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This was a CX and looked OK except for 2 things that turned me off. The color was that nondescript metallic beige (pewter? sanddrift?) that every second car seems to be painted these days and did nothing for me. A personal opinion of course and easily overcome with other choices. The CX interior (this one was tan) has fairly unattractive fabric patterns on the front seats which would be enough to cause me to upgrade to leather to avoid. Other than that, a good-looking vehicle, though the Buick trishield emblem on the front grille needs some color.
BTW, this one has non-chromed alloy wheels with Firestone tires.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Sucked all the way in,
SW
Well, that was a pretty good one! I just couldn't believe it. At dinner last night, I was telling my wife about your woeful tale. I was thinking I was going to have to definitely get rid of the AWD for the sake of power and defitinitely stay away from the beige interior since your wife HATED it. But now, my worries have ceased. I too will get the CXL w/1SD, and with the gray (non-color) interior.
Did you have any luck w/the replica. Be honest now. No screwing around. We're wise to you now.
btw: I was surprised you didn't hook more folks as well.
Congratulations Silver & Black!
John B.
Go Mariners.
As an auditor who also does investigations (more fraud than anything else) I know those interrogation techniques don't work as well when you can't look the suspect in the eye. Just goes to show you, you can't believe everything you read on the Internet!
Glad to be here also. If I remember correctly, you ordered around the same time I did. Any word on your vehicle?
Go (Texas) Rangers!
R5
Unfortunately, although our dealer had seen the pre-sell "game", trading cards, etc., they didn't really pay attention to it. Indeed, we knew more about the program and the RDV than they did... but that was the same at each dealership.
Bottom line, we don't have a replica. The dealer said they would do everything they could to get one for us, but I'm not holding my breath. No big deal... We've got the real thing.
R5
RE: Scotts Valley... I grew up here and went to school at Scotts Valley junior high and Harbor High. If your friends grew up here and have lived in Scotts Valley, chances are I might know them.
You was suckered me too, so that bewteen Fed and I that makes two feds you got, but I'm glad to hear you both are happy with the RDV.
Brian - On an off topic note, it looks like Customs may getting one of your former Administrators, (Robert Bonner), as our new Commisioner. Care to offer an opinion of him..;).
Tony
r5: My buddy & I acually went to school together in San Mateo County; he had lived up in Bonny Doon (Off Empire Grade) for lots of years. About 2 yrs ago, he mved down to S.V.; incidentally, he just built/is building S.V. High School. BTW, I may be coming down in the next week or so to order the RDV in Capitola. Just waiting to see what stock becomes available...
John B.
ra1der5 - I know that you lied and there is no reason to debate that matter further. You know, lying doesn't make you a bad person, I think you simply used some poor judgement. I really do understand why you lied to us. Heck, we've all made mistakes at some point in our lives. The point is to learn from those mistakes and move forward with our lives. Why don't we talk about what happened and work this whole thing out. You do want to work this out, don't you?
P.S. I did order at the same time and then re-ordered after my wife saw the oak interior. My "1st" RDV was built last week and is on a truck to Seattle as we speak. My "new" RDV order went in last week so, I have a bit of a wait.
Regards,
Brian
She liked the car, and I did too. But she HAD to have that leather! Of course, at the time, the leather on the CX package wasn't an option. Oh, we looked at after-market leather and all that... but when it came to the final decision, she just HAD to have her way. It's all about her! What about me? What about what I want. The RDV over the Venture/Montana/Siloette... the leather over the cloth... who did all the research? Who did the negotiating? Who made the calls to the Buick hotline? So I slandered her! Five... six... seven times. I don't recall... it was a crazy day. Can I have a glass of water?
Fed - You're good. That was the funniest thing I've read on this board since I started posting.
Now I remember about your re-order. Well, at least you can rack up those GMCard earnings.
R5
Makes me want to go out and buy an RDV!
Ken
I am indeed racking up some GM Card earnings (COSTCO only sells so much, however), but I would rather be driving my (wife's) RDV right now!
We're planning a camping/whale watching weekend trip to the San Juan Isls. in August with a few friends. I'm really hoping we have it by then. Great road trip for the RDV!
1) Order a RDV without the benefit of either seeing or driving it first.
