my wife and i are thinking of buying a used 2002 buick rendevous (spelling?). there are two at the dealer. one is a CX FWD model and the other is a CXL AWD model. they are 13,900.00 and 15,900.00 respectively. we were thinking of the FWD CX, but the AWD CXL has 21K miles vs 46Kmiles for the CX. how is the AWD units? are they reliable. are there any problems with these cars? i drove the CX FWD model. i drove great! anyway....there is a $2000.00 dollar difference and i wanted to know what you guys thought. any mechanics have some insight? thanks john
Just wanted to say all that Ive seen on those are they have issues with the instrument panel (odometer shows error) and with the 3.4 its the "when is the intake gonna start leaking coolant". Just buy the extended warranty with a low, if not zero deductable. They are nice little rides with very few problems that Ive seen. My opinion is the 2wd probably a better buy unless you just have to have the AWD. CXL a loaded vesion verses a CX????:beer
well.. the CXL has a third row seats, leather (which we did not want due to baby and a dog), and upgraded audio. the CX has the traction control. i think that the FWD with traction control should handle the snow fine. i think that the lass moving parts with the FWD CX is a banifit. they both have parking assist and four wheel disc brakes. what do you think of the mileage difference (21K for the CXL AWD and 46K for the CX FWD)? john
If you have kids, you want leather. It cleans up much better and easier than cloth. I personally hate leather, but for the mini-van, it's been a Godsend for cleaning purposes. Don't know how big your dog is, but you can always get a doggie seat at PetsRUs. It's like a car seat that hooks over the back of the seat and lets the dog see out without being "on" the seat itself. As for 4-wheel or AWD, I've only gotten stuck once in over 25 years of driving. One tow is a lot less than the cost of buying and then maintaining ($$$$$$$$$$$$) the 4-wheel drive system. I'd get the 2WD one myself. Just my $.02.
I would buy the AWD unit. The extra $2k in asking price is worth it for that, plus the 20k less in miles. At 21k miles, you are still under the factory warranty, at 40k+, you probably aren't. If you are worried about the extra cost of the AWD, just buy an extended warranty at about 34k miles, while you are still under the factory warranty. It will probably cost you the same as buying an extended warranty for the other one now. Don't buy the warranty from the dealer, go online. There are lots of warranty companies there, and the prices are very reasonable, many times $1k or less for a full bumper to bumper warranty for 7 years and 100k miles. Do your homework and read the fine print, some are better than others. IMO, the AWD, since it has more options and less miles, would have a higher resale value, especially with the extended warranty, which is transferrable. It will most likely do better in bad weather as well, after all, that is the main reason it has AWD!
if the mileage was closer together, i would get the FWD, but at 25Kmile difference, the AWD for $2K more is a "no-brainer". i just wanted to make sure that it was reliable and not prone to problems. thanks john p.s. i will keep you guys updated. the next visit to the dealer with the wife is thursday morning.
I can speak from experience with the 3.4 v-6. Nice engine, noisy though....sounds like a diesel. The intakes will go eventually. I ended up putting a new crate 3.4 in my '97 Pontiac Trans Sport Montana. For some reason, I bought the extended warranty and replaced the engine with 2,000 miles before expiration!! so my out of pocket was the deductible. We had the cloth interior with 3 kids, cleaned up fine. Sold it with 97M miles and bought the Bravada....time will tell, but it's a great tow vehicle.
on another subject...chris...i was out in seattle the other weekend, and that is a beatiful city. lots of old cars also. i was at a convention in the heart of the city (at the Westin on 5th ave). the fish was great! (especially the halibut) if i did not have family in the NE, the NW seems to be a great place to live! john
John, You should have let me know you were going to be out here, we could have hooked up for lunch or whatever! I could have at least given you the lowdown on where to go sight seeing for classic cars. The office building I work in is right across the street from the Westin. I look out the window directly at it, the Space Needle and the water. I can tell you I see some pretty interesting things in the Westin windows (but that is another story), so be sure to keep your curtains closed when staying a hotel if you don't want an audience! I work in the office tower that is attached to the "Westlake Shopping Center" where the monorail station is.
chris.. i should have let you know. i did not know that you worked that close! well..you have beautiful part of the country. and lots of trees! wow. very nice! john
RDV Owner John, I have a 2003 CXL Plus w/o AWD. I had no problem with travelling through some pretty heavy snow...the traction control works as it is supposed to. I will tell you that mileage isn't that great (< 20mpg most weeks) and neither is the power. The interior is pretty darn nice...I do have leather and would have nothing else if I had small kids...the seats wipe clean very easily. I have had none of the problems normally associated with this car (yet) although I only have about 23k miles on it. I have heard of the intake leaks and problems with the electrics. The only little complaint that I have is that I have a good bit of wind noise from the drivers door. I need to get it back to the dealer for that. Otherwise it has been a roomy, well equipped vehicle. I am happy with my purchase.
