Long Term Road Test for 2012 Terrain SLT-2

[hyperv6]

Well I will start a long term road test on the 2012 GMC Terrain on Tuesday. Or should I say my wife will.

We just bought her a new 12 Terrain SLT-2 in Mocha Steel with all the options including the 19" wheels less AWD.

We have been checking them out for a while. We started looking at the Nox but delayed it as we moved and did some building at the new home. Now that we have gotten through winter we went out to check on what we could do on a deal for a Terrain. Neither of us liked the Terrain when it came out but the larger wheels filling up the wheel;wells made made us take interest.

We got a pretty good deal at of all things a GMC only dealer. Bet you don't see many of them anywhere.

They will pick up our Terrain on Monday and we will pick it up on Tuesday. I will pass along info on how the ownership goes and quality.

We are replacing the 04 GTP. We have 107,000 miles on it. It was a good car but I would have to refrain from ever calling it a great car. Reflecting back the car has had some great points. Even at 107,000 miles there is nary a rattle in the car but it always had that cluck in the trunk sound you the GP was know for from the day it was new. We did have some nagging issues that I feel were due to the lack of development money back in the day where GM has to short cut there way out. Things like headlights that bounce cheap interior etc. I was able to keep it in great shape and may have been able to sell it for a little more but the trade they gave me was way over book even after I made my deal on the GMC. I will miss the GTP but I think I will enjoy the GMC very much.

Please note that the dealers with the Nox and Terrain are dealing much on price. I did get a dealer to give me MSRP and then employee pricing. We also then got the Chome tech package that kicks $500 off and then there was $1000 on the V6. He then gave me a little more on a few other things. in the end with tax and trade we got the $35,000 SLT-2 for $25,000. Few other dealers would even come close to it and were not willing to talk.

I expect they may offer more on the Terrain later as supplies on it and the Nox are now getting to good levels but even yet it is difficult to find some combo's. The Mocha Steel and Brownstone interior in 2WD with all the options was not an easy find. But one was close and they will trade for it.

I will post photos when we get it.

Note I love the new touch radio package GM is using. I think I heard it will be a standard on some models next year that have it as an option this year.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Congrats on the Terrain purchase. You know I'm happy with your choice

[GMTruckGuy74]

We got a pretty good deal at of all things a GMC only dealer. Bet you don't see many of them anywhere.

Hey now wait a cotton-picking minute there mister!!

I've bought four vehicles from a semi-local GMC dealership - 2 GMCs, 1 Pontiac, and 1 Buick (used) and have felt I could have received no better treatment. Now as for my two Chevrolet purchasing experiences (and numerous test drive visitations), I felt as if I needed a shower afterwards to get "clean". But we could have had different experiences in the long run. I have no hesiatation dealing with my semi-local Buick-GMC dealership

[daves87rs]

Sweet! Looking forward to it!

[hyperv6]

We got a pretty good deal at of all things a GMC only dealer. Bet you don't see many of them anywhere.

Hey now wait a cotton-picking minute there mister!!

I've bought four vehicles from a semi-local GMC dealership - 2 GMCs, 1 Pontiac, and 1 Buick (used) and have felt I could have received no better treatment. Now as for my two Chevrolet purchasing experiences (and numerous test drive visitations), I felt as if I needed a shower afterwards to get "clean". But we could have had different experiences in the long run. I have no hesiatation dealing with my semi-local Buick-GMC dealership

The Dealer here was a new GMC Pontiac dealer they built in a near by farm town. 2 years later Pontiac folded and left them in need of a new car line. They had a deal with GM to take the local Buick line from the local old Buick dealer that needed a new building and to relocate. The Buick dealer was getting forced out with the GM cuts and would also lose the Chevy line.

My dealer said that when the goverment came in they lost the Buick line one month before they would have gotten it. So now they are working out a deal to try to buy the Buick line away from the Chevy dealer. I can see why GM has such a hard time dealing with the dealer network with the Goverment laws out there. GM is stuck with a really old building with two car lines away from the highway and a new dealer on the highway selling only GMC.

Note the Buick and Chevy dealer is a old building and dealership but the owner has only had it for about 10 years. He bought out someone else a while back. As far as I have seen he has made no moves to upgrade his dealer and does not look to be doing so.