2) Frequently visit every Buick dealer within a 50 mile radius until they laugh at you when you pull into their lot.
3) Sign up for my new and improved RDV Self-Study Correspondance Course where you will learn to ask important questions like, "Is the self-deploying integral mirror globe included in the 13RWZ3-15 Disco Inferno Package?"
4) Ignore your wife for weeks as you hang out here, with us.
What are you waiting for? Act now!
R5 - Was I suckered? If by that did I believe you? Of course. Was I surprised? No. But now you've got to ask yourself why everyone was so willing to believe that you'd blow off the Rendezvous. Hmmm?
By the way, "Gammera" arrived yesterday evening. I'm picking him up Monday evening and will give an update then. In the meantime. Yes, he has the chrome rims and Uniroyal tires. And yes, Sedona Bronze with Dark Bronzemist trim and Oak interior is very uptown and nothing short of spectacular. I'm so glad everyone else is staying away from this combo since that makes Gammera the truly unique vehicle he deserves to be.
CWJ
P.S.: I still don't get this "orange" business that keeps popping up whenever the oak interior is mentioned. For goodness sake, throw a basketball in there for comparison and THEN tell me the interior's orange.
P.P.S.: Go Packers!
Are you owners now going to create a RDV owners club and make me stand on the sidelines for 2 months? I hope you can wait for me.
Brian
P.S. I don't think it IS orange, I said the pillars appear to have an orange hue as they approach the roof and the steering wheel is a mustard-like colour. Personally, I think the interior would look better if the steering wheel was the same colour as the dashboard. My wife probably would have gone for it. Oh well, we are happy with our choice and you should be too, as I know you are.
Funny thing about the Internet... everyone believes what they read. Especially when the topic involves whether or not to spend $30K. There's no reason for us all NOT to be suckered in. But when you look at the alternatives, I really feel the RDV gives us the best of several worlds (minivan, SUV, sedan) and a good bang for the buck.
Man am I glad our deal with the Venture fell through last year... I'd be kicking myself!
R5
And of course, I'll stick with this board to give updates as time goes on.
Brian, I do remember you backing off the "orange" observation. All I'm trying to do is kill this "orange" business in its infancy before it takes on a life of its own like the "I wish it had more power" comment that seems to haunt nearly every new vehicle introduction. It seems that as long as a company has a bigger engine in its lineup, there will always be someone who will say that that was the engine they should have used. I'll live with the "mustard" comments (while not necessarily embracing them) because there's some basis in fact for those.
I see that R5 seemed so surprised that he forgot his "Go Raiders" in the last post. I'll lend him one of mine.
Ahem, Go Raiders!
CWJ
P.S.: Go Packers!!
As for the "shade-of-beige" leather, it seems that Buick is installing a shade somewhat different than what most folks are accustomed to seeing in car interiors. I normally would have gone for beige in a New-York-minute, but now I'll have to hold-off 'til I actually see it in person.
As for the power issue, while most folks here at this forum have decided that the power will be "adequate" w/ the RDV, it seems inevitable that next year's model will offer a larger engine. As I mentioned sometime back, even gmdrone, a GM engineer for RDV (post #31), had mentioned that he would have gone w/ a larger engine, had it been up to him. To say that the "power-issue" is a "non-issue" is to downplay a real concern among many consumers/engineers. Just my opinion...
r5: I saw a White CX w/ the SD Pkg. at a local dealership last night. It had the Uniroyal Tires. On the spec sheet, it listed "Touring Radials". I believe that is the item one needs to have to insure the Uniroyals. The CXL offers the "touring radials" w/ the SE pkg. I don't believe it comes on the CXL w/ SD.
BTW r5, now that you're probably an expert on programing the many components of the RDV, do you know if you can ever turn-off the "rear-parking- assist". I realize that might defeat the safety aspect of it, but I'm just wondering... Thanks.
John B.
I figure Buick went with the 3.4L because they didn't want the added time and expense to adapt the existing minivan platform to a new engine. It probably would have added thousands of dollars to the sticker price and delayed introduction. Not to mention the difficulty with production on the assembly line.
I admit I will probably be a little jealous of folks that get the RDV next year with a larger motor but, the 3.4L is just fine and besides, my wife will drive it 80% of the time. If I get shut down at the stoplight too often, I'll just use the upcoming 12 months to save for a supercharger. Come to think of it, the rear storage compartment is just the right size to hold a bottle of NO2. Hmmm.
