Chevy Uplander/Pontiac Montana SV6/Saturn Relay/Buick Terraza

vanman1

My Pontiac dealer has 2 SV6s sitting on the lawn. They are for sale and have not been recalled. I think the guy you were talking to doesn't know what he is talking about.

ateixeira

Sounds like an excuse for not having any in stock. I bet he sold them already.

-juice

bigdaddycoats

Go to the Buick or Pontiac web and you can see pitures of the stalk.

gmhellman

The man that I was talking to is the president of the dealership and does the product ordering. The van that was taken from the dealership was one that was ordered by a customer who had paid cash. I don't think that he faked this to sell it to another person when this guy had paid cash in hand. I know the gentleman who was going to purchase the van and he buys a new van every two years (Bank President). The dealership was using it for 2 days prior to pickup to orient the dealers to the options and how it worked. The van was fully loaded. A GM representative called and said that a transport truck was coming to pick up the van due to fit/finish issues. He showed me the full e-mail and return invoice that he received by fax the day prior to the pickup. The e-mail was from a person at pontiac stating that all production was going to be stopped/slowed due to fit/finish issues that had been occuring on some of the vans. This probably explains why some dealerships still have vans and others don't have vans yet. I am not trying to start an argument....I have known the president of the dealership and his family for almost 15 years....so I trust him.

ateixeira

I wonder if we'll hear about a recall soon.

-juice

dan165

Not good if there is a recall, GM doesn't need anymore.

samnoe

I was at the Chevy dealer, looking at the only Uplander they got yesterday. It was an LS model, but fully loaded, DVD is standard, but it had dual power sliding doors, power driver seat, rear parking sensor, traction control, etc.

Then, one of the sales guys came out to me and offered me a test drive, which I was more than happy to accept.

It was a short drive (5 minutes or so), so I wasn't able to test every detail. But here are some of them:

Likes:

- Smooth ride, but not much more than the outgoing Venture.

- Interior design is very nice, and good feel, but still a little flimsy. It seems that if you hit one of the climate or audio control dials, it will fall apart.

- The signal stalk is redesigned, like some other Chevy vehicles. Much better than the Venture's design. Cruise control is on a stalk on the right side of the steering wheel (as Toyota).

- Information center is very good, and is located in the dash, below the tachometer. Tons of information: Mileage, compass, outside temperature, seat belts (driver, passenger), oil life monitor, it also lets you know which door is ajar (as Freestar), and much more.

- The looks from the outside is nice, but a long nose, and the rear liftgate looks very similar to the old dated design of the Venture.

- a lot of room, and storage bins. Huge glove box.

- You can move either center row bucket seat to the center of the vehicle (as Sienna) According to the dealer.

Dislikes:

- Noisy. IMO, even noisier than the Venture.

- No rear seat folding into floor!

- That's all I can think so far.

I have no time, but will post more next week if I can think of something more.

Bottom line: Like some of you said above: A middle of the road package. Not bad, but not excellent.

ateixeira

Slandered? :-)

As in, those gosh darn DVDs, I hate those things...

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Any chance they'll squeeze in a middle seat to get 8 passenger capacity? Honda has a mini-seat, Toyota's is bigger but still not full size.

-juice

vanman1

Flop and fold seats are uncomfortable and a bit on the flimsy side. I actually prefer the GM system of folding down but not into the floor.

jchan2

the fold down seats in my Odyssey are not flimsy. They're quite comfortable and easy to fold into the floor.

ateixeira

I think he means 2nd row, Dodge's Stow-n-go.

-juice

sundevil99

Over the weekend I received a couple of emails from somebody that says the are an "Independent" car dealer. They work with inventory on established dealers lots, but they get paid by GM.

Does anybody have any experience with these type guys? Should I run screaming in the other direction?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

ateixeira

Sounds like a middle man. If they take a cut, any cut, by definition it won't be the best deal available.

-juice

montanafan

No way does GM pay any "Independent" Car Dealers. Would go against the entire franchise system.

stever

Maybe they are a broker, but the payment arrangement has to come out of your pocket one way or another I'd think. But middlemen can avoid some hassles.

Using a Car Broker to Buy Your Next Vehicle

Steve, Host

dan165

My brother in law used a broker to find a car. The cost was built into the price and he said the broker did better than he could with no hassles.

I think they are better suited for used cars but maybe a broker can get a deal.

As an aside, I saw a SV6 at the Esso tonight with a "Discount Car Rental" sticker on the back. Not necessarily a bad thing though, gets them on the street fast for people to see. They are growing on me.

danno

Just tried to add StabiliTrak to the options on my 2005 Uplander LT on order and the option has been discontinued. No idea if and when it will be reinstated.

jchan2

That's not good. VSA is standard on all trim lines of the Odyssey.

samnoe

And optional in most models of Sienna & Freestar. But not available on Chrysler & Dodge vans, and not Mazda or Kia.

bigdaddycoats

I know that these vans have been bashed by many (me included) for not having all of the features of the competition - but, they may be better than I originally thought.

The few reviews I have seen have been all-in-all pretty positive - kind of surprised by this. Last night my daughter and I climbed over a Terraza that was left open after hours at the local dealer. Without driving it, I must say I was very impressed with the interior. A vast improvement over the previous vans. The materials seemed to be very good quality, nice fit and finish and everything looked very good. My eight year old liked the DVD player (of course). We are not in the market for a new vehicle right now, but if we were I would take a definite look.

ateixeira

Well, most mags that write the reviews accept advertising from GM, and lots of it. So they can't be completely, brutally honest. They have to put a positive spin on it, focus on the strengths (DVD, fuel efficiency, etc).

