[key1cc]

I picked the Outlook because I prefer certain aspects about the look including the rear wrap around glass, the square fat dual tail pipes, no big Red GMC on the front, and a better value for the same vehicle based on my research (with no pre-owned GM deal)

Also Acadia was to "trucklike"
and Enclave was too "outthere"

I had never owned a GMC, Saturn, or Buick (and did'nt think I ever would until the Lamdas came out....) so it was not an image decision for me, since they all are GM anyway. ;D

Key1

 

[jf7fsu]

I looked briefly at all three before I bought my outlook. Here were my observations. Let me preface this by saying that I think all three are excellent vehicles.


OUTLOOK:
I like:
The aggressive macho grille of the Outlook. It looks great.
The wrap around rear glass window.
The fake wood interior looks good to my eyes and everyone who gets in comments on it positively.
The square dual exhaust
The lack of it saying Acadia or GMC all over.
More storage room than Enclave
Better pricing than the other two.

I dislike:
The XE stainless steel interior, IMO
No HUD


Acadia:

I like:

HUD

I dislike:
The round rear LED tailights.
The exhaust
The front of the Acadia including the Grille.
The way the dash is laid out and the color.

ENCLAVE:
I dislike :
The roundness of the exterior styling
The round portholes
I really dislike:
the Enclave Grille

I LIKE:
the 4/45 warranty
The extra sound dampening (not that the Outlook is loud)

All in all I made the right choice for me. People can debate this until the end of time. All three are excellent vehicles and none really stands out to me except the Buick because of the warranty.

 

[scotted73]

I like the overall contemporary sleek look of the Outlook especially in the Charcoal and White colors. The European feel on the interior and the clean lines on the outside create a great presence for the Outlook. The wraparound glass and 19' wheels sold me. The HIDs were an added bonus.

I didn't care for the surprised frog headlights or the Chinese Transformer knockoff tail lights of the Acadia. The exhaust tips also didn't mesh well with the Acadia.

The Enclave was not out yet and it was a bit too "Ritzy" for my taste. I feel I should be arriving in my box seats at the Opera.

In any case, I agree all three vehicles are excellent and provide great personal choices for potential customers.

 

[lewisr]

Looks and price

 

[stiffi]

I like the look better of the Outlook. I got an XE, because of the 3 (or more like 3 and 1/2 because of the XE), I like the interior the best. The Acadia had stainless steel, which I did not like, and the XR and Enclave have faux wood. The difference in the XE is, the steel is brushed, which makes it dull and not shiny. I heard too many complaints about the glare off of the steel in the Acadia. I don't have that problem with the brushed XE. In addition, I hated the red interior lights of the Acadia. I felt like I was driving Hellboy's car. I like the Outlook's yellow much more.

I also like the wrap around glass, as did my wife. She wasn't sold on it until I pointed out that my VUE also had it, then she said "oh yeah, I like that too". That also points out that I generally like Saturn better, since I already had one (since traded in).

To be fair, I never drove the Enclave. There were none to be found when I was shopping and I didn't want to wait 12 months to order one.

In the end I probably could have gotten more with an Acadia. I paid the same price for the XE that I would have for an SLE Acadia, which adds the dual tailpipe and 5 more horsepower, but I'm extremely happy with my Outlook.

 

[CamperCat]

My reasons pretty much reflect all the above mentioned items plus the fact that our dealer had ours on the lot and ready to go. The styling is between the Acadia and the Enclave: Classy, a bit more subtle. And it pulls my travel trailer very well.

 

[The Plainsman]

I picked the Outlook because I prefer certain aspects about the look including the rear wrap around glass, the square fat dual tail pipes, no big Red GMC on the front, and a better value for the same vehicle based on my research (with no pre-owned GM deal)

Also Acadia was to "trucklike"
and Enclave was too "outthere"

I had never owned a GMC, Saturn, or Buick (and did'nt think I ever would until the Lamdas came out....) so it was not an image decision for me, since they all are GM anyway. ;D

Key1

Ditto. Key has all the same reasons I had. Saturn = Practical image GMC = trucklike image; Buick = Old people image.