P.S. You can turn off the rear park assist with a toggle switch located among a row of switches below the climate control panel.
raider5 : Totally had me going also. Congrats on the Rendezvous!! They still have none at the local Buick store. Seems to have about 5 of the 2002 Envoys though. Nice truck, but I can't afford one nor the gas it would consume.
But I'm gald ya like it. I know we both like it a lot as well. And the backup assist is pretty cool too. We showed that to the In-laws a while ago and they were just flabbergasted that the vehicle could do that. I guess I just take some of this for granted since I work in the industry, as I don't think I had ever even mentioned it here. Anyhow, congrats, and don't ever do that again!
BY
And I'm glad to see you got the Chrome and the Uniroyals, although, I have to ask you if you can hear the booming noise inside as well, esp on things like concrete. I finally got a chance to drive our RDV again this weekend (my first time in about 2 weeks to drive it), and I still heard the noise, although it didn't seem as bad. My drive was a bit short however, so I didn't get a chance to drive on a lot of different road types. Perhaps the noise is related somewhat to the tires, and maybe now they're getting broken in enough that the noise is lessening. I'd really have to drive it more than 10 miles, however, to fully be able to evaluate it. Maybe I'll drive it in to work one day this week and try it out some more. (Anybody else with the Uniroyals hearing the same noise, or anyone with the Firestones?)
Oh, and BTW, for everybody who got their RDV in April, we should feel pretty lucky. According to sales figures from GM, only 36 RDVs were sold in April. That's an average of 0.72 RDVs per state (including Alaska and Hawaii, of course). Wish I had known we were that lucky, maybe I would've played the lotto!
Congrats again!
BY
I got the lecture just last week about my Bonneville buddies getting more face time than her. In fact, I invited one of the SSEi guys over for dinner last week - figured it was a good way to keep up the Bonneville chat and include her at the same time. Her enthusiasm was somewhat more muted than mine although she did not object to the idea.
About getting an RDV - I've got to try one out someday - but the Suburban will not be going away anytime soon.
Ken
tpken: what's the Bonneville site you're at? I assume it's here at Edmunds. I have a '99 Bonneville, but not the SSEi; I'd be curious to see what issues are coming up.
Another question: What's the benefit of "traction control" on a FWD? How does it work? I know it doesn't come on the AWD, perhaps because it becomes a moot point. The AWD, I would assume, is always controlling traction. Thanks for any info.
John B.
How can I send you pictures? We don't have a digital camera or scanner... but we do have a digital video camera. I would like to share our color combo with the rest of the users. Can I send you some pictures in the mail? If so, please email me at:
Ra1der5@hotmail.com
Go Raiders! (How's THAT... Cheese Head! er... CWJ!)
R5
You guys here in RDV land might want to try an owners forum eventually. It has worked out well for us. We have even had one Bonneville meet already this year (in NJ) and may have more coming.
Best to all you RDVers
Ken
You are right that the traction control is not necessary on AWD, as the AWD detects slip on the front wheels and then transfers power to the back wheels in order to increase the traction and get ya going. With FWD, of course, you don't have that option. In this case, the CPU then looks for front wheel slippage ( essentially by determining the speed of the wheels and comparing it to vehicle speed. If the wheels are moving but the vehicle isn't, you've got slippage). When slippage is detected, there are several options for reducing slippage. The CPU can pulse the brakes, much like when the ABS does, therefore slowing down the wheels, and increasing traction. Or the CPU can reduce engine power, thereby reducing the wheel speed, and increasing traction. Or the CPU can do a combination of both, which is really the most effective method. Personally, I'm not sure what type of traction control scheme the RDV uses, but my Bonneville has traction control, and while it doesn't eliminate wheel spin, it really helps, especially in the winter or when trying to get going on a gravel road.
Hope that helps!
BY
Thanks,
BY
Ken
tpken: & thanks to you for the Bonneville info. I'll stop over & say hi and see what useful information I can glean from you Bonneville folks. Who knows, we might even see BY over there too, seeing he has a Bonneville as well.
John B.
