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I recognize the importance of warranties and resale values, but I never said I'd pay sticker for a Rendezvous, nor was I suggesting that anyone else do so. In fact, I specifically said that I personally did not nor was I willing to do so.
My comments were in response to another poster who made the blanket statement that the Rendezvous was overpriced without rebates. I just have a lot a trouble with a blanket statement like that. Which Rendezvous are we talking about; the one whose sticker starts at just over $25K, or the one whose sticker maxes out at $35K?
Even for the maxed out version, what exactly is overpriced about putting a $35K sticker on a Rendezvous when you know and Buick knows that there's more wiggle room on an American sticker price than a German or Japanese sticker. Speaking of which such stickers work out to about $43K for the M320, $42K for the RX300, and $37.5K for the MDX for closest comparable configurations. I'm not saying there aren't good reasons to pick one of these other three vehicles over the Rendezvous including warranty and resale, but "overpriced" is not one of them.
CWJ
Well, last Saturday Hazen and I went to get the mail. I opened our mailbox and Hazen walked headfirst into the mailbox door! No blood, but someone was screaming bloody murder until I told him there was a package for him. Tears became giggles as we headed back to the house. When we opened the package, an RDV box was inside. Looking at trademark multicolored box, Hazen yelled "Rendezvous" and started clapping his hands with excitement. After all of the information my wife and I reviewed, Hazen associated the trademark box with the Rendezvous... and not just the car, but the NAME of the car! We opened the box and sure enough, Hazen got his replica.
However, the replica wasn't from our dealer or from Buick. Using this forum, CWJ picked up on the fact that the dealer wasn't going to come through on their promise. After an exchange of email and offering a reciprocal trade agreement, CWJ simply sent us the replica. From the bottom of our heart, thank you CWJ. To us grown-ups, it's no big thing. But to a two year old, having a little car that looks like mom and dad's big car is a lot of fun. Personally, it's great to know there are still people in this world who are willing to do something for others without wanting anything in return. Again, thank you for the replica.
And to those of you who have kids, be aware. Be VERY aware! We have NO idea what our children are going to pick up on. Who would have thought Hazen would associate the trademark RDV box with the name of the vehicle. Now if only I could get him to associate football with the Raiders (no comments from the peanut gallery. That means YOU J325!).
Go Raiders!
R5
Thanks
David
So here's where I am ignorant... what the h3ll is a "stinger"?
Go Raiders!
R5
Associating the RDV trademark box with the name of the vehicle is pretty remarkable at his age.
Now to get my son to associate the lawn mower with mowing the lawn.
I too have nothing to tow but my small fishing boat. But when I read about the larger radiator and extra cooling for oil and radiator, I knew that was the package I wanted. The Texas heat really is hard on a driveline.
Here's a link to an article from the Detroit News on the RDVs ad campaign with Tiger Woods...
http://www.detnews.com/2001/autos/0106/21/b01-238757.htm
BY
Thanks for the link. I will have to keep an eye out for the commercial.
What's funny is JD Powers says the average age of RDV owners is 52. I guess it's better than 60 but not much.
It was also interesting to see that they sold 1,134 RDV's in the first month.
Has anyone seen any up to date sales numbers? I guess the Cleveland dealer was wrong when he said they expected them to be as hot as the PT Cruiser.
Also, the old RDV (#1 - white/moss green) arrived yesterday. I think that order was submitted around mid-May, so it took 5 weeks.
All of the dealers up here are getting them in now. My dealer has five now, and a couple others have gotten their first two.
I think over 1,000 units sold in one month sounds decent considering that nobody has really heard of the RDV yet. Anyone know when the ad campaign begins?
Over 1,000 RDVs sold in a month is pretty good. Especially since there has been virtually NO advertising until recently and the car really won't hit the showroom in full force until the end of the summer. All of the dealerships we received quotes from, except one, have not received ANY RDVs. H3ll, I can't even find a brochure! Originally, my dealership told me they were expecting their first RDV at the end of April... they still haven't received it.
I question the demographics used in the survey to determine the average age of an RDV buyer. Maybe a younger crowd uses tends to use the Internet, but most of the people on this board appear to be under 50.
FYI: Television ads started yesterday (Wednesday).
FYI 2: Our RDV took five weeks also.
Go Raiders!
