Faults:
The air conditioning quit just before the warranty ended and was fixed at no costs.
As with many others on this site, the rear hatch release does not always work on the first try. I have also noticed it only happens in cold weather. Two different dealership claim there is nothing wrong. Obviously there is! It is annoying more than anything.
The biggest problem is the door hinges! They have put different hinges than on their other SUV of Vans. The hinges hyper flex when the wind catches in them or if you open the door without holding it. My wife is small and she can't open the door without holding it and now both front doors do not close properly. The hinges are terrible. Had to argue with two dealership to get it fixed and still today it is not done properly. One body shop guy told me they have had many complaints, but beside changing the entire hinge (problem will reoccur anyways) nothing can be done. To help the door close without a loud and "painful" thump, one dealer moved (re-positioned) the latch hook and has helped a tad. Has anyone else encountered this problem?
General Comments:
We would buy another tomorrow if something (knock on wood) happened tomorrow!! We love it. With two small kids we have so much room. We have the convenience of the slide out tray and to add at least a foot of room we can very easily remove it. We fit a big stroller, a wagon, luggage and everything else you need with two kids and not have to move or re-position one kid in the back seat!
We have used the camping gear a lot and we should charge admission for the tours we give to other campers. We bring another tent to store the two rear seats (we remove them easily for added room inside the vehicle) and our "stuff" and sleep all four inside the truck. Honest!! It is a little tight, but we are camping and it is much more comfortable than the ground and we are the only "tent" with air conditioning on hot muggy nights!
With kids we only use the rubber mats and they are great to catch spilled milk or accidental spiting up.
The Heads Up Display is nice, but a novelty more than anything.
It's engine is GM's best. The 3.4 is quick and handles really good, but we have been a little disappointed in the gas mileage.
We love the comfort, the room, the usefulness, the camping package. It's a van that is not a van (I refuse to buy a minivan).
As mentioned before we would love to buy another and if we win lots of money we will purchase the Rendez-Vous!
26th Sep 2005, 20:00
I had that hatch problem with my 01 aztek. It is a simple fix. There are 2 rubber bumpers that you unscrew a little bit to put more pressure on the latch so when it opens it pushes out further. I also had problems when the wife opened the door in the wind with the hinges on the drivers side. I was able to bend it back a bit to make it work like normal.