Picture posting info can be found in Town Hall Help on the left navigation bar link.
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
I was so busy picking this vehicle solely because it was the right one for us, that I had not considered the novelty factor. My wife Laurie followed me the twenty miles from the dealership to the restaurant where we had dinner tonight and told me that she caught a number of drivers coming the other direction checking out Gammera as I drove by. We had a window seat at the restaurant, and sure enough, it seemed every other head was on a swivel as people caught sight of Gammera while coming in or going out. BY, Buzzbo, First in Austin, Tony, and R5. Any of you noticing this behavior with your Rendezvous's? Jaguars are pretty rare in deepest darkest Indiana, but neither of my Cats ever received as much attention as has Gammera in one evening.
Laurie really liked all the bells and whistles that our salesman demonstrated while we waited for the On-star guy to finish registering us while we were on-line. One of the (few) cool things about being middle aged is that things like On-star are still magic to me. Never lose the capacity to be captivated by wonder.
Cool things. The heads up display is adjustable up and down on the windshield as well as for brightness and override. The memory feature adjusts far more things for each driver than I thought it would. Things like your radio volume and pre-sets as well as seat and mirrors. The captain's chairs have met with mixed reviews on this board, but we love them. They are more comfortable and supportive than the split bench seat. They are easy to get around to gain access to the third row, and I found the third row far less claustrophobic with the captain's chairs than with the split bench second row.
I'm sure I'll notice many other new things after my first full day with the vehicle tomorrow.
BY, I'll keep looking for it. But I've not yet noticed any noise, vibration or booming coming from the Uniroyals.
CWJ
Let us know what happened re: the changing of price issue. Also, how did they come to not use your GMO, card points, or rebate? It would be interesting to hear about.
r5: I see the Raider-rats picked up one of the 9er's all time greats today: Jerry Rice; We'll miss him. Hopefully he does well for you guys.
Go 9'ers!
John B.
Please limit your image size about 640X480 to prevent the pictures from messing up the page width. Also, please post no more than 4 or 5 images in one messages so that other participants still using dial-up connections won't have to wait a long time to load this page just to read the new messages.
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Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
We dropped the "Red Bret" off at the Chevy dealership to get a smog check. My wife followed me in the RDV and waited while I filled out the paperwork. As we were leaving, a lot of the sellers were staring at the car as if to say "Man! I wish Chevy had something like that!" Then as we were driving home on the freeway I noticed a couple people staring at the car... NO REALLY! IT'S TRUE!
We really haven't driven it much however, that will change in days to come. The "Red Bret" is sold... that took all of five days!
Again, "conga rats" on the purchase. The RDV I test drove before purchasing mine had the HUD and I found it to be pretty cool also... not something we needed, but pretty cool. How do you like it while driving at night?
I do wish we ordered the memory seats. I knew it controlled the mirrors (inside & out) but had no idea it also would allow for different pre-sets on the radio and controlled the volume... that's too cool.
Raider Regards,
R5
And as for the memory seats and mirrors, they are pretty much a necessity for us, as my wife is about a foot shorter than I am and I typically can't even get in the drivers seat after her without cranking it all the way back. With the memory seats, I can just press the button and the seats, mirrors, radio all go to my settings. The only thing that you can't program in that I wish you could would be the up/down position of the HUD. Since my wife is so much shorter, I can't even see the HUD when I get in after her, so half the time I'm driving down the road before I remember to lower it into my field of view. A minor inconvenience, but I still think its something they should be able to automate.
Anyhow, CWJ, congrats on your purchase, and you better not come back in two days and tell us you were kidding and that you never did get the RDV, like some other scoundrel on this board.
BY
I'm surprised, actually very surprised that they didn't program the HUD with the memory seats. I would bet that people would rather that they program the HUD than the radio. Go figure.
First "Bad Boy" and now "Scoundrel". I'm beginning to have an identity crisis.
Go Lions! (Not!)
R5
We've had quite a few looks at the RDV, which is only normal I guess, what I'm curious to know is what the their take on the RDV is...no one has stopped the wife or I in a parking lot and commented on it yet.
All in all, we're very happy with the RDV, our other vehicle is an RX 300, and at the moment I like them both equally.
CWJ, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying your RDV, I'm also curious as to why the dealer tried to change the price on you at the last minute...
