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Sorry to hear of all your problems.Just go back to page 1 on here and start reading forward.You will see every problem known to mankind with the 2002 Buick RDV's.When you get a bad one theres just no end to the problems.At least your wheel bearings havent gone bad yet,
Lots of us licked our wounds and dumped our 2002 Buick RDV's a long time ago.Our 2002 CXL loved to eat BCM's.It turned in to a 2004 Toyota Highlander which has been trouble free so far.
Good Luck.
Loving it so far! Great on gas, so much cargo room, very comfortable.
Brian
It was the 2002-2003 RDV's that had most of the bad problems.The 2004-2007 RDV's were much better.Our 2002 CXL AWD was roomy and rode and handled great.However,it was underpowered and the reliability wasnt there.
If anyone is buying a used 2002-2003 Rendezvous from a dealer,please call the former owners to see why they traded it off.Theres far too many problem ones out there.They had numerous problems such as BCM's,AC Condensors,Intake And Head Gaskets,Wheel Bearings,Stalling And Refusing To Restart,and much more if you got the wrong one.I've seen some 2002's have up to a dozen different problems.
I wish you well with your 07 RDV.
For the TC/ABS lights , I would fix the other problem first and see if its still an issue, anything electrical could potentialy be affected by weak current
For the price we paid for the car and the repairs that we did , we are still under book value for the car. I love the way it drives. Gas mileage isn't bad. Comfortable for kids. No extra room when seating more than 4 but what crossover does?
We are aware of it's problems, but for real, research ANY car/make/model and you find just as much if not more......
We are happy
I've been in frontal accidents before. To get past the front bumper, grills, etc. takes a very strong impact. You couldn't have done all that damage and not realized you had damaged your car, even if it was dark. If it was dark, how did you drive, since your headlights would have been destroyed??
But until you break through the bumper etc., you aren't getting to anything engine related that would make the car turn off.
Now if you DID break through all that, your air bags would have gone off when you hit the trailer.
If you had broken the radiator, you would have gotten a low coolant message WAY before any disasters engine shutdown. Further, I've been a GM man for life and have never heard of this "shutting down" message. Where did it display this?
Finally when any engine shuts off, you still retain some braking ability and the steering wouldn't lock.
Care to share some more details and explain what really happened?
Of course, you drove away after you exchanged information with the owner of the trailer or filed a police report? That would have been a good time to inspect your Rendezvous thoroughly.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
There is a mysterious leak. I've found older threads talking about the roof rack or sun roof needing to be sealed better. Is there any newer information about this? We can hear a dripping when we just get in the car during the rain, and the front passenger carpet is wet.
The driver door doesn't set right. It howls as we go down the road, and when it rains hard some water drips in from the top. According to carfax this car was never in an accident. Any ideas???
Back to the unfortunate situation........
A body shop may or may not have the needed scan tool to pull up OBD codes that might have been set. Depends on how high tech & modern they are. I would say most will not have the tool.
So if the extent of the damage when hitting the trailer was one headlight, that means the other incident would be totally unrelated, you just didn't do enough damage to make your engine quit on you.
I truly feel bad for what happened to you. It sounds like you were first caught off guard, driving too fast for conditions, and had a minor accident. But then you didn't learn your lesson unfortunately, and still drove too fast for "extremely icy" roadways. As I said before, when an engine shuts down in any car, there is plenty of brake reserve to bring the car to a stop if you simply remain calm and slowly brake. And the steering wheel may feel hard to turn but the car is steerable too. Just remember next time to let the car coast to a stop or use your brakes gently, steering gently as well. Any jerking of the wheel or slamming on the brakes can send you sliding.
Please be more careful out there.
If all four sides are "gapped evenly" between passenger and driver's side, next I'd check the weather stripping. With both doors open, compare all the rubber, noting exactly how it's sitting, where it starts/ends, which way it angles, etc.
Try also standing at the front of your car by the headlight. Look down the side of the car. Does the door seem flush with the rest of the body panels?
This should get you started. Of course, if you bought it at a dealer recently, there might still be a warranty that you can take advantage of.
