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Trading my Terrain for a... Terrain??!

25439 Views 47 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Terrain
I'm probably the only one here that has a lot of issues with my Terrain. The laundry list is up to 11 and I'm drawing the line there. I don't get the impression that my particular copy is going to stand up over the long term.

I now have the opportunity to trade my Terrain for a new one of comparable value. Unfortunately, with 11,500 kms and 7 months on the clock, it's not worth as much as I paid for it (duh). So now I have to pick and choose to end up with the same payment.

Currently I have...
SLT-2 V6 AWD
carbon black, 19" wheels, trailer towing, everything except nav and rse

Comparable potential replacement...
SLT-1 V6 FWD
summit white (or other non-premium paint but not black), sunroof, 18" wheels, nav

So it's a bit of a step down to lose the memory seats, power liftgate, trailer towing (not sure on this yet), 19" wheels, AWD, rear park assist and a couple of ambient LEDs. But I would be able to 'start over'.

So am I crazy? Should I just drop it off at the dealer with the laundry list and hope for the best? Since it needs the dash and headliner to be torn apart I don't want to risk having the value of the vehicle reduced by a butcher job on the interior.

The only thing I am not sure about is the navigation. Originally the dealer swayed me away due to the lack of coverage in parts of Canada but now that I've seen the integration with other vehicle systems I think I would like to have it. At $3,345 it's an expensive option so if I'm going to be looking at a white screen all the time I'll have to re-think it.

Can someone who has the navigation search the following addresses and tell me if there is any map coverage?

2 Hayden Court, Belleville, Ontario
169 Front Street, Belleville, Ontario


Thanks!
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You've definitely got a tough decision ahead of you! I personally LOVE the sunroof and navigation on our 'NOX. I'm an electronics gadget person, so the navigation, to me, is AWESOME! It's not just the navigation aspect of the unit, but the beautiful display and added controls that make it so great. With that said, the memory seats and power liftgate would be hard to live without after having used both numerous times so far. To me, losing the rear park assist is not that big of a deal because you would get the larger rear view display in the navigation unit. Good luck in your decision and I'll try and look up your two addresses tonight on our navigation unit, and I'll let you know what I find out.
Thanks! And it IS a heck of a decision. I love the 'classiness' of my current Terrain.

This has been my first vehicle with the sunroof and I love it. It's just a shame that it's such a pain in the @ss.
Terrain,

I tried both of those addresses you noted. I couldn't find Hayden Court on the navigation unit, but I did find 169 Front St. It shows a river or stream that runs parallel with Front, King, James, and Mary Streets. I then expanded the area of coverage, and it looks like it covers the whole town/city of Belleville rather well.
Excellent! Thanks so much. Hayden Crt is a new development so I doubted it would be on the system. The other address is City Hall and the river would be the Moira River. James, Mary etc are streets on the west side so that tells me coverage would be adequate.

Thanks!
TheCrow1994 said:
Terrain,

I tried both of those addresses you noted. I couldn't find Hayden Court on the navigation unit, but I did find 169 Front St. It shows a river or stream that runs parallel with Front, King, James, and Mary Streets. I then expanded the area of coverage, and it looks like it covers the whole town/city of Belleville rather well.
Thanks, TheCrow1994.
I was going to test the Nav for member Terrain, but I don't use it on a daily basis, wife does, so I would have done it by weekend.

Terrain, here is coverage map for Onstar:

http://www.onstar.com/web/portal/coveragemap

Maybe there is some correlation with NAV since the Onstar does provide turn-by-turn NAV as an option.

We live just outside of Windsor, ON.
The maps are very good.
In areas of new development, there are some holes for sure, which can be expected of any NAV system I'd guess.
When we get onto the county backroads, there are some missing (maybe they are private roads, I don't know), but you can always see a main road nearby.
The ZOOM feature is also very useful on the NAV.
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gearhead said:
Thanks, TheCrow1994.
I was going to test the Nav for member Terrain, but I don't use it on a daily basis, wife does, so I would have done it by weekend.

Terrain, here is coverage map for Onstar:

http://www.onstar.com/web/portal/coveragemap

Maybe there is some correlation with NAV since the Onstar does provide turn-by-turn NAV as an option.

We live just outside of Windsor, ON.
The maps are very good.
In areas of new development, there are some holes for sure, which can be expected of any NAV system I'd guess.
When we get onto the county backroads, there are some missing (maybe they are private roads, I don't know), but you can always see a main road nearby.
The ZOOM feature is also very useful on the NAV.
Thanks for info, gear. I don't have much time to make a decision as they have a buyer for mine already should I choose to go ahead with this. Definitely not an easy decision for me.
Terrain said:
Thanks for info, gear. I don't have much time to make a decision as they have a buyer for mine already should I choose to go ahead with this. Definitely not an easy decision for me.
Maybe i just don't remember it, but what problems do you have with your terrain to have them to switch it ?

