2002 Buick Rendezvous CXL from North America - Comments

Wow. I wish I had found this site before I bought my 2002 Rendezvous. Just about every problem listed here I have had, the latest being the intake gasket. Like most of us I got the thing for a decent price. We all know now why we got it for what we did. I tried 3 dealers trying to get anyone to help, Nothing. The only advice I can give on this truck is be afraid be very afraid. One last note if you check the top part edge on the hood and you notice the paint bubbling, you might get it done under warranty. Good Luck.

I purchased my 2002 Buick rendezvous in 2004. It had one previous owner who had a 2 year lease that just expired. I loved the car because of the space inside and the comfort. I traded my 2003 Jetta wagon for this P.O.S. I have a ton of things that many of you will find familiar. The vehicle when purchased had 35000 miles on it and the warranty was about to expire. Not 100 miles after the warranty expired the following things went wrong in the following order and how much replacing or fixing them cost:

Body control module replaced: $1000

Brakes replaced $400

Blown head gasket $1000

Air conditioner compressor $700

condenser $766

brakes $400.

The air conditioner still doesn't work. I give up! I still owe $9000 and am only offered $5000 on a trade. I feel kinda of lucky they will give me that much considering it has 106000 miles on it. The most fair thing I could say is that this was the first year of the Rendezvous and 2003 was a little better with issues and 2004 even better, now 2005 and 2006 are supposed to be really great. Too bad 2002 owners had to be the guinea pigs. What a shame. This is certainly not the way a company like GM should be acting in order for them to make a comeback. My advice. Don't BUY BUICK nor GM stock!!!

Oh no...! Like everyone else on here I wish I had found this site before I gave my parents the "seal of approval" on the 2002 Buick Rendezvous. I consider my self pretty savvy in a lot of walks of life and cars was one of my highlights.

Again, I can't believe I missed this site in my initial research I did for my parents when we were in the market for a family car back in 2004.

See both my parents are disabled so they rely solely on me to handle matters like this buying a car, etc.

So, at 16 years old I scouted out all the dealers in my home town, everything from Honda, Toyota, Buick, GM, Chrysler, Saturn, etc. This took about 2 full days, then after I gathered my top 10 I brought my parents and sister to the dealers to share with them the cars I thought were great!

So, after a couple of hours of touring various brands and models we came across this interesting, appealing, attention grabbing SUV (that wasn't on my list of top 10 new cars by the way)...the Vous' we were struck by it's size, cargo room, features, price, and really low mileage only 10,195 back in 2004 for a 2002 car! For $15,999, yes I thought it was too good to be true, because the retail price new was over $35,000 in 2002, though it didn't click with me.

Get this the SUV depreciated over $19,000 in about 2 years!!!

Anyway get this now, we were pre-approved with financing through Capital One for 29,000! So, boy do I wish I went with my original plan to get a brand new car... and Buick was not on my list at all originally.

Since, the SUV was everything we were looking for and such a great deal we decided to take it for a test drive and fell in love with with.

So, before I know it we drove off the lot 2 hours later in the Buick! And it was great for the first 1 and a half... no one problems. NO repairs just rotated the tires once!

Then bam! Towards the nearing of year 2 owning the SUV on a Friday, all four brake pads and rotors need to be replaced, in-order to pass state inspection due the following Monday!

So it was about $1,000 to fix that in one day.

Whew, so after being thankful that we got it fixed on that same Friday. We made our appointment for the following Monday to have the SUV inspected as planned. Then Bam!!! The day we had to get SUV inspected the passenger side widow fell into the door, and this was not discovered until the Monday morning while it was raining out side. I remember yelling at my sister for leaving the window down, but realized it wasn't her at all the window fell!!!

So, this threw off all our plans in our incredibly tight schedule, I had to take off of work, take the car to the Buick dealership and they told me that I had to order a window regular, it's like a "plastic money clip" that holds the window in place. So I asked how much dealer said no longer carry the part... I was like so how do I get one... mechanic said he could do a online search to find one.

An hour goes by and he finds one online for $450 plus shipping and handling... then gives me a labor quote of $350 for a total of $800 to fix this darn thing... I was so mad!!! We just spent $1000 3 days ago and couldn't barely afford to do that, but had to get the window fixed so I had to overdraft our debit card... which caused all kinds of problems... caused us to not be able to afford my dad's medication, physical therapy, doctor bills for 3 week!!!

