mmarshall

IMO, in a case like that, it is not on the service departments, nor on Chevy or Buick, but on the owners themselves to correctly state the model-year and identification of their vehicle the they make a service appointment or order parts/accessories for it. If one has enough intelligence to drive a vehicle, then one presumably has enough intelligence to know what they are driving, and what they are bringing to the service department.

I'll admit that the alphabet-soup naming that some manufacturers use (Acura, Infiniti, Cadillac, older Lincolns, etc....) can be confusing, but, even so, how much intelligence does it take to read a vehicle-name/ident off a trunk-lid?

Better and more competent vehicle-owners are also needed...for the reasons I just stated.

I admit that sometimes service-departments will have less-than-ideal personnel working for them, but, these days, that is less and less likely......the requirements to simply get a job in that field, and the study that a technician goes through from the manufacturer (or the ASE) to get that rating, are not easy. Gone are the days when you could walk into a shop, show them that you could change a tire, and go right to work.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

we need to bring this back to mmarshall's Encore GX or the thread will be closed.

SW17LS

I see zero issues with this. Lots of examples of what once was a BOF truck that is now a unibody vehicle.

As for the Encore vs the Encore GX, I still think its a question of laziness...Encore GX should have a different name.

tex2670

It's intentional customer confusion. Same with Nissan Rogue / Rogue Sport; prior generation Hyundai Santa Fe / Santa Fe Sport / Santa Fe XL; Mustang / Mustang Mach-E.

Anyone kicking and screaming that Blazer used to be BOF and how dare Chevy use that "classic" name on a non BOF vehicle should be making the same argument against the mid-engine Corvette. 65 years of front-engine history thrown out the window. Heresy!!!!

mmarshall

^^^^ Folks, I don't want to hog the limelight or be too self-centered, but did you see bitkahuna's post (#212)? Let's get back to my Encore GX.....I don't want the thread shut down.

Gas mileage, so far, continuing to increase (in some cases, dramatically) with warmer weather and more miles on the engine. I think the EPA highway mileage is underrated. And the three-pot-turbo engine is a lot easier to live with than I thought it would be....the Buick Quiet-Tuning makes it run and sound more like a four instead of a three.

A few minor quirks/complaints so far......nothing serious. The disable-button for the engine-start-stop should be permanent (once-and-for-all), and not need to be re-engaged every time one starts the ignition. (that is not just an Encore-GX issue, but with a number of different vehicles from different manufacturers). The SD-card-activation box also pops up every time I start the engine, blocks out everything else on the screen, and has to be "OK" ed with the steering-wheel button each time before I can get rid of the box. The Hands-Off-feature for the rear liftgate, wth my hands full of groceries, sometimes takes two foot-kicks under the bumper instead of one. The steering sometimes has rubbery/sticky sensations when trying to keep the vehicle centered straight in the lane. And the 9-speed 9T45 automatic (which is designed for smaller engines) seems better-engineered than the slightly more heavy-duty 9T60 version I had in the 2018 Lacrosse and the V6, with fewer quirks/hiccups...but GM still does not seem to have it down quite perfectly yet.

tex2670

I wonder how much of this relates to driving style. I've never had a car where the actual gas mileage beat the EPA numbers.

What if you just activate the SD card?

SW17LS

For the engine start/stop. I purchased and installed modules in both my cars so they remember the last setting for the ESS after a restart. For the Pacifica it was a module I had to plug in to one of the wiring looms in the back of the van, but for the S560 it was a module that plugged into the OBDII port and downloaded the instructions. Highly recommend something like this if you really dislike this function as I do.

Looks like the company that made the module I installed on the Pacifica makes them for Buicks too:

https://www.smartstopstart.com/

mmarshall

Yes.....my day-to-day driving-style is moderate, although, when reviewing or writing-up a new vehicle, I will sometimes push it a little to get an idea of its acceleration and handling, though, even then, with brand-new engines, I don't overdo it.

My vehicles almost always do better-than-EPA on the highway, although not necessarily so in city/suburban conditions, because of the extremely heavy traffic and dense network of stop-signs/ traffic-lights/speed-bumps, etc....in my D.C. area. Even a light foot doesn't make up for a lot of stop/go conditions.

Keeping the A/C off, BTW, especially with smaller or lowered-powered engines, will, on average, make about a 2 MPG difference.

You do activate it by hitting the OK button. It only activates for one cycle, though.

I'll try and take and post a shot of it next time it comes up.

mmarshall

Thanks for the suggestion. Might look into it, although, for GM's warranty-purposes, it might (?) be considered a modification.

tex2670

That would drive me nuts. What's on the SD card? Your maps?

mmarshall

I'm not really an expert in this field, but from what I understand, in GM vehicles, it authorizes the NAV-access/reception in one's particular vehicle.

SW17LS

They will never know lol

mmarshall

There might be a few times I actually want the idle-shut-off, such as at a long red light or traffic back-up in the summer, with the A/C on. But, yes, most of the time, I'd rather not have it, and it's probably easier on the engine, battery, and starter-motor, even if they are beefed-up, not to be cutting the engine on and off constantly. It's probably not with the small added MPG.

SW17LS

Then you can turn it on at those times. The module doesnt deactivate it, it just makes the car remember the setting it was in when it was turned off so you dont have to turn it off every time

tex2670

Ok. My wife's Santa Fe has an SD card for the nav. When we went to pick it up for purchase, the SD card wasn't installed, and there was a message on the screen "No SD Card". The sales person got it, installed it, and we've never seen an SD message again. You may want to ask your dealer if there's something that needs to be done so you don't get that message every time you start up--it's odd if that's normal.