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CWJ
CWJ
Gave the baby its first bath today - looks great.
Dindak - I think you're right in saying that the Rendezvous is attracting the younger crowd...we're in our mid-thirties and the other Rendezvous owners we've seen appear to be in the 30-40 range too.
We didn't need much selling on the Buick name. My first new car out of school was a 1985 Buick Skyhawk. In 1989 we gave it to my mother-in-law who is still driving it after 200,000+ miles and a major accident - it runs like new. Just think how much money we could have saved by keeping it!
As you may recall, I recently had my bumper repainted and the bodyshop told me that because the RDV is so new, there are no paint codes yet.
Any good painter can match a solid colour such as black or white. It is the metallic paint (like on our cladding) that is difficult (impossible?) to match perfectly...even after two re-do's, my bumper still doesn't look exactly right.
Gave the baby its first bath today - looks great.
Dindak - I think you're right in saying that the Rendezvous is attracting the younger crowd...we're in our mid-thirties and the other Rendezvous owners we've seen appear to be in the 30-40 range too.
We didn't need much selling on the Buick name. My first new car out of school was a 1985 Buick Skyhawk. In 1989 we gave it to my mother-in-law who is still driving it after 200,000+ miles and a major accident - it runs like new. Just think how much money we could have saved by keeping it!
Sorry, I must have had my head up my you know what! I didn't look first, which is a stupid thing for me to do! We put an option sticker that lists all RPO's (regular production options) on the vehicle to aid in ordering repair parts, etc. Usually it is located on the glove box door, or on the spare tire cover. I'll find out today where they put it in the Rendevous. I'll keep lurking about, and letting you guys know what is happening at the General, I just found out that Zarella quit today to go back to Bausch and Lomb, I guess he couldn't stand the pressure from Lutz and Co.! Like I've said before, this place is a lot like the Titanic, only they had a band!
Regards,
Mark
CWJ
Maybe this will help your mechanic. Good luck.
By the way I haven't posted in a while, but I now have 8200 miles on our RDV and haven't had any problems since our initial computer problems and am still averaging in the 19-20 MPG range.
I'm going to call around to several Buick dealers today/tomorrow and ask their service techs what the code is and where I can find it...I'll post my results when I get them.
Go 9ers and SJ Sharks.
Leasing question: Anyone who has leased a RDV, can you tell me what residual value was used (in %) and for what term? I'm wondering if this is something that dealers play with to enhance the profitability of a deal or is it something that is set in stone that comes from GM? Canadian experiences preferred, but US responses are also sought after.
Thanks in advance.
Spiritman
Back to square one.
CWJ
The Buick dealer told me that the option sticker on the back of the door for the rear air pump/power outlet compartment had the paint codes.
I went to the body shop and they told me that, on the option sticker, the number "16U" (handwritten) was written by them and the number 142 isn't a paint code.
I called Buick customer service tonight and they put me in touch with the Buick dealer body shop. The Buick shop manager told me that "16U" is the body color code and "142" is the cladding color code.
So, who is correct? Is "142" the correct code for the greymist lower cladding paint?
Would some of you other greymist cladded CXL owners please check your option stickers and look for the code "142"? My sticker says "waterbased" at the bottom, and then a blank space, and then "142".
Thanks!
Brian
P.S. We just passed 5000 miles.
Trying to help a good friend as best I can.
CWJ
CWJ
Thanks for your help, I'll check my original order form and compare.
Brian
Trim: 142 - Lt. Grey Leather Trim
Color1: 16U - Bright White Exterior Paint
..
..
Order options: WW2 - Dk. Greymist Met. Lower Accent Color
Thanks a bunch!
I've never heard of a wheel/tire being too big for chains. I suspect it has more to do with a lack of clearance in the wheel well.
Sorry I can't be of more help. You might want to call the Buick Information Center at 800-521-7300.
Good Luck,
Brian
I see that a lot of you are doing investigating of your own...please compare the information against the panel and the vile and report back if you find that the codes are matching or not.
Thanks all.
CWJ
I purchased a FM modulator at Best Buy for 19.95 called SoundFeeder SF120. It runs on one AA battery. After talking to a salesman at Radio Shack I was very leary of getting one becuase the guy there said they were so bad that all of them had come back and he said he wouldn't even sell me one.
Imagine my delight when I hooked a portable CD player to it for a test and found the sound indistinguishable from a direct wire setup. I plan on using it to play MP3's . You just tune to one of 3 stations on your FM and you hear whatever you plugged into the modulator in stereo with NO degration of quality that I could hear whatsoever!
I figured I would have to return it and chalk up the trial run to experience so am thrilled to have a way to input sound so cheaply.
Spiritman
I called Buick Customer Information and was first told that WW2 was the paint code. I told the representative that she was wrong so she put me on hold to research it a little. When she returned, she told me there is no paint code because they come pre-colored from the factory. Again, I explained to her that she was incorrect, as the bodyshop had ordered a factory bumper cover and it had come unfinished. Finally asked for my phone number so she could do some more research and call me back.
