On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, August 18, 2001

Buick's crossover car

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Buick’s Rendezvous brings visual impact back to a division where it has been lacking since the demise of the retro-styled Skylark compact.

It's getting downright spooky out there in SUV-land: You've got your mutations giving rise to offshoots spawning replicants . . . Even if you've got a scorecard, it's tough to sort out the players.
   You, of course, want me to make some sense of the vehicle of the week, to nail down its place in the automotive scheme of things.
   So: What are we to make of the 2002 Buick Rendezvous? Know that it is a fairly large deal for the Buick Division. Ever since the demise of the meltingly gorgeous Riviera coupe, Buick's product line has consisted of sedans, period. In a market besotted with sport utes, pickups and - albeit to a lesser extent than a few years ago - minivans, the triple-shield guys have found themselves in a great big ol' hole. Will the Rendezvous provide the lift Buick needs?
   That . . . depends. For sure, it won't hurt.
   Not an Aztek

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

The speedometer and tachometer feature distinctive turquoise markings, but the expanses of plastic vinyl trim and fake brushed-metal trim did not make a favorable impression.

   The Rendezvous has a couple of things going for it: First, it is not - repeat, not - a Pontiac Aztek, though the two vehicles share a common platform (the current-generation GM minivans). When you see a Rendezvous going down the street, you expect to see it toting humanoids of some sort. (The Aztek, for its part, looks like the official limo for the Martian delegation to the U.N.)
   So: With those minivan underpinnings, we have what may prove the next big wave in SUV-world: the crossover. It isn't a big, rough, gnarly, stump-pulling, bog-slogging for-real sport ute, but neither is it some lightweight, cramped Cute Ute.
   Nor is the Rendezvous/Aztek unique in this: Already, Honda has based its very well-received MDX SUV on the Odyssey minivan, and it's a slam-dunk certainty that more such hybrids will follow in the near future.
   Some may fault the Rendezvous for the way its minivan roots show through the aggressive sheet metal. Stop and think, though: Don't you see much the same sort of look in the Lexus RX300 and even the Mercedes-Benz M-series utes? 'Course you do.
   Showroom standout

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

The spaciousness of the Buick Rendezvous’ interior reveals the GM minivan heritage that it shares with its corporate twin-under-the-skin, the Pontiac Aztek.

   So how effective a draw will the Rendezvous be for Buick showrooms that have hitherto been populated exclusively by conservative, understated sedans?
   The Rendezvous is probably the division's most flamboyant offering since the wild-child last-generation Skylark: We're looking at creases and swoops and (on our tester) shiny chrome wheels, not to mention hi-tech headlight clusters and an ultra-aggressive take on the old Buick Dollar Grin.
   Inside, the drama is less pronounced. Instead, you're struck by the amount of people space: seating in three rows for a total of six people, just like in . . . a minivan! And, minivan style, you can take out the second-row captain's chairs, fold down the third-row seats and have big-time totin' capacity.
   Where the Rendezvous stumbles a bit is in the execution of some of the details. The plasvinyl interior door moldings - not so much as a thread of fabric - just look cheesy in a vehicle of these pretensions. And the pseudo-brushed-metal accents scattered around the interior are downright weird. Give me some nice ol' traditional fakewood any day.
   Hipster instruments

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

From the rear, the new Buick Rendezvous has little in common visually with its traditional sedan stablemates. Its relatively low ground clearance indicates that it is primarily intended for use on paved or smooth roads.

   On other fronts, the news is better. The speedo and tachometer, with their turquoise needles, were seriously hip, though sometimes it was a tad difficult to determine just how fast you were going.
   One note of caution: When you're tossing stuff in the back, keep a wary eye on that hefty hatch. When you pull it down, be sure to give it a vigorous tug. And don't release it until it's almost all the way down: To do otherwise is to invite a nasty little uppercut. (Didn't happen to me . . . but could have.)
   Now, you don't buy a vehicle like this for volcanic off-the-line acceleration or razor-sharp handling. And in the Rendezvous, you don't get either. What you do

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

The Buick Rendezvous is based on the current line of GM minivans, providing it with interior volume that can accommodate six passengers when the third seat is in place (as pictured above).

get is a decent launch from a halt from GM's ever-present 3.4-liter V-6, which in this package produces 185 horses.
   Our top-of-the-line tester was the CXL Rendezvous, which gets Versatrak all-wheel-drive, leather seating and sundry other goodies standard. (Front-wheel drive is standard in the CX, with AWD available as an option.) In tooling around town, there is no indication whatsoever of the AWD's presence: On dry pavement, all the power goes to the front wheels. Get into some gumbo, however, and a benevolent little electric brain will begin sending the power to the places where it can do the most good.
   Son of minivan
   Generally speaking, the Rendezvous handles like a somewhat ponderous minivan. (You expected . . . ?) The only untoward behavior was a sort of hobby-horse action when the vehicle traversed a succession of undulations (I believe the technical term is "whoop-de-doos") at highway speeds.
   Mileage fluctuates fairly dramatically. In around-town slogging, I got about 13 mpg; on the highway, a bit over 20. Very much within the parameters for SUVs and minivans, but not the sort of thing calculated to win applause from the Sierra Club.

2002 Buick Rendezvous CXL Six-passenger all-wheel-drive sport-utility Base price: $27,452 Price as tested: $34,042 Drivetrain: Fuel-injected 3.4-liter V-6, 185 hp; four-speed automatic-overdrive transmission Brakes: Front and rear discs, power-assisted, with standard antilock (ABS) EPA mileage: 18 city/24 highway Website: www.buick.com

   Buick nostalgists - I include myself in their number - may feel a twinge or two at seeing the division marching into the SUV fray; but if that's where the action is, that's where you go.
   This is, of course, just a tentative first step. The Rendezvous, with its distinctly limited ground clearance and its civilian tires, is hardly suited to serious SUV duties. If the demand is there, perhaps one day we'll see Buick offering a more serious SUV, say . . . an OffRoadmaster? Now, there's a prospect to conjure with. Bring on the portholes!
  
  

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