Also, do you plan on keeping the RX for a while or is it too similar to the RDV in concept. When I replace my Accord down the road, I think I might get something of a completely different purpose than the RDV. My wife wants a rag top Saab (I prefer the BMW).
The moonroof is nice! And yes, the chrome wheels had Uniroyals.
BTW, I saw all manner of anchor points and hooks in the back rows and I'm wondering what purpose they serve. Are they related to the child seat anchors? And what about the straps located on each side of the 3rd row seatback?
Brian
I was all ready to respond to all the other posts that have appeared since I took delivery of Gammera, and then you post this poser.
You sent me scurrying to my owner's manual and I found out that my salesman was NOT blowing smoke when he said these third row straps were there for you to use to pull the seat up into its up position from its down position. So flip the switch to drop it down and pull the strap(s) to to bring it up. You and I can be forgiven for thinking there was some other purpose given that these straps (including clips no less?) seem far more elaborate than what's necessary to pull up the "stowable seat" as its called in the owner's manual. However, there are stitched in pockets on both sides of the "stowable seat" for you to hide these straps when not in use so they are not flopping or rattling around. Yet another nice design touch that would have been SO easy to have blown off for cost or "could care less" reasons. I really am quite impressed with the degree this vehicle has been thought through before production.
As far as all the other anchors are concerned, it would appear that you're right that these are all there to cover seemingly every conceivable child seat option there is. Brian, when your personal Gammera arrives you'll discover that no less than the first 80 (yes that's right) EIGHTY pages of your owner's manual is devoted to "seats and restraint systems." You get the idea.
Now as far as Laurie and I are concerned, they should have had a DINK version of the manual (dual income no kids) so we could figure out which of those 80 pages pertained to us and which were for those of you maintaining the future of the species. If they can swing a French Canadian version of the manual (yes they DO have one), then they could have at least thrown us childless couples a bone.
Tongue thoroughly in cheek.
Go Packers!!
CWJ
CWJ
By the way, thanks for the info. I can't imagine what they need 80 pages to explain!
I understand from reading several articles and watching the video that the RDV design team basically consisted of parents who designed the vehicle for themselves. If only it came with a Cheerios dispenser!
For our friends to the north, a Wheatabix dispenser.
I made the sale manager actually sign the quote he gave me at the time I ordered on the total price. When Gammera actually came in, the manufacturer's invoice was the same, but the dealer's invoice had gone up because regional advertising was now $340 rather than the $200 that was the basis of the original quote. Did the dealer "brain fart" on the advertising when they gave me the original quote? Who knows? But it was clear that when Gammera came in the Advertising charge to the dealer was in fact $340. Sales manager tried to play the invoice plus $100 card, and I pointed out that he had signed a total price quote. He backed down when I said we'd walk rather than play his game. Maybe it was all legit. Maybe "regional advertising" had gone up $140 in the meantime, but so what. It's no less likely they lowballed the Advertising to get my business away from the other dealers in the first place figuring they could make up the difference at delivery. But its all irrelevant. We had agreed to buy Gammera at a price, not some future price plus $X. Word to the wise.
John B. - I didn't have GMO, or GM card points, or rebates. My comment was just to point out that even without benefit of those other sources, we were able to get Gammera at what turned out to be something like $40 below dealer invoice.
CWJ
Le Pizza. Le Palm Pilot.
It's quite laughable that the government there has such strict rules for French signs.
It's kind of like cruise control. When you have it on you pay attention to other things and stop worrying about checking the speedometer. In many ways you can be a more attentive driver. OK, when you're in traffic and the cruise is off, the HUD allows you to pay more attention to the world around you and not be distracted by checking your guages. I consider it a safety as well as a luxury feature.
Go Packers!!
CWJ
P.S.: I couldn't believe this but when I got home last night I found that Buick had sent me the 1/24 scale Rendezvous model. How's that for strange. Instead of "please accept this model while waiting for your Rendezvous to arrive." It turned out to be please accept this Rendezvous while waiting for your model to arrive.
Anyway, Have you received one for yourself yet? I remember your son wanting one quite badly. If you get stiffed, let's trade info and I'll be glad to mail my version to you so you can give it to him. Let me know.
Your Packer Pal,
CWJ