Either way it has been years since I saw a dealer that only sold the GMC line. In fact it was back when they still sold Semi Cabs that I could recall one like that here.

Anyways it is nice to be back into GMC again as this will be my third that I owned. I also have a lot of miles in two Sierra Grande Pickups like the Rocky had on The Rockford Files.

Edited March 11, 2012 by hyperv6

[hyperv6]

Here are some of my observations of the Terrain after our first week of ownership. Note my observations are from some that did not like this vehicle when it came out and never really considered it till the wife put it on her list of cars. This was a car that had to win me over.

The first thing I would like to get out of the way is not all compact SUV's are the same or even in the same class. Some are very car bases and made to feel like economy like and other luxury like, some are made to drive like cars and some are made to feel truck like and that is where the Terrain fits in. This is often why the comparo reviews don't always add up.

The 2012 Terrain has just seen some small changes and the largest will be set for next year with the 3.6.

We purchased a SLT-2 FWD 3.0 V6. We have all the options less the AWD and entertainment package.

The styling we will get out of the way upfront as it is the most subjective. It is either you love it or hate it styling. It to me seems like a HHR and H3 love child. But I have found that like many GM cars today in person it looks much better. Also little things also make a difference. The SLT grill with the chome and black breaks up the large grill and looks more like the new face of GMC. Also a great factor are the 19 inch wheels. The issue is the Terrain has a large wheel well opening and like many of the full size Chevy and GMC truck the larger wheel just looks better as it fills the opening better. The larger wheels were a request of the wife as she hates little looking wheels on some cars and I could not disagree with her on this.

The size of the Terrain is much greater than most in class. It looks and feels bigger than the Nox too. It does have a little wider track and a small amount of cargo room vs the Nox. It may even sit higher too as I pulled up next to a Nox and it looked much higher at the traffic light. The extra size pays off with a good amount of front seat room and back seat room. Many call the rear seat as limo like and it really is. The rear seat also has 3 recline adjustments. The rear seats fold down but do not go 100% flat like in my HHR. It is not a great issue but I know they did it to make the rear seat feel better to sit in. Lets face it people will be the prime cargo more than large objects.

Head room is great as coming from a 04 GTP I feel like I am in a larger pick up. The vew out the front is good and commanding of the road. The A pillars are large and may turn some off but owning a HHR makes me appreciate how thin they are. LOL!

Interior: The interior is a very comfortable place to be. The materials all feel a little upgraded over the Nox. We opted for the Brownstone interior that is Jet black and what I will call a Wilson football brown. It give it a warmer feel vs the Jet black only interior. There is stiching on parts of the dash, doors and armrest. It give the vehicle a little better upscale look. The red dash lights are well done. Coming from a Pontiac they feel like old times. The interior is very quiet almost Buick quiet. No wind noise and little road noise.

The dash is a mess of buttons but that is not to say it is not hard to master. For the most many of the buttons are redunant. There are a duplication of door locks, radio and if you have climate control HVAC. The locks used to be on the dash only but GM has now added them to the doors too. The Radio is also part of the Intellelink system so you can either hit the button or the touch screen.

Speaking of Intellelink I am impressed with the system. It works well and is easy to see. The Pandora and Sticher both link to my phone with no drama and so far no advertising on Pandora. The Bluetooth Phone voice activation works well once you learn how to phrase the request. GM does supply a list of words to use. The phone link sounds very good. GM should do well with this system. I can see we have not even seen the tip of the ice berg where they could take this system. The Pioneer Sound system sound very good and the 250 W sub woofer is nice for a factory unit. While it will not rattle my windows in the house it will fit the needs of 95% of the people who buy this vehicle. This is the same system in my HHR and I have not been disapointed.

The engine is the VVT DI 3.0. It starts and is very smooth and quiet. It almost feels more like a Honda engine vs a GM. I did read that GM used the Nissan V6 as a target. The MPG for this 4100 pound vehicle this week is 19 so far and that is some highway and city. Note too that also is a lot of sitting with the engine running while playing with the options. I have friends with this engine and they see 19 city and 24-25 highway once the vehicle gets over 5,000 miles on it. Power is more than enough to drive this and not have to worry about pulling out in traffic or on the freeway. No you would not drag race a Camaro but that is not what this is all about. They do use 6 quarts and Mobil One in the engine. The transmission is a 6 speed and is smooth. GM has geared this for MPG and the engine will not kick down till you tell it to with your foot. Once you know the kick down points you can pretty much shift it with you foot. There is a manual mode too but I see it only good in low traction conditions.

