This is a good point, but most people wouldn't mind having the extra option (say the sunroof) becasue the price is still attractive. Most people like the options standard. And it will definitely cost so much less to get it from the dealer than to order it specially made. And come on-are you really going to curse Honda because for the price you wanted they threw in a DVD player?
I test drove a pretty much loaded acadia today and came away very impressed with it, i will be testing the cx9 when they arrive and possibly the rx350 and veracruz.......the only 2 things that bug my on the acadia (im picky about tech stuff) is why is GM so late to the bluetooth game and second where are the auto wipers on a 40-45k car? other than that was a very solid vehicle and still on my list
Re the price, I should add that we had $1000 credit for a GM card bonus (rebate) in addition to another $800 in accumulated credits in our GM Card account, None of this would have applied had we bought a Saturn, Honda, Jeep etc., so went a long way toward making the deal attractive.
I went with the wife to the car show to look for a new vehicle. We went with the goal to look at minivans,CUV's. Impressions of the vehicles we looked at. CUV's masquerading as SUV's The Lexus RX350 was nice in looks and ergonomics but not having a third row seat for the occasional 6 passenger made us both feel that the vehicle was not for us. We both felt that the MDX was way overpriced and the third row jump seats were a joke :P . Access to the third row is only from the passenger side and then you have to be a 4'8" gymnast to squeeze by. We both felt that the driver area was small. I'm 6' 2" and felt that I was right on-top of the dash/wheel, yes I adjusted the seats. My wife was not bowled over by the CX-9. I kind of liked it and we will test drive it in Jul-Aug. XC90 was a vehicle prior to the auto show that my wife was interested in after seeing it she hated it. The Edge looked nice but I read the braking distances were bad on this vehicle so I am a little leery.
Minivans The interior of the fully loaded Ody was cheap looking. It looks like it came out of a Soviet Union design bureau. The driver position did not go far enough back, I felt like I was eating the wheel. This was kind of shock to us that this vehicle was scratched of our list of contenders so early. The Sienna was ok but I am not a fan of the exterior styling.
CUV The Lambdas my wife and I both liked the outlook and the acadia, the relatively easy access to the third row and the comfort of them are a great feature. The interior styling,fit and finish were very good. As a previous poster had mentioned the Enclave was not available for inspection. However my wife who had said before "I'm not driving a Buick!, Buicks are for 80 year olds" admitted that she liked the looks of the vehicle. We both like the Audi Q7 but don't like the price and the reliability of Audi/VW cars. Most likely a Lambda will be in our garage come summer.
Ran into a GMC dealer and asked for a quick quote on a fully loaded Acadia (MSRP $43,500) for 24 mos., 15k/year, no cap reduction. He was busy with another customer and said he'd call me later on.
We can turn in our 2005 V6 Cadillac SRX (fully loaded, MSRP $49,025) through a GM pull ahead program.
He called back with a shocking number - $835.13 (including MA tax and excise) for 24/15k, $1900 up front costs. No incentives available except for someone not currently driving a GM vehicle. I own a Saab.
That's $345/month more than what I'm paying for the SRX! If this is how GM plans to retake its place in the market, they're off to a bad start.
Now I understand this is without any haggling over the MSRP but this vehicle (as nice...and new as it is) should not be leasing out at anything more than $450/month...maybe $475/month max...in my opinion.
Anyone else getting these absurd numbers? I'm off to the local Audi dealer... currently offering a Q7 3.6 Premium 24 mos. lease @ $475/month, 12K/month with $1500 total upfront costs.
first off 24 months means you are dividing up the depresiation over fewer months than most leases of 39 months. Second 15K means more miles on the car in return the more miles the less it is worth, and last there is no idea on what it will be worth on return in 24 months so they are figuring the worst until real world figures come in. That is the biggest draw back on leasing a new vehicle without a track record. My guess is you could buy it cheaper than that as far as monthly payments go.
I had previously test driven an Outlook and another Acadia (SLE model) and it both occasions I noticed a lag in the acceleration when hitting the gas peddle hard. This was also noted in several reviews. No so with my car. The vehicle just arrived this week at the dealer, so I wonder if GM updated the transmission software to fix the lag.
