Shoppping Used Q7 vs: Used GMC Acadia

[Ballzo]

I've been shopping for an SUV for a little while and right now I'm probably going to buy a certified used Q7 when I find one I like. I do find myself coming back to the one other SUV that intrigues me. The GMC Acadia.

When I compare them, used car to used car and feature to feature. Warranty to warranty and dollar to dollar. The Q7 still seems like the best deal. For only slightly more money I can get a better built vehicle, much better used warranty and better options in most cases. Nav and bluetooth seem to be hard to come by in the Acadia for some reason.

Has anyone else looked at the GMC Acadia especially used and come to any conclusions or have an opinion about it?

[BigGreenBuds]

It will be hard to get an objective opinion but I'll give it a shot...

Do you plan on keeping the vehicle for a very long time or do you trade every 2-3 years? If you trade a lot, the Q7 will retain it's value much better than ANY domestic. I'd even go so far as to say that in 2-3 years you'll be lucky to get 1/2 of a domestics original value. Domestics will give you a softer ride and probably more room, but the inside trim feels too 'plasticky' for me. Mechanically you may be better off with a domestic but my GMC truck has been in the shop several times over the years for 4-wheel drive problems. Mechanical reliability is sort of hit-and-miss in my book.

Design wise, I prefer the European look as opposed to Asian or domestic SUV's. The European models just 'feel' better on the inside and you can see the higher quality materials. If the prices are in the same ballpark I'd say for me it's a no brainer... Q7.

[Ballzo]

If I get the right vehicle, I'd like to keep it for 5-7 years.

I agree. I like the Audi and German designs better too and thats why its tops on my list at the moment. Trying to compare them without even factoring that though. The Used Q7 to the Used GMC, the better value seems to be in Audi's favor. I guess I just feel like I should see a huge price difference for the GMC and I'm just not seeing it.

[joeyo]

My father-in-law has a fully loaded '09 Acadia SLT2 (purchased new). I drove it for a few days while we visited him in Ft. Lauderdale, I was impressed with it at first, but after the first couple of drives, I got bored with it. I personally feel that the materials and fit and finish of the Acadia, did not justify the $45k+ price tag of his. The interior plastics are hard, and the leather showing a crazy amount of wear. After we arrived home, and I drove my Audi, I remembered why we got rid of the Trailblazer and Explorer we had previously for VW/Audi vehicles. If it were me, I'd definitely go for the Q7. It's a far more attractive vehicle, and it's certainly better built.

[Irish311]

My wife and I actually just went through this.

Her lease is up in mid-Nov on her 2007 GMC Envoy. As she has always owned an American car (Explorer, Jimmy, Envoy, Tahoe), we were partial to another one. As GMC no longer makes the Envoy (can you believe no mid-sized SUV?), we looked at the Acadia and the Terrain (we felt we did not need the Tahoe / Yukon and the rear seats don't fold completely flat). Although these cars are popular, my wife's comment was, "I feel like I'm in a mini-van" and she didn't like the looks of them anyway.

We then looked at Toyota 4-Runners and Sequoias. Sequoia was fantastic, but a little too big for our needs, and the 4-Runner fit us really well ** my wife immediately loved it and we both agreed it drove very nicely. Many nice features AND the rear seats fold down completely flat for ample cargo room. Plus, the price tag was do-able as it was in the mid 40's (the Sequoia was 50 - 60).

She then RELUCTANTLY accompanied me to my Audi / Porsche salesman whom I bought an S4 from about 12 mos ago and also referred my Dad to him, and my father picked up a leftover 911 Cabriolet in Jan. Needless to say, he was happy to see us ** he was expecting a sale and I [personally] was expecting a "good deal." We looked at the Q7 and my wife loved it ** the panoramic sunroof alone had her gawking all around the car. The premium plus package also comes with some features that the 4-runner did not, like power folding mirrors, power tailgate, etc. Not deal breakers, but they were nice to see. But the main difference was in the driving - she loved the AWD quattro and the new 3.0L engine felt more powerful than her current 270HP Envoy (so she said).

After the Q7 test drive, the salesman showed us a 2009 leftover Porsche Cayenne with 2300 miles on it ** gorgeous car. Plus, even though it's AWD, you can lock the rear differential on the fly to get true 4WD. This was a plus for us, because the local beach we go to allows cars on the beach...can't drive a Q7 with Quattro in the sand ** you'll just end up stuck. The Cayenne on the other hand can simulate real 4WD for off road situations where you'll need it. And the price point was the same as the Premium Plus Q7 ** around $54,000ish (without haggling). And did I mention the Porsche was CPO'd?