The engine pulls at low RPM but has more pull at 4000 RPM and up. This engine is a rever and it is not affraid to do so. It has a sweet sound to it too. Some may hate the noise but I like the sound.

The suspension is 4 wheel independent and what they call a soft ride. Well it is not harsh but to call it soft does not do it justice. The suspension is firm but not harsh as the vehicle rolls over the battle scared winter damaged roads of Ohio. It feels like a Cadillac compared to my GTP. The Terrain in handling is great as the suspension takes a set and holds it. There is little body lean and the tracks well. The hydralic suspension bushing so a very good job. Even the high center of gravity has little effect. The only thing I would like is a little more on center feel as this power steering is a little over boosted for my taste but most buyers in this class would be happy with it. For the most part you the Terrain makes you forget it is a FWD vehicle. I would say if some one did not know they would be hard pressed to know what end drove it unless they did a full lock turn.

The key to the Terrain is the upscale options and little things they do like the Back Up Camera, memeory seats, tiilt down mirrors when backing up and the seat moving back when you want to get out if you choose it. GMC did a very good job making the Terrain fit the small space between Nox and SRX. The styling and feel of this vehicle is more to the larger SUV and Truck feel. That is a good thing as Chevy make their efforts to attract those who like the car/minivan buyers with the Nox.

To sum it up the Theta as GM has it is a good job of platform sharing considering they did these while going through chapter 11. You can see the Lutz effect with the better interior feel and look along with the small details like GMC in the side of the rear tail lights. All of this speaks to a much more expensive car vs the real cost.

I will check back with updates as we go. So far there is Zero Paint and build defects as delivered. I will have to wait for the cargo package as the dealer my dealer traded with would not give them the package. THey have it on order and it is just a snap in cargo cover and roof bars.

Note I am happy with our purchase and my wife is really happy with her choice. We should get good service out of this vehicle. Now all I need is GM to build something I really want in about 5 years to replace the SS. I only turned 20,000 miles since 08 so it should hold me for a while and give them a chance to get the new product out by the time I start to look again.

[hyperv6]

One thing I did leave out above was the plastic on the doors is Malibu good. Which means it is better than old GM material but I would like to have seen a softer inset to the door panel over the arm rest. This would have soften the panel enough to make it look for upscale.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Edited March 19, 2012 by hyperv6

[GMTruckGuy74]

Nice initial write-up and it's one beautiful little rig

[G. David Felt]

Wy to go, that is a sweet ride.

[hyperv6]

Thanks!

This is a good car for me to just unwind and enjoy the ride. It has made me realize how uncomfortable the GTP was and how much this is more like my SSEI. In fact it is quieter and smoother than the SSEI. If GM could create a package like this at 3400-3500 pounds it would be class leading all the way.

[G. David Felt]

Hyperv6, one question for you, why not get AWD?

[hyperv6]

Hyperv6, one question for you, why not get AWD?

Simple

More money, less MPG, less performance and the FWD will get us anywhere we need to go with no drama.

We may live in the snow belt but in all the years I have driven we have never gotten stuck or had the need to have AWD or a 4x4. Now if I had a half mile unimporved driveway or went off road I could justify it. The fact is most people with AWD never really need it.

My wife has no issues driving in snow and I offered to get it and she said why? I do have to brag that she does have very good winter skills.

When you grow up in snow and learn to drive RWD with no traction aids you learn car control pretty early on. When we grew up were were kings of the donuts and bootleg turns and thought nothing of taking a FWD Fiat off road chasing motorcycles on trails.

To be honest to days cars with all the traction aides are down right boring and for the most part will only lead to people with poor car control skills.

There are some that may need AWD but for the most if you have average snow driving skills you really don't need it if you learn to drive in the weather.

