2012 Buick LaCrosse

I'm still attempting to do my best at reviewing at least a single vehicle a month. I apologize if you wait for them as I have no clear schedule when to make a new post.

Introduction: The Buick LaCrosse was the replacement of the then Buick Regal and Buick Century, GM's midsize entry level luxury car in 2005. This first car used the same W-body platform as the Pontiac Grand Prix and for the most part was very similar to that car. That car even offered a V8 which few expect from a Buick these days. The Buick brand in recent decades has been characterized as the brand that only the elderly chooses to drive. Alarming to GM as the Buick buyer's average age keep getting higher and higher. GM needed to reduce this age average before its Buick customers retired from driving. The result was a apparent overhaul in Buick's styling and trying to bring some of the more successful Buick designs from China over to the United States. The new LaCrosse is one of those very cars initially designed for the Chinese market and lightly modified for North American use.

I keep hearing about how successful Buicks are in China. I may be Hong Kong Chinese but you would think that if its successful there I should find these new Buicks to be at least good enough. Also this is a new GM product, this should be a major improvement over the old Allure/LaCrosse which was a Grand Prix with none of the savagery(which I liked). So we'll see how GM does.

Performance: The LaCrosse that is sold here is equipped with GM's newer 3.6L V6 with direct injection. This engine gives the LaCrosse a healthy 306 hp and 264 lb.ft of torque. This is a lot of power from a V6 and this means this car should be fast. The LaCrosse accelerates from 0-100 km/h in about 6.6 seconds which is not too bad for something this large and heavy. However my gripe with this car is this car's terrible automatic transmission. If you drive this car like a geriatric, or just plain normal driving this transmission is so dim-witted that it fails to change gear until at least 3500 rpm. You just can't drive this car without it being noisy after a stop which you'll need to do in the city. This continues on even in 2nd gear and finally gets better after 3rd. Because of this idiotic transmission programming, this car has a rubbish 17 mpg for city driving, my 25 year old Toyota Cressida does better than that. What a bummer, this is supposed to be comfortable not noisy.

My Score: 5/10 - Great highway engine, lots of power, but what a horrible transmission which ruins quiet comfortable driving and critically ruins city fuel economy.

Handling: As you'd expect from a big pig like this car and FWD this car isn't that good with the corners. While its competent for most normal driving maneuvers when you actually need to push this car, its great weight, nearly 4000 lbs of it, scrubs a lot of cornering ability the performance is trying to attempt. This is also one of the less comfortable Buicks to drive over hard roads. As expected of a car this heavy with FWD, understeer is the primary thing you'll encounter under harder cornering. I found the handling to be a weird mishmash with it not coming out that good for the handling nor the comfort. Worse is the steering, its mostly numb but GM for whatever reason put a very big dead center in it, as a result you have a surprisingly big amount of play in the wheel. I hated that especially for tight maneuvers.

My Score: 5/10 - Not that comfortable and it doesn't corner that well, steering is numb with a terrible dead center.

Interior: Being a car initially designed for Chinese consumption, one of the big items they look for is interior space and the LaCrosse certainly delivers on that end. The rear passengers will not be cramped even with a bigger driver and passenger up front. The center console seems to be somewhat nicely styled although its a little bit too button infested making it initially difficult to figure out what's what. The seat for me was way too big again, the lower cushion is too long while not as horrible as the last LaCrosse I was still forced to push the seat down with my legs and worse of all my driving position was not comfortable as the seat will not go forward enough. The rear visibility is also pretty woeful, as was the case from the older Buicks. Strangely for a car of this price range, leather is optional as is seat warmers. This interior also feels like a mishmash attempting to be all new and modern but trying so hard to also make it seem attractive to its loyal elderly customers. As a result I don't like it. The LaCrosse is built in Kansas City, Kansas, in the United States.

My Score: 6/10 - Lots of interior room, nicer styling but an oversized seat, overuse of buttons, terrible visibility and surprising option omissions for this class.

Styling: Buick is certainly trying to no longer quite seem like its for your grandparents. The car looks more elegant than the Buicks of yesterday. However there are still elements of old Buick, namely the way the grille looks. It just seems too oversized for the overall design and yet it seems like a forced Buick styling item. Had this been a normal car it would've had a more normal grille and this would make it look better.

My Score: 6/10 - They're trying, although they still kept too much of old Buick in the design with that grille.

