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I have to jump in on this one. If you do not know, K2QO is my amatuer radio callsign.
My driving has been 90% city / 10% highway for my first 1100 miles. The drive to work is 11 miles each way and my avg speed is about 23.5 mph. My RDV is a CX AWD 1SB.
The first tank got me 16mpg and the next 3 have been around 17.5 mpg. Not bad at all considering it is winter here in WNY and one cannot get good milage plowing through snow or driving on a cold engine. These values were calculated. The DIC indicates about 0.5 mpg better than my manual gallons/miles=mpg calculations.
I think that the mileage has "stabilized" now that the engine is "broken-in". On fall highway with no wind travelling 65mph, I have seen mpg's in the 27-28mpg range. Boy, those hills and headwinds really nutz-up the mileage :-)
Mark
Has anyone gotten the roof racks and installed them on a CX? I know someone said that they ran about $50 a piece and I was just wondering how easy they were to put on. We did not need the awd here in OKlahoma since we normally don't get very bad weather for very long and ours will probably hardly ever leave the road. I couldn't afford a CXL version but would like to have the roof racks.
Any info is appreciated.
This connects to the discussion on mileage - I have really 'lightened my foot', but with all my street driving, don't go above 16, often a little less. When I can go on freeways off rush-hour, it moves to 18 plus. I have reset several times, and know that this is an accurate reading. I still think this is reasonable mileage for a seven seater 4 wheel drive, and am learning to refill more frequently! Thanks again---
I purchased the calling plan and it's a great value. It's a flat rate to anywhere (long distance) and you buy minutes per time frame. I bought 1000 minutes for 12 months for ~$175. The voice activated phone works flawlessly and you can program preset numbers. If you run out of minutes, the system will ask you to buy more right from the car.
The personal advisor is something you might consider. It reads e-mail, top news, and stock quotes via the OnStar system. Talk about saving time and money.
I love my RDV more everyday...
Peter
We feel good about the safety aspects of the On-Star system and have used it once to unlock our car, but these additional perks you speak of do not seem to come at a great savings. Just my opinion...
I realize that if one shops around for a cell phone plan much lower per minute rates for long distance can be had, but not everyone needs those exact plans. So for some, the OnStar plan might be a good deal.
Ken
We rarely use headlines anymore, but I do use the operator directional help often, usually with great success. I also had a chance to use the auto diagnostics, which are some type of information chips that connect to console lights that go on, and verify any mechanical problems - I had the engine light go on briefly, called OnStar, and they checked the signals from our car and found no problem. We recommend these services to anyone who can benefit - it's made my daily driving life much less stressful!
Peter
Usually my wife (who drives the car 98% of the time) knows where she's going, ie, school, work, kids' games, etc... so directions to her aren't really necessary. As for me, I use a map or mapquest when I'm not sure where I'm going. I'm sure it's convenient having someone tell us which way to go, but as I said, my wife, and I suspect most drivers, go to the same places most days.
And finally, most news that's "news" is bad news... so, I don't really need that more than "on-the-hour; even that's too much. Frankly, I pull most of my news off the net anyway...
I can see that for a small % of people, such as Dorene1, the Premium services are almost a "must-have"; for us however, the standard "safety" OnStar features are adequate.
Ken: thanks for your greetings. I need to get over to your site again soon. The car is doing well. Thanks.
John B.
I don't have the model you're looking to buy so my cost may not be relevant, but if you want it, it's in the Owners Club.
Bruce
I got this RDV from the second salesman. I didn't think he would come through with the deal but he did. I got it for $500 under invoice + 1% advertising fee (minus another $2K for GM rebate). He did a swap with another dealership out in NJ (I'm in NYC). Turns out he was a new dealer and I was his first customer so he went out of his way to get it for me. But it took a bit longer to get the paper work done as he was new. I got the stereo upgrade free of charge because it was additional equipment I didn't ask for. I drove it for about a dozen miles so far and learning all the features.
