GMC Acadia 2011

Just picked one up from a VERY trusted seller (relative) in mint condition. 130k the lone(?) 3.6L engine. Very nice vehicle purchased to be a 3rd car in our two person family.

Bad, decent, horrible or seems good to me?

Know that there's lots of knowledge here and thanks in advance for any comments.

I like them. They must be pretty decent because they seem to hold value pretty good. We're in the market for a mid-size SUV/Crossover and the Acadia is in the top 3 I'm considering.

My wife has the exact one. Overall she/we love it. Absolutely sucks to work on though. First vehicle in my life I've decided to pay for an oil change because it's such a pain. The headlight bulbs had me saying a few choice words. I had to replace a motor mount also, it wasn't terribly hard, but after a little Google it is a pretty common problem.

The transmission will give you trouble at some point in the not too distant future, virtually all of them do, a little pricey to have it rebuilt or replaced, but other than that most customers that have them like them.

You can certainly wind up with a good vehicle but I wouldn't buy anything GMC or Ford until their reliability comes close to that of a Toyota or Honda. If we were to have an extra vehicle it'd be a Camry. I don't know what it is like to have car trouble, in 18 years I've literally only had 1 issue where had to replace the catalytic converter on my Ridgeline. That said my Toyota Tundra eats gas and I may be considering an American truck unless Toyota can get it together. The Tundra is an amazing truck but the luxury packages are poorly done and they don't seem to care how far behind they are on gas efficiency.

mattuga said:

You can certainly wind up with a good vehicle but I wouldn't buy anything GMC or Ford until their reliability comes close to that of a Toyota or Honda. If we were to have an extra vehicle it'd be a Camry. I don't know what it is like to have car trouble, in 18 years I've literally only had 1 issue where had to replace the catalytic converter on my Ridgeline. That said my Toyota Tundra eats gas and I may be considering an American truck unless Toyota can get it together. The Tundra is an amazing truck but the luxury packages are poorly done and they don't seem to care how far behind they are on gas efficiency.

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I used to believe that way, but my 02' Tahoe has served me better than any Toyota or Honda I have ever owned. It's all about the service and how well you care for them.

The federal epa regulations and mileage requirements have caused both domestic and foreign manufacturers to put out drivetrains that are proving in some cases to not be very long lasting or reliable, while they are achieving the fuel mileage numbers they are not lasting as long as they should, transmissions that have 6,7 8 speeds and now they are coming out with some 10 speeds , because of them constantly changing between all those gears , valvebodies and clutch packs are wearing at a faster rate than they used to with 4spd or 5spd units.
The engines that have active fuel management where they cut back on how many cylinders are actually functioning once you get to cruising speed are also having issues. You can thank the federal gov for it costing more to repair vehicles now than in years past.
Both Toyota and Honda are having reliability issues now, Toyota more so than Honda. Virtually every manufacturer has some sort of reliability issue currently, some more costly than others.

I'd like to thank you all for your insight on the Acadia. My SIL was actually just here not more than 2 hrs ago replacing a headlight bulb which requires the inside fenderwell piece to be removed. There was also a recall(?) for something with the water pump, now replaced a 2nd time about a year or so ago. I think we'll like it well enough in our previously all Ford household...lol

Thanks again to those who stopped by to comment, any additional information is welcome.

The fact that you got a clean used vehicle from someone you personally know is a good deal!

It's not all about service or how well you take care of them. Some vehicles are destined to be problematic. Certain vehicle within a manufacturers fleet tend to better than others. Could be poorly engineered, poorly assembled, faulty parts, or insert many other reasons here.

To the OP, as transfixer mentioned, be ready for a transmission repair. Every person I know that has owned an Acadia has had trans issues at some point. I hope yours will be the exception.

I've had 2 of them in my family, and overall pretty good vehicle. Well one was a Saturn Outlook, which is the same thing. Both of them were kept to about 130,000-150,000 miles. The issues we had were the headlights/wiring, and the water pump, which both were replaced as a recall item.

One of them set off a transmission code at 130,000, even though it cleared, was told by the dealer, it was going to be a $4800 repair, so I traded it in on a new one. Low and behold, someone in town bought it, and is still driving it 5 years later! It's a 2007 Outlook, which is GM Lambda platform, same as the Acadia.

Other than that, the oil filter location, makes it a bit of a pain to change. I'd say go for it.

Appreciate the additional info lonewolf. I know the water pump was replaced right at a year ago and one headlight replaced just as I took ownership. In limited driving thus far, the trans seems fine and I'm in the process of trying to show the wife how to use the "manual" mode in the trans to try and limit a lot of up and down shifts in city driving. That mode allows you to set the trans for use not using all the upper gears. It can make the 6sp into a 4 or 5sp, hopefully limiting all the constant shifting in low speed driving (under 60 MPH)

I didn't mention initially that this vehicle will be used as a go to work vehicle (VERY short commute) and around town for the wife and we will be looking at only 5-6k per year, most likely.

model88_308 said:

Appreciate the additional info lonewolf. I know the water pump was replaced right at a year ago and one headlight replaced just as I took ownership. In limited driving thus far, the trans seems fine and I'm in the process of trying to show the wife how to use the "manual" mode in the trans to try and limit a lot of up and down shifts in city driving. That mode allows you to set the trans for use not using all the upper gears. It can make the 6sp into a 4 or 5sp, hopefully limiting all the constant shifting in low speed driving (under 60 MPH)

I didn't mention initially that this vehicle will be used as a go to work vehicle (VERY short commute) and around town for the wife and we will be looking at only 5-6k per year, most likely.

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The two items that typically fail with that unit won't likely be affected by driving it differently, there is a steel wave plate that cushions the clutches in the 3/5/rev clutch pack that will break at some point, when it breaks the pieces will be thrown around in the transmission causing damage.
The other problem is with one or more of the pressure switches on the valvebody failing, the pressure switches tell the computer what gear the transmission is in.
The pressure switches are a minor issue and can be repaired without removing the transmission.

Bottom line, if you notice anything about the transmission not working normally, quit driving it and get it checked out, continuing to drive it with a broken wave plate can actually cause the transmission to be almost not rebuildable.