The Buick Rendezvous is a

mid-size Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in ...

crossover SUV A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles ( ...

that was sold by Buick for the 2002–2007 model years. Introduced in the spring of 2001, the Buick Rendezvous and its corporate cousin, the

Pontiac Aztek The Pontiac Aztek is a mid-size crossover SUV marketed by General Motors from model years 2001 until 2005, along with a rebadged variant, the Buick Rendezvous. As a 5-door crossover with a front engine with front-wheel drive and optional all-whee ...

, were GM's first entries into the crossover SUV segment. The Rendezvous featured a four-speed automatic transmission with a V6 engine and optional all-wheel-drive (Versatrak). The SUV used the same platform as GM's short-wheelbase minivans, the

Chevrolet Venture The Chevrolet Venture is a minivan produced by General Motors for the 1997 to 2005 model years. The Chevrolet Venture, along with most of its General Motors minivan siblings, was built at GM's Doraville, Georgia, assembly plant. Use of name Th ...

and Pontiac Montana. The Rendezvous provided a passenger- and load-carrying capacity not seen in the Buick lineup since the discontinuation of the Buick Roadmaster Estate station wagon in 1996.

Technology and notable features

It was Buick's first

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

in its lineup since 1923, and the Rendezvous was billed as a combination of the best attributes of a

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is ...

(large cargo capacity, seating for up to seven), a luxury

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

(ride, handling, smoothness) and a sport utility vehicle (truck styling and available

all wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one w ...

). The Rendezvous was produced at General Motors'

Ramos Arizpe Ramos Arizpe () is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. Ramos Arizpe is located 11 km from the state capital of Saltillo. It is part of the Saltillo metropolitan area. The city ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

assembly plant, where it shared an assembly line with the

. Like the Pontiac Aztek, the Buick Rendezvous is based on a shortened version of GM's second generation U platform minivans. In lieu of

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer cas ...

, the Rendezvous offered Versatrak, a full-time, fully automatic all-wheel drive system which provided sure-footed traction in inclement weather and could handle moderate off-road surfaces. Buick benchmarked their

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...

sedan as the prototypical target for ride and handling for the Rendezvous. In order to provide a luxurious and responsive car-like ride, all Rendezvous came equipped with a fully independent rear suspension system regardless of optional content or trim level. The Rendezvous' instrument cluster detailing featured teal illuminated needles and numbers set in a silver face accented by chrome trim rings that was meant to evoke the luxurious look and feel of an expensive watch or designer bracelet. On the uplevel CXL model, a driver information center on the instrument panel provided the outside temperature, compass functions, a

trip computer A trip computer is a computer fitted to some cars; most modern trip computers record, calculate, and display the distance travelled, the average speed, the average fuel consumption, and real-time fuel consumption. The first, mechanical trip co ...

that included readings of fuel economy, range and fuel used. An optional second generation heads-up display was also available. This was also available in the CX model. An optional tire inflation monitoring system provided readings of tire pressure and warned if out of the specified range. The Rendezvous boasted the ability to carry seven passengers when equipped with a third-row bench, a class-leading feature that Buick brought to market before its competitors, and was able to carry within its interior a standard 4 x 8' sheet of plywood. In support of the Rendezvous' intended role as a versatile

accoutrement Accoutrements are the personal/individual equipment of service people such as soldiers, sailors, police and firemen and employees of some private organizations such as security guards, other than their basic uniform and weapons.In American English ...

for busy people with families, it provided a center console with storage space and power points for a laptop computer as well as a separate spots to hold a purse, a cell phone, pager or other small items that the owner would want to keep organized and readily accessible as well as an optional rear cargo organizer system and rear seat stereo system controls with headsets.

Safety

The

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a U.S. nonprofit organization funded by auto insurance companies, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle traffic collisio ...

(IIHS) gives Rendezvous an overall ''Acceptable'' rating in its frontal offset crash test for fair structure performance and fair dummy control. However, the IIHS did not perform a side-impact test on the Rendezvous.

