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If you are in the market for a minivan, you have clearly decided that some features are more important to you than others.
Obviously, speed is out. The minivan is not intended for racing or zipping along on a sunny day. On the other hand, it won’t put you last in line, chugging along behind some smoke-belching truck hoping you’ll make it up a hill.
You want room, not the expanse of a rolling bedroom like an Escalade, but room, for several people to stretch in comfort, especially on long trips.
It needs to be functional – having room for more than just an overnight bag and, preferably, while it’s not the sleek sedan or sports car, you want something that does not look like a box on wheels or a refurbished school bus.
If that’s the criteria, you can find a lot to like in the new Buick Terraza front wheel drive minivan – including the price. Buick has packed a lot of features into a $33,000 vehicle.
On the outside, the Terraza is sleek enough – its lines flowing back from the Buick grill over its 17-inch chrome wheels – to grace the driveway of any mansion. It has an electronic starter, so you can sit in your living room, point the key at the Terraza, and remotely start its 3.5 liter, V-6 engine, letting the front and rear climate controls warm up before you open the doors.
When you do, you find the Terraza offers three rows of seating and comfortably can handle seven adults. The last row goes straight across the van, and can be folded down in a 60/40 split if you need more luggage room. The first and second rows have a fold-down tray separating the seats, allowing passengers to step between the aisles if they desire. As a safety feature, this means it is not necessary to climb over a row of seats to enter or exit, especially in an emergency.
Folding storage compartments are built into the backs of the front and second row of seats for the convenience of passengers. The leather seats are wide and comfortable, with ample room for even NFL-sized colleagues. There are storage slots in the doors, and cup holders in the fold-up trays that are deep enough to actually hold a large Starbucks coffee or bottle of water.
In the rear are four storage bins, which are perfect fits for six supermarket grocery bags – or anything else you might like to tuck away. The Terraza comes with a mesh gate you can stretch across the storage area to keep items from sliding around. And, for convenience, there is an air compressor in the rear wall and a hose capable of reaching any of the tires. The spare, however, is mounted underneath the rear compartment and can be hard to access.
This minivan has an entertainment system complete with a DVD player and optional wireless headsets. That makes it useful for entertaining passengers on long trips or creating your own drive-in theatre. There is only a single CD player, but the Terraza has XM satellite radio in addition to the standard AM/FM stereo. The XM helps make any road trip enjoyable because it can capture vast musical variety and channel it to you anywhere. As a result, you can hear the Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountain jazz while driving in New England.
Although it would benefit from a navigation system, the Terraza does come with GM’s OnStar system, which has live concierges to give you directions, or lead police to your location in an emergency. OnStar also provides a built-in, hands-free telephone service, which is not vulnerable to the same mysterious dead zones that maddeningly interrupt cell phone service when traveling.
This is a minivan you can comfortably drive all day. It is normally a front wheel drive vehicle – which means it will do well in snow – but it is also available in an all-wheel drive version. The leather steering wheel tilts and has fingertip controls for the entertainment and information systems. At 200 horsepower, the engine is not built for racing, but you can cruise at a decent speed all day – and your passengers do not have to get out and push on steep hills. And it does that on regular gas.
Buick has put enough comfort and styling in the Terraza that it is not a vehicle you have to settle for. It is, instead, a good one to settle back in and enjoy the ride.
2005 Buick Terraza Front Wheel Drive
MSRP: $33,035 EPA Mileage: 18 MPG City 24 MPG Highway
Performance/ Safety:
3.5 liter V-6 engine with 200 horsepower and 220 pound-feet of torque; 4-speed automatic transmission; independent MacPherson strut front suspension with coil springs; fully independent double wishbone rear suspension with cast aluminum short- and long-arm control arms; power assisted 16-inch vented disc brakes; 4-wheel ABS; power rack-and-pinion steering; dual stage front airbags w/ right front passenger sensing system and side-impact airbags; rear parking assist; daytime running lamps; remote keyless entry and starter; battery run-down protector; 3,500 pounds towing capacity.
Interior:
7-passenger seating w/ 2nd row captain’s chairs and 3rd row split bench seat; leather appointed seating; leather wrapped steering wheel; front row utility tray; driver & front passenger 8-way power seat with memory; dual zone climate control; rear air conditioning; DVD entertainment system; XM Satellite and AM/ FM radio; CD changer and MP3-compatible player; steering-wheel mounted controls; heated outside mirrors.
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