Exploring the 2012 GMC Terrain Then Test Drive at Borcherding Buick GMC!

Exploring the 2012 GMC Terrain

GMC (and many others) no longer call all SUVs a SUV; some are now crossovers (usually a crossover is a car based SUV-like vehicle). GMC, the smallest General Motors Division, has two crossovers in its 2012 lineup — the Acadia and Terrain (a third, Terrain Denali, joins in 2013). The “true” SUVs are now called trucks (they are truck based). I recently drove a GMC Terrain.

The Terrain is the larger of GMC’s crossover for 2012 and its intended competition are vehicles like the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano, and Hyundai Santa Fe. The Terrain is 185.3 inches long and rides on a 112.5 inch wheelbase. It weighs 3798 pounds plus depending on model and option; not bad for a SUV, er crossover, but a little portly.

I am not a fan of the styling; too much chrome, too massive a front-end, and too angular for me. The size is decent though — easy to get in and out of and for its interior volume (a total of 63.9 cubic feet) it is relatively small on the outside.
The 2012 model has two engines available; a 2.4-liter four-cylinder and a 3.0-liter V6 (the V6 goes to 3.6-liters for 2013). I can see only one reason to go with the four — it is
more fuel efficient but at the expense of towing capacity and performance (let’s face it, its 182 hp and 172 ft-lbs of torque aren’t much to move almost two tons). The V6 is rated at 17-city and 24-highway and that isn’t bad for a vehicle like this. I drove a similar Chevrolet vehicle last year and it mirrored the ’12 Terrain’s mileage. I found that it is easy to exceed the highway figure but the city figure will drag down the combined. (Note to all automotive engineers: Not all driving is on a highway; please find a way to get the city mileage up.) Even with the larger engine the ’13′s mileage stays the same.

One big difference between the 4-cylinder and V6 is the towing capacity. The V6 more than doubles the towable weight to 3,500 pounds. If you plan on towing anything heavier than a basic travel trailer go for the V6.
GMC uses a 6-speed automatic transmission (helps with economy) with either engine. It easily rivals the GM transmissions of old in operation (remember when automatics were trouble free?) but with the world moving to 7- or 8-speed automatics it is time for the domestics to up their game. (Did I actually just diss a very good 6-speed automatic?)
I find many current vehicles to have busy instrument panels. They are way too fussy with too many buttons that aren’t easy to use or intuitive. The Terrain is no different except at least there are some knobs. There is a feature I really liked — the “hoods” over the instrument cluster and radio. It almost eliminated glare and reflection. Excellent!

Crossovers have replaced big 4-door sedans as the vehicle of choice in suburbia. Look around, how many large sedans do you see? And the fuel economy of the crossovers is good for their size. But that’s the rub; it’s good for their size. There was a time when 24-mpg was considered great; now it’s only fair. If we’re going to ever become free of foreign oil we are going to have to develop family size (or North American family size) vehicles with much better fuel economy.
For now, though, the GMC Terrain is a very good choice. I can’t keep up with the average sale price of vehicles. It seems like only yesterday that $20,000 got you a decent set of wheels. (Actually it was a long time ago.) In June 2012 the average transaction price was $30,508. That puts the lowest price Terrain ($26,385) in perspective. Go with the top model (SLT-2 All-Wheel-Drive), load on all the options you can and you are pushing $40,000.

Source: [Mercury News]

GMC Terrain and Acadia Continue to Attract New GMC Customers

Editor's Note: CORRECTS timing of Intellilink in Terrain from mid-December to Spring 2012 in 4^th paragraph

DETROIT - For the third consecutive time since the GMC Terrain debuted in 2009, the smaller SUV is on track to end the year with more than half its sales coming from brands outside General Motors. And more than one in five is coming from import car and truck brands including Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

The GMC Acadia also continues to attract new customers to the brand. Like Terrain, Acadia is on track to count more than half of its owners from outside GM in 2011, continuing a four-year trend for the full-size crossover.   

Acadia has the lowest cost of ownership in its segment, according to ALG, which tracks residual values, or how much a vehicle is expected to be worth after a certain number of years. Through November, total Acadia sales were up 18.6 percent year to date.

New in the 2012 GMC Terrain is the industry's first crash avoidance system that exclusively uses a single camera to help drivers avoid front-end collisions. This technology is coupled with lane-departure warning for $295. Starting in Spring 2012, GMC's new Intellilink infotainment system will be an option. Terrain sales were up 47.3 percent through November.

"Acadia and Terrain are industry leaders in both design and technology," said Brian Sweeney, U.S. vice president of Buick and GMC Sales and Service. "Consumers are taking notice, as evidenced by each model's sales increases through the first 11 months of 2011." 

After being redesigned for the 2011 model year, Sierra HD pickups are also ending their first full calendar year on a high note. Total sales were up 30.7 percent in November, and retail sales of ¾-ton extended-cab models were up 74.2 percent.

Retail sales of all Sierra pickups - ½ ton, ¾ ton and one ton - were up a combined 22.4 percent in November.

Like GMC's full-size pickups, the Yukon and Yukon XL full-size luxury SUVs had a strong month, with retail sales up 25.7 percent and 27.7 percent, respectively, year over year.

All of these vehicles helped GMC increase its retail sales by 19.1 percent - the 26^th consecutive month of retail sales gains. Total sales for November were up 6.8 percent and total sales for the first 11 months of 2011 are up 21.6 percent compared with the same period last year.