In the end, she chose a new 2011 Premium Plus Q7 (which suprised even me ** wait until my father-in-law hears...he's the most die-hard American car buyer you'll ever meet). Loved the standard features, loved the drivability, quality and, yes, the panoramic sunroof. But the Toyota 4-Runner was a close second, and the Cayenne was probably a close third (I think she has a problem seeing herself "driving a Porsche"). If I were in your shoes and was planning on keeping the car for 5 - 7 years, I would DEFINITELY get a CPO Q7 or a CPO Cayenne (and get Audi Care). The other manufacturers cannot match the warranties that Audi / Porsche give; oh, I know you can buy 3rd party stuff, but it's never the same as a factory warranty. With a Factory Warranty, CPO Warranty and Audi Care, you're basically just driving that thing to the dealer for 6 years or 100K miles and walking away from every service without ever having to go for your wallet.

Hope this helped!

[oblu]

Arcadia will definitely have a lower cost of ownership over 5-7yrs. Once you're cpo warranty is up on the Q7 be prepared for the possibility of some largish bills if anything needs fixing. Even the indie shops around here charge >$100hr labor. The Q is way nicer than the Arcadia, but it's what's important to you. We plan to keep our Q (even though I'd really like my wife to trade her 07 in on a newer one) but we're prepared for the possibility of big bills.

[BASARAB]

Acadia is nice, but its so boring to drive, it drove me crazy

[STONER]

Q7 all the way. Plus who knows if America will even have enough money to bail GM out in 5-7 years.

[vwnobby]

We were considering both as well. Ended up going with the Acadia only because we now have 3 kids and the Acadia had more trunk/cargo space with the 3rd row up. I really like it, but the interior quality does not compare to Audi. Regardless, it fit our needs better.

[Bmeister]

I've seen and ridden in several of these GM Lambda platforms (Enclave and Acadia). While they ride decently and feel solid, they lack many luxury creature comforts I would expect to see at that price range. They seem to be solid vehicles otherwise. My family is like Ballzo in that we plan to keep vehicles for 5-7yrs and usually buy a big luxury sedan and keep it for that long as our family car. However, we're downsizing our family "fleet" and will probably drop the A8, which has been fabulous, and go for a Q7 now that we have come to love the Audi line. The Q7 fit and finish far exceeds anything I've seen in the GM platforms. Also, having owned many Mercedes vehicles outside of warranty, once the warranty is out it's not likely to cost that much more to repair an Audi than it is a GM vehicle, IMHO. I have some large, independent repair shops as customers for one of my businesses and we've talked (the normal bull session talk) many times about this very thing. For example, I just spent almost $10,000 on a transmission, engine head work and some suspension maintenance on a company truck this month (2006 GMC Sierra) with close to 150,000 miles on it; that's about what the last Mercedes S-class sedan I had cost me to do essentially the same thing.

[Raistlin]

My wife and I actually just went through this.

Her lease is up in mid-Nov on her 2007 GMC Envoy. As she has always owned an American car (Explorer, Jimmy, Envoy, Tahoe), we were partial to another one. As GMC no longer makes the Envoy (can you believe no mid-sized SUV?), we looked at the Acadia and the Terrain (we felt we did not need the Tahoe / Yukon and the rear seats don't fold completely flat). Although these cars are popular, my wife's comment was, "I feel like I'm in a mini-van" and she didn't like the looks of them anyway.

We then looked at Toyota 4-Runners and Sequoias. Sequoia was fantastic, but a little too big for our needs, and the 4-Runner fit us really well ** my wife immediately loved it and we both agreed it drove very nicely. Many nice features AND the rear seats fold down completely flat for ample cargo room. Plus, the price tag was do-able as it was in the mid 40's (the Sequoia was 50 - 60).

She then RELUCTANTLY accompanied me to my Audi / Porsche salesman whom I bought an S4 from about 12 mos ago and also referred my Dad to him, and my father picked up a leftover 911 Cabriolet in Jan. Needless to say, he was happy to see us ** he was expecting a sale and I [personally] was expecting a "good deal." We looked at the Q7 and my wife loved it ** the panoramic sunroof alone had her gawking all around the car. The premium plus package also comes with some features that the 4-runner did not, like power folding mirrors, power tailgate, etc. Not deal breakers, but they were nice to see. But the main difference was in the driving - she loved the AWD quattro and the new 3.0L engine felt more powerful than her current 270HP Envoy (so she said).

