2003 Buick Rendezvous Review and Specs

Summary

What Edmunds.com says

The Rendezvous is a well-rounded vehicle that combines attributes of a minivan, SUV and a sedan. It does everything moderately well but nothing beyond average.

Pros

Usable third-row seats that fold flat, comfortable ride, lots of options available.

Cons

Paltry engine, swell-looking but cheap-feeling interior materials, options add up, no off-road ability, not as storage-space-friendly as a minivan.

What's New for 2003

With just one year of production under its belt, Buick is already making some substantial content changes to its Rendezvous model line. Instead of offering standard all-wheel drive on its upscale CXL model, both the lower-level CX and the CXL will now come with front-wheel drive, with Versatrack all-wheel drive available on both models. Other formerly standard items that are now optional this year include: four-wheel disc brakes, ABS, side airbags, all-speed traction control and luggage rack crossbows. On the upside, both models get dual-zone climate control. The CXL also benefits from an optional DVD-based entertainment system and optional XM Satellite Radio for extra enjoyment.

Consumer Ratings & Reviews

Never Again!!

Written by: Karma on 04/22/2008

Detailed Ratings

Overall Rating


Performance:	2	Fun-to-Drive:	5	Build Quality:	5
Comfort:	3	Interior Design:	1	Reliability:	1
Fuel Economy:	3	Exterior Design:	5

Vehicle

2003 Buick Rendezvous CX Fwd 4dr SUV (3.4L 6cyl 4A)

Review

Bought this Buick brand new for my wife and just traded it in. Took a huge loss but was glad just to get rid of it. Ball joints, transmission, engine gaskets,etc. Left us stranded on the road at least 6 times. Would not start after you shut it off. Dealer said it was a switch but I told them it was the fuel pump. Changed switch 3 times and still the same hunk of junk. Traded it in with only 40,000 miles on it. Lift gate latch had to be replaced and the windows wouldn't work. Trash, trash, trash. Never again GM, never again. I should have learned my lesson after the Jimmy I bought. I will drive a Kia before I ever by a GM!!!

Favorite Features

None

Suggested Improvements

Give up GM, the Foreigners have you beat by a country mile!

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What a mistake

Written by: jb on 04/12/2008


Performance:	7	Fun-to-Drive:	5	Build Quality:	5
Comfort:	7	Interior Design:	5	Reliability:	4
Fuel Economy:	4	Exterior Design:	6

2003 Buick Rendezvous CXL AWD 4dr SUV (3.4L 6cyl 4A)

Mechanically the worst car I ever owned. The only saving grace was that I purchased the 100K mile warranty. Otherwise it would have cost me thousands in repairs after 60K mile warranty expired. Front wheel bearings (known issue), intake manifold (known issue), excessive inside tire wear (alignments did not help), heater blower (3 times), sheared bolts and head replacements.

I got rid of it.

Forget the bells and whistles and build a mechanically sound, reliable vehicle.

Money pit

Written by: stephanie on 04/09/2008


Performance:	3	Fun-to-Drive:	2	Build Quality:	1
Comfort:	4	Interior Design:	6	Reliability:	1
Fuel Economy:	3	Exterior Design:	4

We purchased this used at 38,000 miles from someone smart enough to dump it before it started falling apart. Replaced front wheel bearings at 42,000 and 45,000 miles. The head gasket was replaced last month at 83,000 miles after dealer misdiagnosed the problem twice. The load leveler would not stop running (at 75,000 miles) so we pulled the fuse and replaced it to stop the noise. Dealer advised that unless we fix it, the rear air-filled shocks will fail. We have already spent too much replacing things too soon. Recently replaced rear wheel bearings (great design those sealed bearings, not!). It is currently at the dealer again for other problems. So sorry we bought this. No more GMs.

We were really impressed with initial gas mileage. We got 20 city/ 26 highway. We get 16 city / 20 highway now if we are lucky.

Buick has discontinued the model. I wonder why? GM just needs to make it right for the people that own this car. It is not unreasonable to expect these to last over 100,000 miles given their cost.

Virtually flawless as the miles pile-on

Written by: Dave on 04/02/2008


Performance:	7	Fun-to-Drive:	7	Build Quality:	9
Comfort:	9	Interior Design:	8	Reliability:	9
Fuel Economy:	9	Exterior Design:	9

2003 Buick Rendezvous CXL Fwd 4dr SUV (3.4L 6cyl 4A)

Purchased 2WD-CXL - Mar 2003. I average about 11000 miles per year. 5 yrs later, no mech problems; tires & brakes in excellent shape. All fluids (ABS,p/s, coolant, oil, trans) were changed 3 wks ago. My family & I enjoyed 10 days through the Desert Southwest including TX, NM, & AZ. The highlights were The Grand Canyon & Tombstone. Smooth, comfortable, trouble free, 22-25 miles/gal - 75 mph avg; car was fully loaded! Maintain, rotate tires, wash & wax, change all fluids as scheduled, and you, too, can enjoy a terrific SUV. Summertime, I tow the jetski to and from many lakes. I almost traded for an Enclave. My SUV is paid-for & still looks brand new. Wife talked me out of it. Thanks!

Comfort, reliability, front-end appearance, stereo, sunroof.

Dashboard looks "cheap".Controls and appearance were improved in later models. The Enclave is really attractive inside and out! More power, but the 3.4 V6 does do well with gas more than $3 a gallon

Engine Reliability

Written by: JM on 02/16/2008


Performance:	5	Fun-to-Drive:	6	Build Quality:	7
Comfort:	9	Interior Design:	7	Reliability:	1
Fuel Economy:	5	Exterior Design:	6

Purchased used at 33k. Head gasket replaced at 40K at dealer expense. Since then a number of catastrophic failures - 3 different rocker arms and one cylinder head have been replaced. Afraid to drive other than locally. GM needs to stand behing their cars that have these sorts of problems

Sound system, heads up display, parking sensors, memory seats

Engine is underpowered

2003 Buick Rendezvous Consumer Ratings & Reviews