Contrary to what some believe we got around for years with out AWD, Electric Traction aids and special winter tires with no issue. Even when I drove a 4x4 I seldom locked in the front unless I was plowing.

The only car I ever had that was an issue was the Fiero. With no ground clearance, Eagle GT's, short wheel base and no weight in the nose made it a challange.

A Pontiac engineer was once questioned on the cars snow ability and his reply was WE Build Excitment! I did two winters in the car and always made it. You do wonder when you hear the snow hitting the floor pan.

I do find people who live in areas that see less snow than us as more intimidated by it. My companies office in Atlanta closes in weather we would think nothing off. Here at the headquarters in Ohio we can get 18" and they still expect us in and not be late. So we go and get there.

The only issue I do have is with drivers who go along with what I call the death grip and will not go over 15 MPH. If you can't drive or if your tires are that bald stay home.

[G. David Felt]

Very Understanding, thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I have always wondered why people think or feel this way.

In seattle with very little snow, when we do get it, the hill's here become toboggin runs and as You Tube has shown we bounce off everything.

Course for those of use that are die hard skiing buffs, AWD is the only way to go for winter driving and for the amount of water we seem to always have laying around.

Good luck with your Terrain, I love the style, fit and finish. I suspect I will have to some day break down, buy one and build my own Typhoon Edition especially now with the upcoming New DI v6 going in. It would be mad fun to have a Metallic Black Terrain, with Black chrome to replace regular chrome and then use cold air induction with turbo's to really spool up the car, but I want it in AWD. Black out windows and have the leather seats stiched with a typhoon name.

Will admit, once you go awd, it is hard to go back to just RWD. But RW in winter does increase your driving skills for handling skids, vehicle control loss.

Practical but usable like my 2008 Trailblazer SS. Or IMO usable.

Edited March 20, 2012 by dfelt

[hyperv6]

See the key thing you state is the little snow you get. That entails often that the area has minor snow equipment to cover large areas. Here we can get snow 30 out 30 days and the trucks are out 24/7 on the main roads and where I live now they can salt and plow my dead end road 2-3 times a night. Also we have brine trucks that spray a mix of water, beat juice and salt on the roads. They often start when it is sunny 48 hours before a storm and piss me off as often I just washed the car.

Note too those slippery roads you get and show up on video are the same slippery roads here but we are just used to em. Not this winter but there have been some winters where that is my trip into work every day for a week or better. You just leave early and slog your way along. We get a lot of snow here but a little farther north near my work they get even more snow. There they can get into the 20" or better storms many times a winter.

Now also the fact is there is a great difference in drivers who grow up and learn to drive in snow daily vs people who see it once in a while. People in the lake effect snow areas of the great lakes can take 18" in stride when other areas will shut down for days. Hell they sent us to school one time when a blizzard hit. They do close a little more now due to the liabiliies but back when I went to school we seldom shut down.

I have had 4 wheel drive and it is fine if you have the need but to be honest I really have little need. I can get a car through about any kind of snow. My only issue is traffic and those who just can't drive in the snow. I often take to the back hill roads as only those who know what they are doing will go on them. We are in the foot hills of the mountains here so we do have some pretty good hills in some areas.

I already often drive much faster than I should on snow covered roads. When I worked nights I used to come up a heavy snow covered freeway at 75 MPH in the center lane. I just have the itch to drive fast under difficult conditions as I find them a challange. As I get older I get wiser and slower but I still like to let a car hang out once in a while. I had a loaner Cobalt and it has no electronic on it. I took it and was doing j turns with the e brake with my son in a parking lot. He had never been in a car that could do it. He had a blast. Kids just don't know what they are going to miss unless you can shut off the electronics.

I would love to see a Typhoon kind of vehicle again someday but the Terrain and Nox are the wrong vehicle for it. You would be better off waiting for and if the new Trailblazer ever comes here. It would be a much better platform for a performance vehicle.

The Terrain is just way too heavy and it is more geared for comfort. Even with the GM Turbo V6 that is coming I would rather have it in in another platform. Somthing that had a more performance nature to it from the start.

[hyperv6]

Ok we are about a month in and here is the latest report.

The Terrain has been great so far. The wife loves it and has enjoyed it as much or more than any car since her SSEI.

The Terrain has returned mostly 19 MPG around town and we have yet to really take a trip in it.

