The Rendezvous was a mediocre vehicle even at its 2002 introduction. Underpowered and unrefined, and with poor ride comfort and handling, it had only its roomy interior going for it. And by now, only its cargo capacity is appreciably better than its competitors; the seats themselves are neither particularly spacious nor comfortable. 2006 brought a 3.5-liter V6 to replace the previously standard overworked 3.4-liter, which represents a nearly negligible upgrade in terms of acceleration and refinement. The Rendezvous is inexpensive, but simply insufficient in many ways to be worth even that amount of money.

Though the Rendezvous is a car-based SUV, it doesn't ride like one. Though it is comfortable at highway speeds on smooth pavement, it has a jittery low-speed ride, and road imperfections lead to pronounced body motions. It doesn't handle like a good car-based SUV either, with pronounced body lean combined with an ungainly feel overall. The unresponsive steering doesn't help matters. The new-for-2006 standard 3.5-liter V6 is barely an improvement over the hopelessly underpowered 3.4-liter it replaced, providing slow, noisy acceleration. It is at least relatively fuel-efficient, but the optional larger 3.6-liter V6 is even better there. Road noise is constant, and wind noise is pronounced at highway speeds.

Inside, the Rendezvous’s front seats are overly soft and lumpy and lacking in lateral support, but are at least high enough (at the expense of headroom, particularly with the available sunroof). The standard second-row bench is too low, the optional captain’s chairs (included here) are higher and better-shaped, but still too soft. Neither design brings an excess of foot space. The small, low, and hard third row has virtually no leg or foot room. Liberal use of false wood on the dash fails to distract from the many hard, cheap plastics and poorly-fitting trim pieces. The instruments are large and easy to use from the driver’s seat, but a stretch for the front passenger. The small gauges are poorly marked, difficult to read in any circumstance, and literally illegible in direct sunshine. The optional head-up display projects the data onto the windshield, but the numerals are too small and they too wash out easily. Drivers sit high and in reasonable comfort, but have poor rearward visibility. Entry/exit to the first two rows of seats is aided by the high roof, low ride height, and wide door openings, though the small second-row footwells can lead to some complication. The second-row captain’s chairs cannot flip forward to aid third-row access, passengers must either crawl around them or squeeze through the narrow passage between the two seats. There is little room behind the third row, but a surprising amount when it is folded out of the way, cargo space behind the second row and behind the front seats is the best in this group.

The Rendezvous did not excel in crash testing. In the NHTSA frontal crash test, it earned three out of five stars for the driver and four out of five for the front passenger, but a more-impressive five out of five stars for both the driver and for the second-row passenger in the NHTSA side crash test. NHTSA did not evaluate the Rendezvous’s rollover resistance. It earned an Acceptable rating in the IIHS offset crash test, the third highest of five ratings. The IIHS has not evaluated the Rendezvous’s side impact protection (no other vehicles in this group have been subjected to that test either) or its head restraints. 

The Rendezvous reviewed here came very well equipped for $30,098. It included heated power leather seats with memory, front seat side airbags that protect the head and torso, traction control, automatic climate control, a sunroof, XM satellite radio, OnStar, and a 6-disc CD player. Missing were curtain-style side airbags that protect the heads of passengers in all three rows and stability control, but the Rendezvous is very well-priced overall.

Overall, this Rendezvous is well-priced by this group’s standards and has a roomy interior. But those are its only strong points. Poor seat comfort, clumsy handling, an underpowered and noisy engine, and a low-quality interior are the car’s serious flaws that, when coupled with mediocrity in virtually every other way, make this car an unconvincing alternative to the best in this class.