-juice

danno

Edmunds can be considered an on-line mag, and the review is positive. Don't know how much they benefit from GM?

bigdaddycoats

Have you ever read the Car and Driver review of the ION? Doesn't get much more brutal than that.

dan165

I drove an ION once, it wasn't bad at all. I have seen that review and I disagree even though I dislike small cars.

danno

Not alot of interest in the Uplander when we need to bring the ION into the discussion - a totally different vehicle, manufacturing process etc.

bigdaddycoats

Did you read the previous posts? I was making a remark relating to magazines being "brutally honest".

bigdaddycoats

http://www.canadiandriver.com/testdrives/05gm_minivans.htm

dan165

Decent review.

Head curtains as an option would be the first change GM should work on for 2006 or sooner.

jchan2

A Navigation system.

ateixeira

True, but Ion was being updated, and by the time that review came out it had pretty much already flopped.

Valid point, however.

On Edmunds' home page there are plenty of GM vehicles that get the spot light, FWIW.

-juice

jchan2

are targeted ads, I think.

vanman1

Took a close look at a SV6 at my dealer on the weekend. First thing I noticed when comparing to my Montana was the wheels. They look real good, the size and the alloy rims make a statement with the all wheel discs. Very sharp.

I interior was very nice also, GM has spent some money there. The nose would take some getting used to but I have seen a few on the roads now and it's really not that noticeable. I also thought the new lower list prices are much more realistic. I think we got about $8000-9000 in incentives on our van, clearly it was over priced to begin with.

ateixeira

I have yet to see any of these on the road, slow initial supply in the DC area, maybe?

-juice

dan165

Lots in the Toronto area. I have seen at least 4 or 5 of them. All were SV6s except for 1 Relay.

jchan2

haven't seen one on the road, but I did see a silver SV6 on a dealer's lot.

vanman1

Vans are big in Canada, more so than the U.S. where SUVs are more popular. Look down my street and there are probably 15 vans and only 7-8 SUVs.

wheelz4

http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/roadtest,view,Chevrolet.spy?a- rtid=32527

dtownfb

have these hit the dealerships yet? My brother and sister in law are in the market... suddenly. They get discounts for GM products and are looking at a minivan. Possibly AWD. I have been tryign to read as many reviews as possible but was hoping for an owner's perspective.

dan165

My Pontiac Dealer has 2 Montana SV6s and 1 Buick Terazza on the fron lawn this morning. They are out there, I have seen them on the road also.

wheelz4

Saw a white, extended SV6 @ Ikea the other day.
Have seen at least one other SV6 on the road, and there appear to be some @ our local dealer as well. Also have seen a few Relays. If we go for one, it would probably be a regular wheelbase SV6, as the front end of the Uplander looks butt-ugly to me. We don't really need the room of the long-wheelbase version but if we did, it's a toss-up between the Saturn and the Pontiac. Still hoping the up-coming Mazda5 is roomy enough for the 3 of us, however.

vanman1

I prefer the front end of the Uplander to the SV6 but I can understand the RWB preference. The EWB would not fit in our small garage which is why we bought an 04 Montana RWB.

wheelz4

I'll reserve judgement until I see both in the flesh........I actually prefer the rear bumper treatment and absence of cladding look of the Uplander....it's just that the front end looks a little bulbous to me...like I said though, I need to see them both in person. (I also prefer the fake brushed aluminum dash accents of the SV6 to the fake wood of the Uplander)

wheelz4

Because we Canadians, in general, make less $$$ and are taxed more heavily than Americans (resulting in less disposable income), we buy far more standard wheelbase vans than Americans do. GM Canada graciously made available both the new Chevy Uplander and Pontiac SV6 in the standard or shorter length, as well as long-wheelbase versions. The Relay and Terraza only come in the extended length, however. Only in Canada, you say!

ateixeira

US only gets extended models for now, I believe.

-juice

wheelz4

I think the short wheelbase version can be had with most of the same equipment as the long wheelbase one....no AWD available, though and the there would be no room for the rear storage area.
The only difference on the outside is the absence of the "exposed" C pillar. The Uplander review (see post 1624) has some pics, mostly of the short wheelbase version.
(oh, and I guess "free" healthcare comes at a price!)

jchan2

We all know that in this world, nothing is free.

dan165

Nothing is free, especially not health care.

Not sure short vans have that much to do with taxes, but I'm sure that's part of the reason they sell better up here. I have heard they handle snow better also. Who knows. Short Uplander and SV6 have less equipment I believe, especially the Uplander value though it still has Onstar.

http://www.gmcanada.com/english/vehicles/2005/chevrolet/uplander/- - upla_mode.html

jchan2

because Canadians are overtaxed, therefore, they have less spendable income therefore they have more optional equipment on their SWB vans to lower the price tag as much as possible.

vanman1

Over taxed here, yes. That said, a extended version of my Montana was not much more, maybe a grand. I doubt it would break the bank for anyone. The reason we went for a SWB is it fit in our garage and the EWB did not. I want my van in the garage in the winter so it was a no brainer for us.

Also, I think the SWB vans handle better, have a touch more speed (less weight) and looks sportier.

jchan2

don't forget fuel economy.