My bet would be on a worn piece of weatherstripping somewhere, and the leak point should help you figure out which one. If you think you found the bad piece but just aren't QUITE sure, when the strip you suspect is dry, apply a thick coat of white petroleum jelly. Go for a drive to re-create the howling and/or drip, and see if it has diminished. The jelly would temporarily seal up the area, at least in part.
I had the used-dealer reset the door twice, but no joy ... and the weather stripping seems fine. I think this door was taken by the wind and forced open once upon a time, but I've looked at the hinges and they don't seem adversly bent.
Have you heard of a way to maybe shim the door so the leading edge is more flush with the frame?
I haven't taken a close look at the hinges on my 2007 RDV to see how they are setup. But I think you are on the right track with the hinges.
If they are bent just a tiny bit, too little for the eye to see, it will translate to a great angle difference at the door seams. If you can get any recourse from the dealer, I would insist they replace the hinges.
Otherwise, take it to a respected BODY SHOP in your area, they deal with this kind of thing all the time.
100 lb / ft. And as you'll note by glancing over that chart, 100 is a great choice if you're ever caught in a situation, changing a wheel on a car you're not familiar with.
The most important thing is to tighten them in a star pattern and make a couple passes. On the first time through the star, I only tighten them till they feel snug. Then the second time through I tighten to the spec. This makes sure the wheel sits flat and even on the rotor hat.
When storing your torque wrench, set it at around 20-25 percent of the maxium limit. In other words, if you have a 100 ft lb wrench, set it at 20-25 ft lbs and leave the "lock" UNLOCKED in stored condition. This prevents the springs and other internal parts from going out of calibration or "setting".
Perhaps a bit of overkill with the three passes, but I have worked on many peces of equipment in the nuclear industry, and this is the proper way to torque nuts and bolts, unless the equipment maker stated otherwise.
Probably something you have to take it in for unless someone here can identify a common failure point for these symptoms.
1. Is the terrain the same on the whole 12 hour trip? Or is it, for example, flat the first 3 hours, then mountainous for 3 hours, then flat for 6?
2. I assume this is the 3.4 OHV V6. How many miles? AWD?
3. Do you REALLY mean you were down 4 whole quarts? Because the whole crankcase capacity is only 4.5? Not doubting you, just asking for clarification.
4. Did you look at the coolant level? Normal?
The rear intake manifold is a good thought - BUT the oil has to go somewhere, period. If you crawled underneath and everything was dry, my only thought is that it could have been dripping from the rear valve cover or intake manifold, unto a hot exhaust, and burning away. BUT, again, that would create smoke and smell bad. Perhaps on the highway you wouldn't notice with the wind carrying it away but anytime you would have pulled off the highway for food or gas, you would have smelled oil burning badly at the rate you were going through.
I guess the dealer is the next stop. I'd be a little curious to get underneath and take a look at the top side of the exhaust, see if there's any signs.
I am considering to buy a 2002 RDV CXL AWD and I would like to know what you think about it. It is hard to make a decision based on the testimonials on this forum. Most of you say that you are having many problems with the cars and the dealerships, but besides that the feeling I have is that you don't regret for the choice because of the features, the comfort, etc. Is that right?
I drove the RDV for about 20 minutes and I loved it! The mirrors are huge, but I think I can get used to it. But 20 minutes is not enough to make a decision about an investment like that. The price I got is pretty good (around $7500), one owner, I have the maintenance history and the autocheck. It has about 97000 miles on it.