I just drove an Acadia for the first time yesterday. It was fresh off the truck this week. I did indeed notice the lag in this vehicle. I don't know why some do it and some don't but I am guessing that some type of fix has been implemented.
I don't yet know if it would keep me from buying the vehicle if I was in the market at the moment, which I am not. I was doing research for a purchase at some later date.
VW has recently issued a fix for the lag in the Passat's throttle response, so I'm sure if this becomes big enough of an issue then GM will take care of it. Of course, it took many months of customer complaining to make VW issue a patch to the software, but when people started saying this could be a safety issue (i.e. when pulling out in front of traffic), VW seemed to increase their response time.
I think Toyota has had similar issues with a lag, but hasn't yet addressed it. Not sure why all so many car companies are programming their software this way, maybe to minimize torque steer? I wonder if the AWD version of the Acadia has a similar lag?
I actually mistyped. I meant to say in my previous message that I assume a fix has NOT been implemented since the one I drove still did it. This one was an AWD too.
Do you have any data? If you make too many unneeded/unwanted features standard then the price gets too high and you lose sales. If you force someone to buy a whole bunch of features to get the one they want they may walk away to someone who offers what they want. It is a tough line to walk to get the right combination of features. Saturn has taken the closest tact to a Honda type packaging method.
are you really going to curse Honda because for the price you wanted they threw in a DVD player?
they do not "throw in a DVD player" You pay for it. Perhaps there is a discount because of volume but not that much. Of course if this is an incentive to buy then I would not "curse" them, of course I would not curse anyone.
Today I went to the Saturn dealer to see the outlook. I saw a white XE AWD with black cloth. Simply put, i was extremely impressed over the car. this car is what gm needs, it is better than every other crossover in its class now. Panel fits both inside and out were excellent. Styling, in my opinion, was very good and contemporary. The quality of the materials were good, not great. Although everything is nicely textured, some pieces felt loose and unsubstantial. They were also hard. I found the front seats to be comfortable and at a good height (some crossovers have very low seats)Controls were easy to reach, and i found it easy to get comfortable behind the wheel. My mom, who the car is for, is only 5 ft, and also had a good view out the front. Visibility from the sides is better than i thought it would be, the only place where sightlines were restricted was out the hatch, as the glass isn't very tall. Both the second and third rows were bench seats, and although they were a little lacking in thigh support, it isnt nearly as bad as most people have said it is. I didnt find it a major issue, as there was enough legroom for me to put out my legs. As it seems in pictures, the cargo space is huge, only rivaled by full size trucky suv's (tahoe), and minivans. On the road, the outlook felt composed, it had tight handling and a very smooth ride. The enginie had good, if not abundant power, and it was also extremely smooth and quiet, far more than the pilot's. There was a little bit of acceleration lag, but i didnt think it was a big problem. Overall, the outlook impressed me with how it drove much smaller than what it actually is (huge). we'll probably buy one (or an acadia)as soon as they start shipping more FWD ones in our area, which the salesman said woud be soon. i was very happy with this new crossover.
I attended the Omaha auto show today. There were 2 Outlooks (an XE and XR), a fully loaded Acadia SLT-2, and an Enclave. The Enclave was locked. They also had a Mazda CX-9. This was my 2nd look at the Acadia and 1st at the Outlook. My family hadn't seen any of the vehicles I've been researching. I must say these vehicles are growing on me after a 2nd look, and after my wife's reaction today I'm likely to end up with a Lambda. She hated climbing up into the conventional SUVs at the show, and doesn't want to drive a minivan for another 10 years. She likes her current '97 Grand Caravan, but pointed out that since we tend to keep our vehicles 10 years and our kids are getting older (oldest will be driving herself this summer), we really don't need the extra space of another van. The Lambdas are right in our sweet spot. For some reason the 2nd and 3rd row seats seemed a little roomier to me this time (probably because I spent more time adjusting the rows to reasonable positions). We didn't like the CX-9 from a styling or comfort standpoint. The rear doors on it are enormous.