She called me back two hours later to tell me that she had called the Buick bodyshop manager that I had been referred to last week and that he was researching it for her. She said I would hear from one of them by the end of the week.
IT'S A PAINT CODE! HOW HARD CAN THIS BE?
He called me back 1/2 hour later with the code! I should have called him in the first place. Can I just say how impressed and happy I continue to be with this dealership?
I'll be bringing my RDV to the bodyshop next week to give them one more chance to get it right.
Thank you for listening,
Brian
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CWJ
P.S. I'm envious of your dealership. I don't know how one would reliably research these things in advance, but it seems that one has two purchases to make, not one. The car AND the dealership.
Actually, I left part of the story out (edited for time and content, ha ha). On the 3rd call to Buick Customer Information, the phone rep (at my insistence to not call the dealer again) actually contacted a Buick corporate person and was told they had the code. The phone rep then told me that the Buick corporate person was not permitted to tell him the code, and that I would have to have my local dealer research it independently!
So much for customer service.
CWJ, I am lucky to have found this dealer. Victor, who didn't really make any money off of me (GM employee purchase) has been nothing but helpful from day 1. Remember my colour change, option changes, and order cancel/re-order? He took it in stride and still, when I call him (or he calls me sometimes just to say hi), I can hear his smile in his voice.
By the way, I went to an Acura dealer today to look at and drive a 2002 MDX. They are still demanding $2000 over MSRP for these cars! I must admit that they have improved the wind and road noise a little bit over the 2001, but it is still a noisy, harsh ride...nowhere near as refined and luxurious as the RDV. Every road irregularity caused the MDX to shudder and interior bits to rattle. In it's defense, the firm ride delivers impressively sporting handling, with little body roll in the turns and the engine is quite peppy. The brakes were also impressive. To me, it felt like driving a tall Honda Prelude with leather and plood! Although the MDX will outperform the RDV on a race track, I would recommend enjoying the quite refinement of the RDV, and with the $10,000 savings, buy a nice 1998 Miata to go with it!
P.S. Thanks for asking CW, after 11 days, the Omega is dead on with the atomic clock again after a brief, inexplicable 1/2 second lag. The RDV radio clock is now 1:13 slow.
Regards,
Brian
Has anyone had experience with after market hitches?
This ups the price by thousands. For us, this is a bad deal. We don't need leather seats, rear parking assist, trip computer, footrests, etc. Nice to have, but not worth paying for (at least for this young family).
So: Does anyone know of a way to get a CX AWD RDV with seating for six or seven?
Oddly, I notice that the glossy RDV brochure and some of the early RDV reviews specify that the 3rd row seat is available on the CX as an option. Did Buick drop this at the last minute? Such a configuration would be an ideal choice for snowbelt families on a budget. Maybe they'll see the light in '03...
I would like to know if anyone as checked the gas mileage against the Driver Information Center? I did one time and it was dead on 17.0 with the actual of 17.021. this thing is great! We are going on our first trip next weekend, can't wait to see the gas mileage on this little outing of about 600 miles round trip.
If you examine the option packages, you will notice that a CX AWD and CXL are listed with the same MSRP. This is because once you decide you want an AWD Rendezvous, you simply choose the package you want, and the package determines whether it is a CX or a CXL.
In other words, if you order an AWD Rendezvous with option package 1SB, it is a CX. If you order option package 1SC or higher, it is automatically a CXL.
So, the most minimally equipped Rendezvous with AWD and 3rd row seating is a CXL with option package 1SD...and nothing else. This vehicle has an MSRP of $32,182 (invoice $29,000). Your only other alternative is a FWD Rendezvous with option package 1SC, with an MSRP of $27,584 (invoice 24,933).
All auto manufacturers place limitations and prerequisites to ordering individual options, and Buick is no exception. The 3rd row is included in option package 1SD, or can be ordered individually, but requires package 1SE. For some reason, Buick did not want to make the 3rd row seat available on AWD vehicles with packages 1SC or lower. Time will tell if they will reconsider.
Interestingly, the FWD combination you suggest (CX FWD + 1SC) comes up with a different (higher) MSRP on GM Buypower- $29,099. Perhaps there's a bug in Edmund's configurator?
Of course, what I'd like to purchase is a CX AWD with option package 1SA and the 3rd seat as a $750 option (the price listed on Buypower as an add-on to package 1SE). This would have an MSRP of $28,902 - over $3,000 less than what the current CXL option packages require.
I understand that most manufacturers operate this way. However, from the customer's point-of-view there is no logic to this particular scheme. I can't believe that my wife and I are the only oddballs who prefer a basic CX AWD with a 3rd seat. Isn't the availability of AWD and a 3rd seat one of the major selling points of this vehicle, especially to the "young family" demographic? Isn't the desireable younger demographic the most price-sensitive? If so, shouldn't AWD and the 3rd seat BOTH be available with any option package?
As it stands, to fit our budget we may give up on the RDV in favor of a FWD minivan with a 3rd row seat. Or we might buy another 5-passenger SUV (we're looking to replace an 11 year old 4Runner). Either can be had for around $28,000 MSRP or less. In either case, there's no guarantee that we'll buy a GM product.