I put about 600 highway miles on our Enclave over the Labor Day weekend. There were
no surprises -- the Buick was enjoyable for the entire trip. Given that the Enclave has almost 23,000 miles on it, I kept an ear out for squeaks and rattles. I heard only one intermittent rattle coming from the lower part of the center stack.
I had my wife and one-year-old daughter with me, and the Enclave easily handled a weekend's amount of stuff. In the photo are two suitcases, a folded Pack 'n Play playpen and two duffle bags. Buick officially lists cargo capacity behind the second-row seats at 67.5 cubic feet. That's pretty much what you'll get out of a typical small crossover with all the rear seats folded. For this trip, the Buick's interior roominess actually felt like overkill for a small family.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 22,978 miles
carguy622 says:
12:09 PM, 09/ 2/08
Wow! All that luggage for a weekend?! Women ;)
misterfusion says:
12:34 PM, 09/ 2/08
So... not even a Long-Term intro for the Flex?
Don't get me wrong, three LT posts in one morning is about 300% ahead of IL's usual pace, but...come on already!
dragonflight says:
12:35 PM, 09/ 2/08
23,000 miles and you're worried about rattles?! Have a Benz with 45k miles, a Toyota with 70k, a Honda with 60k and I'm nowhere near worrying about rattles!
dougtheeng says:
12:38 PM, 09/ 2/08
I'm definitely looking forward to some Enclave-Flex comparisons. Good post though.
tinyelvis says:
01:48 PM, 09/ 2/08
My '01 Sequoia started rattling at 18,000 miles. That was before I took it out on the sand at the Outer Banks. A friend's Odyssey is a Squeak-O-Rama.
My Enclave is ready to turn 23,000, and I'm still nervously listening for squeaks and rattles, too. So far so good, but it is a GM product, and their track record is not stellar.
If you opt for the roof rails and get a nice size luggage carrier, you can pack a lot of stuff on top and have a mini Holiday Inn to travel in.
toyota4life says:
02:51 PM, 09/ 2/08
Yea ,good review but,...did you guys get those two recall notice yet?
what about the sunroof leaking debacle?
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@.f17fc13/0
what about camshaft problems? NO?
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@.f191167/0
tinyelvis says:
05:40 PM, 09/ 2/08
Hmmm, I know of several Enclave owners and none of us have leaking sunroofs or camshaft problems.
We are aware that Toyota has had recent recalls, such as the '08 Highlander for occupant crash protection:
http://www.automotive.com/2008/49/toyota/highlander/recalls/35324.html
Or the Tundra:
http://www.automallusa.net/2007/toyota/tundra/recalls.html
So if you really want to nit-pick we can all find problems if we look hard enough.
I thought this post was about the pleasant driving experience his family had in the Enclave. I don't see that there was any leaking sunroof or camshaft problems, so why bring it up? Is it due to your rice-burner Enclave envy?
chevrun says:
10:13 AM, 09/ 5/08
I hate to sound Stupid, But I just bought a 2008 Enclave...Can you tell me where they have hid the battery....