Does anybody know when the Acadia/Outlook will be crash tested? We are looking to replace a '00 Grand Caravan and like the Acadia. We really like the cargo room and passenger space in the van, but they don't do well in front end crashes. We started out looking at Pilots because they did so well in Insurance Institute tests, but they are 13" shorter than our Caravan. We have used every square inch of that interior space and hate to give it up. I sometimes travel with a Girl Scout troop and need the cargo room at the same time as the passenger room. The Acadia seems like it might be a good replacement.
Please state where you get this information. Are you saying the Acadia does not do well in front crashes?
I have not seen any reports on the crash worthiness of these cars (both Safercar.gov and iihs.org have no data as yet) and but personally I would be surprised is they have poor results.
If you are after space and want high safety the the Ford Freestyle gets top marks all round for safety and crash worthiness.
The '96-'00 Grand Caravans were rated "marginal" in the IIHS frontal offset crash test. However, newer models were rated "acceptable". Safecarguide.com is a good source for summarized crash test results. See this link for the Grand Caravan: Grand caravan crash tests
Also, newer models of the other two most popular minivans (the Toyota Sienna and Honday Odyssey) were rated "good" in the same test. So you really don't need to go away from a minivan to get good crash protection (unless you want to).
Okay I misunderstood to the original statement. I thought you were referring to the Acadia when in fact you were saying you van does not do well in the tests.
It wasn't actually me - it was Missy66. I was just pointing out that she did have her facts straight on the older Dodge minivans not doing so well in the IIHS tests.
I would be surprised if the Lambdas don't get 5 stars in the government crash tests and at least "good" in the IIHS frontal offset test. Not sure about the IIHS side impact test because many vehicles have only been rated "acceptable" in that test even with side curtain airbags.
I really don't want to get away from the minivans, however the two best in IIHS crash test were the Kia & the Hyundai. I'm not very interested in those models, and don't have a dealer close by for those anyway. I like the Odyssey & the Sienna, but they didn't do very well in the Rear Crash protection tests. The Honda received a Marginal rating, the Sienna a Poor. I feel like for the amount of money a new car costs I should be protected from all sides. That is why I am waiting for the crash tests on the Acadia.
Does anyone know if it's a relatively "simple" thing to get the DVD installed by the dealership versus coming that way from the plant? I was going to purchase an SLT-2 model that has everything I want but a DVD player and was a bit concerned about the quality of the install if the dealer tried to do it, as well as the warranty? Does anyone know how this sort of thing typically works? Thanks for your help.
Does not sound to simple to me. Most likely they will offer an aftermarket version which is installed by an outside company (micky Shore kind). I believe the warranty would be from the dealer and not GM. Let us know what happens.
I would spring for the DVD system that incorporates 2 screens, one in the back of each front headrest. The flip down ones impede rear vision of the driver. They make replacement headrests from the exact factory material as the factory headrests.
Found an Acadia SLT 2, white, every option except bigger wheels. Took for a good drive over some not-so-good roads and some nice ones. I was primarily concerned with how much the bumps were transmitted to the passengers. We were comparing it to our 05 Pilot. Wife's impression was the bumps were softer, but less dampened. My impression was the Pilot was simply a better riding car. Question for auto experts: My Pilot is 20 months old with 17K miles, the Acadia was brand new. Would "aging", breaking in affect the ride impression? Obviously, worn out shocks or springs would, but I am talking about just "breaking in."
We loved the Acadia over all. The HUD was neat, although not worth the price IMHO. The fit and finish was great. The rails for sliding the 2nd row seats were covered with the floor mat, but even uncovered were smooth and would be simple to keep clean. A great vehicle, tho we will probably extend the lease on the Pilot for a few more months.
The Lamdas were tuned to be more carlike in their ride. In fact all the articles I have read the reviewers have said they were amazing.