For me, the Outlook was just flat out better looking. I bought a loaded Outlook XR (41.2K sticker) that is just as pretty inside as an Enclave. I do think the Acadia HUD would've been cool.

 

[6Sixathome]

I saw an OUTLOOK at our church one day and thought this thing is awsome! That got me thinking. A month or so later my wife and I went and looked at our local Saturn dealer and thats all it took we saw the midnight blue XR that we wanted but never thought that we could sell our vehicle fast enough to buy it before it would have sold on the lot. In between the first time that I saw the OUTLOOK and when we went to the lot I looked at a few Acadia's and I also thought that they were to truck-like almost ridgid and the Enclaves were not out quite yet and they seemed to car like and I wanted something in between like the OUTLOOK. I liked the lines of the OUTLOOK and thought the interior was awsome. So the OUTLOOK was for us. Back to selling our EXCURSION, it was a Sunday that we decided to sell it and I put it for sale that afternoon. Three days later it sold. We went to the dealer the next morning and the midnight blue XR was still there, put cash down from the EXCURSION, signed the papers, and went back that afternoon to pick it up and happy ever since! :thumb:

 

[jonnjustinsmom]

I was **** bent on getting an Acadia. Went to the GMC dealer and was told "you cant afford an Acadia". :angryfire: So, that being said, I went and got the Saturn, which ended up being more expensive than the Acadia. ;D The GMC dealer had 2 Acadias in stock and both were just basic. My Outlook has it ALL!! So much for not being able to afford it. and they lost a sale--and everyone I know knows not to go to the GMC dealer!!! In YUMA, AZ by the way!! >
VERY happy with my Outlook and sooo glad I got it instead of the Acadia.

 

[scarpi]

Well I own an 02 Yukon 4x4 and was at first thinking of trading it in on an 08 Acadia. I loved the styling. We want a Gold Mist exterior. Then I noticed that there was no tan interior to go well with the Gold Mist for the Acadia. You have to pick "brick" (redish brown), "ebony" (black), or "titanium" (a very light grayish color). In my opinion none of those colors go with Gold Mist. Then we wanted cloth seats and a sunroof. In the Acadia you cannot get cloth seats with the sunroof. So I learned about the Outlook. It basically is the same vehicle as the Acadia only we can get Gold Mist with tan interior and a sunroof with cloth seats. Problem solved. We might buy an Outlook within the next couple of months. Now I have a question. We enjoy driving on gravel and dirt roads in the "high country " forests around the mountains in our state. Will the Outlook do ok on those forest roads as long as it has the AWD option? I'm not talking about driving across boulder strewn potholes, only gravel and dirt forest roads. Anybody with any experience on this issue?
Thanks

 

[joebrandon1977]

I preface by saying I am a researcher by nature and test drove all three vehicles (outlook, acadia, enclave) and in my book the Outlook won! Here is my thought process, which echoes many of your thoughts.

1. We were sold on White Diamond Tricoat and Tan Leather interior (Acadia does not offer Tan Leather, so it was a dark horse from the beginning). Only Outlook & Enclave offer this exterior / interior color combo.

2. Enclave is more "rounded" in design and I did not like this style. I preferred the more traditional "SUV" look that the Acadia & Outlook offer.

3. Outlook - I prefer the wrap around rear glass window. We added the rear spoiler - which helps square off the profile of the Outlook in my opinion - and give it a SUV profile look - without it, it has a rounded profile which reminded me more of the minivan profile.

4. Acadia - Non-Wrap around rear glass I did not like - if you look at a side profile with that design, it is very similar to a Toyota FourRunner.

5. Outlook - Prefer the square tipped exhaust that is only offered on the Outlook - Enclave & Acadia are round.

6. I prefer the faux wood grain offered in Outlook & Enclave - Acadia's "chrome" interior did not fly for me. However the Acadia's center console design does flow nicely.