Next (pun intended) to Dindak, I think you've gone back and forth more on the Rendezvous than anyone else. But you've asked some of the more intelligent questions of any of the prospective buyers and I sincerely hope you enjoy your own personal Gamera.
Speaking of whom, he's past 10K on the odo now and for those tracking MPG, he gives me about 18mpg in the city and 24mpg on the highway at 62mph. As others have mentioned this drops off rapidly as speed increases. I drove him 700miles round trip up into michigan recently and running him at 75mph had him down around 19-20mpg. You can't ignore the simple fact that you're pushing a high profile vehicle through the air when you get the speed up.
CWJ
Question for anyone. Does the key fobs store driver information 1 or 2. I noticed you can program settings for 2 different drivers, but does that sync up to a specific key fob, since they gave you two??
Just wondering if any of you RDV owners could share how long it took to get your RDV from the factory. I have been waiting for more than a month now and wondering if the demand is pushing up the delivery times?
-Sean
CWJ
At this point it's 2WD RDV, VUE, Tribute and Escape in the running if we go truck. My wife still thinks we only need another car for the next lease though.
MAK
I'm in the process of thinking up a name for her.
To answer the key fob question:
Each key has it's own ID - either Driver 1 or 2. When you press the Unlock button from the fob, that tells your RDV which key you are using and it returns to that driver setting.
However, if you use your key to unlock the door, your RDV will use the settings of the previous driver (could be 1 or 2 depending on who used it last).
After you have put your key into the ignition, he can switch between either Driver 1 or 2 settings by pressing the Lock button on your FOB (free to change either settings).
This is all in the very very thick owners manual.
I can't identify which FOB is for which driver looking at both the front and back of mines. Maybe a little sticker or something would help.
I spoke to my dealer today and my RDV is still not asembled at the plant after 5 weeks. I am guessing the wait will be 8 to 12 weeks. My Sunfire just doesn't seem to cut it after I test drove the Rendezvous!
Nextmoon- I did not see any rust on the engine mounts. Next trip into dealer for service I would mention it to them. I would not think it is a big deal though...
The salesman told us they were $17 each and we went ahead and placed our order for two and when we went to pick them up, found out that they were $35 apiece! We didn't want to make an issue with the price since the salesman was only quoting a price that he apparently had been given wrong information on.
We also found out that if we ever want to replace the key fob, it would cost around $90. Just thought I would pass this along....don't lose your keys! And if you do lose them, make sure your key fob isn't attached to it! lol By the way, we love our opal blue RDV!
I was so happy to find this owner's club a couple weeks ago. I feel like I know some of you personally now. ;-)
Through reading the messages I have already solved some issues and learned a lot! I'm really happy to have you all to share info. with.
Well now I don't have any excuse for not working...so back to work.
Douglas
CWJ
Thanks
We came down to MDX vs RDV as well and RDV won. FWIW
I've never had my RDV loaded and gone up hills, but from what I've read here the power will be adequate. It may not have extra power to burn, but you won't be prevented from going up hills, etc.
As for power, my RDV got up very quickly to 30+ mph on local streets. There's a short pause inbetween 30+ to 40, and then it takes off up to 60+ mph without much effort. This is with five full adults on board + 3rd row of seat with only 100 miles on the Odometer.
Since you pay only slighty over invoice, you will save $7000 plus over Acura since they are chargin list or more....
Peter
I mean to say that it's far, far superior to the other Buicks. For an example, the Regal's interior plastic looks very cheap and the fit/finish has large gaps. All of the other Buicks look very outdated (inside/outside) compared to the RDX. I can see why people are not looking at the RDX yet. Every family member of mine who saw my RDX thought it was an expensive european/japanese car. As a matter of fact, my brother-in-law bought himself a Black RDX yesterday.
The RDV is less likely to rust out. The RDV runs and handles as well as any Buick, maybe better than the old "boats" ( more like a sports car ). Better fuel economy and in my opinion looks better. My vote is YES it is as good a Buick as any Buick made. But what does an old Polack from Parma know.
Ken
http://www.usatoday.com/money/covers/2002-03-01-car-seat-safety.htm