Sales success

The Rendezvous was a badly needed success for Buick, given the decline of its aging customer base, and singlehandedly brought a large number of younger, wealthier "conquest" buyers into Buick showrooms who otherwise would not have considered purchasing a Buick. A major contributor to the Rendezvous's success was an aggressive value-pricing strategy that made the Rendezvous US$6,500 less than a comparably equipped

Acura MDX The Acura MDX is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV with three-row seating produced by the Japanese automaker Honda under its luxury Acura division since 2000. The alphanumeric moniker stands for "Multi-Dimensional" luxury. It has ranked as the seco ...

and US$8,000 less than the

Lexus RX The is a luxury crossover SUV sold since 1998 by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota. Originally released in its home market of Japan in late 1997 as the Toyota Harrier, export sales began in March 1998 as the Lexus RX. Considered as the first ...

. The Rendezvous handily exceeded GM's predictions of 30,000 to 40,000 units a year by a large margin, which helped offset the poor sales of the

with which it shared its Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, assembly line. Commercials featuring

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

aired during the

Buick Classic The FedEx St. Jude Championship, founded as the Westchester Classic in 1967, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Since 2007, it has been played as the first tournament of the playoff system for the FedEx Cup, with the field limit ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

tournament. "Tornado" featured a tornado picking up Woods, three waitresses and their minivan, two

storm chasers ''Storm Chasers'' is an American documentary reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2007, on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Original Media, the program follows several teams of storm chasers as they attempt to intercept ...

in a competing SUV, and one man in a luxury car. All the participants ended up inside a Rendezvous, with Woods driving and saying, "I guess we're not in Kansas anymore." "Igor" had three vehicles driving from a cemetery at night into a castle, followed by a

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

strike, and Woods exiting the castle in a Rendezvous as "

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

" plays. Woods says, "What? You were expecting Igor?".http://media.gm.com/news/releases/b010620a.html , Retrieved on 2009/01/15.

Year to year changes

2003

* Optional Rear Seat

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

system is now offered * Optional

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its se ...

is now offered

2004

*Front

turn signal The lighting system of a motor vehicle consists of lighting and signalling devices mounted to or integrated into the front, rear, sides, and in some cases the top of a motor vehicle. They illuminate the road ahead for the driver and increase th ...

/parking lights changed to clear from the previously used amber. *The Ultra was added as a top-line model, with all

comfort Comfort (or being comfortable'')'' is a sense of physical or psychological ease, often characterized as a lack of hardship. Persons who are lacking in comfort are uncomfortable, or experiencing discomfort. A degree of psychological comfort c ...

options standard, 17 inch aluminium wheels,

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

and

ultrasuede Ultrasuede is the trade name for a synthetic ultra-microfiber fabric invented in 1970 by Dr. Miyoshi Okamoto, a scientist working for Toray Industries. In Japan, it is sold under the brand name Ecsaine. It is often described as an artificial su ...

seating as well as a

theft deterrent system Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

. *

OnStar OnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, emergency services, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada, China, ...

is now available on the Rendezvous as an optional feature.

2005

*The Ultra was available with

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...

. *The 3.6 L V6 was now an option for the

CXL. *Received chrome Buick tri-shield steering wheel. *Leather-wrapped steering wheel standard.

2006

*Quiet Tuning added to model *

is now standard on the Rendezvous * Rear park-assist is also now made standard on the Rendezvous *3.5 liter V6 Standard *Received chrome Buick tri-shield in grille *A black faced instrument cluster replaced the all silver one used in prior years (2005 in some models) *Ultra Dropped for CXL+

2007

*OnStar Direction and Connections with

turn-by-turn navigation Turn-by-turn Navigation is a feature of some satellite navigation devices where directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken or visual instructions. The system keeps the user up-to-date about the best ...

*Available in CX, and CXL Trims *Available only in Front Wheel Drive *Standard Mahogany Trimmed Wheel on CXL, Optional on CX *Standard Third Row Seat on CXL Trim *Last Year for the Buick Rendezvous

Sales

References

External links

Buick Rendezvous Official Web Page

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