Is now the right time?

So mrs. Fury and i are kickin around the idea to trade in her 07 ion for a 10 terrain. Her grandpa retired from GM after 30 plus years, so she gets the double secret employee discount, plus loyalty bucks and some other incentives. We both want awd and a V6. She doesnt mind paying extra for leather, but all those together add up quick. At first i kinda was against the idea. But we want to reproduce offspring, and a crossover is just right for us, not to mention its gotta be better in the snow than the limp noodle the ion is. Msrp is a touch over 30k, but we have a tiny down payment saved not to mention the discounts above and the ion is in great shape - super clean in and out and a touch over 40k mi on the ticker.

As far as gm goes, this is one of the few id consider right now, and i want to do my part to support domestic manufacturing (since im in a production support role for an American tech manufacturing operation). Is now a good time? Is that a good pick? Anyone own one and have a like it cuz/hate it cuz list? It would be nice to not have to bug my father in law for his truck every time i need to buy lumber or to be able to pull a small trailer, and awd would be nice when cincinnati gets snow like we have gotten this winter. So what says the infinite wisdom of the board?

4cylndrfury wrote: She doesnt mind paying extra for leather, but all those together add up quick. At first i kinda was against the idea.

I can't answer specifically about the Terrain, but...

I was never a big fan of leather seating until meeting Mrs. RMD. She HAD to have leather in her car. I've now a van with leather seating, and man, I wouldn't go back to cloth. Leather seats wear good, they're comfortable, easy to clean, plus, you can get heaters in them. IMHO Leather is one option I really like.

Personally, the only time I can see myself preferring leather to cloth is if I spill something. So long as liquids stay inside their containers, leather seats are too cold on cold days (yes, heaters fix that eventually) and too hot on hot days.

I hear nothing but good things from friends who have Equinoxes.

And you might want to run the numbers and see whether a four-cylinder plus a six-speed auto can do what you want the truck to do, for less purchase price now and less fuel forever.

If you have to book most of it, no.

Yeah my infiniti has leather too...i really like it. But its a pricey trim upgrade.

Tell me more about 4 cylndrs and a 6 slush autotragic, hadnt really considered that one. Does it spend all day hunting for the right gear or does it enjoy having more choices and behave itself?

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

My parents bought a new '10 Equinox last fall - 4cyl, awd and auto; it's a pretty nice ride with lots of bells and whistles. Off the lot the price was mid to high 20's; expect the same for gas mileage.

You'll likely take a big hit on fuel economy with a V6, and I'm not convinced it's a substantially better performer since the 4-banger moves it briskly and mileage is probably at least 50 percent higher.

I cannot comment on leather appointments, but the "cloth" interior is really well done. The seats are a little hard (not an issue for me) and have some "interesting" contours; sit in one and make your own judgement.

You could make a lot of lesser choices. Oh, I would recommend financing as little as possible and pay off the balance ASAP.

Well we picked the SLT1 - I4 with 182 HP at 6500 RPM and 177 ft/lbs at 5700 RPM. 6 spd auto and AWD. Its fit and finish were waaaaay more than I expected, and is probably the nicest vehicle my wife and I have ever owned, plus it can tow 1500lbs, not enough to pull another car (or is it ) but hey thats pretty decent compared to the zero I currently can tow - basically it can haul my 8' trailer with mulch, lumber, furniture - whatever. I am just glad to put my wife in AWD. Her Saturn Ion coupe was a great car - leather, fog lights, bluetooth, sunroof, alloys, plus it really hauled a$$...I could go on - all less than 17k off the lot, but it just didnt do well in the snow (better tires wouldve helped some though to be honest).

We did shop around too, we looked at a flex, a traverse, a CX7 and a CX9, and this met our needs/wants/budget the most.

All in all we are happy - the terrain will be white, brown/black 2 tone leather interior, red stitching, 18" alloy wheels, a backup camera, the tech specs above, and it will fit in my garage for less than $28k out the door (thanks grandpas GM discount). I say "will be" cause the dealers cant keep em in stock. We went to 4 dealerships before we found one we could drive. You know theyre selling when the dealer will special order you a car without a penny down or even pre approval of the loan - basically he said theres not really any configuration he cant sell right now, so its a win win. We have a 7 week cooling off period to decide if maybe we bought too much car payment , and if so, we can simply walk away, and he doesnt mind because its a hot commodity, so hes not taking any risk - its a win win. Its about $150 more a month, but its waaay more vehicle too, so its worth it in my book.

