This entry was posted on Sunday, November 6th, 2005 at 7:35 and is filed under Autos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Site Search:
Sunday, November 6, 2005
We were going to rent the new Mustang while here in Texas and then looked at our baggage. Ya, that wasn’t going to work. ‘How about the CTS?’ asked the Alamo representative. When I he gave the price for it, over $500 for the week, I said that was way too much.
Okay, next up, SUV. Having a Yukon, I wasn’t interested in that line since the fun of renting a car is to get something you don’t have. He went through is GM list and I flinched at the Buick version of the Aztec (how is THAT an SUV?) and then I stopped him at the Envoy. “Sure, that sounds good!” I told him. So we got it and piled into it.
My first impression is like all GMC trucks: very nice. The interior was well crafted and the new car smell is the best. While the seats didn’t have “buns warmer” (as we call them,) it did have many other nice features. Liz and I do love it’s analog dual-climate control over my Grand Prix’s digital version. Now that I think of it, oddly enough Liz’s Denali is missing that upscale feature.
The minute I got on the freeway, I then immediately downgraded my grade of this small SUV. Talk about “sloppy” steering. Man, I couldn’t feel the road for the life of me and I kept over correcting and weaving. I looked like a Texas drunk! The engine (I suspect a V6) is gutless for the weight it’s pulling and makes me wonder if small engine SUV’s should just be outlawed. (Yes, I know you fuel economists feel the same about the V8’s. I understand that position, too.)
After a few days of driving the GMC Envoy, it is a truck I’d pas on. While nice over all, it’s the driving part that would get me to move on. I guess the Ford Explorer really is king in this class.