Oh this was a nightmare! Lucky family helped us out before my dad had any complication and we were able to get him back on his medication.

Now there's something wrong with the alignment, air-conditioner, door not closing right, driver side window works when it wants to now. Doors don't stay locked sometimes, for example we were at the mall one day and did some shopping and came to the SUV to drop off the bags and go back into the mall to eat at a restaurant inside. I'm 100% sure I locked the doors with the key fob lights flashed and armed the SUV. An hour later my sister gets to the SUV and opens the door and I hadn't pressed the key-fob yet. Lucky nothing was taken when the doors unlocked themselves.

Oh boy and there is more...I'm too drained to tell the rest! But I will never buy Buick or GM ever! And boy Buick/GM doesn't know what they there losing! I'm sure you all feel the same way.

One more year left to pay down and were over with this! Moving to Toyota!!!

I am now 19 years old and have made it my mission to personally share what I have experienced with complete strangers that I see walking up to a VOUS'! Please warn others too! And don't trade it in because there could be another unsuspecting young family like mines that buys this piece of crap!!!

Yet another sucker here. I have the 2002 CXL. It started with the wiring harness which was a royal pain to repair. Had to drop the gas tank. Smae as everyone else it either wouldn't start or would shut off. Then last summer on vacation the air conditioning stopped working. The mechanic said I caught a rock in the condensor. I now know that it cracked like so many others. I am not in a position to buy another vehicle, but I am also not sure I can affor not to get another one. Buick really put out a clunker here.

Well, I am glad I found this site I purchased a 2006 Buick Rendezvous CXL in Oct 2006 and it make a funny noise when I make tight turn like an old man groaning they said that's normal because it an all wheeel drive. Now last week the air didn't work when I took a ride for a fifteen minute break, but afterwork it work fine until this morning July 19 2007 and I live Arizona where the weather this morning was 93 degrees and will hit 117 before the end of the day. I took the car to a Brake Plus out here where they check for A/C problem and told me if its still under warranty to take it to the dealer, once I got back in my car the air was working as soon as I got to work I call the dealer and they said its still under warranty and it covered for another 20,000 miles well as soon as they fix the problem I am trading this car in... I raher take a lost then deal with any future problem that I have read on this site.

Well, I am glad I found this site.

I purchased a 2006 Buick Rendezvous CXL in Oct 2006, and it makes a funny noise when I make tight turn like an old man groaning. They said that's normal because it's an all wheel drive.

Now last week the air didn't work when I took a ride for a fifteen minute break, but after work, it worked fine until this morning July 19 2007. I live Arizona, where the weather this morning was 93 degrees, and will hit 117 before the end of the day.

I took the car to a Brake Plus out here, where they checked for an A/C problem, and told me if it's still under warranty, to take it to the dealer. Once I got back in my car the air was working.

As soon as I got to work, I called the dealer and they said it's still under warranty, and it's covered for another 20,000 miles.

Well as soon as they fix the problem, I am trading this car in... I'd rather take a loss then deal with any future problems that I have read on this site.

Try a Brand new Kia, very good.

... sigh... me, too.

We liked the 2002 Buick Rendezvous AWD CXL and bought it new. It got the best gas mileage of all 6 cyl SUVs. It was big enough for my tall husband. It would tow 3,500 pounds. It got great safety ratings. And we now have 115,000 miles on it.

And we've had a bunch of problems with it. HOWEVER, I must say that this little workhorse hauled a 3,500 lb. trailer over 8,800 miles in 33 days over the highest mountain passes in the continental U.S.

We've done the condenser, wheel bearings, tie rod, I don't even remember everything, but it's just about everything that everyone else has mentioned.

But I have a question. We now have a diagnosis of a bad transmission "pressure control solenoid" and wiring harness. While on a 2,000 mile trip last month, a dealer in TN diagnosed this problem and said that we could probably make it home (to NY!), but not to put it in overdrive. And, ahem, we were pulling said same trailer. So, we pulled the trailer 1,800 miles home, driving in '3', not 'D' and it seems to work fine like this. The TN dealer said this is probably a $2,000+ job. My question is: what am I doing to the car by continuing to drive it in "3" with a bad pressure control solenoid? Any wisdom?

