Yeah, but the 2004 GTO and SSR were notorious for becoming longterm left overs.

Who's "LD Power's?"

Is this a repeat of your "take a picture of your cars together" request?

 

Again... big horsepower bumps the following year in niche vehicles... it doesn't take a genius to figure out why.


I corrected it, Sorry for the typo... I guess that's about the only repsonse you can have to that paragraph though since Nissan as a divison is way below the industry average in long term quality, eh?


No... this one requires even less effort. No "I don't know anyone who owns a digital camera" excuses!!

 

The GTO's problems are far deeper than an extra 50 horsepower. The same goes for the dorky SSR.




I stopped believing J.D. Power surveys years ago. Was the sloppy Buick Century/Regal ever a paragon of "Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y?" It depends on your definition of "Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y."





I think my actual response was more along the lines of "it isn't worth my time."

 

Yep.

 

I don't know...I've always been the person that's said "I'll never drive a Minivan." But I just had a very nice rental experience with a Caravan with the stow-and-go seats. In black I had to admit it looked as cool as a minivan possibly can. With a family and house in the future for me, I can see me with one. Oh...and I'm 29!

Apparantly "Dorky" is in the eye of the beholder as I've always thought the Nissan minivan and Armada looked particularly dorky.

 

This is too bad. Most minivans actually have more utility than SUVs while offering a better ride and fuel economy.

 

Bringing the topic back to minivans, ( ) I really don't care what GM does with its minivans...and neither, apparently, does GM. From the get-go their minivans always seemed to have a "well, I suppose we should enter this market even though we really don't want to" look and feel to them. I mean, who could forget the Pontiac "Dustbuster" vans? Just about as awful as Nissan's latest "I'm the soccer mom from planet Mars" Quest.

Crossovers are really the future, and as soon as someone figures out how to put rear sliding doors on the crossovers (and not make it look dorky) they may have a real hit. The sliding doors are one of the only features a minivan really has over anything else...easy to live with in garages and tight spaces.

 

Interesting since the 05 has sold all year without a rebate except for the Employee Discount promo... and it's been yanked from that.





Of you you did. Because people like you use a source only when it serves their purpose, and don't have the stones to step up to the plate and admit there might just be an issue. Step into reality.





That's great! I suppose you actually being here isn't worth your time too?

 

i somehow didn't see it before now, but now that i do

 

My parents just bought a new Uplander and I can tell you why they arn't selling.....it is bcuz they only offer the 3.5 in them. This engine is sooooo underpowered for these vehicals its not even funny. They need to hurry up and put the 3.9 in it. The Uplander is a very well put together minivan and fells like your driving an SUV, but it is FWD instead. The 3.5 is a very, very smooth engine and hard to tell that it is running, but the damn things has no power. They need to hurry up and offer the 3.9 or put the 3.8 back in it. The lack of power in the 3.5 is my dads biggest and only gripe about the car.

 

They all get the 3.9 this fall. You know, they're obviously not benchmarks, but after seeing a couple on the road, I gotta say they really are not the crap boxes everyone makes them out to be.
They actually don't look cheap anymore. The interiors and exteriors are more upscale than Chrysler or Ford's offerings. They're not up to the Japanese level, but considering that this was just a cheap make-over (and rightly so IMO - they have bigger priorities), they really didn't embarass themselves.

 

My biggest gripe about the GM minivan quadruplets is that they are badge engineering at it's finest (worst?)

Short of some minor details, they are exactly the same, right down to the headlights.

I remember R.P. saying "Where do you want the money spent... minivan drivers don't care so much"... and that very well could be, but this is an extreme case of badge engineering, and I don't see how you can expect Buick to be looked on as a "entry level luxury" brand, when it has a CLONE of a Chevy, Pontiac, and Saturn minivan... and, ironically, I think Terazza is the best looking of the four.

Anyway, it sounds like GM's realizes they made a mistake by rolling out FOUR versions of the same thing and put them in places they really didn't belong... word is by 2008, 2 of the 4 could be dropped....

 

The 3.8L has not been in the minivans for a long time. The last gen used the 3400.

 

If you have kids, minivans are the best damned things since indoor plumbing.

FAR better utility than an SUV or crossover, also cheaper to buy and operate, drive like a car instead of a truck, and get much better fuel economy.

Minivans are cool.

 

I absolutely love my 2001 Chevy Venture! 50,000 miles and absolutely zero problems. Hauls lots of people, or full 4'x8' sheets of plywood(with all doors closed). Gets 27 mpg on the highway. Great, great vehicle. I've thought about even writing to GM complimenting them, which I've never thought about doing with other vehicles I've owned.

Dan