The true saabs are a little quirky. The 9-7X is as quirky as a chevy.

WM: Ironically, yesterday when I left my office the first thing I saw was the Saab you mentioned. I believe it was the first one I've seen. And to be fair that vapor lock Saab I mentioned was probably an 82 or something like that. I assume they have worked that out.

The main advantage of a late model Mountaineer is it has a 6 speed trans. I think TB magazine did a tow test with midsize SUVs a year or so ago and the 4.6/6 speed out performed a 5.3 powered GMC Envoy, IIRC. I can't comment of the fuel economy of a 5.3 powered Rainer, but from EPA tests, a 5.3 powered TB gets about the same fuel economy as a Suburban.

I will add that a 5.3/4 speed combo is not a great towing combo. The gearing of the trans plane sucks for towing. I just got back from Branson, MO and made up a bunch of words I can't say on the board while Towing our travel trailer up the hills in Missouri with our Suburban, basically ran in second gear listening to the 5.3 scream for mercy. Granted I was pulling nearly 6k lbs up those hills.

Either of your choices will tow an 18 footer w/o a problem.

I've towed my uncle's 23' Sea Fox with his Envoy before, and it did a real nice job. I figure the boat probably weighed 6000lbs on the trailer, and it has a hard top. So its not exactly the most aerodynamic boat. Wasn't a rocket by any means, but it did the job adequately.

And the week before, I used the Envoy to tow a loaded U-Haul trailer from Buffalo to Brunswick, GA -- 1000 miles. Did an awesome job with that. Fuel economy in West Virginia sucked because of the trailer and the hills, but I keep my foot in the throttle -- easily averaged 72mph or greater, probably more like 75 or 80 through there. Fuel economy for the rest of the trip was pretty good with it all loaded up.

It has the 4.2L I6, and is the XL version.

I don't own one, but I do a put a lot of miles on a Buick Ranier. Its our "work truck" that is a retired executive ride so that we don't have to use our own vehicles to go to outlying locations. Even though it is a "work truck" it has lived an easy life. Exec was nice to it, and its me and 2 women that drive it, so it has not lived a hard life at all. It is the 5.3 liter V-8.

FWIW: I'd feel unsafe towing anything with it, and absolutely hate the thing.

The only way I can describe the ride is "squishy". It rides fine going down the road, and is rather smooth. From stop light/sign when you step on the gas it feels like the front end pulls off the ground and you are doing a wheelie. Step on the brakes and it feels as though the rear axle just came off the ground! Go around a corner (even at low speed) and there is a LOT of body roll to it. You'd swear the inside rear tire lifted! I have checked tires on it many times, when it was in the shop they say everything in the suspension is "in order". It has 64,000 miles (90% highway/10% city) and is a 2004. It gets "OK" mileage, 17.5 on average according to the computer in it. But when you give it the gas, it does have plenty of power on tap.

Personally, I'd be scared to death to tow anything with it. With the suspension the way it is combined with the short wheelbase, I just wouldn't feel comfortable towing with it. Doesn't' seem like it would take much to get it out of shape. I have no idea what the tow rating is (has a factory 3" receiver in it) or what rear end it has.

One other odd thing, when I stop at a light sitting in "drive" with my foot on the brake, after about 30 seconds there is a "thunk" and the truck shifts a few inches. It literally sounds/feels like you were bumped lightly from the car behind you. Not a clue what causes it, but really makes you wonder when you look in the rear view mirror and there is no car behind you!!! LoL

Brand names aside, I'd much rather drag a trailer 100 miles with my 1/2 pick up then pull anything across town with our Ranier.

The clunk might be the A/C engaging or disengaging, which can effect RPMS enough to "surge".

Even with the climate control "off" like it was when I was driving it yesterday?

Personally, I think its transmission related, though it shifts fine, but I am also not an mechanic either.

