me 3 times in less than a week. To me, they dont look out of alignment, but maybe they're aimed too high. I ordered some splash guards and a exhaust tip, maybe i'll have them look at the headlight alignment when i pick those up.

So far so good, we think we got great value for what we paid for it.

jackseric

I haven't had other people flashing thier headlights at me, but I did notice that my lights are VERY bright compared to all of my previous vehicles. That's one of the things I like best about my Torrent!

When I see others on the road, the headlights do seem brighter than a lot of other cars on the road... but it sure couldn't hurt to have 'em checked out just in case!

(and just to cover the obvious here... you weren't towing or loading the rear end up with a lot of weight, were you?)

tim1021

I havent been towing anything or carrying a heavy load. I even made sure my fog lights werent on. It is kind of fun to actually flash my brights at someone and show them how bright they are.

But i've been on the other end of that too, so i know how people feel.

pondscum

When researching before I bought, I recall something about a high output headlamp. but I cant find the reference now. sorry. (but I do remember it!) :P

kcgirl1975

About 4 times prior to today, I have gotten the click noise that sounded like it was coming through the door speakers. Today while driving, I found that the click noise (I have) is actually coming from down around the center of the car, near the shifter. It did it 3 times in a row in a 5 block span. I also noticed that it is dimming my panel lights, and it also shut off my headlights on the last "click". After shutting it off and restarting it is appearing to run just fine w/ no problems. It goes to the dealership for service on Thursday. The serviceman advised to use the manual headlight turn on, instead of the autolights I have owned my 06 FWD for about 45 days and put about 3100 miles on it. I'll post if they find anything. A coworker says he had the same situation on his Hyundai and they replaced some "master switch"....

fenwah

Tim,

What was the MSRP on your 06 Torrent? Was it FWD or AWD? That would clue everyone in a bit more on how good of a deal you got on your out the door price of $21,650. Thanks a lot!

pondscum

I offer as comparison to Tim1021's response: Sticker on our new 2006 was 24,925. Red tag sale, dickering, ended up at 20,415 before trade, including destination but not taxes. got them to raise up 1000 more from original offer on 2000 monte carlo trade in. ended up writing a check for 14,2 something when all said and done.

pondscum

let me know how it comes out.. having the dealer tell you how to avoid the issue rather than them fixing the issue seems unacceptable to me. Good luck!

cnichols138

Ok I wanted to let everyone know. My sticker on my 06 FWD was 25,995, and i was out the door at 16,300. Trade value was only +1200 and $1700 in GM Card money. The reason is the extra Rebate incentives by take the GM smart Buy rather then APR or reg rebates. I just refinanced through my local credit bank and paid the entire loan off on the first payment. So I got GM extra rebates and a great APR to boot.

cnichols138

My Xm just ran out and I have the Pioneer Speaker 6 disc in dash changer. I just realized that the 6 disc changer will not play MP3 disc's. Now that is a bummer. I though it woul de so neat to have 6 filled MP3 disc's to random play in the changer. Basically unlimited music supply.

I see GM missed on this radio. at least they could have put in the MP3 player port for us. Oh well....back to burning my music the old fashion way.

fenwah

Whoa there cnich! :surprise: Are you telling me that you were able to get the 06 Torrent for $16,300 (incl tax/title/license) after your $1200 trade and $1700 GM Card money? Okay, so let's take off the $2900 in trade and GM Card. That would bring the Torrent down to $23,095. You were able to knock another $6795 + TTL?

Okay, you have my attention. What is this GM Smart Buy cash back that you are referring to. I understand the SmartBuy program and the fact that you were able to refinance right away with another bank/credit union...but what is the GM SmartBuy incentive on an 06 Torrent? I'm all ears!!!

cnichols138

Well here was the deal During Labor Day weekend they had what they call a big cap bonus for Smart Buy. Baiscally put there was more rebate offered on smart buy then normal incentives. I got the car for 200 over invoice according to Edmunds and then took the trade an gm Card bonus off. I think the total rebate totaled 5900 if i can remember. Doing it the normal way i think the bonuses = 3500 so there was way more using what they CALL THE BIG CAP BONUS. Ask them about the GM Big cap and if it is still available. That might have included 1000.00 conquest from what my wife is telling me. So it was trade + GM Card + Big Cap + Discount on vehicle from the dealer.