Thanks for the 4 banger advice everyone, it really was a good idea. I added a comment in the new car reviews section in case anyones interested.

I think the terrain is one of the cooler cars in that catefory. WAY better styling than its platform-mates imo, too.

6spds can fix a great many things. I doubt youll regret not getting the v6.. unless you get into a race with a v6 Rav4.. but you would have lost even with the v6, so moot point.

update:

later in the day on the 28th of feb, we went back and just decided to drive it once more, this time with the V6. In the end, we opted for the V6 despite the hit to fuel economy and the increased sticker - the difference was the steering, and it was noticeable from the moment we turned out of the lot. The I-4 has electric assist, and the steering felt vague and unresponsive compared to the true hydraulic assist of the 6. The throttle is still by wire, so throttle response is a moment later than Id really like, and it makes for an interesting gear hunt when you stab it, but the power is there, and it gives us a higher towing capacity. We got it with 18's, the SLT1 package, minus touch screen or DVD.

The price was right, but the wait was terrible. We ordered it on the 28th, and didnt take delivery until may 13 - delivery was pushed back twice due to supplier issues (apparently the $300 to bump from the painted 17's to the machined 18's is worth it to a lot of people - GMC was backlogged on those wheels for weeks), and then the information tracking the shipping from the factory to Ohio was very very inconsistent with reality and the dealer didnt do a very good job of checking up on things. Anyway, all thats in the past. We have the vehicle, we have apayment we can live with, and the thing rides and handles GREAT. Its loaded with creature comforts (which is good cuz we rarely fly anywhere, we almost always drive), gets decent fuel economy, and most important it looks good!

Congrats!

I just bought my first car with electric power steering and im looking forward to forming some impressions. Hope it works out better for me, though.

I'm really interested in these cars. They weren't around in this incarnation when I was looking. The old equinox was M3h, so we wound up with the CRV/RAV4 choice. The Rav4 had 3rd row, which helped my wife cart around all the little ones she teaches. So we went with it.

I'm interested to see if the mileage lives up to the tests. My Rav4( 4cylinder) does 25-27 around town depending on town youre talking about. The hills around here really hurt the mileage. I've seen her do 31mpg in SC on flat roads. However around here I get 29. I'm happy.. But really like the looks of the Terrain.

If you have leather seats,alway wear long pants and a shirt. Particularly in hot weather.

iceracer wrote: If you have leather seats,alway wear long pants and a shirt. Particularly in hot weather.

leather seats = profuse ball sweat = not win

AngryCorvair wrote:

iceracer wrote: If you have leather seats,alway wear long pants and a shirt. Particularly in hot weather.

leather seats = profuse ball sweat = not win

Terrain has A/C seats for the win!

This is self serving but I think you should buy my Acura RDX... :)

Update...

So we just completed an 800 or thereabouts mile road trip to the Smoky Mountains. This vehicle is amazingly comfortable for long trips. The sound system makes the ride enjoyable, we used Onstar turn by turn GPS navigation - excellent! The seats were uber comfy and the thing rode like a sedan, and the bigger wheels ate up the construction damaged pavement like a Caddy on glass. Another nice feature is that the 6 spd trans was at home in the hills as you enter Tennessee from Kentucky, and the manual gear selection for engine braking going back down was great too.

But this thing will also handle pretty well considering its moderately substantial girth. If anyone has ever taken the trip from Pigeon Forge to Cades Cove along the 441 (I think...), you know it gets pretty twisty and the rock walls can be literally on the edge of the shoulderless road. Face a rock wall switchback with a Turbo-Diesel dually coming at you, and you can find yourself wishing you had a sub-compact versus a mid sized crossover SUV in a hurry. But honestly the Terrain was rather sporty on the mountain road. It never made me nervous, it was very responsive, communicated VERY well what the road was doing underneath us, and was actually pretty fun to operate in the mountains. Put a set of summer tires on and dump the spare and other dead weight, and this thing might actually surprise some folks if there was a clock running.

I am very happy with how the vehicle behaved. We averaged 25.7 mpg, so we didnt do too bad on fuel. It had tons of room for our gear (myself, the missus, and our nephew). It was fun to drive and was comfortable to boot! A+ GMC, well done.

(also posted to readers rides)