Picked up '15 Buick Enclave - March Madness offer

FL335i · March 22, 2015

As it states... the March madness sweet 16 got me off the fence. 16% off the MSRP. It only applied to the dealers oldest 20% of inventory, fine with me. Got a pretty good deal on a '15. Leather group, 2wd, tri-coat white with GPS/BOSE and blind zone/cross traffic alert. Blk interior. Funny thing is I've been watching new offers and looking at used ones, this new one cost me less than most used ones. So far, loving it. Very quiet. Traded in our '13 CRV. Only reason we dumped the Honda was Road noise. Just couldn't stand it anymore with all the highway driving we're doing now. Listening to the radio in the CRV at 80mph was a complete joke. you'd have to have it blasting. I love Honda's tightness and engines, but the road noise was a dealer breaker. I'm on my 2nd Honda mower Plus now the backset people has a/c vents!!! Very important in FL. And we went from a dark grey to white. Huge difference in FL. I only buy Silver or White. The wife picked out the dark grey Honda... HID's are also a welcome upgrade along with remote start and auto dimming rear view mirror.

wurgs · March 23, 2015

Let us know how you guys like it after a while. I've heard a lot of good things about the Enclave

FL335i · March 24, 2015

Will do bud. Taking it on our first highway trip this weekend. Glass feels very thick, just by knocking on it you can tell. I drove it once so far around town and it drives very small compare to how it looks. I'm very impressed with driving dynamics for what it is.

FL335i · March 29, 2015

Did the 2hr highway trip yesterday. Drive back was at night, so we tested out the HIDs. Loving the buick guys. Very quiet, smooth as glass, and the lights are awesome. We averaged about 22.8mpg overall. That was doing 79 with cruise down there in traffic and 79 back up, and driving in the city while down there. Not bad. MPG's should get better with the next oil change and with some mileage. Huge improvement over the CRV.

SnakeEyeSS · March 29, 2015

That's nine better than my Tahoe, and I think it has more interior room. Been considering a switch, but I like having a body on frame 4x4 in the garage still, even though I don't need it. Plus the fact I only drive it 4-5k miles a year max would make it a little crazy to replace it.

As for Honda, my just brother sold their Oddessy (their third Honda) and he told me "there is a reason there are so many Honda Specialist, and so few Toyota Specialists" (have had 1 Toyota for 10 years).

Then he bought a Nissan, so I dunno. [emoji23]

FL335i · March 29, 2015

^I've owned a lot of Toyotas as my family has also dating back to the early 80s. I had a MK2 Supra and a MK3 turbo supra and my '94 4runner 4x4. Loved them all. My brother still has a '05 Corolla which used to be our mom's. 90k on it, mint condition, just maintenance items. I think Toyota makes a better overall package. Granted, the newer Toyotas don't do it for me though. I had a TRD Tacoma, 2009 and was not very impressed with it. It's like Toyota is just building appliances now, their cars have no soul. Plus the seating positions and ergonomics in my supras's and 4runner were spot on. The tacoma and corolla feels like you're driving with a stick up your backside or something. Just very odd, odd sitting positions. The '13 CRV was our 3rd and final Honda. We had an '07 Accord and '09 civic few years back and the Accord was great (minus the road noise). Civic was a POS. And the CRV was pretty decent except again... road noise and cheap plasticky interior. But for a family car it was fine, but the road noise couldn't handle it anymore. Plus the rotors were warped with 27k on it, driven very conservatively and the the battery died twice on us and then I found out Honda has a TSB out for re-flashing the ECM on making the alternator charge more. I've never warped rotors even on cars I beat on. Not sure why the CRV's were warped. My wife drives like an old lady. I get into arguments with her b/c she drives so slow and we get passed by kids on scooters half the time. So I know it's not her driving that warped the rotors. I only drove the CRV on highway family trips and again, with a baby in the backseat I'm not driving it like my 335i BMW or Corvette. So Honda can keep their crap brakes, insane loud interiors and all kinds of battery problems on a new car. At least with GM, the fix is keep some super glue on hand and just start gluing the interior back to together in about 3yrs. Kidding. my '89 Vette's interior was horrible man; but very ergonomically and laid out well.

Snake Eyes- We sat in a '13 or '12 Tahoe, used at a car lot. Felt much more cramped inside vs the Lambda platform. We don't live out in the country, or up north. Nor would you or I ever want my wife hauling trailers. The buick has more ground clearance than I expected, so it's more than enough for her. We didn't need the body on frame Tahoe. I have my silverado and she has her Buick which is a much better family machine vs my truck or a tahoe. But yes more room inside vs older tahoe.

