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Hey Islandpete1: Last Thursday my wife was picking up the kids at a local day camp and a ML320 driver was parked right next to her. He really liked the RDV, and even sat inside it to check it out. Although it may not be stunning in terms of looks, people do like it!
I also thought the Edmunds' RDV road test, and vehicle info. guide reviews, were pretty decent; of course putting into perspective that there isn't much that really impresses the Edmunds' staff, period. If anyone here thinks the Edmund's RDV review was negative, you should compare that with what they say about the intended competition: MB M-Series pro/cons, RX-300 pro/cons, and RDV pro/cons.
I'll stop there, and let you find the others ones by yourself. But I just wanted to point out, that compared to others, the RDV gets off pretty easy; and actually comes across as very positive. One thing to keep in mind, is that there's no one vehicle that's going to satisfy everyone, and unless it's fluff piece or paid advertising, you're always going to see some kind of criticism in just about every review you read.
Utlimately, you need to find the vehicle that pleases you the most, and take everything else with a grain of salt. My 2 cents. :-)
Mary
John & Island - You know, Gamera is still the only Rendezvous I've seen in Fort Wayne. And since June, I've only seen one other on the road outside of town, and that's after taking multiple road trips since Gamera landed June 4. And frankly, I'm a little disappointed that I've not been able to share any people coming up to the vehicle and asking questions stories. I get the sidelong glances, but not the personal interaction about which others have spoke. It's rather ironic bacause I know I was the first to post about the double takes Gamera received the day I took delivery. Don't get me wrong, I love the stories. I'm just a little envious.
CWJ
P.S. Those who seem to do the most sidelong staring are the RX, ML, and MDX drivers, i.e.; the "comparable" crossovers. There are plenty of them here in town, and I'm still looking for the first one with a trailer hitch. Maybe there's someone over on the RX,ML or MDX board talking about the strange Rendezvous driver who only seemed interested in checking out the rear bumper of his/her vehicle.
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
I experimented with the horn last night. Seems as long as you press it just slightly below the indentation where the Buick logo is, the horn honks just fine. Anywhere else and you're taking a chance. A pet-peave I have w/ my '99 Bonneville is that sometimes the horn just doesn't work. I hate feeling vulnerable like that.
The kids go back to school next week. Multiply the # of looks at that time by about at least 100. There are lots of the Yukons, Suburbans, Expeditions, etc. there at the school yard. My wife will have fun sharing with everyone. Btw, we have about 4,500 miles on our RDV which includes a few big trips: L.A., Yosemite National Park, & camping in Sacrament area.
Yes, I agree with CWJ that the review reads more like an advertisemant...and yes, I have heard of companies providing "news stories" to the media. I don't recall his name, but a man wrote a book about all of the "news" that is actually paid for by sponsors to endorse a product. I remember not too long ago there was a popular news item that said red wine is good for your health...the author specifically mentioned this one. It's amazing once you start looking for it, how obvious it is. Just watch the evening news on TV and look for it.
Wow, did I stray, or what?
I took the kids to visit my mom today. It rained all last night and throughout the day today so I got to "play" with the VersaTrak. It can be detected when you lauch from a stoplight on wet pavement. On launch, there is a split second of wheel spin and then the RDV just goes...it is seamless and very effective.
re:Bonneville Horn: it doesn't have the problem all the time which makes it hard to diagnose. I'm inclined to just have my mechanic look at it, and maybe consider changing the spring-mechanism or whatever it is that makes the horn honk.
What kind of wax/polish are you using for your RDV. Fedlawman had recommended Klasse products over on the "Care & Maintenance" section of the Owners' Forum. If you haven't checked that forum out yet, it's worth a visit.
Brian: nice to see you back on the boards. Be careful in that Seattle rain.
Most of the time I'm stuck in the Gold Grand Am. I drive from the Island to NJ everyday, about 145 miles a day. So yea, I know the roads (and the cars on it).
Plus we have family out in Bay Shore/Deer park, so we're probably in your neck of the woods every once in awhile.
And an update on our horn problem I mentioned a while ago. The wife took it in and got it fixed a few days ago and it turns out it was a loose terminal in the wiring harness (ie, a loose wire) that was causing the problem. She was in and out in about 20 minutes. Pretty good.
