500 miles later

9665 Views 45 Replies 18 Participants Last post by me, Sep 10, 2007

axiama

Discussion Starter · Jul 12, 2007

I've had my Enclave, I call him Burt, for two weeks now. I don't mean for this post to turn into a love fest but this is by far, the best vehicle I've ever owned. I can see myself replacing it years down the line with say the 2015 model.

Negatives:

I do wish the fuel economy was better. I"m averaging less than 15 mpg. Since I work 5 minutes from home this vehicle rarely sees the highway. I hear things improve greatly on the highway. I guess it's time for a roadtrip.

By accident we found out that if you hop into the passenger side, start the car to listen to the radio while you search for something in the glove box, then leave - the radio stays on. It won't go off until the driver opens the door. Be careful not to run down your battery.

Coming from a Honda Civic, this thing is big. I'm perfectly comfortable driving it - but parking is another story. I have yet to park between two cars. The best I'll do is park on the passenger side of another car. I always hold my breath until I've done the dent check when I get back. Now, this is sooo unlike me. When the car is new my husband institutes the "no eating in the car" rule. Usually, I think this is stupid and spill something in purpose just to break it in. Today my 5 year old headed for the car with a bag of Cheetos and I waited by the front door so she could finish her snack and wash her hands before we left.

hno:

Finally, my 5 year old cries if she has to ride in Daddy's Envoy now. She only wants to ride in Mommy's car. The kid's got taste but it's no fun fighting with a 5 year old a 7:30 AM.

Positives:

It looks good.

I can't say enough about the remote start feature. It's now on my must have list for all future vehicles.

Beyond that, it is hard to isolate a single feature. Overall, this is just a surprisingly well thought out and enjoyable vehicle. To all those waiting, I think it's worth the wait and I hope you're as happy with your Enclave as I am with mine.

See less See more

1 - 20 of 46 Posts

ccaats

· #2 · Jul 12, 2007

COngrats on Burt, Axiama! Glad you are enjoying. Doesn't the Enclave have battery rundown protection? My 2001 Grand Am and 1999 Montana has it as did all GM vehicles built after about 1999 or so I thought? My GA also has the feature that leaves the radio on until you open the driver's door, but the battery rundown protection shuts it off after 10 mins just like it does for interior lighting, headlights, or even if you leave the door open to protect your battery. I hope the new Enclaves still have that GM feature, it is a life saver. I still chuckle how this simple feature is a GM standard and so many "high end" imports don't have this feature.

mss42

· #3 · Jul 12, 2007

very nice review axiama ty :cheers:

axiama

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 12, 2007

ccaats said:
COngrats on Burt, Axiama! Glad you are enjoying. Doesn't the Enclave have battery rundown protection? My 2001 Grand Am and 1999 Montana has it as did all GM vehicles built after about 1999 or so I thought? My GA also has the feature that leaves the radio on until you open the driver's door, but the battery rundown protection shuts it off after 10 mins just like it does for interior lighting, headlights, or even if you leave the door open to protect your battery. I hope the new Enclaves still have that GM feature, it is a life saver. I still chuckle how this simple feature is a GM standard and so many "high end" imports don't have this feature.

That's good to know. We played with the door/radio thing for a while but I guess we didn't wait a full 10 minutes.

I think you're right about the simple features of GM vehicles that are missing from the imports. I'm starting to think that once you go domestic you don't go back.

BuicksRbetter

· #5 · Jul 12, 2007

ccaats said:
COngrats on Burt, Axiama! Glad you are enjoying. Doesn't the Enclave have battery rundown protection? My 2001 Grand Am and 1999 Montana has it as did all GM vehicles built after about 1999 or so I thought? My GA also has the feature that leaves the radio on until you open the driver's door, but the battery rundown protection shuts it off after 10 mins just like it does for interior lighting, headlights, or even if you leave the door open to protect your battery. I hope the new Enclaves still have that GM feature, it is a life saver. I still chuckle how this simple feature is a GM standard and so many "high end" imports don't have this feature.

