Cananopie

The LeSabre has been the best sellling full sized sedan in America for quite a while, am I wrong about this? The LeSabre wasn't exactly a crappy automobile. The Lucerne had a lot to live up to. Sure- the LeSabre was boring- full sized functional sedans with good fuel economy tend to be boring- so sue the LeSabre for giving America an extremely functional vehicle- but I don't think the Avalon outsold it, am I wrong about this too? I'm just curious about this shady past this article gives Buick and that Toyota trumped Buick in every way.

I'm glad to hear the ride of the Lucerne was as you expected or better... any other pros or cons about it? Please be objective, you're one of the first on C&G to drive one... and especially in 2 trim models!

I'll try and check out my Western New York dealerships soon. GM and Buick are hot stuff here.

You haven't seen the half of it Zoom. The picture doesn't do it justice. Had a white ragtop LeSabre that a deer ran into (it actually hit him while he was driving, it ran right into the side of his car, wrapped around the rear view mirror and ruined the whole drivers side) and he's basically going to be doing to the PA what he did to the LeSabre. If you want to see the LeSabre, here is his Car Domain site- http://www.cardomain.com/ride/736601 Balth, I agree- the stick on portholes do look better than the Maserati ones, but it bothers me that you can tell they're fake, when I look at my brothers, I feel it's cheap looking just because you know it's stuck on so I give Maserati points just because it's in the sheetmetal... but I like the style of the stick on ones (basically the Park Avenue Ultra ones because those aren't stick ons, yet same style) better.

Haha, not like that Zoom, I just think he's making a funny face.

I don't know how serious you were but chances are those portholes on the LaCrosse are actually afterthoughts because it looks like the ones you just stick on the side of the car. My brother just bought a Park Avenue and he has portholes that you just stick on. The Maserati portholes actually look functional and cut into the sheetmetal. Here is my brothers portholes, I would've gone out and taken a closer picture of them but I am feeling pretty lazy. (A zoomed picture of them)

The reason why people don't even bother trying to make Buick sporty is because GM doesn't try to make Buick sporty. Buick has the potential to work with the 3.6 in the LaCrosse and the Northstar in the Lucerne... you're telling me these engines can't be sporty and that these vehicles can't have more class? They totally can because that's what SEMA does. Give Buick a chance.

I like the guy inside.

I think that's a little harsh... But it is a tad unfair to see Pontiac, Saturn, Chevy, and Cadillac in Sema with at LEAST 1 vehicle, all but Saturn with more than one. Obviously GM knows what making a performance oriented vehicle does for a division- why would they not even BOTHER with Buick? So annoying.

I ALSO wonder what "baggage" the name Rendezvous carries... Perhaps it's the negative baggage that it was supposed to be the uglier, lesser know twin of the Aztek and flourished? Is it because it had the same style and the Aztek and since the Aztek did poorly the name Rendezvous has been tainted? It certainly couldn't be the fact the Buick has sold Rendezvous' far beyond their expectation, and is one of the most popular crossovers in America, could it? IF the Rendezvous had done poorly I would agree to drop the name... But if GM thinks that renaming every next generation vehicle so that people will think that the previous model could not even compare to the next model they are going to be sorry. People are going to figure it out really quickly that GM can't be making vehicles so far in advance than 4 or 5 years ago that they don't even deserve the same name and is just a scam to gain interest. The Rendezvous sold well. A BETTER Rendezvous would give auto magazines something to really compare it to and tell people to take a second look at Rendezvous... so not only are all these new buyers into Buick (all the Rendezvous buyers) going to be able to say they want another Rendezvous and everyone who didnt consider the Rendezvous could reconsider the newer version. Give Buick some character and keep some names around for Christs sake. As for Eclave... I guess... but really- what is wrong with a vehicle that sold far beyond its expectations?

No rope in front of it like when I went to see it- nice!

I don't think anyone should be upset because they consider Buick head to head with Acura rather than Lexus because Buick isn't Lexus priced and it won't be. Buick starts off in the $20k range and no 'tier 1' luxury brand starts there. The lowest Lexus goes is about $30k, the highest Buick goes is $40k, and for cars (as opposed to trucks) it's even less- $36k. I DO know that Buick is going to give Lexus, Acura, whoever else competing in the range a better battle than it was giving before. The simple fact is the LaCrosse and the Lucerne are much better cars than the Regal and the LeSabre and even the Park Avenue in some respects. Buick needs improvement- more powerful engines, 5 and 6 speed transmissions, perhaps a little more unique styling... but aside from those 3 things that everyone constantly complains about Buick makes quality vehicles for the price. And maybe the LaCrosse isn't a Chrysler 300 in styling but it doesn't mean that it isn't a more reliable, higher quality car. No one can take away the fact that year after year Buick tops almost every company in reliability and initial quality. Every year. You sacrifice those things hopping to 6 speed transmissions and 400 horsepower engines, and throwing out untested parts. Buick has things to work on- but nobody ever complains that all the other companies cant compete with Buick in the areas it excels at- because being a car-fan site nobody cares about whats most important to people about vehicles- and thats reliability and quality. You might want a 6 speed auto in a relatively new and untested engine with crazy styling so everyone who cares about cars can crap their pants- and don't get me wrong- I'd love a Buick with some more sport and I believe they can do it too without messing with their reliability... but most people when they look for cars- unless they are wealthy- care very much about reliability and initial quality- if Buick loses that- they lose the only thing they really got. Give Buick a break- they're the company that doesn't have the problems almost every other "exciting" company has.