And yesterday, the wife took the Bonneville as she had a long trip to make and we're trying to keep miles off the RDV as it's leased, so I drove the RDV. Everything is going fine and I'm thinking how much I like this vehicle, when on my way home I start hearing this noise seemingly coming from over near the passenger seat, and as I drive it gets louder. I then realize that the noise gets louder as I speed up, and goes away when I stop, and I'm wondering what might have come loose and whether the RDV will end up in the shop. Eventually, I'm able to pull off into a grocery store parking lot and I take a look under the vehicle to see if I can figure out what's causing this odd noise. And sure enough, there's the culprit. There's a label on the propshaft going back to the rear wheels and this label has somehow become half peeled off and is dangling under the vehicle. As the vehicle would move, this label would smack the bottom of the floorpan and make the noise I had been hearing. So I reach under the vehicle, yank off the label, and sure enough, when I start driving again, the noise is gone. If only all problems could be solved so easily!
BY
CWJ
P.S. IslandPete - Gamera has about 2500 trouble free miles, 0 troublesome miles.
Today 3 local (central NJ) dealers are finetuning their competing offers to sell me a CXL per my specs: Driftwood/Bronzemist w/Oak interior, plus Versatility Package, 6-disc CD, Towing Package, and Sunroof options. Best price so far is $30,921 pre-tax and -fees (MSRP=$33472.00).
Hope to decide by tomorrow and close deal (including trade-in of '95 Montero SR and making a buy vs. lease decision) before Labor Day.
Any advice (especially on pricing) will be welcome. Wish me luck, and hope to be in the club soon!
Thats why only 2700 were sold last month. Despite the sales person telling me that the cars are HOT sellers, I noticed at least 7 (out of 50 GMCS & Buicks) of them on the small lot in the back of the dealership.
Its too bad, because if Buick was able to sell a base 4WD car for about 24K and a loaded one for about 27K(or have a no-money down lease for $299 or $319), they might have a best seller in this very hot selling car-based SUV market.
BY
But just to humour some folks, first, Edmunds TMV is worthless. That was the first thing I learned when shopping for a car this year. A 4WD RX300 w/Premium Plus Package invoices for $34,686 and can be had for $35k currently if you live in a competitive market (NY, LA, etc.).
A FWD RX (more comparable to the RDV's AWD) w/PPP invoices for $33,121 and can easily be had for under $34k nowadays.
Hope this helps.
Tonychrys: As you say the cars are entirely 2 different products. All things being equal, which they never are, you'd obviously expect to pay more for a Lexus.
A 2001 RX300 vs the 2002 RDV - 2 Other huge coniderations for our family were the 3rd row seat and the large cargo space (109 cu. ft. compared to about 75 cu ft. in the RX300). I remember when my wife and I looked at the space behind the 2nd row of the Toyota Highlander and realized that in no way could it work for our family consisting of us, our 2 children and their friends.
However, if one didn't need the extra storage space & only needed to seat 5 people or less, I would agree that the RX300, of for that matter the Toyota Highlander would be excellent choices. Isn't great that we all have so many excellent choices to make.
By & CWJ; ever put balloons on the tires instead of the cards? That made a pretty cool sound as well.
What an ugly game... for the Raiders of course.
Penalties have been a problem all pre-season except against SF, it was the ones getting into the action. Gruden won't take that for long.
Turnovers... no turnovers through eight quarters of pre-season then... BAM! Three against SF.
Though the ones and twos moved the ball well, the threes and fours were simply out-played by SF. There also was an obvious difference in philosophy as to what the coaches wanted to see out of the players.
All in all, there were some bright spots and weaknesses for both teams. It was good to see Hearst running strong. He looked fully recovered. Good for the Niners, they need him... especially with all of the injuries to their RBs during the pre-season.
Oh, and the RDV, running like a champ. We have the Firestone tires on ours and I really have to watch the tire pressure. It may be the difference between some really warm days and cooler days, but I swear we lost almost 10 lbs of pressure over a two week period.
It's no longer milk that flies in our car, now it's "Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger". Except Buzz seems to be a little more controlled.
Humph... I guess I'll pay my dues...
Go Niners!
R5
BTW: That's the last time you EVER see me saying THAT!
Go RAIDERS!
