Acadia?

[jgilhuly]

First, why no Acadia forum?

Second, if there are any Acadia drivers out there what do you think of the tranny on this thing?

I have to run in autoshift to get any satisfaction out of this transmission. Otherwise it double-shifts even on normal acceleration, changes gears seemingly randomly even on level ground with the cruise on(!), and trying to kick into passing gear is hopeless.

In autoshift the performance is much, much better. This was true in all 3 Acadias I test drove. Why'd we buy it then? You'll have to ask the wife. It's her car and she doesn't know what I'm talking about!

The Enclave on the other hand was smooth as silk, a much nicer car and driving experience overall, but too pricey unfortunately.

[Colt Hero]

The Enclave and the Acadia are the same vehicle, aren't they? They're built on that same Lamba platform. This Fall, Chevy is supposed to have it's equivalent on dealer lots: the Traverse.

I'm going to be buying a new vehicle at the end of this year or early next year. It'll be a GM product for sure because I have additional discounts that make other like vehicles look way too expensive. Right now, it's the Acadia or Traverse versus the Uplander. I already own two sedan cars and plan to keep both, so I'm looking for something with a little different utility. The Acadia (and Traverse) are easily the more exciting vehicles in every way, shape, and form, but the additional up-front cost and gas bill might ultimately make the Uplander the winner. With GM closing them out this year, I'm sure I'll be able to get a better deal on an Uplander. However, the Chevy Traverse might be less expensive than the Acadia, closing the window somewhat. Still, these XUVs are not "small" vehicles. I believe they're around 500lbs heavier than an Uplander (but, interestingly they have smaller engines than the Uplander - 3.5 instead of the 3.9 in the Uplander).

What's your gas mileage like with the Acadia? I think I remember seeing ratings something like 19 city and 23 highway? I think the Uplander is very similar, but as I said the up-front cost should be a lot less...

[jgilhuly]

I believe the drivetrains are the same. There are no alternate displacements offered on either make and there are 2WD and 4WD for each model but all four cars I drove (2 Acadias on the lot plus the one we bought, plus 1 Enclave) were 2WD.

Like I said, there was a noticeable difference between the two makes. All three Acadias double-shifted between 2nd and 3rd (and other times) as well as during cruising. No such behavior at all with the Enclave.

We're getting about 20mpg combined, with relatively little stop & go.

Incidentally, we also got two engine codes in the first 8k miles, one for traction control (which we've never used) and one for ignition. We brought it in and they had service bulletins for both. They "flashed" the computer (maybe someone can tell me what that is beyond a 'reboot') and so far so good.

Overall I like the Acadia but would have much preferred the Enclave. They're both at least as big as our Grand Caravan but drive much better, much more like a full sized sedan. Visibility, especially rear, is my big gripe on the interior, but every time I twist my neck around and see my kids looking like they're 20' away in a vehicle that handles a lot like a 'regular' car, I get a kick out of it..

Good luck....

[Colt Hero]

"flashing" a computer just means loading a new program to it. You can "flash" the BIOS on your home computer, for example, if it's really old and you're trying to add a new hard drive that it too large for the older BIOS to recognize. When a dealer "flashes" the computer on your car, I'm guessing that all that changes are some parameters that trigger the CHECK ENGINE condition that is popping up too often. The original parameters were probably coded in a test environment, but in the real world they ended up being too unforgiving, so the "flash" widens the band(s) so the lamp is not always coming ON.

How much more was the Enclave going to cost you? I'm thinking I'll be able to buy a well-equipped Uplander (with everything except the very highest-level "fluff" options like PHAT NOISE) for around $19,000 after rebates and other discounts. I'm guessing the Acadia and Enclave would cost me at least another $3-$4k ($22-23k even after my personal rebates). Sure, the Uplander doesn't look as good, but I've never bought a vehicle based on looks (although I do have my standards ... no Azteks, for example).

I really like the look (and utility) of the Acadia over the Uplander (really no comparison), but let's face it: these so-called "Crossover" XUVs are really nothing more than lowered SUVs. And although I'm seeing more and more Acadias on the road around here, I think GM is going to lose money in the end on these vehicles (Enclave, Traverse) because they're still too big and burn too much gas. They need to size these vehicles down a bit to something somewhat larger than a mini-SUV (Equinox). The Equinox is a joke. It has the same engine as my Impala (3.4L), but less space inside and less cargo room than my Taurus wagon! It's basically a wagon on a compressed platform with an inflated pricetag!! No wonder it's being discontinued.