I think you hit it on the head with your comments. If you make a car "softer" you allow the shocks to move more under impacts which gives a more comfortable ride and less harse impacts (tar strips/potholes). However there is less dampening so there will be more movement under non impact inputs like swells in the road. I have never driven either but I would bet if you took the Pilot on some real bad roads (potholes/road cracks/high tar strips) you would find it a bit more uncomfortable than the Acadia.
A good example is how Acura tunes their cars vs. Lexus. In Michigan a TL is almost painful on most roads due to tarstrips and potholes while the Lexus just absorbs the impacts and feels smooth. However on undulating roads and curves the TL will feel great and stuck to the road while the ES will give a whole bunch of car movement. The cars were tuned differently.
One idea. What are you driving now? I find if I get from one type of car to another with very different handling characteristics I tend to have an issue with the 2nd vehicle but once I drive it for awhile the 2nd vehicle actually starts to grow on me and is fine.
No, I do not think it will "break in" much. A little perhaps.
I have driven both the Acadia and the Outlook several times now. i do feel the Outlook rides softer and smoother than the Acadia. I have driven the Outlook with both 18" wheels and 19" wheels. To me the 19" on the Acadia gave too much road feel and minor road imperfections were noticeable. The day before yesterday i drove an Outlook with 19" wheel on several different road surfaces and it was smooth as silk. The MUST be some suspension tunning diffrernce between the two.
I plan on ordering the Enclave next week. I do know for a fact that the Enclave will be the smoothest of the three if you can wait till the summer to get it.
I plan on ordering the Enclave next week. I do know for a fact that the Enclave will be the smoothest of the three if you can wait till the summer to get it.
Can we now price out an Enclave somewhere? I know the base MSRP's have been announced but I have heard nothing about the price of options.
Has anybody installed an infant carrier car seat and or forward facing seats in the captain chairs? I want impressions on ease of install etc. Also if you used the LATCH method or seat belts.
Anyone know if the numbers are going to come down in February? I'm either going to get the Pilot EX-L (I have an 04) or I'm going to go with the Acadia SLT-1. I would love to get the Acadia but the numbers in January were much higher for the Acadia.
As of today you can not price up an Enclave with options yet. Supposidly on Feb 8th (next Thursday) GM will be accepting dealer orders on the Enclave. You just have to beleive that by then you can price up a car with all the option costs?
The guestimate so far for a fully loaded (minus tow and engine heater) CXL FWD is $42,500.
Might or might not be the case here, but I wonder if the dealer prep folks got the tire pressure correct? I have seen where lots of vehicles are shipped with tires inflated to pretty high pressures with the intent that they be corrected during dealer prep. Once test drove an Explorer that had not been off the truck very long and tires were over inflated and caused the ride to be rougher than it should have been.
I've got a small, round pressure gage I could carry with me to check before test driving...at least you would know if each vehicle in on equal footing instead of having to wonder.
I had the same experience when I bought my Pathfinder in 2001. Brought a pressure gauge to the 2nd test drive and surprise! - 45 PSI (recommended was 26). :surprise:
Hum...26 would be a little lower than I would like anyway.
Dealer prep? We bought a new '85 or '86 Mazda 626 from a local Memphis dealer. Within a couple of days after I got it home, I decided to jack it up and make sure the lug nuts were torqued correctly, or something like that...been so long ago. Well, guess what I found? Under one of the front wheels, there was a dense cardboard-like disk brake cover. Should have been removed during prep. I delivered it back to the sales manager with a comment that he needed to discuss with his service dept.
I'd buy the Acadia if I knew there would be these modifications later in this model year or in 2008 (all of these are found in one of its competitors, the Mazda CX-9): (1) a rear camera to go with the navigation unit, (2) electroluminescent guages, (3) putting the DVD ( for the rear entertainment unit) on the unit itself, freeing up the dash for preservation of the 6 disc CD, (4)rain sensing wipers, and (5) change the rear turn signals to amber color. Anyone know if GM might be considering doing any of these?
Rain sensing wipers...are you serious? Everything you've mentioned can be done aftermarket for pennies compared to what the mark up would be from the dealer.