The dealer got me the cargo package that gave me the rear cargo coverm, net and folding cargo box. The wife looked at the box as why do I need that but I now see it open and used often. It really comes in handy keeping things from rolling around in the cargo area. It is a very clever and simple design and is something that they should just include.

I am impressed with the chome wheels. The composit plastic chome faces have a much better finish than my past GM chome wheels. They should hold up well but time will tell. I am not sure if many know this but GM has moved to these cover that are bonded to the wheels that provide a much more durable long term finish. Most GM chome wheels often would go to hell in 5 year depending on how they were cared for. The qulity of my wheels on the GTP were horrid and we went through two sets under warranty. I had to coat them on the inside with Rust Bullet to prevent them from flaking and corrsion.

The new radio Itellilink system has been flawless. It works well and links with our I phones with no effor. I can go into the I pod just with the wheel controls. The only gripe we have is with On Star as they have yet to figure out how to link to our car. The issue is with them and not the Terrain. We are up to free 6 months now and I expect or will ask for one year by the time they figure it out.

The only real flaw we have found with the vehicle is it should have had AC vents in the console. The rear has little air flow from under the seats and if you turn it up to get to the back the front seats freeze. The climate control is great to have again We missed it from the SSEI.

The ride is quiet and smooth but not floaty. I do wish it had a little more on center feel but it is not that big of a deal. The brakes are eye opening. I read that the Terrain will stop with in 6 feet of a Porsche Boxster and I can say I think it will. The pedal is not as firm but then this is not a sports car either.

The 3.0 has never let us wanting for more power. It does well and moves the Terrain in a proper mannor for this type vehicle. The Transmission is smooth but it loves to shift fast and just get into MPG mode fast. It is common to see the tranny kick down 3 gears to get up a steep hill. The 3.6 will help with more torque and should be nice. The 3.0 is good and the 3.6 will be better but for the cheaper price we paid for the 3.0 and to get the color we wanted that will be discontinued next year we do not regrett not waiting.

The Terrain sales also have taken off. I think I may not be the only one this stylng has grown on. It is just good GM did two different vehicles in the same class to take advantage of styling taste. I hope this just continues with the rest of all the models.

I did add floor liners and I did put the clear headlight sheilds on. After the GTP and seeing how pitted the head lights got on it I put them on all my cars. I have gotten pretty good installing the 3M material. I figured the Terrain headlights would look like crap if I had not installed them as the are large clear and with the projection light not cheap.

We do love the power rear hatch. It is a real help with you hands full.

So far we are very happy with the purchase. Is there other small things we would change. Yes but I would say that even if I had a ZR1. There will always areas to improve.

I will report back in about a month with how things are going and will report if we have any quality issues. So far other than the issue with Onstar the vehicle was delivered with zero defects.

Note too I have just learn on a GM tech site that the Intellilink system will be able to be upgraded by the owner. GM will have updates available that you will be able to down load into a flash drive or using a lap top. This was what I had hoped to see. This will let the owner upgrade to adapt the system to new technologies and add new features as time goes on. Some things may require a dealer visit but those will be limied. This will be similar to like the free upgrades of OS on I phones and other smart phones.

I wonder how long till some figures out how to add things GM has not considered.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Great to read you & the wife are having a positive experience with the Terrain so far. I too think it's a great looking vehicle. I am being tempted, since looking at them at the NYIAS in early April and seeing so many on the roads. The wife feels that it's just too small for our family needs (if my 18 y-o step-son joins us when we're out, then I agree). She wants me to look at something bigger, like an Acadia, but with that comes a bigger price and a bigger appetite for fuel. So for now I'm content with keeping the Envoy, as it does everything I need it to well (downsides are no extra passenger room and gas consumption). But maybe year-end sales will get me to rethink this over

[G. David Felt]

Awesome review update. Thanks for posting.

