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Thanks--
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/date/19961121/news02533.html
Don't forget that this is a test. The Previa with
its overall rating of poor has proven to be a
very safe vehicle. YMMV.
(http://www.carsafety.org/ddr7.htm)
Has anyone recently leased a Montana please tell me what "deal" you got.
I am looking for 36mos, 12k/yr. extended van fully loaded except Video/entertainment system.
FYI -After driving the Honda, Toyota, Ford Dodge and Plymouth- This has what I want- comfortable seats, lots of room, decent factory sound system & good pickup. Also has great radial turning;- after driving a Montana home for my wife to check out, I had to return.. The Extended van handled a U turn with ease. Honda is great but -3-4 mos for van...no way I also worry the the Honda seats for a long drive will be uncomfortable.
Just got a letter this week. Visited an Olds and Pontiac dealer. This program is NOT the GM worker program. Instead, they are having the dealers work off of a price on the invoice that is marked "GMS". It is supposedly the BASE cost the dealer pays. They are then to mark it up by 4%. By my numbers, this puts them just under the dealer invoice listed in Edmunds. The amount varies somewhat but it is about 100 below what Edmunds lists as invoice.
Steve
Other than this noise problem, I have no complaints with this vehicle. It currently has 34,000 miles.
The dealer said its normal,of course he has a 99'
Montana(no difference from 98')his brakes are fine. If anyone has or had similar problems
please share them. Honda is the way to go!
1999 Montana. I am really excited! I've been searching for a minivan that I realyy like and can see int he back of withiuyt straining my neck. What sold me over the Honda is that I am a petite female 4'11 and the Honda Driver's seat doesn't rise like that of the Montana. People can talk about safety,crash rating etc. but they don't take into account a short person stting behind the wheel. Almost every car with an airbag is a potential death trap when that airbag comes out. I was in a headon collision with a Hyundai Elantra station wagon at only 20 mph and because of my height or lack therof I was almost killed by the airbag because it was level with my face. Just that rising seat in the Montana makes it a definite plus for me. I'll keep you all posted.
I like the 8-seat feature. In April 99, my family with 3 children, ages 9, 5, 3 and another family with 2 children, ages 10 and 13 months drove from NYC to Orlando. The kids loved the trip. The engine is good enough. It is not as good as Toyota or Honda. But here in NYC, if I were to buy a Toyota or Honda, I would have to pay $6,000 more.
The A/C and the Auto transmission, I have to say, may be better than the Honda or Toyota.
By the way, my wife is still driving her 87 Acura Integra (Honda made) that I bought her before we got married. My complain on the Honda is it's too small and A/C is not powerful enough. So, you can say that I am a big Honda fan.
I did have a few defects.
1. Short on Power sliding door.
2. Front right turn signal housing had to be replaced because of water damaged.
3. Rattle in the dashboard. I haven't have it fixed yet.
Overall, I am happy with it after 9,000 miles.
After replacing the Quest with the Pontiac Transport Montana, (GM sells Pontiac with a nameplate of Montana, starting 1999) I was able to drive down from NYC to Orlando with 9 people from 2 families- 5 children, ages 10 to 13 months.
Big plus on the GM. A/C with pollen filter and the smooth automatic transmission.
Question, anyone have the rattle problems fixed, especically around the dashboard, windnoise from the left sliding door, please let me know.
sliding door. The door stopped working and I
discovered that the battery was drained. After
recharging the battery, sliding door still did not
work. However, I heard a hum and found out that the
sliding door motor was running. Tried to slide the
door back and forth to see if the motor would shut
off, but it didn't. I disconnected the power cable
to the sliding door. What could be wrong with it?
1. Short on power door fixed.
2. Front turn signal housing replaced
3. 3rd row seat seatbelt fixed because it was blocking the seat from moving up.
Watch out for condensation in the headlamp or turn signal. GM will replace them without asking any questions. Fix it before the warranty expire!
I had a 1994 MPV that I absolutely loved but had the new car itch. The Transport was thousands less than the Mazda. After litigation with GM, they cashed me out the full retail price of the Transport and I went back to Mazda. See my post in Mazda MPV topic #23.
OTHER THAN THAT, I LOVE THE TRANSPORTS.
Just a smidge over 1 year and 25k miles. Dealer warranty replaced headlamps with moisture, fixed right rear window electric motor (opener), but I paid for expensive micron airfilters replacement.
Still love the vehicle. Runs super smooth at 80-90 mph and hauls wife's wheelchair, mine and my kid's rollerbaldes (et al), golf clubs, and stuff very nicely.
NOTE: remember to close tailgate before pulling out of the garage. Back window is over $500.00. I guess that's what I get for being in too much of a hurry to get to work.
I do like the specifications and articles regarding the new Odyssey. I'll consider it next purchase.
PONTIAC: If someone from Pontiac reads these boards (they really should pay attention) please pass along the concept of Performance Mini-Van. Montana GTP, Borla exhaust, 17" grippers, 1 1/2" lower...build it and they will come.
Pissed off a little 97 Mustang V6 the other night racing up a long two lane freeway on-ramp. Kept up with him for the first 1/8th then he sloooowly pulled away. I always floor it on on-ramps no matter what; I hate getting on a 65 freeway at less than 65. He just happened to be there next to me.
Took a small trip to San Diego the other day. Buddy's Expedition can hold 7 people but no wheelchair. My van can hold 7 people AND the wheelchair. Granted, their shoulders are a little closer in the middle seat, but sheesh, you'd think the Ford Land-Yacht could carry the chair too. Plus I get way better gas mileage and it fits in the garage.