Why can't GM build a sexy wagon like Volvo's model? That's what I really want: A sporty sedan with more cargo space and a roof rack, but still reasonable fuel economy. I've got a family but I don't need an SUV or XUV. Most people don't. I thought with the backlash against minivans, that this sporty wagon vehicle was coming soon from GM, but they went bigger with the Acadia and Enclave. Too big for me, I think ... but we'll see. Chrysler is sort of on the right track I think with the Magnum (it can even hold a sheet of plywood in the back), but if I bought that I'd be leaving considerable discount dollars on the table.

The more I think of it, the more I think it's going to be the Uplander for $19k.

[jgilhuly]

Our Acadia was about $30k, and that's without leather, DVD, sunroof, all that. It maxes out around $36k. Truthfully we couldn't even touch a car in that range if it wasn't being split with my wife's company. Otherwise it would be yet another used van. Enclave was backordered at the local dealers at the time but similarly equipped would have come in around $33k. Better incentives on the GMC anyway. Our quote was about $1500 back of invoice without even haggling. We had to have the third row plus a convenient way to access it and that fact alone eliminated everything from the Cadillac to the Pacifica to the Taurus X (ever seen one of those on the road? I haven't). I can't wait til the kids are old enough that I can get back to a good ol' sedan.

Thanks for the insight on flashing the computer. That is what I assumed it was.

[Colt Hero]

I looked at some Acadia sticker prices today and almost fell over ($36k)! Way too expensive for me! That means the cost is probably around $32-$33k and I would be paying around $27-$28k for one (most likely). Still too big a delta from an Uplander van ($7k??). Not worth it to me.

In my travels I ran into a Pontiac Torrent which looked interesting. Still a little small in the cargo area, but maybe bigger than an Equinox. The seats also didn't look that great. But the sticker was only $24k, which would mean it would probably cost me around $2k less than an Uplander (and with the 3.4L engine and less weight it would get better gas mileage, too). Might have to look into the Torrent a little more...

Haven't seen a Taurus X. I've seen a few Edges, though, and I like them - but I can't use my GM discount on those. Why didn't you consider an Uplander minivan? Sounds like you could've saved yourself another $3k or so. That money buys a lot of "stuff" inside the house...

[jgilhuly]

We couldn't do the Outlander because we needed the third row and we were frankly pretty sick of minivans having had three of them out of our last four vehicles. We're also really fortunate that we only have to carry a third of the costs on this vehicle, including the lease payment, gas, insurance, maintenance, since this is my wife's company car. Otherwise the sticker would have bowled us over too.

Even with that however, it's mighty frustrating to have two codes in the first 10k miles and now the rear air appears to have a stuck damper because you have to toggle the temp knob a couple times to get cool air back there. It was 116 degrees in Palm Springs today. This vehicle is turning into quite the adventure.

[Colt Hero]

That's the UPlander, by the way. There actually IS a vehicle called the OUTlander - it's made by Mitsubishi. I saw one last week in traffic. Didn't know it even existed. Looked pretty nice - like an SUV ... not too big but not too small either. So that makes at least 3 'Landers on the road right now: an UPlander, and OUTlander, and a HIGHlander (Toyota's smaller 4-Runner?).

Good luck with the Acadia. It surely is a very nice-looking vehicle inside and out. Who knows, maybe I'll be driving one at the end of this year or early next year if GM decides to offer bigger incentives due to slow sales.

So your wife's employer gives her a benefit whereby you can purchase any vehicle you want and they'll cover 1/3 of the lease bill, a 1/3 of the gas, a 1/3 of the insurance bill, and a 1/3 of the maintenance costs? This is a new twist on the company car thing (for me). I had a company car for 3.5 years with my former employer when I relocated (temporarily) to help put up a new industrial site. But in that case, they picked the car and gave it to me, paying for all the gas, insurance, and maintenance costs. I never saw a bill for anything - I just drove the car.

So over the life of this lease (5 years??) you'll be paying $20k out of your pocket to drive the Acadia? That's a $4k/year vehicle expense! Pretty high by my metrics. I buy all my cars brand new then drive them at least 10years or 200k miles. So far I've only been buying full-sized sedan cars (Impala, Taurus), so my cost per year is working out to around $1500. My very first car skewed my thinking somewhat when I paid $5800 for it brand new in '89 and then drove it 250k over 13 years (with only one $600 repair) for a cost/year of around $500! I'll never see that metric ever again!