Get the 6 disc in-dash unit and buy and aftermarket DVD system that come with the DVD player built in (I know of a 10.4" model being sold by XO Vision...very nice unit you can get for less than $400), as well as wireless headphone capability as well.
You can do a rear camera unit and replace the rear view mirror with a unit that has a built in screen that comes one when the back up camera comes on.
Amber turn signals...again, are you serious...as long as they blink to warn others you're turning, what does it matter?
The new edition of Car and Driver has a review of the Acadia, and they say a rear view camera is coming?
Other comments from the article:
Favorable: Outstanding road manners Amazing brakes (stops shorter than a Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5) Loads of room (more than a full size Tahoe) Steering is accurate, informative, and beautifully weighted Low noise levels By far GM's best ever people mover
Unfavorable: Power is just adequate--could use 30 more HP View to the rear bad--hard to back up, no camera now
I like the Acadia very much overall and may well still buy it even though it doesn't have some of the goodies the CX-9 has; in particular, I like the second row Captain's chairs resulting in improved access to the third row and its better fuel economy. I'd just like to see some of my "wish list" appear in at least the SLT-2 version later. I too have heard that a camera might be available soon. I do think GM made a mistake by eliminating the 6 disc in dash CD if navigation is ordered. I have rain sensing wipers on my VW Jetta and love them; once you have them, you'll likely want every car you own to have them. I just like the newer electroluminescent guages over traditional guages. I personally also feel that amber rear turn signals are much more readily visible by drivers behind you, but admittedly I do not know if data exists showing that their presence results in fewer rear end collisions. As we all know, there is no one perfect car; all cars present trade offs. If only I was a GM engineer or product manager, I know the features I would push to include in a car if the costs of doing so are not prohibitive. Perhaps GM did not put these things on the Acadia since a fully loaded SLT-2 version already prices out signiicantly more than a fully loaded Grand Touring version of the Mazda CX-9 and they doubted folks would want to pay any more for the goodies. None of the goodies would, I think, cost so much as to add that much cost to an already well over $40,000 vehicle; at least in my opinion, folks willing to part with that much cash expect there to be lots of goodies. Of course, others may disagree.
There are dozens more items that GM could have put in the vehicles. Everyone has their preferences for what they want. Yes they could of added your 6 and added maybe $1000 to the price but what about the dozens other. Somewhere you have to make decisions and choose what your market you are after really needs/wants. And GM has the data to help make those decisions but a lot of it is still gut feel by the marketing product manager.
In my opinion I would want the DVD player in the back as you want. But I do not care about 6CD player anymore (I used to) because I never listen to CD's anymore. It is XM for me 100% of the time and I know for others it is iPods. The day is coming, believe it or not, that the CD will go the way of the cassette (You can still get a cassette in a Lexus but rarely elsewhere). But a 6CD
Rear camera is a safety item that may come later. I would bet the Enclave will.
On the others none would effect my buying decision. They are plus's but the overall vehicle would effect my decision more. I have variable wipers now and easily would get rid of them.
Test drove both an SLE and an SLT. Ordered an SLT-1 with my options. Both gave an excellent ride, although the 19" wheels on the SLT were a little harsh for me. Not much difference in handling between the two wheel sizes. The Acadia is a great ride, with terrific road manners. Instrumentation and controls were accessible, logical and easy to use. Especially liked the heated seat controls with three temperature levels for both cushion and seat-back. Acceleration was more than adequate, and the torque is good off the line. There is slight hesitation on down-shift, but it met my needs. The manual shift button is well placed, and solves the issue if needed. Seats were comfortable, and entry and exit are a breeze. Center console is well designed, with lots of storage. Cushion is large and soft, and easily accomadates the elbows of both driver and passenger. Cushion has button release to slide back and reveal large storage compartment with insert that has a sliding door. Second row captains chairs are adequate, but could stand a little more cushion length. SLE had the second row bench, which I found less comfortable. Slide system works great, and opened the third row up for the easiest entry I've seen. Fold down function is the best I've seen for both rear rows. Everything on both vehicles was easy to use, and worked well.