Mini-Vans are the unsung hero of vehicles. They are able to do most things fairly well and are decent looking these days.
1. Moisture in headlamps & foglights
2. Rear wiper & washer do not work
3. Rattles and squeaks from rear door.
4. Noises from rear windows
5. Rear right seat does not slide
6. Rear right power window does not work at times
7. Slight jerks when moving forward in "D" (foot off the accelerator)
8. Weather strip coming off on all doors.
9. Brakes squeal
10. Slight oil leak (don't know where)
11. Right outside plastic trim loose.
12. Slight rattle/ping when engine is started (lasts only for 1 to 2 secs)
13. Slight hesitation moving forward
14. Brakes act funny when the van is just started and I need to use brakes. Under normal driving they work fine. I am not sure if ABS is working properly.
15. Strange noise while driving around 50 MPH. Seems to be comming from wheels. Can't figure out what exactly it is. sounds like "shuck....shuck...shuck"
I must say that the fit & finish is very poor. The Van drives good. Let's see how well it does in the next 10 months before my waranty expires. I will get rid of it if problems persist and go with a Honda.
Has anyone bought an extended waranty? Are they as good as the manufacturer's? Bumper-to-bumper? For how much?
1) It rides better than any car I've owned. Very quiet and very smooth.
2) It has a real "peppy" feel. I've rented other brand minivans in the past that seemed to reluctantly lug you down the road. The Transport glides down the road effortlessly (is the tack there to brag about the small amount of RPM it takes to achieve speeds?) With a slight but pleasant bouncy feel on secondary roads.
3) The driving position is exceedingly comfortable. Everyone seems happy with the rear seat comfort although I've only carried relatively average height females. At 5'10" I don't find the rear seats uncomfortable but they certainly don't envelop you. Is there any van where the seats recline all the way horizontal? That would be an improvement in the Transport.
4) So far we are absolutely thrilled.
5) We took it to a local Pontiac dealer when we got home and I've never had better treatment and timely service (Beamon Pontiac, Nashville)...they addressed the following:
Brake pad replacement
Headlamps replaced (moisture)
Console squeak
They provided me a car overnight and transportation back to work. I was amazed. I will keep y'all posted.
Most everything on your list should be under warranty and much of it seems like neglect from a previous owner. This was the case in our vehicle and coincidentally we had the same "shuck shuck shuck" when driving and discovered it was a tire that had a puncture plugged ...you may have the same problem.
We haven't had any problems since (we have 2500 miles on it now), but it has got to be the most uncomfortable car I've ridden in. We took a four hour drive to pick up a puppy, and it was horrendously uncomfortable. We had problems with our daughter's booster seat, the seatbelt clips sit way too low for my husband to reach easily-VERY frustrating. The lumbar support is in the wrong place (isn't it supposed to be for your LOWER back?) and if you have wide shoulders, forget it. The front seatbacks are extremely narrow at the top. I tried to get comfortable the whole trip, failing miserably. If I was comfortable on my lower back, my upper back hurt and vice-versa. Car butt set in after an hour. My husband and I were squirming the whole way.
All I can say is that the phrase "I hate this van..." was uttered many times.
It's a good thing the puppy was worth it....
as for any other family trips, I told my husband I would follow in our '99 Hyundai Sonata- an absolutely wonderful car.
I would NEVER advise someone to buy one of these. All of these issues are related to inferior engineering and quality control, areas a manufacturer is not inclined to change. I won't even LOOK at a new one tomorrow.
I think that about covers everything.
I hope some GM execs read these postings, along with others (Toyota, Honda, even Hyundai Sonata) and compare them. They will see how much people love and appreciate (NOT) their GM products as opposed to others.
They need to get their act together and start producing quality stuff, not to mention better looking vehicles. The 2000 Chevys are horrendous.
I regret my Montana purchase. Sounds like you want an American made van. Well, the MPV has a Ford engine....
We still own a 1987 Dodge Caravan (one of the Voyager's sister vehicles) 2.6 Mitsubishi 4-cylinder engine, regular length with just over 142,000 miles. We had to replace the airconditioning compressor, but have had no other major problems. My wife's brother's family is on their third Caravan (second Grand) since 1981, so they seem pleased with the line.
My wife could not comfortably fit behind the wheel of a 99 standard length Caravan which we were offered for $800 UNDER invoice. (A check with the Edmund's site at the time showed us that Chrysler was offering dealers something like a $700 to $900 icentive on their mininvans, which I seem to recall doesn't expire until September 30.) She could fit in a Grand Caravan and it was offered at the same $800 under invoice, but we don't need a vehicle that large and we didn't want to pay the additional.
We were very impressed by the features of the Windstar in an afternoon look and short test drive, but it was considerably more expensive than the others and only comes in the longer length. I've read other postings in the Town Hall that cite engine noise and engine failures in the Windstar.
I would not dismiss the complaints about any vehicle you see in the Town Hall, but we Americans do tend to complain loudly and vehemently and complement softly, when we complement at all. So factor that in your thinking.
In your quest (no double-meaning intended) just remember to offer low. Good luck.
Good luck on your search.
My wife loves to drive it. She said it drives better than our 88 Astro.
guitarzan
Community Leader/Vans Conference
of my new minivan. The kids play soccer, ski and
are often muddy.
Email me at ucanski@aol.com or post here.
Thanks.
I know there are several vendors for WeatherTechs. I got mine at www.macneilauto.com.
(I also emptied 4 cans of Scotchguard in the van the day after I got it )