On the maintenance history there are some things that is hard to know the meaning ( I don't know anything about cars). For example:
116 miles - NC PDI RECHECK :confuse:
4656 miles - BODY-ELECTRICAL, BODY-ELEC. MISC1, BODY-ELEC. MISC2 and there is a message "DO NOT USE!!" :surprise:
11208 miles - BODY-ELECTRICAL
19387 miles - BODY-TRIM, CAMPAIGN
26000 miles - REPLACE PCV VALVE
31544 miles - INJECTOR SERVICE, DECARBONIZE VALVE, BODY-TRIM, BODY-ELECTRICAL, BODY-ELEC. MISC1
36628 miles - BODY-ELECTRICAL
41376 miles - BODY ELECTRICAL
44964 miles - BODY-TRIM
48637 miles - REPLACE PCV VALVE, BODY-TRIM, BODY-TRIM MISC1
49105 miles - BODY-TRIM
52422 miles - ATF FLUSH
57309 miles - ENGINE--COOLING, BRAKE-RELINE/REPAIR
66856 miles - INJECTOR SERVICE, DECARBONIZE VALVE, ENGINE--COOLING, BRAKE-RELINE/REPAIR
73976 miles - BODY-TRIM, BRAKE-RELINE/REPAIR
95386 miles - ENGINE-ELECTRICAL, A/C REPAIR
96584 miles - CHARGING SYSTEM
96799 miles - ENGINE--MINOR, REPLACE PCV VALVE, U.C. SAFETY/LOF :confuse: , DETAIL-USED, CHIP REPAIR, WINDSHIELD REPAIR.
As you can see, electrical and trim are there several times. The same with PCV valve. There are more things that I didn't describe...
I have the last owner's phone but I couldn't find him at home yet.
I'm sorry for typing all the details, but I really need to know if it is a good idea to buy this car and I can't afford to spend money on repairs all the time :sick: . The dealership will give me only 3000 miles / 3 months of powertrain warranty. And I have the option of paying around $1400 for an extended full warranty for 3 years/ 50000 miles.
I would appreciate any advice from you about that.
KtS1
The "BODY-electrical" could be anything, wiring problems, BCM, etc.
BODY-TRIM is probably a piece of molding or insulation that wasn't quite right, and the fact it was a "campaign" means probably nothing was even wrong with your particular RDV, but GM decided to update that part on all RDVs.
Replacing a PCV valve every once in a while is normal. So is flushing the Automatic Transmission Fluid, decarbonizing the throttle body, FI treatment, brake job, etc.
Nothing on there really scares me. I would insist the dealer do an ATF flush and a cooling system flush, they're both due around 100k miles. I hope the brakes and tires are in reasonably good shape.
Does the $1400 warranty really cover everything for 3 yrs / 50k miles? At what deductible? That seems like a good deal, if it's full warranty and low deductible. If it's powertrain only, it's still probably worth it.
How many miles a year do you drive, and, how long would you want to keep this car?
Brian D.
07 RDV CXL
My budget will be really tight with the car payment and full coverage insurance, so I don't want surprises. And I'm new to the US so It is kind of hard to get good rates on financing. I want to keep this car as long as I can 3 to 5 years. I don't think I will drive even 1000 miles in a month.
I have the best references about the dealership. They are HUGE here. But sometimes cars are just bad...
I have a 97 Pontiac Grand Am and one day I drove to work and it was working great. When I was leaving 8 yours later the car simply didn't start. The mechanic said it is the timing belt tensioner. It is expensive to fix and I don't want to put more money on it. The car itself worth about $500 in a trade-in (if it is working fine).
It is time to get a good car.
I would feel better about this car if I hear from owners of the 2002 RDV that it is a good buy.
Im glad you have taken the time to do research before purchasing a new vehicle, very smart move. It sounds like a good buy, and I agree with bxd. The the things listed are nothing to worry about. But just in case I would take the car for another test drive and go to a local mechanic that has a good reputation and have him check it over very from top to bottom.
If you do take the vehicle to a local mechanic and it turns out that every thing is in proper working condition and I mean every thing. For example: Rotors, diagnostic, Brakes etc.. It might cost around $150 or so to have this done but it would be worth it. I would also consider purchasing the 100k powertrain warranty if you plan on keeping the vehicle for 3 to 5 years, since it has close to 100k on it already.
When I purchased my 02 RDV, I only took the 50k extended warranty, and after reading all the problems many people have had I wished I would have purchased the 100k.
My RDV had 79k when I purchased it. Im at 94k and I have owned it for only 8 months, and before the year is over I will have put 20k on it. I realize that you wont be doing that much driving but, you never know whats going to happen 6 mo to a year down the road. Your curciumstances could change considerably like mine did.
Thanks :-)