AWD or FWD?

The choice for me is the AWD. I currently own an AWD Pacifica that I will be exchanging for an Enclave. While we don't get any snow and hardly even any precipitation around here, we do have a lot of soft sand and gravel areas, and driving an AWD gives me more confidence. I also use it to launch watercraft which has been stated prior as an advantage.
To me the cost difference is outweighed by the benefits.
Using Enclave invoice pricing for the CXL model I want and extrapolating some data from my current ride shows an extra "cost" of only about $414 per year for a four year period. I used invoice prices as it seems most buyers are closer to those than MSRP.

PRICE AWD FWD VAR
Invoice 36255 34255 1870
Distribution 735 735 0
Options 7304 7304 0
Advertising 901 861 40
Sales Tax (with trade) 1745 1681 63
Total Vehicle 44583 42610 1973

MPG Rating 16/22 16/24
AWD Usage Increase 105.3%
Pacifica Actual MPG
For 50,000 Miles 19.5
Pacifica Projected
As a FWD 20.5
Extra Gals of Gas 128.2
Extra Cost @ $4.00 513
Total Cost 2486
Pacific KBB Trade Value 13015 12185 (830)

Overall 4 Yr Variance 1656
Per Year 414

Wayne

Modified to correct FWD invoice price. I had double dipped the distribution cost.

struggled with this too. i pull a 17 ft boat (2500 lbs) 6 times a year, 2 trips to florida and the rest local... live in atlanta... fish in the mountains.. i will be trading a 2wd expedition. never felt i have needed a 4wd in 5 years.... except for a few rainy muddy days in the mountains chasing trout. i found a way to deal with it without getting stuck. i used to pull some boats with 6 cyl gm company cars in the 90's that had fwd... many trips..worked fine unless the boat ramp had seaweed or something unusual...then, i had a buddy sit on the hood... wallah. pulled it right out. i think the towing issue depends on how much you're going to tow. if you have a boat that is close to the 4500 Lb towing capacity, i would recommend awd unless you can get some "forum feedback" that is positive use fwd.

the kicker for me was (not the money) but, performance. i drove an awd twice and (fwd) outlooks, acadia and enclave multiple times. no question, the fwd performs better imo. i had a dealership sales mgr (friend) bring it to my attention initially.

Buick's web site seems to show that the AWD option was $2000 more than FWD. Is that not the case in reality?


Reasons in Favor of AWD
1.) It will provide added security in heavy weather (fresh snow on roads that haven't been plowed yet, slippery conditions, etc.)
2.) Perhaps more help with towing heavy items.

Reasons against AWD
1.) It costs more.
2.) May only be of real use a handful of times unless you tow regularly.
3.) Adds more weight
4.) some say it affects performance and makes this particular vehicle feel more sluggish
5.) Eats more gas (an issue with gas prices going through the roof).
6.) This one happens to be a joint effort with Ford and already shows signs of having issues in the Acadia (this really scares me because one of the reasons we're considering a new purchase is because of a Ford inspired AWD transmission)
7.) In bad weather, there is no substitute for careful driving. If someone doesn't know how to drive in snowy weather, an AWD is not going to help them much.

If the only things against AWD were the higher cost and slightly less MPG, then I may still lean towards getting it just for the added sense of safety. However, with all the other things against it, I'm thinking we'll probably just save the money.

Gator - sorry for the shorthand. The "new trans flash" refers to a new software update coming this summer/fall that will alter the gear shifting behavior of the transmission in certain situations. There was already one update earlier this year that apparently made a major improvement over the original programming of the Outlook/Acadia (I can only repeat what I have read, I never test drove one that had not been fixed already). The Enclave of course started production with that revised programming as std.

The new upgrade coming in the next few months I think is more of a set of tweaks/refinements, with one particular area of emphasis being how the vehicle responds when you "punch it" when you are already driving 35-55 mph (e.g. accelerating to merge if you needed to speed up to get in front of a big truck when getting on the interstate)....again I cannot speak from experience, but owners of Acadias have complained of weak response when they are in that type of acceleration situation (others have said it is just a matter of driving style and how much of a lead foot you have!). An engineer who has been working on the problem has been communicating with owners over on the Acadia forum and indicates that we will be pleased with the refinements and lately has been hinting it is closer to being released than maybe originally suggested...

Hope that helps...