It's really funny that the 1986 Buick Riviera had the 10 minute retained power feature. When Toyota and Mercedes offer it twenty years later, it's the most innovative feature in the world. :

newswiz

· #6 · Jul 12, 2007

Axiama -- Got a kick out of your Cheetos story. For more than 30 years, my dad sold Chevys and then, Buicks, back in the era when veteran salesmen got demonstrators. "Don't step on the grease! Don't touch the windows!" were our marching orders and I've noticed the habit has been passed down to me. Whether the vehicles were Courtesy Chevrolet's or Wessen Buick's, or personally owned, they never suffered "owners neglect." I'm involved with cars too ... but from a journalistic standpoint. I'm writing about the Enclave (it impressed many of us who got the chance to check out its cargo space and drive it in St. Louis area). Wanted to wait for buyers to put some miles on theirs, form some impressions and relate some experiences -- good, bad, indifferent -- re: their Enclaves. So Axiama (or any other non-Buick affiliated Enclave owner), if you would like to weigh in with comment for a story and don't mind having your name used, pls. message me. Did you get/find the Enclave exactly the way you wanted it? Did you order? If you had to wait, how long? And were/are dealerships asking MSRP or higher?

See less See more

coopermine

· #7 · Jul 12, 2007

axiama said:
I've had my Enclave, I call him Burt, for two weeks now. I don't mean for this post to turn into a love fest but this is by far, the best vehicle I've ever owned. I can see myself replacing it years down the line with say the 2015 model.

HIM? I thought Enclave was a her!

mss42

· #8 · Jul 12, 2007

hi newswiz and :welcome: to the forum

netmag

· #9 · Jul 12, 2007

Your gas mileage is really scary. I know it's street driving but under 15 mpg? Maybe they're doing something fishy with the gas down there.

mss42

· #10 · Jul 12, 2007

netmag said:
Your gas mileage is really scary. I know it's street driving but under 15 mpg? Maybe they're doing something fishy with the gas down there.

its called watered down gas.

axiama

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 12, 2007

Ha! Y’all are funny. I live with 100 miles of 2 oil refineries. My gasoline is fresh. Maybe it needs to age like a fine wine.

The below 15 mpg is actually 14.9 and I haven’t reset the computer yet. I’ll break the bank on another tank of gas today and reset it. Hopefully things will improve.

JRacer

· #12 · Jul 12, 2007

MsS42 said:
its called watered down gas.

If the gas has too much water in it, your car will quit running. All gasolines contain a certain portion of water, the warmer the gasoline is the more water it will absorb. Once it's absorption rate is reached the water droplets settle to the bottom of your tank and get sucked to the injector or carburator and your car will quit running. Water is heavier then gasoline, so it settles to the bottom. As the gasoline cools off it can release water droplets if it was at its maximum obsorption rate at the warmer temp. This is usually only an issue in pipelines and storage tank farms. As the gasoline sits in the storage tanks, any water settles to the bottom and is drained off.

Your car will get lower mpg in the winter due to the fact that butane is added to gasoline to increase its vapor pressure and help it to ignite easier in the cold weather. During the summer the EPA mandates lower vapor pressure requirements to help cut back on pollution.

If you are using gasoline with ethanol in it you will also see lower mpg.

See less See more

osli

· #13 · Jul 13, 2007

On the other hand, your engine typically makes more power in the winter on cold days, as the air is more dense than in summer. This is a non-trivial effect... every 10 degrees cooler should add over one bhp to an engine of this size.

dwhsd

· #14 · Jul 13, 2007

I have an Enclave on order. I also have a 1998 Cadillac STS with a 4.6 liter V-8. I drive about 5 minutes to work and the engine never really warms up. The mileage is about 13 MPG. If, however, the engine is warm, then the mileage around town jumps to 16-17 MPG. With a cold engine there are lots of frictional and pumping losses that go down as the fluids in the engine warm up.

Doug

mss42

· #15 · Jul 13, 2007

use that remote start axiama

axiama

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jul 13, 2007

It's already my favorite feature.

mss42

· #17 · Jul 13, 2007

let the car warm up longer lol

osli

· #18 · Jul 13, 2007

dwhsd said:
I have an Enclave on order. I also have a 1998 Cadillac STS with a 4.6 liter V-8. I drive about 5 minutes to work and the engine never really warms up. The mileage is about 13 MPG. If, however, the engine is warm, then the mileage around town jumps to 16-17 MPG. With a cold engine there are lots of frictional and pumping losses that go down as the fluids in the engine warm up.

Doug

Yes, ideally you want a hot engine breathing cold air.

axiama

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jul 13, 2007

osli said:
Yes, ideally you want a hot engine breathing cold air.

Well, no luck with the cold air. It was 85 degrees at 8 AM this morning. However, I did reset it this morning and averaged 19.9 mpg on my trip to work. There is a catch, though. I ran an errand this morning that involved crossing over a drawbridge. I found out that if you coast down the drawbridge you can really make those numbers jump up. It makes sense, I guess. Either way, I'm happy with the 19.9.

osli

· #20 · Jul 13, 2007

Coasting down is "fair" since you burned all that gas climbing to the top!

1 - 20 of 46 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.