R5
The real test on sales numbers will come over these summer months, as production, deliveries and advertising really kick in. And if by September the RDV isn't selling well, then GM can start to worry, but I really don't expect that to happen. If the Aztek can sell 2,500 a month, and that's with all the negative vibes out there regarding that vehicle, the RDV should be able to do quite a bit better as all the buzz on it is quite positive.
As for the demographics quoted in the article, the average age of 52 has to start getting Buick excited, as again, that's with no advertising, and no real vehicles on the road yet. I fully expect that number to go even lower as more younger folk start to see this vehicle and realize "Hey, that's a great vehicle! Maybe I'm NOT too young for a Buick after all!" Heck, that seems to be what's happened to a lot of us so far!
BY
I can also confirm that the ads started yesterday. The first ad appeared on Good Morning America, since they were featuring one of the ABC drones playing with Tiger that day. And obviously Buick used that fact for (I assume) free ad time. I had already left for work, but Laurie was still getting ready when the ad came on. However, by the time she realized that it was a Rendezvous ad and ran to the TV it was pretty much over. Nonetheless, she did remember that the song lyric was "Willie go round in a circle. Willie fly high like a bird up in the sky ...." Makes sense with the tornado reference, and I can sing the song to myself, but for the life of me I can't remember the artist. Anyone out there able to help me?
As far as the Demographics go, I think the 52 year old stat may possible be right on. What that means is that they REALLY ARE appealing to people like my friends on this board who are in their thirties. After all, Buzzbo and I might possibly be at the upward age of people who post to threads like this. But it would take a goodly number of thirties folks to bring the Buick average down to 52 if we assume that a goodly number of the buyers are in the 60/65+ demographic that represents Buick's core.
Later,
CWJ
That said, I imagine that Buick is in fact blowing smoke. I've not known that many marketing front men who would 1) spend the money to reverse engineer the ages of buyers this soon when the customer surveys will provide the data at a much cheaper cost in the near future and 2) let that particular fact get in the way of talking up the results until the data actually comes in. After all, if the facts support the spin, then great. If they don't, well we'll burn that bridge when we come to it.
CWJ
CWJ
All in all, it really doesn't upset me that they wanted it on their lot for a little while, as I'm all for generating interest in this vehicle, I just wish they would have been up front about it. All in all, I'm sure your RDV will have a nice spot in the front this weekend, and I know I would have to go check it out in person, even if I couldn't take it home.
Anyhow, congrats on the new arrival!
BY
Btw, we picked up our Pewter w/ graymist CXL last Friday; it has the Versatility pkg. & memory seats. Drives great! Wife & kids love it. My wife's birthday was yesterday, so it made for a nice present. I finally got everything all programmed.
I saw the RDV commercial yesterday w/ the mad scientist in the castle... Tiger Woods driving out in the RDV; pretty cool. I'm looking forward to seeing the Wizard of Oz one. The place to find the commerials is the Buick Open on ESPN. They got rained out yesterday...
The Rain would not have stopped the Raiders r5, right? Blasphemy aside, have you heard anything more on Al Davis selling his interest??? - Also r5, are you in the Raiders Club that meets in the Scotts Valley Santa Cruz area? My good friend's wife is. She has a large Raider emblem on the side of her front car-door. It must be something in that Scotts Valley water...
One addl. question: Has anyone noticed that the tailgate has to be closed pretty hard so that the "tailgate ajar" light does not come on? A simple/normal push does not seem to do it.
John B.
Brian
John B.
About two days after you mentioned it on this board, I saw an article on the rumor. Here's a link to an article from the Chronicle...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/06/13/MN119176.DTL
Still, I doubt we'll see ol' Al give up on his Raiders. I can't say that I approve of some of his management techniques, none the less, Al Davis IS the Raiders. It would be hard to imagine anyone else running that team.
I'm not involved in the SV club, but I am best friends with the president of the Raider Boosters in Lompoc. We trade old Raider videos.
Congrats on picking up your RDV. That was quick! Seems like you just started posting here about a month ago.
Regards,
R5
Seriously, we DO find you almost have to slam the tailgate to get it to close.
Or was that... slam a few beers to close the tailgate.
: )
R5
Spiritman
Every fully loaded RDV I've seen has this switch as a blank.
I may have to install a brush guard with some big round PIAA's or maybe underbody neon lights...
Tailgate definitely needs a good slam to shut tight.
CWJ
BTW, The Toronto Star RDV review can be found by entering "Rendezvous" in the search box located in the top right corner of the main page (www.thestar.com). Sorry, I don't know how to insert links.