Just ask them.

cnichols138

Ok I just went back and looked everything over. amazing what you can find when you look for stuff.

Sticker = 25995
Dealer Cost = 24000
Trade value = 1433.26
GM Card Value = 1753.17
Code XSC big cap = 3500
Code BDV rebate = 1000 (summer Cash or Conquest)
Code PDN Rebate = 1000 (summer Cash or Conquest)
Cash = .10
Taxs = 857.51
TitleTrans = 129.50
Total financed cost = 16300.48

I was shocked how much the Dealer took off and how easy the Smart Buy was to get out of. although with 1 month Finance charges at 10% and the refinance fees i actually ended up paying 16800 when it was all said and done. Still cheaper then my Hyundai I trade in.

tim1021

I think the MSRP was 25000+
Dealer cost was 24457
rebates were 3500 total
dealer took off an additional 750

$20,207 was my cost + 1262.93 (tax) = 21469.93

whaas1

Consider yourself lucky because you can't use those rebates together. When I looked into getting those rebates I was told I could not so I then contacted pontiac. They did say no you can't "but" its at the dealer discretion. So I then talked to an aquaintance at GM and she said if the dealer did honor those rebates the dealer sold the car at a loss, for GM would not reimburse them for all three rebates. In fact you can only use the $3,500.

cnichols138

I dunno. Two different Dealerships were offering the same thing. In fact...one was on an Equinox and also on the torrent i purchased. What was also strang..was that they let me use 1753 of my gm card points as well...internet said only 1000 at the time. Whaas1 you got me thinking...so i called my brother in law that has worked at both dealerships (currently Works for Chrysler now)...I asked him about the deal I got. He said that 2 or 3 times a year..GM will offer what they call BIG Cap bonuses. You have to ask for them...but they offer it. That is the best time to purchase a vehicle from GM. The catch...is smart buy..which is very easy to get out of. The big cap allows the dealer to give away all rebates plus the Extra Smart Buy rebates. And since i purchased a 06 when the 07 model year was already out...that is the reason i was able to clean off my points on my Credit card. The other catch is that if the dealer knows you are going to refinance right away....and you tell GM they advised you to do so..they run this risk of GM not giving them back the additional rebates. I was kind to my dealer on that question. I told the the gentlemen at GMAC that 10% interest was redicoulouse and I switched to a 6% interest rate. Of coures i gave GMAC that option as well...but they refused to move. Their loss.

Hope this helps guys.

tim1021

I just installed a set of "splash guards" on my 06 Torrent. They were the molded guards that were designed to fit the Torrent exactly. The front ones went on beautifully, there was a notch cut into the front guards to line up with the plastic that runs along the bottom of the side panels....so very little guess work went into the fronts.

The back ones didnt have that notch, so those were a little tougher to put on, but i got them one pretty good too.

Does anyone know if the 4th screw on the bottom that attaches the guard to the body on the underside is really necessary? I think it's a pretty tight fit without it, and noticed on the back that when i did attach the 4th screw, it made the rest of the guard separate from the body ever so slightly and gave it a sloppy look. I bypassed that screw on the other 3, mainly becuase i didnt like the sloppy look, and i didnt like having to drill into my less than 1 month old Torrent.

Installed the muffler extension, sill plate protectors and splash guards. Three nice enhancements i think.

big_prize

I bought the splash guards, but I didn't install them because of "having to drill". I don't care how much they help with the dirt, the last thing that I wanted to do was to open a "flesh wound" on my new vehicle.

If I read your story correctly, with the way you installed the guards, you didn't need to drill any new holes? If this is working out for you, maybe I'll reconsider.

PS I highly recommend the all-weather rubber floor mats from Pontiac. They're high-quality, they keep the dirt and water off the carpet, and the rear seat floor mat goes all the way across the floor from door-to-door.

tim1021

Other than the 1 on the back, i did not have to drill any "fresh" holes.

There are existing plastic fender bolts that attach the plastic underbody to the metal body. Those pop out and are replaced with a clip and a screw....so you're installing a screw into an existing hole.

On the front, same deal, although there's already a metric screw holding the plastic underbody in place. You remove the screw, pop out the 2 plastic screws, and insert 2 new screws and the existing screws through the splash guards.

I was not high on drilling either....but this was minimally invasive, if i hadnt tried to attach the 4th screw on the 1 back mudflap, i wouldnt have made one single drill wound. for what it's worth, it was a very tiny drill bit that i used, and it was on the underside, so it's practically invisible.