R5
Try to keep Space Ranger away from the knobs; btw, did you get those fixed already. Losing 10 pounds in 2 week seems a bit odd. I believe ours has been staying steady. Now that you mention it though, I'll have to watch it more carefully. We also have the Firestones.
Go Raiders,
John B.
Well, I'm not willing to wait months (MDX!). When we needed a new car our Pathfinder was off lease and we had to move quickly.
My personal story is that after I researched the market and knew what was feasible, I phoned a few dealers. Didn't like their prices. So I simply went on Priceline.com, gave a price a few hundred over invoice, got an accepted offer in 8 hours. When I told the local dealers about it, they all changed their tune.
Car shopping is just like football, gotta do your homework and have a game plan!
Go Giants! Go Jets!
Ra1der5: Hope to see you on the freeway eventually as I have not yet seen another RDV on the roads of the bay area. I was surprised to hear you say go 9ers, as most of the football fans in the area are adamant haters of the 'other' team. My best friend and I love to give it to each other as he is a silver and black man, and I'm a red and gold fan. You can say I have bragging rights after the exhibition game, but the last time it meant anything the raiders won. Both teams look better and I think the draft really helped the 9ers as Carter looks for real. I like the young QB from Washington for the raiders but forget spelling that name I won't even try.
If you know soccer, I will be officiating a game in Spartan Stadium San Jose CA, between Toluca and Cruz Azul of Mexico. 8-29-01 at 9pm. The car will be in the lot next to the team bus.
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
Took my RDV to the dealer today to have the right side memory module replaced...now the reverse tilt/memory works just fine. They also replaced the mirror glass (there was a trace amount of glazing on the surface which created a "prism" effect when the sun hit it just right.
This dealer impresses me more every time I visit. When I showed up to drop off my RDV today, everyone (service manager, receptionist, etc.) knew my name and greeted me.
But I think you speak to my point. GM is looking to make up for the dismal failure of Aztek with the RDV, but they need a mid-market configuration w/ AWD & 3rd row to get volume. Otherwise once Honda introduces its MDX variant next year with 3 rows for $27-30k it'll be all over. Look what they did to Chrysler with the Odyssey.
That's a $6000 real world difference in price. Now add sales tax and finance that over 60 months and you have a significant cost difference.
What about the RX300? A base 2001 RX300 AWD with leather interior invoices for $33,000. Still $4000 more than a RDV, which has more equipment. And since the RX is a 2001 closeout, the 2002's will probably sell for well above invoice.
I do think you're right about the Honda SUV! If Honda introduces a stripped down version of the MDX for less than $30,000, the RDV will be less attractive as an alternative to the MDX, ML320, RX300 crowd.
Keep in mind, however, that the Honda version will also demand a premium over MSRP for at least the first year (a la Odyssey and MDX). Also, I wonder how much cheaper than the MDX it will actually be...after all, a fully loaded V6 Accord is only $2000 cheaper than a 3.2 TL.
All Honda can really do to the MDX is take away the leather, fake wood trim, trip computer, auto climate control, and maybe downgrade the sound system. In all, you might shave $3000 off the MSRP...which is still going to be $3000 more than a CXL, which will still have all the goodies intact.
Any way you slice it, competition and a little price war will create a win-win situation for the consumer.
Meanwhile, it is my understanding that the Honda will MSRP for $27-30k w/ AWD & 3 rows. AND... don't forget the new Honda plant opens in Alabama next year which will take over ALL minivan production. So? The Canadian plant which now produces 160k Honda minivans & Acura SUVs will then be ALL SUVs. Figure 60k Acura (up from 40k) and 100k Honda SUVs? Whatever the mix, the new plant will do much to correct the undersupply problems Honda & Acura are having, not to mention dealer greed.
So a RDV AWD CX Versatility (w/ 3rd row) with invoice around $27k seems an important mid-market space that Buick needs to get to, and fast.
Consumers will be in great shape. If I worked in Detroit I'd be really, really scared.
BTW my replicas arrived yesterday, really nice models for $8.
Pricing - Rendezvous availability is a little slim in my area right now, so we may have paid a little more than if we'd waited. But even at what we paid, the cost was much lower compared to the intended competition.
The lexus dealer was willing to negotiate on their RX300 price, but the cost was still considerably higher (by thousands), not to mention their financing/lease options were not nearly as good as GMAC.