[hyperv6]

Great to read you & the wife are having a positive experience with the Terrain so far. I too think it's a great looking vehicle. I am being tempted, since looking at them at the NYIAS in early April and seeing so many on the roads. The wife feels that it's just too small for our family needs (if my 18 y-o step-son joins us when we're out, then I agree). She wants me to look at something bigger, like an Acadia, but with that comes a bigger price and a bigger appetite for fuel. So for now I'm content with keeping the Envoy, as it does everything I need it to well (downsides are no extra passenger room and gas consumption). But maybe year-end sales will get me to rethink this over

The Terrain is very good for 5 people and is more passneger leaning. You can fold the seats and get more cargo but like most small SUV's the cargo area is limited with the seat up.

The Acadia is not a bad buy right now as prices are good as long as you stay away from the Denali. The price on the outgoing versions are pretty good now and selections are high. I was tempted to look at one but the wife did not want anything that large.

If you are getting a V6 Terrain the MPG is not much less and is about the same as the Envoy.

The down side is you will not get the new styling and it will not have new things like Intellilink.

I expect the deals to only get better by spring and summer.

On the other hand the Terrain deals were good last month and they had one of the strongest sales months ever. They were the reason I read GMC had such good numbers. I think I bought at a good time as I suspect we could not have gotten as good of a deal. I am also glad we bought when we did as I did a search and only found one new Terrain like our around since we bough ours. Most similar ones in the same color are often states away.

[GMTruckGuy74]

hyperV6, you should have put your latest update in here

I'm very tempted to see what a 2012 Terrain would lease for. I wouldn't need AWD, though I'd like to have it, but the V6 is a must. I'd hate to get rid of the Envoy for the Terrain, as I don't think the Terrain's butch, truck-ish looks really make it truck enough for my tastes. However, since I don't go off-roading and never tow anything, the Terrain may suit my other needs just fine (especially with my step-son entering the Marines soon taking us back to a 4-person family). Of course the 2013 with the 3.6L V6 is more enticing too - it's nice to be in a position where you don't have to make a move until you're 100% ready to

Please keep us posted on your experiences with the Terrain!

Edited June 27, 2012 by GMTruckGuy74

[hyperv6]

Here is the latest update.

We took our first road trips to Cleveland and Dayton to the Air Force Museum. On both trips we averaged 67 MPH and got 25 MPG higway. Most of the time on the road I was between 70-80 MPH and it averaged out on the DIC as 67 at heach fill up.

It was a comfortable ride and the AC was cold as Dayton was 97 Degrees that day.

So far since new we have only had to change the oil once as I did it just a little early. The V6 holds 6 quarts and GMC is recomending a new filter on this years engine that has a little more filtering capacity. It is recomened for retro fits. I could only find the fitler at the dealer or order it in at work.

As of yet no defects or issues.

I can see the chrome over the grill will be an issue in the future. It is already showing a few dings. I may buy a new one once it get bad and have the 3M film put on it.

I love the new wheels with the plastic inserts. The 19 inch wheels look great and no expected quality issues on the chrome like I had on the GTP. The plastic believe it or not is more expensive but it will keep the wheel like new longer.

I am generally lucky that I keep my cars longer than most but they are always in top condition so I seldom have to buy a car. I normally plan to change them when they are getting to the point where I may not get much out of them or anything lower than $7000. The GTP had me worried but I still got what I wanted even after getting my price on the Terrain.

The 3.0 is a good engine but the 3.6 will be even better. To me it was not worth the wait because the wife wanted Mocha Steel and 2012 was the last year. The new color is a little more darker and she did not like it. Also I got the cheap deal on the V6 last spring so it saved me money.

I have looked at the Denali and I just don't see the value there in the Terrain Denali. The extra cost is just not worth it. The SLT2 is priced at the limit of what I would pay for a SUV this size.

I hated the styling on the Terrain when they came out and it really grew on me. To me it is very truck like compared to many in it's class. Washing it is has a lot of things that remind me of a H3 like the squared off fender etc.

Intelilink is great and the wife loves it. It is easy to use and very friendly. I am looking forward to the updated GM will send out. It works great with our I phones. The only real issue with it is that it always links to the wrong phone for the one I want or it links to my sons I touch. I generally find out I have the wrong one when I am driving down the road and I have to stop and put it in park to select the one I want.

What does amaze me is on the Theta foru, how many people have purchased the Nox and Terrain and think they have Mytouch or Intelilink. They get on the forum and ask how can they tell if they have it? How could one buy a car and not check to see it has everything you want?