2013 Envoy. Leather group, CPO, loaded with all the toys and most importantly the tow package so it can haul the new boat. It was registered to a winery in PA and was the owner’s personal vehicle. Not a scratch or dent on it. I was going to just push it with the CX9 but a few times this summer the trans would start clunking going into drive right after towing the boat and it already had the towing package with the extra trans cooler. It would start shifting smooth once it cooled down but I knew the trans wasn’t going to live long if I kept pushing it. Took a trip down to Allentown, PA yesterday and traded for this Buick. We test drove the Traverse, Acadia and Enclave and the Enclave was by far the nicest of the 3. Personally I wanted the Acura MDX but my wife convinced me it really was too small for as often as we use the 3rd row.
I looked local for the Enclave (even messaged Kramer), but I was looking for a real specific car. Had to have second row bench (captains chairs are standard), tow package (also rare, and $900 in parts and a bunch of work to add), power liftgate, CPO, leather, heated seats and under 45k miles. Oh, and that color. So I knew I was probably going to have to travel. I like car road trips though.
Yeah, 08’s and early 09’s had a lot of trans issues. They seem to have worked all that out by 10 and this is a 13. Spent some time on the Acadia/Enclave forums and they seem pretty solid.
Suspension tuning and additional sound deadening materials I assume. Interior just seemed nicer too. You’re basically getting the Acadia Denali interior in the mid range Buick (it goes Convenience, Leather, Premium and this one is a Leather). Lot of little things, like the ambient lighting setup. It’s an led strip that runs around the interior all the way to the back of the rear doors.
^ It’s not as bright along the dash as it is in that picture though, so it doesn’t distract when you’re looking straight ahead at night.
It’s more helpful then you’d think. The trans issues were on the R-3-5 wave plate breaking. They fixed it for the later years. Found out about the GM extended warranty on there that GM didn’t really advertise, it got me a free transmission when the wife’s Saturn blew up last year.
Should have looked at the Pilot if the MDX was too small. Same platform but the Pilot is definitely more spacious. We’re at 70k, tow our boat all the time without much issue. I’ve even done a few 2-4 hour road trips with the boat. Does reasonably well, considering it’s not an actual truck.
Did look at it, too plain inside and way too much of a breadbox outside. The wife absolutely hated the style of the Pilot, and it’s going to be her daily driver. I was looking for more of a luxury vehicle than the Pilot too. I always joked that if you wanted a good looking Pilot you bought the MDX. The 3rd gen Pilot is better but I wasn’t spending 3rd gen Pilot money.
Well, in touring trim it’s really nice, but I understand where you’re coming from. We looked at the MDX, but ended up wanting a new vehicle vs used (well, that’s what the wife wanted).
This says it all. I was leaning toward the Pilot at first but when we drove on the lot she went, “Wow, I really don’t like that one. It’s just so square.”. With all the shit I buy that she doesn’t ever complain about (boats, skiing, track days, autocrossing, RC toys, home theater etc etc) I wasn’t about to push her into a daily driver she didn’t like. She didn’t even complain about the whole trading a perfectly good boat for a bigger/faster boat her suv couldn’t properly tow and then having to trade the suv. She lets me get away with a lot.
Since I got $300 more than I wanted for my trade I even ordered these since we looked at one with the factory steps and she really liked them.
yeahhh, I’ve had eerily similar discussions. So I didn’t argue when she wanted the Pilot.
I basically spent 5x more than she wanted on the boat. So I tend not to complain much. Until the boat is paid off (or very close to it), I’m stuck with my POS car.
