Affordable Fun in the 2012 Chevy Orlando

Our children (and I) have been spoiled testing all these lovely top of the line touring edition vehicles.  The leather seats and auto this and that had us all brimming with excitement.  So when I arrived in the shiny and pretty but NOT top of the line 2012 Chevrolet Orlando, they were not that excited to check it out. That attitude did change however, and I am pleased to say that this 4-door, 7-seater wagon/crossover was a real pleasure to drive and got the thumbs up from the kids too.  I don’t think there are too many other 7 seaters like this available at this price point either.  The one I test drove was listed at $25,850.

I tend to like being in vehicles that are higher of the ground than a sedan style vehicle, but the peppy nature of the Orlando shut me up.  This is a great city car for a busy family.  The cargo may not be that great with all rows of seats in use – this is an issue in all crossovers – but with the 60/40 split on the 2^nd row and the 50/50 split in the back seat, it is versatile enough for most people to work around.  The 2^nd row held all three of my kids fairly comfortably with the smaller car seat in use.   The Orlando seemed to just have the Latch system on the outside seats on the second row, but had the hooks on all three rows for non-latching attachments.  I put the car seat in the 2^nd row on the 40 split in case I required more cargo space etc., since we have dogs but you can keep that spot as an easy egress into the back row as the seat folds well out of the way.  I was fortunate to be a passenger in the Orlando at Blissdom 2011 and while a tad ungraceful; it does fit adults comfortably in the back row.

The peppiness of the Chevy Orlando comes from their 2.4L ECOTEC^® dual overhead cam 4-cylinder engine that produces a substantial 174 horsepower.  The ease of driving in the mostly damp weather of Vancouver was helped with what they call StabiliTrak, Chevy’s electronic stability control system.  The 1LT model I had did not have Bluetooth hands free connectivity, which seems odd in this day and age and really should be standard in all car models by now.  It does have a good sound system with XM Satellite Radio available and good hidey MP3/iPod jacks.  The mirrors are a good size and I had no problem parking this car despite the lack of parking assist in this one.  All in all this is a nice and AFFORABLE 7 seater for those not looking at the minivan market.  Fitting a bigger family in your car can be expensive and I am glad that Chevy is trying to help with that conundrum.