As you approach the vehicle, it gets bigger and bigger. Once inside you realize this is one spacious ride. Looks great from all angles, and has a tight finished look. GM has hit a home run here.
Does anyone know what the latest version of the Nav DVD for the Acadia is? I just took delivery of my Acadia yesterday and mine was a 2005 disc version 1.0. (GM P/N 10396714). It would seem there would be a more recent version.
Your assesment is right on point. I saw an Outlook in a show room and it looked huge. Maybe because it was a small show room to begin with, the low ceiling didn't help any either. Seeing an actual Acadia on the road from a distance, it looked rather smallish. However, I remembered how spacious the interior of the Outlook was and realized that the outside defintely belies how big this vehicle really is. Whether it's the Acadia or the Outlook, they are both awesome looking, and extremely capable vehicles inside and out.
I know with aftermarket disc based nav units, a 2006 version is most likely available and a 2007 soon to be out. With factory installed units, you may need to contact the dealer to find out what the latest version available is. They may even be able to tell you if you can use an aftermarket nav. disc that you can use. Then you don't have to count on the dealer any more.
You may pay more, but sat. based nav units are so much better, just pay for the subscription and there's no updating needed. You are provided with up to the minute information!!!
Acadia will definitely have this feature. It is so helpful. Pacifica got hit badly for lack of this feature, so now it has it. It can't be that hard, can it? Where can I get those $259 in headrest DVD players? That price is good enough for me to get two sets. Probably too good to be true. On another note, looks like Acadia is getting pretty good ratings, and alotta buyers. Great job, GM!
Comments
Re the price, I should add that we had $1000 credit for a GM card bonus (rebate) in addition to another $800 in accumulated credits in our GM Card account, None of this would have applied had we bought a Saturn, Honda, Jeep etc., so went a long way toward making the deal attractive.
Impressions of the vehicles we looked at.
CUV's masquerading as SUV's
The Lexus RX350 was nice in looks and ergonomics but not having a third row seat for the occasional 6 passenger made us both feel that the vehicle was not for us.
We both felt that the MDX was way overpriced and the third row jump seats were a joke :P . Access to the third row is only from the passenger side and then you have to be a 4'8" gymnast to squeeze by.
We both felt that the driver area was small. I'm 6' 2" and felt that I was right on-top of the dash/wheel, yes I adjusted the seats. My wife was not bowled over by the CX-9. I kind of liked it and we will test drive it in Jul-Aug.
XC90 was a vehicle prior to the auto show that my wife was interested in after seeing it she hated it. The Edge looked nice but I read the braking distances were bad on this vehicle so I am a little leery.
Minivans
The interior of the fully loaded Ody was cheap looking. It looks like it came out of a Soviet Union design bureau.
The driver position did not go far enough back, I felt like I was eating the wheel. This was kind of shock to us that this vehicle was scratched of our list of contenders so early.
The Sienna was ok but I am not a fan of the exterior styling.
CUV
The Lambdas my wife and I both liked the outlook and the acadia, the relatively easy access to the third row and the comfort of them are a great feature. The interior styling,fit and finish were very good. As a previous poster had mentioned the Enclave was not available for inspection. However my wife who had said before "I'm not driving a Buick!, Buicks are for 80 year olds" admitted that she liked the looks of the vehicle.
We both like the Audi Q7 but don't like the price and the reliability of Audi/VW cars.
Most likely a Lambda will be in our garage come summer.
We can turn in our 2005 V6 Cadillac SRX (fully loaded, MSRP $49,025) through a GM pull ahead program.
He called back with a shocking number - $835.13 (including MA tax and excise) for 24/15k, $1900 up front costs. No incentives available except for someone not currently driving a GM vehicle. I own a Saab.
That's $345/month more than what I'm paying for the SRX! If this is how GM plans to retake its place in the market, they're off to a bad start.
Now I understand this is without any haggling over the MSRP but this vehicle (as nice...and new as it is) should not be leasing out at anything more than $450/month...maybe $475/month max...in my opinion.
