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Why (Not) the GMC Acadia?

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TrueDelta's "Why (Not) This Car?" reviews of the GMC Acadia, posted by owners, focus on the information most sought by many car buyers: the reasons to buy (or not buy) the GMC Acadia compared to other car models.

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Comparisons: GMC Acadia Preferred

GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Exterior styling: Speaks for itself.
Rear seat room & comfort: Best 3rd row leg room in its class. Smart slide seats provide easy access to 3rd row
Cargo capacity & towing: Best cargo capacity behind 3rd row in its class.
Ride smoothness: Ride smoothness is more like a minivan or sedan than SUV
Handling: Handles very well considering its large size.
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Mazda CX-9: Reasons not to buy
Rear seat room & comfort: 3rd row leg room is tight
Cargo capacity & towing: Cargo capacity behind 3rd row not impressive
Ride smoothness: Ride is a little more jittery than Acadia.
Available features: Lack of 2nd row bucket seats. Inability to get memory seats without buying 20" wheels.
Front seat room: Footwell on driver's side seemed a bit tight.
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Exterior styling: Contemporary without being overdone. Looks well made.
Interior styling: Looks like a high end car. Chrome detail.
Ride smoothness: Very smooth for a SUV, don't feel bumps etc.
Handling: Rides like a car.
Front seat comfort: Plenty of legroom, seat has many adjustment.
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Acura TL: Reasons not to buy
Price or payments: Little high.
Rear seat room & comfort: Small for adults
Color choices: very few nice colors, drab in appearance.
Exterior styling: Liked the older style better. Doesn't look like anything special.
Fuel economy: COuld be better for a car of that class
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Exterior styling: It is the best looking CUV available. It has a rugged masculine look to it.
Rear seat room & comfort: I like the available 3 row seating and options for 7 or 8 passengers or any combo of that and cargo.
Cargo capacity & towing: Even with all 3 rows up, still has some room for some cargo. None of the competitors have this much room with all seats up. When all seats aren't needed up, very flexible with cargo capability.
Interior styling: Looks beautiful. Much better than stylce of other CUV competitors.
Available features: Plenty of options for those gadget geeks. Easy to configure how you like. Although like all competitors, options are costly.
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Quietness: Easier to carry on conversations
Rear seat room & comfort: Captain chairs makes it easier to bring the dog on long trips.
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Honda Pilot: Reasons not to buy
Cargo capacity & towing: rear bench seat limits possibilities with dog
Rear seat room & comfort: no captains chairs like in Odyssey
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Rear seat room & comfort: 3rd row is big enough for adults, leg room & head room, comfortable bench seat; 2nd row captains chairs were an option that I chose; easy to get around 2nd row and into 3rd row. I believe the Acadia was 11" longer than the Toyota Highlander.
Cargo capacity & towing: Cargo capacity - there is room behind the 3rd row seat for 2 small suitcases; Also, the 3rd row is a split fold (about 30/70) for the flexibility of cargo & passenger storage.
Exterior styling: Looks sharp, lower than an SUV and long; some say the front is boxy, but I disagree.
Interior styling: Comfortable, controls are laid out very well. There are a LOT of cotrols on my model, the SLT2 & I didn't even get the HUD or Nav system.
Audio & nav systems: Disclaimer - I'm not an audiophile; So from an amateur's POV, love the sound (6 speakers?), back seat can listen to separate music (part of DVD option that I have?); radio controls on steering wheel - nice; 2 wireless headphones w/DVD; XM nice
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Toyota Highlander: Reasons not to buy
Rear seat room & comfort: 3rd row seat not for adults - children only, not comfortable, not easy to reach the 3rd row; 3rd row seat optional - without it, it's just a giant 4-5 passanger car.
Cargo capacity & towing: With 3rd row seat, no room behind for cargo (maybe a set of golf clubs?). The 3rd row folds down, but no split like 50/50 or 40/60. Not flexible enough, this killed it as an option for us.
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Comparisons: GMC Acadia Not Preferred

Mazda CX-9: Reasons to buy
Handling: Very tight on the road. Handles like a much smaller car; I sometimes forget I'm driving an SUV
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GMC Acadia: Reasons not to buy
Handling: Engine seemed noisy; it strained as I stepped on the gas pedal
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Single Vehicle Reviews: GMC Acadia Pros and Cons

GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Interior styling: Excellent design inside, everything seems to be right where it needs to be
Materials & workmanship: Fit and finish seems to be far better that any I have seen on a gm vehicle.
Ride smoothness: The ride is about the smoothest a quietest that I have experienced
Cargo capacity & towing: More cargo capacity than anything this size
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Cargo capacity & towing: Ample space for luggage, dog, store purchases.
Powertrain performance: AWD available, engine power, smooth auto transmission.
Exterior styling: Tasteful, pleasing.
Interior styling: Tasteful, pleasing.
Safety & braking: Magazine tests (Car & Driver, Consumer Reports) reported excellent braking and crash test performance.
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Exterior styling: Big bold look
Powertrain performance: Great power. Makes it fun to drive daily.
Fuel economy: Great MPG for size of the Acadia,
Quietness: Can hear people talking in the back of the car with out having to yell.
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Cargo capacity & towing: Second and third seats fold absolutely flat, with no gaps. This is a requirement for me, since I often travel with dogs, dog carriers, and equipment. It is also useful for carrying bicycles and assorted accessories.
Front seat comfort: Power seats have versatile adjustments. Thigh support is better than some compact SUVs that I compared. Tilt and telescoping steering wheel is flexible for driving position.
Discounts & incentives: I got the Acadia under the "Cash-for-clunkers" incentives. In addition, dealer gave reasonable discount off MSRP and I got 0% financing for 72 months, quite a good incentive package.
Exterior styling: Styling looks unique and unusual. Has some aggressive as well as aero aspects to styling. Hard to classify because they are not many seen on the road and not just another wagon, crossover, SUV, etc.
Ride smoothness: The car came with oversize wheels which enhance ride and the ride is generally solid and comfortable based on early experience, both in-town driving and a long-distance trip.
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GMC Acadia: Reasons to buy
Rear seat room & comfort: Third row seating was a must when looking for a new car. I was able to ride in a coworkers acadia and enjoyed the ability to easily and comfortably ride in the back as a 6'1" adult.
Exterior styling: The exterior of this vehicle does not look like a typical people mover. I just liked the overall look of the headlights and grill as well as the led taillights.
Ride smoothness: It is one of the smoothest riding SUVs that I have had an opportunity to ride in.
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GMC Acadia: Reasons not to buy
Available features: I did choose the SLE based on budget, so my expectations on features should be lower than the more expensive SLT, but with a price tag starting at $30k I would have expected more. etc. compass,heated outside mirrors with turn signals, DIC...
Price or payments: Go along with the available features, the starting price of the acadia, $30k, only gets you the base vehicle while small things that are options are standard on smaller, less expensive, less desirable(to me) vehicles.
Fuel economy: Taking into account the size and weight of the vehicle, it isn't too bad. But, I would like to have a little better than 19mpg average when driving 70% highway. Especially with the FWD model.
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GMTruckClub.com -- GMC Acadia forum

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