After the Q7 test drive, the salesman showed us a 2009 leftover Porsche Cayenne with 2300 miles on it ** gorgeous car. Plus, even though it's AWD, you can lock the rear differential on the fly to get true 4WD. This was a plus for us, because the local beach we go to allows cars on the beach...can't drive a Q7 with Quattro in the sand ** you'll just end up stuck. The Cayenne on the other hand can simulate real 4WD for off road situations where you'll need it. And the price point was the same as the Premium Plus Q7 ** around $54,000ish (without haggling). And did I mention the Porsche was CPO'd?

In the end, she chose a new 2011 Premium Plus Q7 (which suprised even me ** wait until my father-in-law hears...he's the most die-hard American car buyer you'll ever meet). Loved the standard features, loved the drivability, quality and, yes, the panoramic sunroof. But the Toyota 4-Runner was a close second, and the Cayenne was probably a close third (I think she has a problem seeing herself "driving a Porsche"). If I were in your shoes and was planning on keeping the car for 5 - 7 years, I would DEFINITELY get a CPO Q7 or a CPO Cayenne (and get Audi Care). The other manufacturers cannot match the warranties that Audi / Porsche give; oh, I know you can buy 3rd party stuff, but it's never the same as a factory warranty. With a Factory Warranty, CPO Warranty and Audi Care, you're basically just driving that thing to the dealer for 6 years or 100K miles and walking away from every service without ever having to go for your wallet.

Hope this helped!

I am looking to purchase the exact same Q7 (premium plus also), how do you like the new 3.0T engine? Many people have been saying that it is stupid to buy the Q7 with anything less than the V8 or TDI. I have an 06 ML350 that does not have a lot of power and I think it feels fine, I have not test drove the Q7 yet. I was toying with the idea of getting the Sline with the better HP and Torque specs, its about a 4 to 5k difference if I get the base Sline prestige. On another note I was also thinking about the Toyota 4runner or Sequoias, but something about Audi keeps me coming back to them.

[Regnum]

Hi there. My post may have no relevance anymore as the originator of this thread must have made up his mind by now. I just would like to share my experience - had to go through the same dillema just lately.
I totally agree with the previous posters: the trim, build quality and prestige certainly place Q7 far ahead of the Acadia. My brother-in-law has got one, and it is real fun to drive, too. However, there are 4 basic reasons why I chose Acadia over Q7:

1. Way bigger cargo space. It is simply 1000 litres larger! I have needs for that.
2. The power tailgate. It only comes as an option in Q7 4.2, which is obviously more expensive. It comes really handy when you come out of the supermarket with handsful of bags (well, have to shop sometimes as my wife works, too). No need to look for a place to keep the bags while you need one hand to open the boot.
3. Remote start. I live in Dubai, where the temperature easily rises up to 50 C, and it is not a joke! Imagine getting in a car that have been parked outside for a few hours, while wearing a shirt and a tie, ready to go for a customer meeting. You get soaked through like a sponge! But I am smiling: all I have to do is remotely start the car and wait for 5 min before it gets cooled.
4. A possibility to install an aftermarket head unit. Just for a thousand bucks I got myself a brilliant 7-inch Kenwood DDX8036, which has anything, including BT, rear-view camera, Navi, plays from iPod, USB, SD etc. With the harness, I have got my factory Bose system, steering wheel controls and second-row DVD player adapted with retained functionality, while in a Q7 you are stuck with a 6-disc changer with no chance to move away.

Finally, the service cost. Paying a thousand dollars for break pad replacement! I am not a poor guy, but not prepared to waste my money on something that can be done for $200, plus GMC dealer in Dubai has surprisingly better service quality - when you book your car, they ask you when you'd like to drop it off. At Audi you have to book your car a couple of weeks in advance just to get the oil changed...

Regards.

[iconoclast]

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2799832

[A6Avant]

We are in the same boat.... Looking at the new SUV for the family. With all due respect the GMC is a piece of plastic next to the Q7. Larger on the inside.... True. But the old saying bigger aint always better. If you need bigger go Mercedes.

[Regnum]

Mercedes? Well, are talking about ML or GL? ML's cargo space is as big as Q5's. GL is twice as expencive as an Acadia. Q7 is better than an Acadia in many aspects, but space, price and maintenance cost.