Buick Rendezvous

The Buick Rendezvous is a crossover SUV from the US car manufacturer Buick. It was offered exclusively in North America and Taiwan from 2001 to 2007.

The Rendezvous was designed to combine the features of vans (with up to seven seats as well as a large cargo capacity) with the comfort and handling of luxury cars and the design and an available all-wheel drive of SUVs in one vehicle. It was manufactured along with the Pontiac Aztek at Ramos Arizpe in Mexico.

The Rendezvous came standard with front-wheel drive and, at extra cost, with fully automatic, permanent all-wheel drive, which gave it good traction in wet and snowy conditions and also allowed it to handle light terrain. Buick based its suspension design on the Park Avenue for comfort and handling, which is why all Rendezvous models were equipped with independent rear suspension.

The base engine was initially a 3.4-litre V6 engine with 138 kW, and from the 2006 model year a 3.5-litre V6 engine with 150 kW. A 3.6 l V6 engine with 183 kW was initially available as an option together with the Ultra equipment variant. Power transmission was via a 4-speed automatic. A slight facelift took place in 2004.

The Rendezvous was a success for Buick, which was also urgently needed due to an aging core clientele. With the Rendezvous, a younger as well as wealthier clientele was brought to the traditional brand.

The success was also due to the price; a Buick Rendezvous cost about 8000 US$ less than a comparable Lexus RX. The sales figures exceeded by far the expectations regarding the 30,000 to 40,000 units per year initially targeted. Except for the final year of production, between 60,000 and 70,000 were produced annually. In total, around 305,000 units rolled off the production line during the five-year production period.

In mid-2007, the Buick Enclave was introduced, replacing the Rendezvous.