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Enclave, Outlook, Acadia & Traverse in trouble?


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From AutoExtremist.com

The ugly High-Octane Truth about GM’s vaunted new crossovers, the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and soon-to-be-online Chevrolet Traverse? The real-world mileage in urban driving is all of a sudden a big concern to GM’s execs. Rated at 16 in the city and 24 on the highway, the vehicles, when compared to something on the order of a Tahoe or a Suburban, do just fine for most consumers. But now that the bloom has shriveled on the SUV rose, the real-world mileage of 13–16 in stop-and-go driving in the city is giving consumers more than a little pause. When GM designed and engineered these large crossovers, their mileage was a noticeable improvement over traditional full-size SUVs, while being just as roomy inside. But with a curb weight pushing 5,000 pounds, more efficient powertrains aren’t going to be enough, so GM is now in the throes of considering a plan of action to put these vehicles on a serious and much-needed diet.

 

It will be interesting to see how the Chevy Traverse does. These four are much larger than the Edge, although, they do have three rows of seats. I think the Ford Flex get similar mileage.

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We love our Edge Limited. However, my mother-in-law just bought an Enclave that I found for her and I must admit that it is a beautiful vehicle. If we needed a 3 row CUV that did not need to tow, the Enclave would be what we would buy. On a recent trip to Wyoming from Kansas, the FWD Enclave averaged between 24 and 25 MPG at speeds in excess of 70 MPH. I agree that with gas at $4.00 a gallon there are many who don't need such a large vehicle, but there are those who will always need a larger vehicle and the GM quads fit the bill. We have a 5000# boat/trailer so will keep our GMC Envoy to tow that as long as it runs. The mid size SUV's are all going to get eliminated as we know them so I fear that when the Envoy dies I will be forced to go to a full size SUV or pickup to be able to find something that can tow the boat. I have noticed that the GM dealers are starting to have the new CUV's remain on the lot longer than they did at first, when they were flying out as fast as they arrived, so the bloom is off the rose thanks to the new gas prices.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've seen no evidence of common SERIOUS transmission issues, and I have hundreds of these involved in TrueDelta's research. Many reflashes to improve driveability, but this isn't a serious issue.

 

The transmission hardware is the same as in the Edge.

 

Widely varying fuel economy is usually a matter of different conditions and faulty measurement. These vehicles won't be seeing mid-20s except under the most ideal conditions. They weigh nearly 5,000 pounds.

 

10 MPG is certainly possible in true city driving. Again, the curb weight.

 

You can view many reports on TrueDelta's detailed Fuel Economy Survey.

 

Real-world fuel economy survey

Edited by mkaresh
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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Take a look at Enclaveforums/Acaida/outlook... they're people with transmission issues

 

 

Quick questions: The old man has the 2008 Buick Enclave and it is a very nice vehicle. He was told he has the same transmission as in my Edge. They had to do an update to his and now it works alot better then mine. Also his has a button to shift between any gear manually.

 

So my questions:

-Is there an update for the Edge to make it shift like the Buick?

-Can we mod ours to manually shift between the gears?

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Hi skimaniaz. :D The Ford and GM transmissions you are talking about share a majority of the same hardware, but have different software, programming and other minor pieces.

 

Concerning your two questions. First: The Edge has had a TSB for a re-flash. If your Edge is eligible for the re-flash, it will change the shifts slightly. It will not shift like a Buick (whether for better or worse).

 

Second: No, there is no way (within reason) to modify your transmission to enable shifting it manually.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited by bbf2530
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  • 4 months later...

The buick Enclave is a beautiful vehicle, I considered it while in search for a new, the only problem was that i was nto able to get a better price than the Edge, and it was more expensive by a few K's otherwise I would ahve jumped on it blindly, the interior and finish is a lot more refined and offer more luxury than the Edge in the best incarnation...

 

About the MPG on the tripletes I think that you do not need a triplet to get 10MPG. My Edge had never made more than 10-11 in City driving neither...

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I just tradded in my wife's 2009 traverse LTZ with 87000 miles on it. It was the best vehicle we have ever owned the only maintenance ever done was oil changes. I had no transmition problems and I pulled a heavy duty 14' enclosed trailer here and there. Great vehicle but the miles were getting up there and my ford dealership was giving me an excellent trade in so we went with a 2013 edge sport awd. My wife was able to average 20 to 22 mpg. The edge so far is getting pretty much the same mpg. The traverse also has a 5500 towing capacity which is about twice what the edge can Handel. So far we are loving the edge but I wish ford had some of the same options that the traverse had like cooled seats, more storage and compartments auto dining side mirrors etc.

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  • 2 years later...

We had a 2012 Traverse (new) that ended up as a GM buyback. It seems their A/C systems are having issues and here in AZ that's critical. The A/C had multiple leaks and even after they thought they'd fixed them it would still cycle off and on frequently while driving, blowing hot air and air box mildewish stink.

Glad it's gone!

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We have 1of each.

* My wife drives a 2014 Acadia SLT with 3rd row seating. Real world fuel numbers for her are 13-16 mpg around town and we averaged 22 mpg on a recent trip from Ohio to Florida.

The Acadia seems a little underpowered for its size and weight but overall a great vehicle.

 

* I just bought my 2nd Edge, went from a 3.5L SEL with AWD which averaged 18-19 mpg in town to 24-26 mpg highway to a 2014 Edge Sport AWD with a 3.7L. I've been averaging around 17.5-18.5 mpg in town.

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