Traded in my Pontiac today...

[Everglades W68]

...no, not my Firebird.

We traded in our 2000 Pontiac Montana for a 2005 Buick Terraza.

The Montana had 99,500 miles on it. The GMPP extended warranty runs out on 1/2/06 or 100,000 miles - so technically, it was still under warranty.

:D

[BLLDOGG]

what a kidder

[Everglades W68]

[minivan]Terraza[/minivan]

You're jealous.

[3.4 slow to go]

tell me more about the Montana, as I'm looking at one to replace teh blazer in a couple yrs for tow vehicle & something that gets at least 2mpg hwy(awd) better milage.

[Everglades W68]

3.4: Here are variuos comments in no particular order:

Our Montana was great to drive - very versatile and roomy. The towing capacity is 3500 pounds.

Our Montana was powered by the 3.4 V6/165 HP; the new ones have a 3.5 V6/ 200HP. I presume the 3.5 is just a variant of the 3.4.

The 3.8L V6 with 240 HP are an option on the 2006's. Same 3500lb towing capacity, but I'm sure it would get much better performance than the 3.5L.

The 2005 Montana and Terraza's are really good deals: the "red tag" discount is 19% off the sticker price - and our dealer went even lower. They've got a ton of 2005's still on their lots and obviously are having to work hard to move them out.

The Terraza and Montana are very similar except for minor styling and level of standard features. We wanted a fully loaded minivan, so the Montanas we looked at had bunches of options listed. A Terraza with the same stuff had only two - four options with everything else standard. Price was essentially the same; Terraza was often lower when all the options are added in.

My wife thought she'd like the 2005 Montana better than Terraza, but after comparing them side by side, she liked the Terraza much better.

Trade-in of the old Montana, of course was not high, but that would be true regardless of whatever we did with the Montana. We probably could have gotten $500-$1000 more by selling it ourselves up in Orlando or down in Miami (the rich folks in Boca make the market for used 100K mile minivans kinda skinny), but that would be too much hassle and not very practical for us.

We've taken the Montana from Key West up through the Applachian Mountains and everywhere in between - often stuffed to the max with luggage, camping gear and food. It has worked reliably.

The new Montana SV6 / Terraza and other GM minivans are the same as the previous versions suhcas our 2000 Montan with just a more truck-like hood/nose.

The GM clear coat on the 2000 Montana, like my 2000 Firebird, has held up amazingly well, especially considering we are in such bright sun and high salt air environment. It is still highly shiny, with just the usual tiny dings in the front from road debris.

The Montana still has no squeaks, rattles, etc to speak of, even after 6 years of hard use on all types of roads.

We had a fair amount of covered repairs under the regular and extended warranties. Most of the things were not major mechanical problems related to the basic driveability of the minivan; rather, they were a reflection of the very high level and variety of systems in the van. For example, we had the "Montanavision" VCR replaced, power sliding door actuator replaced, etc.

Our new Buick Terraza looks to be all around significantly higher quality materials, fit and finish than our 2000 Montana.