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Vans & Minivans Chevrolet Uplander Chevy Uplander/Pontiac Montana SV6/Saturn Relay/Buick Terraza
2869 messages, Last post on Nov 29, 2009 at 11:25 AM
You are in the Chevrolet Uplander Forum. Your Host is Karens
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Replying to: starlightmica (Sep 11, 2004 8:50 pm) |
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| Honda gets more money for their vans because they have better quality materials, better features and a better engine. GM was trying to get the same money for less product so of course they have to slap on the big incentives. The new vans are better and close up the gap a bit. Further, MSRP prices have fallen and content has gone up which means they won't have to discount as much in theory. I guess we will have to see how the vans come out in the fall. | |
| Just walk into a Honda dealer- you don't see a lot of Civic Value Packages, Odyssey LXs, Pilot LXs, and base CR-Vs with 2WD. | |
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I just thought I would let everyone know that I got to take a quick look at a Relay on Sunday. They had a loaded one at the Columbus Zoo for Saturn owners day. I don't own a Saturn or any domestic GM vehicle ('99 Saab 9-5 wgn), but I walked away relatively impressed with the product. Here's a list of some things I liked and some of my concerns. Exterior: Styling was handsome enough for a minivan, FUV,...polished 17" wheels were nice. It's smaller than competitors which could be a good thing or bad thing depending on your needs. Interior: Materials quality is definitely better than the current GM vans, but not quite as nice as my Saab. No more Fisher Price looking radio etc... The plood still looks like plood but it's not bad. They have those folding cargo trays in the 1st and 2nd rows which is nice. Those seats were felt comfortable. Plenty of storage space around the passengers. The 3rd row legroom looked fine for kids, tight for adults. I did not sit back there however. There seemed to be a cargo organizer installed behind the 3rd row bench which limited cargo capacity and made a higher liftover. Vans with magic seats have the extra foot of depth when the seat is used. I don't know if this tray is an option. A plus is that the seats do fold completely flat. Missing features: no power tailgate, and 2nd row 3 passenger bench (Uplander/Montana to have this?) Overall, it appears to be worth a test drive. It might be a little small if you have a large, younger family: 2+ kids in carseats, strollers, etc. It would probably be the perfect size if you had 2 older children. Sorry about the long post. Matt
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Great post. Glad to hear the van looked pretty good. The dash is the only big down fall of our 2004 Montnana so if that's fixed I think that is a good thing. The van shouldn't be much smaller, it's just a little more narrow than most vans. |
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| I have seen a lot of articles as of late giving GM a lot of credit for putting out something a little different, a van with an SUV look. Judging by a few looks inside, it sounds like it's not as bad as some people were making it out to be. | |
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There certainly is nothing like a reskin and the marketing folks conjuring up a faux category, lol. Even for the budget conscious, Im not sure a compelling reason exists to buy this minivan. The new Ody and Sienna will be dynamically far superior, and the 2005 DCX minis more versatile and similarly priced, and the overweight Kia Sedona is still cheaper. Somebody fill in the competitive advantage, because Im missing it.... ~alpha |
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Replying to: mattw8 (Sep 14, 2004 9:52 am) 1. No true fold flat seat, or rear stow well like the Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Ford products. 2. Underpowered and old tech (but newly re-designed) OHV V-6. The competition's best has DOHC V-6's with at least 230 HP. GM thinks people don't pay attention to what's under the hood. 3. Undersize minivan's like the Mazda MPV and now GM's offerings aren't what people want. People want room and big cabins. 4. Nobody will be fooled by the enlarged snout that this isn't anything but a "refreshed" Chevy Venture. These came out in 1996. It isn't state of the art in any respect. And trying to differentiate this model over four brands? Please. Bob Lutz probably came on too late to kill it, or delay it. Look for lots of incentives as they try move these. Sounds like some ghosts remain at GM from the brand management and dark years of the early 1990's. One has to wonder why GM didn't develop a minivan with all of the right attributes on it's fine global platform underpinning the Saab, G6 and Malibu. Probably don't have the cash right now. I understand this may bridge the gap until 2008-2009 MY when an all-new van comes. We have two little ones and are looking at a minivan. I've always bought GM and will give it at least a look but I can't help feeling that GM dropped the ball on this one. |
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| Sure, I can't think of a competitive advantage, but if you have GM Card points, and there's a massive cash back, and you plan to drive it into the ground, the GM vans could be a bargain. | |
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GM card- great point. That definitely could serve as a competitive advantage.. otherwise, these vans seem to lack what it takes. ~alpha |
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