Anyone else getting these absurd numbers? I'm off to the local Audi dealer... currently offering a Q7 3.6 Premium 24 mos. lease @ $475/month, 12K/month with $1500 total upfront costs.
I just drove an Acadia for the first time yesterday. It was fresh off the truck this week. I did indeed notice the lag in this vehicle. I don't know why some do it and some don't but I am guessing that some type of fix has been implemented.
I don't yet know if it would keep me from buying the vehicle if I was in the market at the moment, which I am not. I was doing research for a purchase at some later date.
I think Toyota has had similar issues with a lag, but hasn't yet addressed it. Not sure why all so many car companies are programming their software this way, maybe to minimize torque steer? I wonder if the AWD version of the Acadia has a similar lag?
Do you have any data? If you make too many unneeded/unwanted features standard then the price gets too high and you lose sales. If you force someone to buy a whole bunch of features to get the one they want they may walk away to someone who offers what they want. It is a tough line to walk to get the right combination of features. Saturn has taken the closest tact to a Honda type packaging method.
are you really going to curse Honda because for the price you wanted they threw in a DVD player?
they do not "throw in a DVD player" You pay for it. Perhaps there is a discount because of volume but not that much. Of course if this is an incentive to buy then I would not "curse" them, of course I would not curse anyone.
GM will probably put out a TSB (technical sevice bulletin) on the issue in a few months and hopefully do a software update.
Panel fits both inside and out were excellent. Styling, in my opinion, was very good and contemporary. The quality of the materials were good, not great. Although everything is nicely textured, some pieces felt loose and unsubstantial. They were also hard. I found the front seats to be comfortable and at a good height (some crossovers have very low seats)Controls were easy to reach, and i found it easy to get comfortable behind the wheel. My mom, who the car is for, is only 5 ft, and also had a good view out the front. Visibility from the sides is better than i thought it would be, the only place where sightlines were restricted was out the hatch, as the glass isn't very tall. Both the second and third rows were bench seats, and although they were a little lacking in thigh support, it isnt nearly as bad as most people have said it is. I didnt find it a major issue, as there was enough legroom for me to put out my legs. As it seems in pictures, the cargo space is huge, only rivaled by full size trucky suv's (tahoe), and minivans. On the road, the outlook felt composed, it had tight handling and a very smooth ride. The enginie had good, if not abundant power, and it was also extremely smooth and quiet, far more than the pilot's. There was a little bit of acceleration lag, but i didnt think it was a big problem. Overall, the outlook impressed me with how it drove much smaller than what it actually is (huge). we'll probably buy one (or an acadia)as soon as they start shipping more FWD ones in our area, which the salesman said woud be soon. i was very happy with this new crossover.
Please state where you get this information. Are you saying the Acadia does not do well in front crashes?
I have not seen any reports on the crash worthiness of these cars (both Safercar.gov and iihs.org have no data as yet) and but personally I would be surprised is they have poor results.
If you are after space and want high safety the the Ford Freestyle gets top marks all round for safety and crash worthiness.
Also, newer models of the other two most popular minivans (the Toyota Sienna and Honday Odyssey) were rated "good" in the same test. So you really don't need to go away from a minivan to get good crash protection (unless you want to).
Sorry, late night.....
I would be surprised if the Lambdas don't get 5 stars in the government crash tests and at least "good" in the IIHS frontal offset test. Not sure about the IIHS side impact test because many vehicles have only been rated "acceptable" in that test even with side curtain airbags.
Thanks!
A New GM Fan, Specifically the Acadia!
We loved the Acadia over all. The HUD was neat, although not worth the price IMHO.
The fit and finish was great. The rails for sliding the 2nd row seats were covered with the floor mat, but even uncovered were smooth and would be simple to keep clean. A great vehicle, tho we will probably extend the lease on the Pilot for a few more months.
I think you hit it on the head with your comments. If you make a car "softer" you allow the shocks to move more under impacts which gives a more comfortable ride and less harse impacts (tar strips/potholes). However there is less dampening so there will be more movement under non impact inputs like swells in the road. I have never driven either but I would bet if you took the Pilot on some real bad roads (potholes/road cracks/high tar strips) you would find it a bit more uncomfortable than the Acadia.
