[Matno]

Obviously I must be in the minority, but does anyone else find it annoying that the LTZ is not available with 8-passenger seating? Aside from the fact that I actually NEED the extra seat, my previous van had captain's chairs (and I had fewer children), and I found it to be an unnecessary waste of space (unless you have a really tall person in the center seat of the third row who needs more legroom). 95% of the time, we folded one of the captain's chairs to get to the 3rd row anyway. I guess Chevy feels that high seating capacity and luxury don't mix, but I beg to differ. (The Suburban has a 9 seat option which cannot be combined with an entertainment system, and the highest trim level doesn't have the 8 OR 9 seat options. Seems like the people who would want more seats are the same people - i.e. large families - who would want a DVD player). The highest trim levels of both the Acadia and the Enclave have the 8 seat option, why not Chevy? Is it just me or are no large families interested in fancier trim levels?

Okay, my rant is over...

 

[AA/78U-Blue Gold]

Interesting; I don't recall anyone bringing up this fact in the past. Not sure why the LTZ does not offer 8 passenger seating ???

 

[bigbluetraverse]

Most fokes with large families can't afford a LTZ ha ha..

The 8 seat configuration is not designed to support all the options the LTZ has. IE the headrest DVD's. Plus the leather seats.

I'm sure in the end it was a cost issue with building them.

You can still option out a 8 seater in the LT fairly well.

 

[Toddzilla67]

Matno, I did not want 8 passenger seating, so I can't relate to this issue on the level you are experiencing.

Beyond that, I'll disagree a little bit here.

I don't think this was necessarily a cost issue with the build. Buick and GMC are already charging more for their Lambda product anyway and offer 8 passenger seating in the highest trim levels. Here are apples-to-apples window-sticker comparisons between my LTZ and the highest trim levels available in the other Lambdas (plus adding chrome side steps that we don't have to match up with the options on the others).

GMC Acadia Denali AWD $49475
Buick Enclave CXL-2 AWD $49220
GMC Acadia SLT-2 AWD $48935
Buick Enclave CXL-1 AWD $48815 (I threw this one in here since it also offers 8 passenger seating w/ leather)
GMC Acadia SLT-1 AWD $47380 (This one, too)
Chevy Traverse LTZ AWD $47160

Now, the Buick and GMC websites (Chevy does in the 2LT, too) would let me choose leather and 8 passenger seating in the lower trim levels--that does not mean you can actually get this option packaged this way. The websites aren't necessarily that intuitive or accurate. See your local dealer for (hopefully) more accurate information.

The price offset can't cost Chevy more than a few hundred dollars to add a leather covered 2nd row bench seat in place of a cloth covered one. I realize this may be one more thing to clog up the assembly process for the Traverse, but why not offer this to CHEVY buyers?

GM and/or Chevy think they are packaging options the way a consumer would purchase them anyway which probably cuts manufacturing costs. Granted, GM can't please everyone, but I think they missed the mark a little on some things. Too bad our comments may never go any farther than this forum.

 

[bigbluetraverse]

The other thing is they want to lead you to the high end vehicles. So they will leave options out of the Chevy's they have done this forever.

They also want to keep the cost down on the Traverse more so than the others.

 

[Matno]

The other thing is they want to lead you to the high end vehicles.

Then why do they make the Traverse LOOK better than the other options? ;D

 

[Toddzilla67]

Then why do they make the Traverse LOOK better than the other options? ;D

I totally agree!!!!!

 

[bigbluetraverse]

They were shooting for fuel efficiency but it ended up looking good to... ha ha..

That's what happens when they forced the engineers and designers to work together.

 

[GXPWeasel]

When we purchased our LT-2 California or Touring package ( with LTZ rims, dual exhaust, etc.) there was a white one right beside ours on the lot. It was an LT-2, with the same California package, but with nav, and 8 seat capacity. We didn't like the white, and I wasn't paying $2k for Nav, so we went with ours, with capitans chairs. Maybe it was a California pkg. option. Using up the last bits of things.

 

[Matno]

I just saw an ad for the Tahoe on USNews's car review website that specifically said "seating for up to 9 on the LTZ model." Must have been an error, because the Chevy website says it's only available with 7 (not even 8 ) seats. Caught my attention though...

 

[AA/78U-Blue Gold]

I just saw an ad for the Tahoe on USNews's car review website that specifically said "seating for up to 9 on the LTZ model." Must have been an error, because the Chevy website says it's only available with 7 (not even 8) seats. Caught my attention though...

The seating for 9 is an error; the LTZ only seats 7

 

[Matno]

Re: Re: Forced seating arrangements... Grrr.

Bet I'm not the only one who wishes they could come up with a separate middle seat instead of the 60/40 split. I like the way my wife's Sienna has 3 separate seats in the middle row that can all fold, tumble, or be removed individually (the middle one is slightly narrower, but it can also be mounted in a more forward position for easy access to a child car seat from the front). Take out the middle and you have "pseudo captain's chairs." But I still love the Traverse more for a lot of other reasons, not the least of which is that the rear seats are comfortable (except for that one dumb seatbelt!)

 

[09Enclave]

The other thing is they want to lead you to the high end vehicles. So they will leave options out of the Chevy's they have done this forever.

They also want to keep the cost down on the Traverse more so than the others.

Well, when we got our Enclave 8-seater, there was a $495 CREDIT for taking the bench over the captain's chairs. So, I would have to say Chevy wants to sqeeze a little more money out of a LTZ buyer, by forcing captain's chairs for the top model. However, the price credit is not available anymore, I think this brings in more cash on all the bench seat models. Oh, it's all so weird...because they offer 8-passenger on the Enclave, even in top trims, but yet do you ever SEE one? Only about 1 in every few hundred Enclaves have the 8-passenger, I would dare say that most luxury buyers want the captain's chairs...perhaps why Chevy thought the LTZ would do better....but still, why not offer it. Perhaps MORE people would get the LTZ if they could have 8 seats, and wouldn't that bring in more money? (since they are not offering the credit for the bench anymore...at least I don't think they are on Chevy.....Buick's not) I honestly think they want to simplify the options so much that people will not be able to spec out one exactly like they want.

 

[Matno]

Re: Re: Forced seating arrangements... Grrr.

You're right. Most luxury buyers probably do want captain's chairs. They are nice. I fit into the category of "luxury buyer for the front seats only." For the rear seats, that means I only care that they have a dvd player (i.e. to make the front seats quieter), cup holders (so they don't have to bother me when they get thirsty), and easy access/usable seatbelts (so I don't have to climb in and help them buckle up).

For ultimate luxury, I wish they offered the option of a barrier wall like they have in limousines...

 

[staciesbaby]

For ultimate luxury, I wish they offered the option of a barrier wall like they have in limousines... X2 Matno! Can't tell you how many times the wife and I have said to each other, "Can you put up the limo glass?" With four kids, that would be a godsend option.