Brian
PIAA is a maker of driving and fog lights. The "big round" one's are often found on rally cars for turning night into day during 24 hour off-road races such as Paris to Dakar.
The brush guard is typically used to mount two or more PIAA's for rally duty.
I'm sure you've seen urban commando's driving their $60,000 Land Rovers with chrome guards on them...just in case.
Of course I was only kidding about installing them on my RDV. Now the neon lights on the other hand...
R5, cwj: I'm not sure why the tailgate takes such a strong push to get it to latch properly - doesn't quite seem right. If you don't slam it, the "tailgate is ajar" light comes on.
Did anyone get something that goes with the cargo cloth that covers the cargo area? There are slats that have been sewn into the edges of the cargo cloth (from hook to hook). Seems like it would fit slim poles or something like that to keep the cloth cover from sagging. The dealer had no clue about this.
I saw the "other" RDV commercial today during the Buick Open; very cool! Shows a couple in a SUV chasing twisters; also some young gals in a mini-van, a fellow in his luxury sedan, and Tiger woods on TV w/ Golf clubs, etc... After being gobbled up by the twister, they land w/ Tiger driving out of the twister in the RDV saying "I guess we're not in Kansas anymore" and one of the gals asking, "Are you Tiger Woods?"
Go 9ers!
John B.
I was looking at a sticker today that said "Electrochomatic Mirrors" PLURAL......at first I heard that only the interior was electrochromatic , then the interior and driver, and now I wonder if all the mirrors are electrochromatic.....CWJ?
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
Since you are primarily concerned with your childrens safety, there is no information for you. The aforementioned SUV's were not tested for rear passenger safety.
None of the other 7 passenger SUV's currently on the market have been tested.
If you place all of your faith in industry crash tests (which, IMO you shouldn't), you should stick with what is known and purchase a minivan. The Ford Windstar, Mazda MPV, Honda Odyssey, Chevy Venture, Toyota Sienna, and Dodge Caravan all got five stars for rear seat side impact protection.
Spiritman1 - Plural or not, I think only the interior mirror is automatically dimming. I've seen nothing to suggest that either of Gammera's side mirrors dim. In fact, Tony Bertoli mentioned this prominantly as one of the few gripes he had about his own Rendezvous. Since the side mirrors are so big, this would seem to be one of the (very) few missteps that Buick has made with this vehicle.
CWJ
Autodash.com
CWJ
Has anyone out there got a CX 2WD yet? Seems like all the Rendezvous' I've seen are loaded 4WD versions. I guess the General wants to tap the higher end first.
I picked up my Indigo Blue CX 2WD Redezvous last Wednesday. I ordered the car on May 16th, so it took about 5 weeks from the time it was ordered. I configured the car with the versatility package, the towing package and the sunroof as the base model had all the other features I wanted. I know there has been some criticism of the leather /cloth trim seats with the Buick emblems, but actually they look better in person versus the view the sales catalog provides. I opted for the 2WD version of this car because even though may last two SUV's were AWD, I found it was very seldom that I ever really needed this capability. So for a GMS price of $26,000 I got what I consider a great value in an automobile with all the features I could want.
Someone asked earlier about the mileage on the cars when they are delivered - my Rendezvous had 3 miles on it.
Your Olds Bravada weighs about the same as the Rendezvous. The Bravada has a bigger engine which provides 5 more horsepower and 40 more lb. ft. of torque.
Based on the power-to-weight ratios of these two vehicles, your Bravada should have a little more performance, but not much.
When I first started shopping the RDV, I decided that I wanted a minimally optioned 2WD with 3rd row (I wanted to go as cheap as possible, ie: $23,500 GMO).
My decision to go with a FULLY loaded AWD came from a number of factors:
1. My rationalization that I plan to keep this car for a long time and I have never had a "luxury" car with all the bells and whistles. I decided that if I didn't get all the toys (which amounted to another $3600 GMO) I would later regret it.
2. I determined that although 2WD with traction control is enough for most situations, I liked the added security and resale appeal of AWD.
3. I figured that if I was looking at the 2WD, why not just convince my wife that we should get a minivan, which has a roomier, more versatile interior.
4. At the time, I didn't like the grey lower cladding (still not my favourite) and I could only get another colour with the CXL.
Ultimately, I decided that $3600 over the next 8+ years really isn't that much for all the extras included in the CXL (and it's a great value). Not to mention the added satisfaction I would get from owning a CXL.
Just my thoughts.
Brian