If someone will buy yours its probably that they got the problems solved... if not they will have a comeback...

Just asking...
One other thing : losing the 19" wheels isnt really a bad thing... 19" are chrome clad plastic covered wheels that i'm sure are less durable.... so the 18" are more durable IMO...
^ I ordered my Terrain last September when stock was scarce... and I do mean scarce. At the time, I couldn't get over how out of proportion the Terrains looked with the smaller wheels in those large wheel wells. That prompted me to go for the 19s. Then I needed the rest of the chrome so I went with the SLT-2. With the metallic paint and all the chrome it sure looks sharp and turns a lot of heads.

Because of the depreciation I will have to go for a lesser model and that's what I'm trying to justify in my mind.

I have nittered on and off about various issues but if I started a complaint thread I would just get flamed.

The list includes... off the top of my head:

- intermittent drone/vibration when cruising at ~1500 rpm. Sounds like a muffler baffle is gone but it isn't,
- intermittent right rear scraping sound when accelerating,
- intermittent rattle coming from the front suspension over sharp bumps,
- intermittent 'looseness' in the steering - it's normally nice and tight,
- intermittent steering system jitter/whine while turning at low speeds,
- "Rice crispies" dash board. I pushed down on the top dash panel one day to see if I could locate the noise. Heard a click and thought 'great!' but that just moved the sound to another spot up there,
- sunroof rattles like crazy while in vent mode,
- various other interior panels snap and pop continually,
- driver's side seat bolster leather is stretched and wrinkly. I knew this was going to be a problem from day 1 as there was an unusual wrinkle there to begin with,
- when idling in park or neutral, revving the engine to 1500 causes the engine to shake quite strikingly,
... can't recall the 11th right now.

Of course, since most of this is intermittent it's the old "could not replicate customer's complaint" and the dealer is 2.5 hours away so every trip there cost me $$. The latest thing is he wants to take it for a week. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm much more particular than most consumers but at this point I don't trust that this thing is going to stand up well over the long term and the last thing I want is to be paying big bucks but not wanting to drive it.

Interior squeaks and rattles I CANNOT STAND. Period.
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Terrain said:
Interior squeaks and rattles I CANNOT STAND. Period.
I had a Vibe with Dash Rattles when the temp went below 40 degrees. I can relate to the fact that it drives you crazy. However, my Equinox IS rattle-free. You should complain until yours is, also.
RIT333 said:
You should complain until yours is, also.
I haven't got the time or the energy to do that. Especially when the dealer is 2.5 hours away! I just need my transportation to work well and not cause me aggravation. I'm not into my vehicles like most people. I have never hand washed my Terrain (or my Sierra or my F150)... you won't catch me polishing chrome or anything like that. I take it to a coin op manual and spray it down when it looks dirty about once a month. Of course, in the winter I spray it down at least twice a week.
Do you have a "Lemon Law" where you live? If so, keep your records strong and GM may be forced to buy back your Terrain at near your purchase cost.

Personally, I'd do some serious cash saving and wait a few more months. Keep on your dealership to fix the problems (or try another dealership) After a few months you might find you can afford a higher payment and or have enough down to bring another SLT-2 into your range.
Narg said:
Do you have a "Lemon Law" where you live? If so, keep your records strong and GM may be forced to buy back your Terrain at near your purchase cost.

Personally, I'd do some serious cash saving and wait a few more months. Keep on your dealership to fix the problems (or try another dealership) After a few months you might find you can afford a higher payment and or have enough down to bring another SLT-2 into your range.
No lemon law here in Ontario, just the CAMVAP arbitration process. Lots of energy would have to put into that.

As an update, I spent the morning at a more local dealer. They of course couldn't experience most of the issues I do and are pleased as punch to take it as a trade. With the employee pricing discount the difference between mine and an SLT-1 (w/o nav) would be a wash. Of course, it means I'd have to start over with the financing but that's not a problem for me.

I want the navigation system this time, and as a result will have to pay $3,000 extra in cash. There are only two 2010 Terrains left in Ontario with the nav (to my spec):

SLT-2 onyx black, V6, fwd, 19" wheels, trailering package (essentially same as mine now but with nav and minus AWD)
SLT-1 cyber grey V6, fwd, 18" wheels, trailering, sunroof, power gate, nav AND rear seat entertainment

At this point my preference is the SLT-1. I took an existing stock SLT-1 they had with the 18s and was astonished at how much quieter those tires are than my Hankooks. Also, the one I drove this morning had a different shift program... it was worlds better and didn't cause the V6 to 'bog' under light acceleration like mine does.