Thanks for the first-hand Jake. What year was that Rain? I've read they did something about that for the 2006 version to make it steadier. Having said that, I drove an '06 over the weekend and came away a bit unsure about it myself. No towing was involved and I pushed it kind of hard in the rain. Not used to an AWD and decided I'll have to give it another try.

Pathfinder is creeping into choice #1, but I'm going to take a few more drives before I do anything. The next decision will be rwd v AWD v 4wd. Most every ramp I use is good and I've read good rwd will do the trick, but of cource I'm torn on that choice also. My main concern there is repair /tire issues down the road. 95% of the time this will just be going around town, so I'm fearfull of having a system I don't need but might have to put big $ into down the line. Snow really isn't a concern. Grew up in Mich driving rwd cars like a nut. Never really been stuck and I actually go out and goof around in it when most others are hunkered down for the monthly storm of the century.

Thanks for all feedback. Anybody with repair stories about 4wd or Awd?

It could also be the "high-speed" clutch engaging on the cooling fan, which places additional load on engine, which is countered by throttle increase.

My Suburban does something very similar except it never happens from a dead stop (unless I'm going from reverse to drive). If I accelerate and let off the gas as the trans upshifts it has a loud clunk. It will also do this under light acceleration when shifting from 2nd to 3rd (very annoying). It has done this the whole time I've owned it. Before and after my trans rebuild. The trans guy told me it's driveline lash and affects many GM trucks and SUVs. Basically their is to much free play somewhere between the trans and the rear end.

The lash is pretty common with all vehicles unless they're top end racing machines.

I did not know your Tranny was rebuilt. What happened?

I did not know your Tranny was rebuilt. What happened?

Made the misfortunate decision to have my trans flushed instead of a standard drain and refill @ 50k miles about 3 years ago. I won't mention where I had the flush done, but it was a place that has a tire name on the building. Had the trans flushed then picked up and made it about 50 feet out of the parking lot when I noticed I was running nearly 4000rpm and going 20mph with nasty shuddering.

Since I opened my big mouth before I had the flush and said that I was getting noticing a hard 2-3 shift they used that against me when I was dealing with their claims department. So we settled on splitting the rebuild 50/50.

The trans shop said he had rebuilt many trans after flushes and said to stay away from them.

As for driveline lash, yes, a lot of vehicles have it, but what I experience seems to be more severe than other vehicles I've driven.

The thunk after coming to a stop, is probably the driveshaft yoke splines binding in the splined shaft coming out of the transfer case (or transmission tail shaft if 2 WD) it's a farily common occurance on both RWD and 4x4 trucks, in fact it was real common on the 99-00 Grand Cherokees and recent Toyota 4 Runners and the Lexus equivalant. The usual cure is to drop the driveshaft and lube the splines. What happens is when you come to a stop, the rear of the truck rises slighlty and that pulls the splines out of the transfer case, and when you ease up on the brake it releases the stored energy in a THUNK. My Grand used to do it also, only in 4x4, it turned out the front shaft was binding on the differential splines, a little marine wheel bearing grease fixed that some years back.

BTW, I would not be without 4x4 on any truck I owned here in the hilly Northeast. The only maintenance the 4x4 on my old school Jeep has been changing the fluid in the transfer case and changing the output seal once some years back. Not too bad for 10 years and 110000 miles. It's so hilly here that a 2 WD truck would go nowhere in the snow. Plus the ramps all have slime on them (salt water).

We love our Pathfinder, and it has the allmode (2WD, 4WD, & Computer controlled 4WD, like AWD). Ok milage, pulls well, and the engine has guts!

Heyboer, its a 2004.

Its not a bad vehicle for the most part (and goes like a raped ape with the 5.3 in it!) but the suspension kills the whole vehicle for me. Seats are comfortable, ergonomics are good.. etc.

I'd say the description of the drive shaft splines is very accurate of what I am feeling. Now I will have to pay attention to how much pressure I keep on the brake pedal when stopped to see if thats what it is. If I lift my foot can I hear/feel the thunk... etc.