FL335i · April 5, 2015

Update. Did the highway trip and a few around town trips with the family. Buick is spot on. Loving it. You can tell it's not GM's newest platform on the inside and at the pump, but it's still an awesome vehicle with great driving dynamic for it's size. Very happy with the quiet ride, quiet michelin tires, HID headlights..... posh interior, and driving dynamic. And that's coming from a heavily mod'd BMW guy. Transmission is programmed spot on the money. LOVE IT. GM, if you're reading this here is the list of updates, no more, no less. Don't ruin a great thing.

Even my parents are in love with it after a drive with the whole family.

-Push button start or at least a laser cut key. The $16k Cruz that competes with the corolla gets a laser cut key!! Common, it's a $50k Buick. My '07 BMW has a button and fob, no key.

-small lap crash rating (top score of course by the iihs). Safety is top priority in a family car.

-cylinder deactivation like my '14 Silverado 5.3L has. I vote to donate it from the Silverado to the Buick I hate it in my Silverado with my cat-back exhaust.

-Digital DIC like my '14 Silverado vs the Buick's green LED readout center between the gauges. Very dated.

-Ditch the fake old fart hood louvers that are held on with double side tape. They're not fooling anyone.

-Brakes could be a bit more "GERMAN" in terms of performance and feel. I'd like to see some monster rotors upfront like BMW does. Brakes are not as inspiring as in my '14 Silverado.

That's really a short and realistic gripe list. But again, I got a good deal on it with the GM factory cash and dealer worked with me on trading my Honda in. I'm very happy with it. My parents were so impressed I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at a GMC terrain or Buick sedan. Not sure if Buick has the Equinox/Terrain platform. I know Buick has that small cracker box cross over that has bad crash ratings.

66nova · April 5, 2015

This is great to hear. I am planning on trading my wife's 13 RX350 in on an enclave next month. We love the RX but want the 3rd row without going Tahoe size.

SnakeEyeSS · April 5, 2015

Just driving my Tahoe again today and think I'll hold out a while longer to see what GM does next for Lambda. Probably like it so much since Its my most personally modded car car(kinda sad, considering I did this year's ago:

It had a crapton done but I kept it to a sleeper "stock...plus" look )

Colossus · April 10, 2015

The '13 CRV was our 3rd and final Honda. We had an '07 Accord and '09 civic few years back and the Accord was great (minus the road noise). Civic was a POS. And the CRV was pretty decent except again... road noise and cheap plasticky interior. But for a family car it was fine, but the road noise couldn't handle it anymore. Plus the rotors were warped with 27k on it, driven very conservatively and the the battery died twice on us and then I found out Honda has a TSB out for re-flashing the ECM on making the alternator charge more. I've never warped rotors even on cars I beat on. Not sure why the CRV's were warped. My wife drives like an old lady. I get into arguments with her b/c she drives so slow and we get passed by kids on scooters half the time. So I know it's not her driving that warped the rotors.

Does she by chance drive double-footed? Meaning one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake pedal? My dear sweet old mother does that and because she is very conservative and very... "aware" of everything around her which means she taps the brake at anything that could be an issue even though it won't be.. all while keeping her foot on the gas pedal.. the brakes get worn out quicker than average and I do recall a few times the rotors being warped. She's driven like this her whole life though, never had a ticket or been in an accidentexcept a photo red light ticket Which was hillarious. She was so angry at that... Not bad for a 70 year old. And best of all, she takes my advice to STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE since she drives the speed limit and everyone else drives faster

sahls01gmc · April 10, 2015

Good buy! We have a Traverse, and we love it! My wife didn't want a Tahoe because she thought they were too big. These are perfect size, and have plenty of room for what they are. Next size up will have to be a Suburban!

FL335i · April 11, 2015

^ agree sahls01gmc. As for the comment of my wife double foot driving the CRV... no. she does not. We've had 3 hondas, all 3 had warped rotors very easily. German or American FTW (except the mk3 supra). Snakeyes- that is a sick 3'er man!!! God does that thing look so clean and just right. That's the angle I took with my '335i. clean, simple, stock+ look. beast when unleashed. I love Bimmers... not to fond of the new F series though. Front end looks very odd and the car is huge now. 3'er is now the size of my E39 5'er. WTH.

SnakeEyeSS · April 11, 2015

It was. Full suspension, plus one wheels with UHP tires, 4K paint job, 10 lb flywheel, custom CAI, chip, Scorpion exhaust, some imported trim, Did the crinkle coat on the valve cover and so on...then it got totaled by softball size hail and went downhill from there.