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SUVs Buick Rendezvous Buick Rendezvous Owners: Meet the Members
134 messages, Last post on Mar 13, 2009 at 4:34 AM
You are in the Buick Rendezvous Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Hi everybody. This is my first SUV, and as a car guy, kind of a difficult transition. I wasn't ready to jump into a full on, truck-based SUV, so Rendezvous is helping me with the transition. Got my Rendezvous on 9/28/02. It is a CXL fwd, Cappuccino Frost/Dark Bronzemist with Medium Oak Leather interior. The day after I got it I drove myself, a friend, and my father-in-law down to Indianapolis for the Formula 1 race, so the Rendezvous jumped right into duty. We looked at quite a few vehicles, including the Vibe (what I wanted), Envoy/TrailBlazer, Pontiac Montana, Saturn VUE. My wife hated the looks of the Vibe and wouldn't even get in. She then drove the Rendezvous and commented on the how smooth the ride is (her words). Then we drove the Envoy but the trucky ride and lack of room didn't measure up. She had an Explorer before and vows never to drive a truck-based SUV again. She liked the ride of the minivan almost as much, but the lease payments would have been higher than the Rendezvous for a less loaded model. The VUE didn't have enough cargo space. We wanted more room with a 2-year old and another baby due in June. The Rendezvous will let us take family and friends places without taking a 2nd car. I am the principal driver until the new baby arrives. I can honestly say that I like the Rendezvous a lot more than I thought I would. I hear a lot of complaints about power, but I do city driving and there is plenty of power for me around town. We got the leather seats instead of the leather/cloth which my wife liked better. Buick had a "free leather" promo which rebated the cost, so getting the more expensive full leather interior didn't cost any more. This car has way more options than I need but it's actually kind of nice having all of them. I love the steering wheel radio controls and trip computer. Traction control will be nice this winter. The interior is a lot nicer than I thought in terms of material quality. The headliner material is something I did not expect to find in a domestic car. The surfaces all have a feel of high quality with the exception of the center housing for stereo and HVAC, which feels like the thin, cheap plastic that it is. The grade of leather used is better than 99% of domestic cars out there (very impressive, Buick). I think the gauges are very cool looking. The center console is huge! I am a bit disappointed with the gas mileage, I get about 17.5 in city-only driving. I don't know if this is what everyone else gets. It's still a new engine, so I'm looking for an improvement on that number. Complaints are few, outside of the grade of plastic used in the center stereo housing. I don't like the daytime running lights. I wish the shifter was floor mounted, and I wish the rear tailgate had it's own release. Looking back, I'd have gotten the 2nd row capt chairs and a sunroof, but that's my fault. So far, I'm very happy with the Rendezvous. |
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Welcome to the fold, so to speak. Reading your comments reminded me of all the reasons I love *my* Rendezvous. I hope you continue to enjoy it. |
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Hello all! I am not a RDV owner yet, but hope to soon be. All of your positive thoughts and comments have influenced me tremendously. My background - 2 kids under 10, one husband. current Ford sedan owner. I don't want a minivan and fell in love with the ride in the Rendezvous. My question is, I LOVE the captains chairs, but wonder if the bench would be a better bet (mpre options of more children aboard. However, it seems like a pain to flip the bench to get to the 3rd row. can anyone verify this? Do you have the bench and how many do you usually haul? thanks so much! |
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The "bench" is really two mirror-imaged oversized "chairs" touching each other side-by-side. Together, you can seat three in the middle row, yet they flip and fold individually, making it very easy to access the 3rd row from either side of the car. Each half (or both) can also be easily removed for hauling extra large items. There is a ton of cargo room back there. |
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After much agonizing, I got the "bench" in the second row. Really loved the look of the captains chairs, but the bench gave us more flexibility. Thought they'd be a pain to flip back and forth, but they're really not. Thanks for everyones postings! It helped in my decision making! |
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| Hi, I live with my hubby in South Lake Tahoe... Nevada side. My RDV drove very well in the snow this winter! I also love the ride and the comfort it affords! I know that nothing is perfect....and I did a lot of research (looked on this very site)and test driving BEFORE my purchase..in fact my 2003 CXL I purchased is the same one I tested. The only noise at that time was a very slight wind noise from the drivers side door, which the sales person said wasn't a problem...and if I was bothered by it they had a deflector to put on that would take care of it. I NOW FIND THEY DO NOT HAVE DEFLECTORS! The wind noise is on both sides now, and gets worse every time I drive it seems. I also have the noise the service department calls "normal" to level the vehicle, AND still the loud "tappet" type noise in the engine they also have said is "normal". Question, if these are all NORMAL why is it that only a couple of others on the "owners problems and solutions" chat are experiencing the same?? Read my post on the chat line #477 for details....and give me your imput & suggestions please! I will take it to another dealer as the only one response I received suggested. Thanks a bunch! | |
| I too have the wind noise. I am pretty sure it is from the rear view mirror, because I lowered my window and could still hear the noise but differently. Also it seems that it occurs only during windy days when there is a crosswind. The vehicle leveling noise is normal. I don't have the feature on my RDV, but did on a past vehicle. It would make a noise like a little motor when it was leveling. As far as then engine tappet type noise, I don't hear that in my RDV. My 2000 Chev Blazer made a tappet noise from day one that was normal. basicly it is piston slap. It is considered ok to have a minor amount of this noise. I personally don't like it and could never get use to it on my blazer. I just don't hear it on my RDV. | |
I am a first time SUV owner and like most everything about my new 2004 Rendezvous. I recently took a trip to Fl. from NJ and felt secure and equal to the 18 wheeler trucks on I95 in every way except the horn. I wish there a were a way to increase the power and strength of the weak audible sound, which is even hard to activate. I actually have to punch the steering wheel only to get a sound slightly louder than a belch. To me, it cheapens the car and for pennies saved, was it worth changing from earlier models? Had I heard this sound prior to my purchase I may have reconsidered.......Maybe
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My wife and I really shopped and discussed what we wanted in a car and decided on the new Rendezvous. We were used to driving a Bonneville that had the jump to it so we were really thinking of waiting to get the new engine but didn't. We actually found this car on e-bay. It had more options than we were wanting but was so well priced for it's loaded condition with 6000 miles that we bought it. We really are enjoying it and still are learning to work all of the controls. I especially like the navigation system,memory system and the heads up display |
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would you, pls share experiences with 3.6L CXL/Ultra version thx
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