Used 2004 Buick Rainier CXL Plus AWD 4dr SUV (4.2L 6cyl 4A) Consumer Reviews
Best I've ever had
Gort, 03/08/2010
CXL Plus AWD 4dr SUV (4.2L 6cyl 4A)
17 of 17 people found this review helpful
I have owned a lot of vehicles and this is by far the best. Great performance, I feel like a King driving this. All the options you could ask for. Quite smooth ride. You just cannot beat this SUV. I stumbled upon it by accident and will never buy anything other than a Buick SUV again. People need to stop complaining about the mpg. Its an SUV if you want better than 25 mpg get a geo metro. I get 15-16 in city and 18- 21 highway. So impressed I wish I could write more in this space. Perfect SUV for a family looking for performance, reliability, safety, room, comfort, options, quite smooth ride, good looks inside and out, not to mention you will be driving something that not everyone else drives.
Buick Rainer V-8
shadav, 12/11/2011
CXL Plus AWD 4dr SUV (4.2L 6cyl 4A)
19 of 21 people found this review helpful
I have owned several Buick's and this is by far the worst one I have owned. The one I traded in had 143,000 miles on it and was still running perfectly. With the Rainier, I began have trouble around 60,000 miles. The instrument panel had to be replaced, then the air conditioner blew hot air on the passenger side. Then it was the transfer case, then the air bags used in the suspension area began leaking. At this very moment, it is parked in my garage with a broken water pump. I haven't driven it in 4 months. Instead, I bought a used vehicle that I paid cash for to get around town in. It has been much more reliable than the Buick.
2004 Buick Rainier 5.3 V8 - Great Car
DC-in-MD, 06/13/2017
CXL Plus AWD 4dr SUV (4.2L 6cyl 4A)
11 of 12 people found this review helpful
** Update - RIP - at 255000 miles. Well Rainier finely made his last trip. at over 255000 miles it still had the original engine and transmission. Never had to touch them. But keeping it on the road just get to be too expensive. Not that it needed any major repairs, but the repairs it needed were expensive. Like Motor mounts... a new fuel pump, valve cover gaskets, and a main seal. The cost of repairs was just more than the car was worth. SAD because she still ran well and everything worked as it should. so RIP old friend I purchased my Rainier back in 2007 with 40K miles on it. It was a Dealer certified used car. I have put nearly 200,000 miles on it to date and other than a few issues I have to say its one of the best cars I have ever owned. Other than normal maintenance items, unexpected repairs were a catalytic converter at just over 100,000 miles (thanks Baltimore for all the potholes) and a failed A/C compressor clutch mechanism. The compressor was working great but the clutch would stop working after about 20 minutes of driving. Other than those 2 unexpected repairs I have only had to do normal maintenance items and repairs for wear and tear. That's to be expected on a car with over 200K miles. ** Likes** Comfortable, quiet and handles like it's on rails. Lots of power and the AWD will not leave you stuck in the snow. **dislikes** wish it had more headroom for the driver. At 6'2" my head is almost touching the ceiling. Wish it also had a manual AWD lockup switch. **Final thoughts** It's a great car, fun to drive and for a V8 AWD SUV I get an average combined MPG of about 17 commuting in Washington beltway traffic which I do not think is bad. One last comment: After 13years of salt and winter driving the car has No RUST. Paint still shines and the body is in great shape, other than a number of rock chips on the hood. Well made car :-) Would definitely buy it again if I could. In fact, I am keeping an eye out for a lower mileage one now. The V8's are hard to find.
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- Reliability
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Wouldn't You rather drive a buick!
Joseph, 01/12/2007
CXL Plus AWD 4dr SUV (4.2L 6cyl 4A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I purchased my Rainier 12/06. Have driven it about 600 miles so far. Love it! I wish I had gotten it alot sooner. I have driven, and was willing to buy the new '06 Explorer, but after driving it and deciding it wasn't all what they said, I decided to try a Pathfinder. Too expensive. So I decided to try a TrailBlazer, Envoy and such. Drove the Buick and was sold! I love the power, quietness, options and such. Explorer comes with one power-point, where Buick has three. Also if you go to U-haul they won't rent you a trailer if you have a Explorer. Enough said about the tranny.
What an amazing vehicle!!
LAUGH1969, 08/31/2003
CXL Plus AWD 4dr SUV (4.2L 6cyl 4A)
8 of 9 people found this review helpful
I narrowed my search down to the GMC Envoy SLT, and the Rainier. I decided to go with the Rainier, and I am so glad I did. It is so much more luxurious, comfortable, classier, and sooooo much quieter then the Envoy. Buick did an outstanding job, I would recommend anybody that is in the market for a "Refined Utility Vehicle", as Buick calls it, to defiently look at the Rainier. My wife owns a Buick Rendezvous, both of Buicks trucks are so much nicer then the competition. To me, and to others who drive it, will see how it is a smaller, five passenger version of a Cadillac Escalade.