Let's see what happens...
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Cyber grey metallic was sold and delivered. So that one's out.

So that means the only 2010 Terrain left in Ontario with the nav is the SLT-2 onyx black. Unfortunately that one is pending sale but I'm told their purchaser is having issues with financing.


It's not looking good on the navigation front... I could order but '11s aren't eligible for the incentives right now.
The selling dealership is giving the guy until Monday to come up with the financing.

I don't have much faith at this point that I will get this Terrain. We shall see come Monday...
Honestly, with as many incentives that GM puts out, I would just ORDER what you want and be done with it. We did it with ours and cant be happier. It was MUCH easier than trying to find a SLE2 with the heated seats, color and INTERIOR color we wanted. Every time we found one with the first two, the interior was the light titanium and that was just a no go for my wife.
bballr4567 said:
Honestly, with as many incentives that GM puts out, I would just ORDER what you want and be done with it. We did it with ours and cant be happier. It was MUCH easier than trying to find a SLE2 with the heated seats, color and INTERIOR color we wanted. Every time we found one with the first two, the interior was the light titanium and that was just a no go for my wife.
I ordered the Terrain I have now. That was 12 weeks of hell. Unfortunately I'm not happy with the overall quality 7 months in and would like to have the navigation now that I know there is map coverage where I do most of my driving. This wasn't what I was told when I placed my order last September.

And besides, I don't think there are any incentives for '11s yet. The current employee pricing is only for remaining '10s as far as I know which is why we are waiting to see if the last SLT-2 V6 with nav in Ontario is available. If not, we will regroup.

Edit: this is from the GM Canada website fine print re the employee pricing discount "Ineligible vehicles: 2010/2011 Corvette ZR1, Express, Savana, and Medium Duty Trucks, 2011 Equinox, Terrain, Camaro, Regal, LaCrosse, Cadillac CTS Coupe and SRX."
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Terrain said:
I ordered the Terrain I have now. That was 12 weeks of hell. Unfortunately I'm not happy with the overall quality 7 months in and would like to have the navigation now that I know there is map coverage where I do most of my driving. This wasn't what I was told when I placed my order last September.
Most orders are being delivered in 6-8 weeks now. In fact, I havent seen someone complain about order time in a few months. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but it looks like you are SOL on getting a '10 model.

As for the pops and rattles in the dash, when does yours do it?? All the time? Ours does it for the first 15-20 minutes of a drive whenever its been hot out. After that, its done. Its from the plastic cooling down from the A/C. Same principle as when exhaust piping pings and pops after you turn off a car.

The steering issue seems to just be a power steering pump working in normal fashion to me. Does it kind of give a faint whine at full lock accompanied with low RPM?
bballr4567 said:
Most orders are being delivered in 6-8 weeks now. In fact, I havent seen someone complain about order time in a few months. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but it looks like you are SOL on getting a '10 model.

As for the pops and rattles in the dash, when does yours do it?? All the time? Ours does it for the first 15-20 minutes of a drive whenever its been hot out. After that, its done. Its from the plastic cooling down from the A/C. Same principle as when exhaust piping pings and pops after you turn off a car.

The steering issue seems to just be a power steering pump working in normal fashion to me. Does it kind of give a faint whine at full lock accompanied with low RPM?
The dash pops while the vehicle cools down as well, just like you're describing. My annoyance is a snap/pop from the front dash somewhere on EVERY crack in the road. There are also other interior noises as well including a rattle above my head in the sunroof, again EVERY crack in the road. And our roads aren't in very good shape either.

Most of my mechanical list of annoyances are intermittent, meaning some days it's nice and quiet and other days it makes all kinds of weird noises.

The steering issue is intermittent as well. There is a whine (I believe to be normal) but there's a strange sound sometimes when turning at low speeds and a jitter in the steering wheel.

The SLT-1 I drove on Friday exhibited NONE of the annoyances I deal with on a daily basis. Of course it was brand new (34 km) and mine has 12,000. To me, my Terrain hasn't aged well. Feels more like 120,000 km than 12,000.

I'll find out Monday whether I'm trading for the 10. If not... well I have a decision to make - do I suck up the $3,000 - $4,000 (current incentive) and go for an '11 or just trade off for a non-nav leftover '10 rig.
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