By the way, we just bought a new Toyota Prius and we will (try to) sell this Rendezvous. Anybody in the market? :)

I would say almost every problem listed by folks in this forum has happened to my Buick Rendezvous 2002 CXL. This is the worst car on the face of this planet, I can say this with confidence.

The latest problem: The Driver Side power window won't roll up. God knows how much money that is going to cost me now. I'm never buying a GM vehicle ever again. How can they even put something like this in the market and would not issue a recall besides that!!

What a nightmare overall.

Got a 2002 Buick Rendezvous at 42,000 mile. Parked for a year then A/C does not work. The dealer told me it's the condenser leaking which needs to be replaced for $1100. Couldn't believe how come a condenser could crack itself. Now I believe.

I to wish I would have known about this site. I purchased the vehicle used. I had to pay to replace the wheel bearings. My friend got hers replaced by the GM dealer, but they said I couldn't because it wasn't made at the same plant. Also my security system has messed up in it. The windows, radio, ac and all interior lights on the dash don't work. Driving down the road all these lights will flash on and off and the door locks will lock and unlock. Also the alarm will go off when it is just sitting in my driveway. I have to take the cables off the battery and leave them off. Took the battery cables off to reset it, but only helped once. Now it doesn't reset. I will have to take it to the dealer to have it fixed.

My 2002 Rendezvous has had the same air conditioning problem. Have had some overheating issues and disappearance of fluid for no good reason. Leaky manifold I suspect. Gremlins have invaded the electrical system - all lights going off and on - radio locks - windows don't operate - gas gauge is erratic. You name it - it's happening. Probably the $1000.00 Body Control Module they'll want to sell me next. Two days ago a loud clunk in the driver's window and it operates very tediously. I've read that on this site many times as well. As for the rear end growl - yes I have that too. Would I buy another one? N0! Would GM get my business again- Not it they keep living in denial.

I am just sick about my 2005 Buick Rendevous. I bought it brand new, and the reason for that is because I get my Dad's GM discount. I will have it for 3 years this coming December. Of course I still owe on it and will for another 2 years. The manufacturers warranty ran out this year and like a fool I didn't buy an extended warranty. I was just told this week from my dealership that it will cost me $1030.00 to fix the left front ABS jumper harness (what in the heck is that anyway?) Never had that problem with any car I have ever owned. Also, the hub bearings both need replaced. I called GM and I gave them all my info and they called the dealership and the got back with me and said sorry, but they just can't help me. This SUV only has 48,500 miles on it and I have only driven it approx 2 hour trips away from my house and have never hauled anything with it ever. The dealership asked me if I had the car in lots of water...never..other than rain and snow, I live in Ohio and we do have all seasons!! I wished someone out there could tell me someone else to call. I thought the GM guy was rather rude too. It was like his tone was too bad, but we just cant help you out. I even told them about a bulletin that was out there about the hub bearings and he said that it was only good on 2002 to 2004 vehicles. Can someone out there help me??

Very bummed out in Ohio and feeling scammed!!

I have finally paid off my 2002 Rendezvous. We experienced all the same problems... AC condenser, drivers window, front wheel bearings etc. Now the radio/cd player is acting up. Either doesn't work or comes on after a bump in the road, comes on and off with the turn signal. I'm afraid what it may be leading up to. I must say that overall we were quite satisfied. I've never been able to keep a car until it was paid off. We also benefit from cheap mechanics around here. I can't believe what people are paying for the same repairs I had to make.

I purchased a 2002 Buick Rendezvous CXL with every option brand new as a recreational vehicle. I have a 2nd car Toyota for work commute. I have put only 37K miles in 5 years on my Buick Rendezvous. I only drive on weekend etc. It is always garage kept, and from inside and outside looks brand new. By looking at this, no one can tell the problems I have had with this one over these 5 years. Almost from the day I bought it, it has been in and out of dealer. I paid 35K for this and had spend approx 10K on it. Now my AC is shot and I don't know what would that cost me.

The only reason I purchased this vehicle was because the Acura MDX had a waiting list. Now I think, I should have waited. This is worst investment of my life and a big lesson. I tell all my friends and family never to buy an american made car, and specially Buick. What a piece of crap.