A good example is how Acura tunes their cars vs. Lexus. In Michigan a TL is almost painful on most roads due to tarstrips and potholes while the Lexus just absorbs the impacts and feels smooth. However on undulating roads and curves the TL will feel great and stuck to the road while the ES will give a whole bunch of car movement. The cars were tuned differently.
One idea. What are you driving now? I find if I get from one type of car to another with very different handling characteristics I tend to have an issue with the 2nd vehicle but once I drive it for awhile the 2nd vehicle actually starts to grow on me and is fine.
No, I do not think it will "break in" much. A little perhaps.
I plan on ordering the Enclave next week. I do know for a fact that the Enclave will be the smoothest of the three if you can wait till the summer to get it.
Can we now price out an Enclave somewhere? I know the base MSRP's have been announced but I have heard nothing about the price of options.
Car Audio Deals
Here's a remote mount DVD player you can tuck away almost anywhere as it's slim design allows for installation versatility:
Sonic Electronix.com
This allows you to keep your factory headrests in pristine condition if you should decide to trade the vehicle in at a later date.
The guestimate so far for a fully loaded (minus tow and engine heater) CXL FWD is $42,500.
I've got a small, round pressure gage I could carry with me to check before test driving...at least you would know if each vehicle in on equal footing instead of having to wonder.
Well also at lease these new Lambda CUVs have tire pressue monitors. Before the test drive juct check and see what the monitor says.
Dealer prep? We bought a new '85 or '86 Mazda 626 from a local Memphis dealer. Within a couple of days after I got it home, I decided to jack it up and make sure the lug nuts were torqued correctly, or something like that...been so long ago. Well, guess what I found? Under one of the front wheels, there was a dense cardboard-like disk brake cover. Should have been removed during prep. I delivered it back to the sales manager with a comment that he needed to discuss with his service dept.
Gotta be kidding? the gages will not be changing.
Thought it was in the roof
maybe in the Enclave
gotta be kidding on the rear taillights.
I would recommend you go out and buy the mazda. I do not see any reason why they would change any of the above items.
Get the 6 disc in-dash unit and buy and aftermarket DVD system that come with the DVD player built in (I know of a 10.4" model being sold by XO Vision...very nice unit you can get for less than $400), as well as wireless headphone capability as well.
You can do a rear camera unit and replace the rear view mirror with a unit that has a built in screen that comes one when the back up camera comes on.
Amber turn signals...again, are you serious...as long as they blink to warn others you're turning, what does it matter?
You can't be serious.
Well it's safe to say you'll never buy a Lambda.
It's your money so I suggest you find a vehicle with all that.
I have a feeling that you still wouldn't buy a Lambda even if it had all that.
Other comments from the article:
Favorable:
Outstanding road manners
Amazing brakes (stops shorter than a Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5)
Loads of room (more than a full size Tahoe)
Steering is accurate, informative, and beautifully weighted
Low noise levels
By far GM's best ever people mover
Unfavorable:
Power is just adequate--could use 30 more HP
View to the rear bad--hard to back up, no camera now
In my opinion I would want the DVD player in the back as you want. But I do not care about 6CD player anymore (I used to) because I never listen to CD's anymore. It is XM for me 100% of the time and I know for others it is iPods. The day is coming, believe it or not, that the CD will go the way of the cassette (You can still get a cassette in a Lexus but rarely elsewhere). But a 6CD
Rear camera is a safety item that may come later. I would bet the Enclave will.
On the others none would effect my buying decision. They are plus's but the overall vehicle would effect my decision more. I have variable wipers now and easily would get rid of them.
As you approach the vehicle, it gets bigger and bigger. Once inside you realize this is one spacious ride. Looks great from all angles, and has a tight finished look. GM has hit a home run here.
You may pay more, but sat. based nav units are so much better, just pay for the subscription and there's no updating needed. You are provided with up to the minute information!!!
On another note, looks like Acadia is getting pretty good ratings, and alotta buyers. Great job, GM!