7. 2X - 3X more Acadia's on the road - I prefer having the more "unique" Outlook. I will see 10 Acadia's on the road to ever 1 Outlook I see. I don't believe it is simply more sales - it is availability. So I prefer having the "rare" lamda of the three.

8. Outlook grill is simple and sharp. Branding is there - but doesn't take away from the vehicle as much as the GMC grille.

9. No haggle price - I hate the new car sales process. I know what I want - there is no need to waste time hanging over $ if you can tell me what the bottom line is up front. I'll make the decision if I want it or not. I negotiated mud flaps & the spoiler into the deal so I felt I had some extra value added.

10. All 3 vehicles are made at the same plant - its ultimately a brand or slight variation of design preferences - as mentioned, all three vehicles could be debated all day long, but in the end it comes down to personal preference. And 1-9 above are my preferences - Outlook wins by pretty large margin in my book. I would have choose the Enclave 2nd and Acadia 3rd.

11. I've read several articles on Saturn rebranding process in the upcoming years. Obviously with the Outlook as an example, they are reaching out to a new segment of the market with 40K+ vehicles. From what I have read, we should expect Saturn to continue down this path of becoming a higher brand in the GM fleet.

jb - dallas, tx

 

[DamonZ28]

My reason was pretty simple. I liked both the Acadia (actually preferred it) and the Outlook, but it boiled down to what I could afford. It probably helped too, that the Saturn salesman actually tried to get us into something we could afford, and the GMC salesman basically tried to sell us the best/most expensive truck on the lot.

 

[key1cc]

Now that the Traverse is an option. Would you have made the same choice?

I think it would come down to price for me since I now like the look of all four.

Key1

 

[khansen30]

I agree with all the pros and cons above. I was going to buy a Tahoe but the night before I went to look an Outlook came up while searching the web. I already owned one Saturn and was very satisfied with the service and quality. I drove off the lot in the Outlook I test drove that day. It gave me the size and comfort I need. I didn't even know about the Acadia or Enclave at the time, but I know I still would have choosen the Outlook. Brand loyalty for me. I was very happy when Saturn started playing better with the big boys. I also like the fact that the vehicle is Saturn designed and the copied, not the other way around. :thumb:

 

[key1cc]

The more I look at the four pictures above, the more I realize I made the right choice going with the outlook.
Key1

 

[ABCMom]

I agree Key1. I looked at those pictures for several minutes and still love the Outlook more than the others!

For me the decision was easy. I had a Saturn already (SL2) that had treated me well. When it came time to purchase a new car, I had my work cut out for me. I did a lot of research on different vehicles. I had always wanted a Trailblazer but couldn't find one with the 3rd row. Before I found the Outlook, I even researched the Ford Freestyle. Nice car, 3 comfortable rows, 2 problems: 1, it was a Ford. 2, it was recalled for some pretty scary stuff very early on. Outlook was the first of the Lambda's I saw and I loved the design. I also loved that it was GM and not Ford! It had the size, weight, capabilities I needed and it wasn't horribly priced. I looked at the Acadia since there is a GMC dealer local and not a Saturn dealer, but my heart belonged to the Red Jewel Tintcoat Outlook AWD.

Even with the new Traverse, I know I made the right choice. The Outlook is the best of the series hands down!

 

[key1cc]

Agreed ABCMom,
Here are the front view comparison shots where they all look great.
Click on picture to see larger view....
Key1

 

[ABCMom]

Anyone else notice the Buick's resemblance to a hippopotamus???? :rofl:

(no offense Buick owners )

 

[k9ike]

:thumb: I originally saw the Buick Enclave on display at Home Depot.
I loved the interior but the body style didn't do much for me. But it
still stuck in my head. When I went to the auto show I had the chance
to compare all 3 vehicles. Style and price sold me on the outlook.