Mike, that's very true. Right there throws off any credibility for the guy. That is just something inexcusable- if you're going to match engines and Horsepower you always know your facts. Nowhere on Toyota.com or Edmunds.com or anywhere is the Avalon rated as 12 more HP than it is... which wouldn't be that big of a deal if that wasn't a specific reason on not to buy the Lucerne- because its engine is less powerful than the V6 Avalon... plus with the size being off on the Lucerne gives him less credibility. However the fact that the Avalon V6 is only 7 HP less than the Lucerne is a bit disappointing. I still wish the Lucerne V8 was more powerful.

This is quite an extensive article written in anticipation of the new Lucerne which I found fairly objective and it also brings up a few interesting points such as offering the supercharged 3.8 in the Lucerne. I don't know how knowledgeable this guy is to the future plans of the Lucerne but nobody here has really brought that up as even a potential option for the Lucerne. The article seems to be friendly to GM but it also points of some weaknesses of the Lucerne that are pretty crucial, such as the Avalon getting their V6 to 5 more HP than Lucerne's V8. http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stori...k.20db0e19.html

I hope they keep Rendezvous as well- because the name earned it! Giving cars new names every time a new model comes out (which seems to be GMs plan for Buick) won't give Buick a good solid reputation that the LeSabre, Century, Regal, or Park Avenue gave Buick. I've said it before- The Rendezvous has been THE vehicle that has kept Buick afloat at ALL during this "transition" period. Nobody expected the success the Rendezvous created- it was supposed to be the Aztek that people were supposed to go crazy over and Buick (once again) got the other vehicle... if the Rendezvous did as good as they predicted (and no one predicted it'd do this good) Buick would be very sunk. People love the Rendezvous- to get rid of its name is ridiculous because no matter WHAT GM will say the newer version is "leaps and bounds" ahead of the old one. GM is never going to admit that a car is worthy of keeping a name because "oh... well, it's not THAT much better than the older version" And I'd never even consider driving a Rendezvous because I hate any type of SUV, but it definitely has earned its keep. The evolution of the Rendezvous would be fun to watch... not the 'new name game' every 5 years.

I really hope however it looks that there is a coupe option. The Monte Carlo is not exactly a high class coupe. And Cadillac should not be the only option.

Here's a ridiculous question... but do you think GM and Buick are smart enough to know that perhaps the choice of 3 engines is good... but to give the option of a coupe could make it great??? Does anyone think a LaCrosse coupe is possible?

The grille is very similar to the Centieme but is shaped like the Velite grille

Riviera was actually one of the highest trimlines in history I believe.

Oh wow, I must've missed that. I didn't know that, but it's not that Buick is really stealing from Jaguar, they've had the name far before Jaguar did. I believe the first cars that weren't model numbers for Buick were Super and Special.

I'm going to be in the minority here... But I like Super as a trim level. Not as a car, but as a trim level that's great. It has Buick history to it, which is better than CXS CX or CXL and I think it really makes the car seem pretty great. Nobody else uses Super either so when you hear the "LaCrosse Super" you know it's a Buick. Other people used GS and LS and even Limited and Luxury. I think we can get used to Super as a trim package... especially if it's going to be as bad ass as it sounds. People will WANT a Super!

I'm not sure if you're referring to the article or what but the article isn't saying Buick needs 2 more sedans, it's saying it has 2 new sedans. I don't know what you mean by "decontented LaCrosse" because decontented isn't a word and Buick has not even considered making a rebadged Cobalt. Nobody here with reliable source information even mentions it because it was pretty clear the LaCrosse was going to be Buick's base vehicle. The GTO is from Australia but it is not a Zeta vehicle. There are no current Zeta vehicles out, and if Buick were to get one chances are it will be a coupe/convertible so it will look nothing like a GTO, and it won't even have 4 doors. I hope this clears some things up for you. It even seems Buick is actually dropping their badge-engineered vehicles such as the Rainier and the Terraza after their lifespan is up. Buick is exactly where they planned to be at this time whether thats a good or bad thing they're not in some crazy mess that you were trying to make.

Look. I WANT to believe it's chrome, and I hope it is. I long abandoned the hope that chrome would ever reappear on the external packaging aside from the door handles... the chrome-esque plastic does the same thing in half the cost and that seems perfectly fine for GM... But I know Ven wouldn't post this if he wasn't fairly certain. But honestly- how can you tell? That chrome plastic is something I need to tap on before I know it's chrome or not. Maybe I'm just not obersvant but I dont think I could tell the difference between plastic chrome and real chrome. Could someone clue me in?

The Lucerne seems to be getting a lot more attention than the LaCrosse did in its early introduction. Articles like this are key for people to see where the effort was put in to Buick.

He was far less critical than most will be. But Buick needs articles like this for people who normally look over Buick to look twice.