Why Outlook over Acadia?

[ajg93]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between the Outlook and Acadia. I live in Canada so the configs/prices are slightly different. However, when you compare prices after the GM Supplier Discount, the Acadia SLE is only about $500 more than the Outlook XE - plus the Acadia has the dual-exhaust, 275HP standard along with fog lights.

I am just curious as to why those of you here chose the Outlook over the Acadia? Was it price, styling, something else?

Thanks,
Adam

[zielinab]

We haven't bought ours yet, but: we prefer the styling of the Outlook over the Acadia, the pricing is a bit lower, and the dealer experience is a big part of it. We've owned two Saturns in the past (SL2, LW2) and the only reason our last purchase wasn't one, is because they didn't have anything big enough to suit our needs. Now that they do, we're going back. (icing on the cake is that the Pontiac-Buick-GMC-Cadillac dealer here sucks.

[MrBiz]

I pretty much agree that it has ALOT to do with the customer experience. Not just sales, but without a doubt the service experience is better than some of the "other" local dealerships.

My Outlook will be my fourth Saturn and they (the Saturn Dealers) have gone far above and beyond what they were required to do. In fact, their actions have saved me thousands of dollars.

I also like the styling and looks of the Outlook over the Acadia. I like the Acadia, but just not as much as the Outlook.

[saturncanuck]

If its only $500 then you have to go by the one you like best.

But, which store will give you better customer satisfaction?

[ajg93]

While I have always bought GM, I have never owned a Saturn. Truthfully, I haven't found the service at Pontiac and Chevrolet to be that great. I have now only starting dealing with Saturn in finding out info on the Outlook and the salespeople for the most part have been very friendly. I have traditionally leased my cars for about four years (89 Grand Prix, 93 Geo Storm, 96 Cavalier, 98 Cavalier, 01 Grand Am, 03 Cavalier). I have always had problems with GM cars - most commonly brakes, struts, poor quality workmanship. I want to buy the next and want to know that I am getting good quality that will last 7+ years (something the Japanese seem to be known for). I hope this product from GM will differ from their others in terms of longevity and quality. From everything I have read, GM has finally got it right.

If dealer service is an important factor with Saturn, I think that is important.

[hortaja]

I feel the Outlook has a softer ride from several test drives of each. I definitly reccomend driving both yourself.

I personaly find the Acadia too trucky for my taste. Is the Acadia a nice vehicle, oh yeah with out a doubt. I would just choose the Outlook over the Acadia, but then I am buying the Enclave instead of the Outlook or the acadia.

Jerry

[cdp326]

Personally, I like the exterior of the Outlook more, the interior of the base Acadia more, I prefer the Saturn dealers, and I think I prefer the way options are grouped on the base Acadia a bit better.

[ffballid]

1. I liked the exterior of the Outlook better.
2. As to the interior, here are my thoughts:
a. the acadia is not available with a tan leather interior (my preference). The brick red is ok, but I do not like it as well.
b. the plastic parts of the bottom of the seats are black in the acadia but color-keyed in the outlook. I like the color-keyed better.
c. I prefer the fake wood trim to the fake aluminum trim (again, this is clearly a personal preference issue).
d. I don't like the look of the vents in the acadia (the 3 vertical vents in the dash).
3. I like the jewel red color of the outlook that is unavailable on the acadia.

Going the other way, I understand that the Acadia has a back-up camera option. I really would like that. The heads-up display is neat, but does not move the needle for me much. The acadia also gets the Bose sound system.

[hortaja]

Oh I think I read somehere (again I think) that the Acadia only comes in Black carpet. I also read somewhere that the sales managers were getting upset because the Acadias were always coming back dirty during test drives? I guess the black carpet shows dirt or something??

Yes to me I like the more elegant interio of the Outlook vrs the business tough interior of the acadia. So what do you prefer?

[rjbhunt]

We originally wanted an Acadia. I like the outside styling better than the Outlook. What sold us on the Outlook was the interior. With the tan leather, black trim and even with the faux wood it just had a more upscale feel than the Acadia. I know its only one man's opinion, but theAcadia interior just seemed cheap, with its red dash lights, to much chrome plastic and poor color choices. We just purchased an Outlook XR...Red Jewelcoat, enhanced convenience pkg, adv audio, prem trim. sunroof, dvd, capt chairs and couldn't be happier. My wife gets a lot of looks and our friends and neighbors who've seen it or ride'n in can't beleive its a Saturn.

