GMC Terrain review: a competent compact crossover with a hard resale problem
3.5/5motorssouq Editorial Team
A reasonable compact crossover on its own merits, and a genuinely awkward one to resell in three years. Buy it if the styling and cabin materials win you over on a test drive; do not buy it purely on badge curiosity, and budget for a resale price that assumes a smaller buyer pool than the class leaders enjoy.
Pros
- Simplified 1.5L turbo lineup fixed the previous range's biggest weakness
- Cabin materials and styling read more distinctive than the Japanese default
- Boot space and rear-seat room competitive with class leaders
- Denali trim's heated/ventilated seats are genuinely useful in Bahrain's climate
Cons
- Real-world fuel consumption in Gulf heat rarely matches the brochure figures
- Fewer used examples in Bahrain mean less price transparency than a RAV4 or CR-V
- Resale value trails the segment leaders by a meaningful margin
- 175 hp four is adequate rather than exciting
The 2022 facelift did the Terrain a real favour: dropping the confusing three-engine lineup down to a single 1.5-litre turbo four simplified buying it and fixed the previous range's biggest weakness, which was a diesel nobody in the Gulf wanted and a base engine that felt strained. The 175 hp four is unremarkable but adequate, and the nine-speed automatic shifts smoothly enough that you stop noticing the gear count.
GMC pitches the Terrain's styling as more distinctive than a RAV4's or a CR-V's, and inside the cabin that holds up — better materials than the segment's Japanese default on the SLT and Denali trims, and a genuinely different look on the dashboard.
The practical case
Boot space and rear-seat room are competitive with the class leaders, and the Denali trim's extra equipment — heated and ventilated seats, a better stereo — is worth having in Bahrain's climate. Where it loses ground is fuel consumption: a 1.5-litre turbo four working an automatic gearbox in Gulf heat with the air conditioning running rarely matches its brochure numbers, and 9 to 10 L/100 km in real city driving is a more honest expectation.
Resale is the same story as every GMC in this market: fewer used Terrains changing hands means less price transparency, and a private seller has less data to justify their asking price than a RAV4 or CR-V seller does.
Verdict
A reasonable compact crossover on its own merits, and a genuinely awkward one to resell in three years. Buy it if the styling and cabin materials win you over on a test drive; do not buy it purely on badge curiosity.