The steering wheel is nicely finished in leather and wood. The column shifter is covered in a soft, rubber-like material that feels good to the touch. Even the headliner is nicely finished in nylon-like material. The big center console is nicely upholstered and feels like quality. With its big glovebox, big cubby, and neat storage area under the center tunnel, there are plenty of places to stash stuff up front. The cup holders are big, solid and easy to access.
The switchgear is simple and elegant laid out. That's refreshing as many vehicles have become complicated and fussy to operate with small buttons and menus of controls buried in navigation systems. That's not the Rendezvous. Here, climate controls are clear and easy to use and require a minimum of button pressing. Radio buttons are big and easy to operate, a paragon of elegant design. Even secondary controls, like the rear wiper/washer, Park Aid, and front seat heaters, are easy to find and operate.
Even with seven inches of ground clearance and all-wheel drive, getting in and out of the Rendezvous is more like getting in and out of a sedan than an SUV. Small children, arthritic knees and tight-skirts can be grateful for that. All seats are easy to access and quite comfortable.
Rendezvous can seat up to seven passengers. Or it can carry two people with scads of stuff. The seating setup depends on how you order it and then on how you choose to fold and configure. We recommend the second-row captain's chairs as a replacement for the standard 50/50 split bench seat, though the bench seats three. We found the captain's chairs quite comfortable, with supportive seat bottoms. They're nicely finished in leather (on models so equipped), and cup holders are provided. In short, the second row of the Rendezvous is a comfortable place for adults to sit.
Access to the third row is far simpler than in most vehicles with three rows of seats. The third row in seven-passenger models is somewhat cramped for adults, squeezed from the outside by the inner fenders, so it lacks leg room and hip room, and is best for kids. But the third row is no Siberia: Even from way back there the acoustics allow you to participate in conversations with the front-seat passengers.
The Rendezvous works well as a cargo hauler, and the flexibility of the seating configurations is an exercise in automotive origami. The seats fold and tuck and fit into an amazing number of arrangements. Even the second-row seat flips and folds, allowing you to have two people up front and a flat floor behind without leaving anything home in the garage. The available third-row seat ($525) folds flat into the floor. For maximum cargo capacity, the center row can be removed. Hiding places and lockable bins are strategically placed here and there. When ordered without the third seat, CX Plus and CXL come with a cargo storage system that includes a sliding tray.
The Rendezvous' load-height is low, which reduces back strain when loading or unloading heavy objects. The rear opening is wide enough to slide a 4x8-foot sheet of plywood in flat. A red flag affixed at back will have to deal with the length.
The optional XM Satellite Radio features 100 coast-to-coast digital channels, including 71 music channels (more than 30 of them commercial-free) and 29 channels of sports, talk, children's and entertainment programming.
OnStar works well as a navigation system because there's nothing to program. Press the blue button and a human operator responds over the car's speaker, to provide directions and other assistance. OnStar always knows the location of your vehicle, and that information can be used in many helpful ways. If your airbag goes off and you do not respond to their calls, the OnStar staff will notify authorities of your location. Or you can press the emergency button and they'll send out the troops. If your vehicle is stolen, OnStar can pinpoint its location and direct the authorities to apprehend and recover. They can unlock your doors if you lock the keys inside. More commonly, the OnStar operator can direct you to the nearest gas station or help you select a good restaurant or motel. And sometimes that's better than just seeing a bug on a navigation screen. For 2005, OnStar gets upgraded hardware for improved hands-free, voice-recognition capabilities.
The available head-up display, or HUD, projects the car's speed and the radio station you're listening to onto the windshield, low enough to be unobtrusive but clearly visible. We've found it helpful to be able to check our speed with a minimum of eye deflection. It can, of course, be turned off.
