To me, this combo, Acadia, Enclave, Outlooks are late born Chrysler Pacificas. One can easily argue that the V-6 powered Pacifica (first with 250, now 300hp) was as big, as arguably as good looking as this trio. Both front wheel drive/AWD. let's see:

Pacifica / Acadia
engine: 300hp/275 hp
wheelbase: 116.3 / 118.9
lenght: 198.9 / 201.1
width: 79.3/ 78.9
weight: 4597 / 4936
Price: 35k limited / GMC 35k - both can be loaded with options

I don't see the reason behind this car. What Chrysler and GM need, IMHO, is a midsize classy V-6 SUV like the Acura MDX/Honda Pilot, both would be a better substitute for the Blazer. Enough power, lots of room with 3rd row seats, and some towing capacity. Is it that hard to get?

In any case, Chrysler have already said it is not working on a new Pacifica, the car doesn't sell. I drove a rental one for 3 months, it is a great car, nice interior finish, nice rear suspension (from Mercedes), but terrible transmission (need a 6 speed badly, or a faster changing trans) which makes the engine feel weak.

These heavy cars need a high end transmission to go with their relative lack of power (no V8) given their weight.

To above.

You mean like the Saturn Vue? It doesn't have 3rd row seats but thats ok since most only have two kids. It's not a luxury car either but in my mind looks better than the Pilot and as good as the MDX.

248hp, 3500 lb tow rating, seats 5. 20/28 mpg. Nicely equipped at $25-26,000 which is lower than the Pilot's base price. Better mileage than the Pilot too.

Or get the Green Line hybrid version with a 2.4L I-4 that gets 27/32 mpg with a 1500 lb tow rating. Still enough for jet skis. And it's way cheaper (nicely equipped at $24,500) than say a hybrid Ford Escape which goes for $30,000 base.

You're right David. I forgot about the vue, but I don't know if it is taking sales off the Pilot. Does it sell well?

In any case, the Pacifica looks nicer to me than those bloated behemooths. Still, I'd never buy one of those, specially since they lack refinement and the road feel of an MDX, not to mention resale value and reliability. The new MDX sells fully loaded for 40k (I got a quote on that recently), and a fully loaded Acadia is therebouts or higher.

GM needs to kill everything but chevy and Caddilac and move on.
GMC is nothing but chevy and Buick has no cred with anyone under 60, and well, pontiac, whatever.
Am I forgetting any other worthless nameplates?

Zippy,

Please educate yourself about how well Buick is doing in China, then reconsider your statement about killing GM's most successful division in Asia.

Oh, and stop being an import car snob. Such a condition incurs intellectual laziness, which in turn makes one unwilling to reconsider their stance on any given topic. Things change, after all.

Geez George, I didn't mean to insult your Buick 98 you got in the driveway, but this is the second thread in a row I have seen you throw out the "import car snob' line.

GM could probably sell any of their junk in china and it would sell. The point is there is little difference between any of the models that cross name plates. They are all the same ugly GM products with a different badge. Get off your "buy american" condition because afterall, it invites intellectual laziness, and we can't have that.

One thing I can't understand is the cost cutting in the wrong places with some American cars. I mean, the Buick put a 4 speed on the Lucerne with the Northstar V-8. In town you use only three, but you can tell that it is an old transmission: the lagging, the noise, sometimes it is just plain stupid. The same goes to the Pacifica. I drove the Pacifica and the Lucerne, company rentals. They were wonderful cars, but with terrible transmissions. No wonder they are not selling.

Now if you have ever driven a japonese car with a 5 or 6 speed, like the MDX, or a Lexus. You'll know what I mean. The car suddenly feels much more powerful, smoother and torquier. And more ecomical to boot. Look at the new Tundra getting all the praise for the new transmission. Road and Track, Truck mags, all prasing the low end 1st gear, and the hih 6th gear possible with a 6 speed transmission. Is that so hard to do?

What is being done to fix the issues with the GMC Acadia's bad transmission chip to ensure that the Traverse will not suffer the same way that Buick and GMC had on the service side of things. The 6T70 is the six-speed transmission they put in the Acadia and Enclave, and the chevy is due for the same transmission...Has it been fixed?