Someone above mentioned the RX300 had a better residual than the RDV. That might be true, but I think GMAC's lower lease interest rates make this a much better deal for the consumer in the long run. The money factor lowers the monthly payment while keeping the residual at realistic (lower) level, an advantage for those that may want to consider a purchase at the end of the lease term.
Other than that, the competition are certainly offering fine products, and if having a more luxurious name plate was so important to us, we may have been able to cough up an additional 6k to 9k. But as I mentioned above, our choice was heavily weighed by value for dollar. And also, I think the Buick name plate carries a certain amount of class and distinction; very "regal" if I might add. hehe :-)
Other costs to consider: the RDV epa ratings (fwd: 19/26) were also a big factor. You've got to figure mpg into your overall costs, and the RDV wins that one hands down. The RX300 also has good epa ratings (fwd: 19/23) for a vehicle in it's class, but if you consider you can carry more passengers in the RDV with the third row seat, that enhances the RDV epa value all the more.
And one other consideration: the RDV costs considerably less to insurance than it's intended competion according to the quotes we got.
Reliablility - was not a big concern for us. For one, we're leasing on a 36/36 warranty period, and we can walk away at the end of the term. Secondly, we feel that American makes are much better made, more reliable, nowadays than they used to be. Not to mention, that my husbands' family have owned many Buicks and have had very few problems.
Although, it has occurred to us that is a first year model, makes it more likely that we may confronts problems (first year bugs), but we were willing to take our chance in exchange for the excitement of owning a first year model.
In any case, if people are so concerned about long term reliability on the RDV, they can always opt for an extended warranty. Even after adding the cost of a 100k-150k extended warranty onto the RDV, it's overall costs are still much lower than the competition; not to mention that if you sell your RDV before the ext. warranty expires you will get a prorated refund on the ext. warranty.
Have I covered all the bases (costs) here? Sorry this is so long winded. My 10 cents. ;-)
Mary
Three local dealers can't get my first choice color, driftwood/bronzemist -- one has been found, but it's been dealerized with a wood dash, pinstriping and special wheel molding (wonder who's idea was that). One dealer says there "may" be a white/sandrift avail, and is locating. No word on my third choice, Pewter.
Without an employee discount or GM promotion, I'm prepared for a final price in the $30500-$31000 range. Seems fair, given all the pricing talk on this board. Best dealer price I got so far was $30921 for CXL w/versatility,CD changer, sunroof and towing. Just made a Priceline bid for a few hundred $ less than that, sent to dealers a wider radius from home. (Hadn't thought of Priceline until it was mentioned above -- good idea that I hope works as well in my case.)
So right now, I'm ready and willing -- it's the dealers that don't seem to be able. May not be that interesting to you who are already happy RDV owners, but I'm kinda surprised it's not so easy to get the one I want in this part of the world.
Will let you know how it turns out.
BTW, it was YOUR post from yesterday that gave me the idea to try Priceline -- so gracias again!
Then when I was getting frustrated shopping for a price (didn't have the time to play back and forth games), again, some TH participants suggested I try PL like they did. I actually got a more expensive model than I originally intended because the price was so good! Dealer was a pleasure to work with.
I hope PL works out for you, good luck!
Brian
I really like the Rendezvous, but if the Vue or Escape/Tribute are cheaper and can do the job, we may have to make the hard decision. I know the Honda will be pricey so I won't even consider it. The smaller CR-V is suppose to be new next year so who knows.
Just like you, money was a strong deciding factor for me and of course, I really needed the 3rd row. In fact, when we first decided to get a new family hauler last year, we looked into used minivans. The 1997 Honda Odyssey and 1997 Mazda MPV were both around $17,000.
I've been interested in your situation for some time and look forward to hearing about what you decide...whether it's a RDV or not.
-Rich
I am down to the MDX or RDV. I really like the rdv price though I haven't seen but one around town . Palm Beach county. My two concerns on the RDV is one Blind spots. How are all the owners finding the blind spots. Any real problems with them and also how about the head rest any problems with it. I am short and have to look through it when i test drove it and my head falls "Into" the headrest. Does anyone else have that problem or feel that would be a safety issue. Let me know owners. I want to buy a new car .Thanks