Thanks for the endorsement of the floor mats. I dislike getting in the car now with wet shoes.....can only imagine when i get in with dirty or slushy shoes.

dano4

My 2006 Torrent averaged 20mpg on a recent 600 mile drive-all highway. Temps ranged from 15-25 degrees. Is this typical?
Are there any current rebates on 2007 Torrent models?

jackseric

I average 21-22mpg all the time. My best ever was 26mpg on a very long trip with cruise control on most of the time. Worst ever was 17mpg over about 4 days of around town driving in rush hour traffic.

Probably not as high as I'd like, but after the 11-13mpg I was used to in my Dodge Durango... I'm still thrilled!

It's all about perspective... :shades:

pondscum

are we talking about a AWD or FWD model?

pondscum

AWD or FWD?

tim1021

I have 1600 miles on my new 06, and just had my first fill up where i got over 20 mpg. It was about 22 mpg and most of the miles were from a highway trip.

I'd take 19-21 mpg all the time, but during the week, we drive mostly in town and it kills the mpg.

I've heard that the mileage gets better as the engine wears in so i'm optimistic.

gljvd

anyone know of new inccentives or rebates coming down the pipe for a febuary or march time frame ? I'm looking to buy but with only a $500 rebate from pontiac i'm trying to wait .

stever

The current rebate lasts through the end of February (link).

It's pretty rare to learn what upcoming rebates will be.

fenwah

And if you want a 2006, I believe the incentives are $2250 or higher. If you go to Autotrader's web site and search for new 2006 Torrent's nationwide, you will find a huge surplus of them.

gljvd

I'm looking to get a 2007 model actually . The $2250 is nice and all but those models are almost a year old. I rather get my first car the newest model year i can .

I'm hoping they offer 1k or 1,500k on the 2007 models in febuary . With that and my gm card savings I can afford the featuers I want on it .

Thanks for the info about when the current offers end

fenwah

Getting an 06 model for someone who plans on driving it into the ground over the next 8-10 years would definitely be better off getting the 06 at a huge discount. Using Edmund's TMV, I would be able to get a $29k car for appx. $20500 after my GM earnings. Not too shabby.

dano4

Our Torrent is FWD. I should have added it has 12000 miles.

ggard

I have a 2006 Torrent with approx 20k mileage. I've developed some light squeaking problems -- the back hatch when raising and lowering ... plus now I have a constant sqeaking when turning the steering wheel to the left .. has anyone else noticed or experienced?

THANKS!

gljvd

I'm not to sure man . Its hard as hell finding the color and features I want in a 2006 in my area

tim1021

I paid 20,200 (rebates only, no GM rewards or points) before tax for my 06, purchased 1 month ago, and given it had 80 miles when i drove it off the lot, plus a 6-CD changer, plus sun & sound, i was pretty happy with the price i paid.

Now the cheapest i see an 07 for is 23-24000 and that would be your basic FWD w/cloth interior. Brand new is brand new, i didnt care if it was an 06 or an 07.

gljvd

well my question is , did the 06 models already go through the first year of depreciation . As year 1 depreciation is caculated at 7,479 at edmunds .

So to me if they did already have the depreciation i would have to get it at 7479 cheaper than the 07 version otherwise i'd be lossing money.

whaas1

If you are worried about depreciation you shouldn't be considering an american vehicle.

Also unless you plan on selling within a few years your theory makes no sense. There is no comparision in saving yourself $2K cash now vs. $7K in depreciation.

pondscum

My theory may be flawed but here is how I look at this same issue when I bought the 06.. rounded numbers for ease of calculation

Purchase price 20,000
keep vehicle for 5 years
value of 06 in 5 years 5,000
value of 07 in 5 years 6,000-6,500

So, that 7K+ in the first year only means anything if you sell or trade it back in first year. the longer you keep the closer the two will be, also look at what that extra savings NOW would accrue even at 5% interest if you left it sit in a CD

cnichols138

Not to mention the 1 year of less ware and tare and if your very lucky..your 1 year NEW 06 will be in better shape then someones 07 in the same time period..or even better...your 06 is in better shape then someone 1 year old 06. It is all in the way you look at it.

gljvd

well thanks for the info guys. I did a search and I can't find a 06 with the features i want anywhere with in 50 miles , so i guess thats a no go