[BobbyP]

Originally Posted by hortaja

Oh I think I read somehere (again I think) that the Acadia only comes in Black carpet. I also read somewhere that the sales managers were getting upset because the Acadias were always coming back dirty during test drives? I guess the black carpet shows dirt or something??

Yes to me I like the more elegant interio of the Outlook vrs the business tough interior of the acadia. So what do you prefer?

I liked the black carpet in my SC. I thought it did a good job hiding dirt.

I almost bought a Buick in the 80's with Milk White colored carpet. That would have been a disaster.... My VUE has Grey carpet.

[mkaresh]

Originally Posted by hortaja

I feel the Outlook has a softer ride from several test drives of each. I definitly reccomend driving both yourself.

I personaly find the Acadia too trucky for my taste. Is the Acadia a nice vehicle, oh yeah with out a doubt. I would just choose the Outlook over the Acadia, but then I am buying the Enclave instead of the Outlook or the acadia.

Jerry

Interesting. Did you drive them both with the same tire/wheel size? I've only driven an Outlook XE with the 18s myself so far. Next week I'll probably check out an Acadia with the 19s.

[VTHokie00SL2]

I just saw the Acadia on a television ad. My first thought was, hey, that's an exact duplicate of the Saturn Outlook. But nah, it can't be, right? I mean, GM no longer does that rebadging thing...

[s-seriesguy]

I don't see what makes one much better than the other. They're just rebadges. I saw one today with a sticker for $38,000. HAHA. No Saturn is worth $38,000, ever.

[zielinab]

Originally Posted by s-seriesguy

I don't see what makes one much better than the other. They're just rebadges. I saw one today with a sticker for $38,000. HAHA. No Saturn is worth $38,000, ever.

806 posts and all you can do is troll?

[beach109]

Originally Posted by s-seriesguy

I don't see what makes one much better than the other. They're just rebadges. I saw one today with a sticker for $38,000. HAHA. No Saturn is worth $38,000, ever.

Yeah, right. They should just charge $15k for a full-size luxury crossover with a level of quality, refinement, and features even some of the best imports can't match...right, just because it's "a Saturn".

[ThePlainsman]

Originally Posted by s-seriesguy

I don't see what makes one much better than the other. They're just rebadges. I saw one today with a sticker for $38,000. HAHA. No Saturn is worth $38,000, ever.

People said the same thing in 2002 when the new redesigned Altima came out. I bought one anyway. It was bigger than the Maxima, and the V6 I purchased had heated leather, automatic climate control, traction control, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution, Turanza 17 inch low-profile performance tires, HIDs, a BOSE 6 disc CD changer with 400 watt system with subwoofer, and stickered at $29.6. Ignorant people thought of the "old" Altima and said "No Altima is worth 30 thousand dollars, ever." That's an exact quote from a Nissan message board five years ago.

Well, it's been worth every penny. Best vehicle I've owned of any size/type in my entire life. Not just quality, but also performance and driving thrills in a family-sized sedan. I'd buy another one of these before I'd buy a BMW 3 series or an Infiniti G35.

Hopefully, my first purchase (this week) of a Saturn, a loaded Outlook XR (sticker 41K), will be just as rewarding. The Outlook XR is not a pumped up Vue.

[s-seriesguy]

Originally Posted by zielinab

806 posts and all you can do is troll?

How is trolling stating the facts? What makes the Acadia or Outlook better than the other? They're basically the same.

Originally Posted by beach109

Yeah, right. They should just charge $15k for a full-size luxury crossover with a level of quality, refinement, and features even some of the best imports can't match...right, just because it's "a Saturn".

I didn't say they should charge that did I? I'd say low $30,000 would be acceptable for the top of the line version, but for close to $40,000 there's better options.

[rjbhunt]

I didn't say they should charge that did I? I'd say low $30,000 would be acceptable for the top of the line version, but for close to $40,000 there's better options.

I don't know. We bought our Outlook XR after an exhaustive search that started beck in November. We were coming out of a minivan and needed somethng that would seat 6 comfortably. My wife originally wanted a Volvo XC90 but after driving one and seeing how small it was we widened our search to every SUV on the market under $50K. We thought we would have to settle for a Yukon but I couldn't get my head around the gas milage. Ours is pretty well equiped, lacking only the nav system, awd and touring pkg. I was able to get for a little over $36K and feel we got a lot of car for the money. No other SUV offers the room and versitility.

[Swishguy]

Hope they beefed up the rear diff. I blew out 2-3 in my 04/05/06 awd saturns. They must make the rdm out of tin foil!