Value for money: In this base form, this particular car costs $34K. If what you wanted was a car that has a slightly more upscale badge and lots of interior room then this is a good choice. However I tend to look for a lot more when looking at the luxury class and for $34K what was GM thinking by omitting seat warmers? For essentially half the price you can buy a Toyota Corolla that's nearly as well equipped as this Buick. The omission of leather is also a poor choice, when a Ford Taurus can come with leather for less than this car's base price...it begs the question of why and who was stupid enough to approve that? Once you add up at least some of the minor options we'd expect from a car of this level, you put it right up against the Volvo S60 T5 which I'm afraid is a way better car in several respects. This car might come in this segment with the lowest price but when the things it omits makes it less luxurious than mildly upgraded base models of things like a Corolla you feel like you wasted your money.

My Score: 3/10 - Expensive for what it is, the number of feature omission on this base model and you're not getting much in the level of luxury.

Overall: 25/50 - This car is a big disappointment. It only excels in size and power. This is sadly better handled by the much cheaper Impala.

2008, 2009 Buick Allure/LaCrosse CX

This week I can manage to do another review this week, amazing considering how I sometimes forgotten or was too tired to make an entry a week.


Introduction: The Buick Allure(since I'm Canadian) was introduced in late 2004 as GM's replacement for both the Buick Century and the Buick Regal. Strangely both the Century and the Regal are W-body vehicles with fairly minor differences, the Allure doesn't change this at all only eliminate a redundant model. In essence the Regal was succeeded while the Century was dropped.

Due to Buick's reliance on elderly customers I actually never knew the Century or the Regal were eliminated. This car was so poorly marketed to anybody other than senior citizens that I actually never knew it ever existed until I saw the name on the key tag. I didn't really know what to expect other than an old person's cruiser thanks to them being Buick's primary demo market.


Performance: The Allure uses the Series III 3800 V6 engine used on most of GM's large cars. The same engine used on the bigger Lucerne and the same one used on the Grand Prix. The Allure is also given the choice of a 3.6L V6 for the CXL model and for the "super" trim a 5.3L V8. For this review I only drove the CX meaning its the 3.8L Series III V8 that produces 200 hp and 230 lb.ft of torque. As a result the acceleration is 8.5 seconds from 0-100 km/h. The feel of this engine is extremely similar to the Buick Lucerne, it doesn't have the savagery of the Grand Prix but it does manage to seem quiet and relaxing.

My Score: 9/10 - The same score as the Lucerne because the engine acts exactly the same.

Handling: I totally criticize the Grand Prix's handling and thought it did a pretty poor job. The Allure uses the same platform as the Grand Prix which sounds like it should be pretty much the same. Yet I actually think the Allure has a better suspension, somehow when they made the Allure softer it responded better with the steering input. By no means does this car corner very well but due to how much more focused it was it actually felt like it handled rather normally despite the cushy comfy ride. As a result I actually found these to be easy to drive.

My Score: 6/10 - A more focused suspension than the Grand Prix, marginally better cornering ability than the Lucerne.


Interior: Much like the Lucerne CX, the Allure really doesn't offer a whole lot. The seats have comfortable back rests...but I was actually uncomfortable due to Buick making the seat cushion very long. My legs were not long enough so I always felt a bit uncomfortable in these seats. The layout of the Allure is extremely similar to the Lucerne with only a few Grand Prix switches. Not exactly a cabin of luxury due to the huge amount of faux wood but certainly an economical and one most people can ride with comfort. Its a pretty spacious car which makes me wonder about whether the Lucerne is even necessary since its not all that different inside.

My Score: 6/10 - Very simple but the seat cushions are too long for shorter passengers and too much faux wood.

Styling: From the rear the Allure is pretty discrete, rather modern and simple. The front is a bit different with the quad headlights and Velite concept grille for the 2008 and 2009 models. Despite its slightly different front, the grille is still very much like old Buicks and due to the rather generic profile and rear end the car isn't all that interesting to look at. Other than the quad headlights its not a whole lot different styling-wise to the Lucerne.

My Score: 5/10 - Pretty conservative styling, the quad headlights didn't add much to change the car's appeal.

Value for money: Unlike the Lucerne, the Allure is a less expensive vehicle and one that's slightly easier to justify the price since it actually competes against more mainstream brands. Sadly the lack of luxuries in a CX version and its lack of appeal means its not likely to be taken seriously. Once again the Chevrolet Impala is a bit problem since that is an inexpensive large car, while the Allure is an inexpensive very large midsized car. GM's confusing often redundant lineup does mean a lot of cars have to compete against themselves and I just don't really see a big reason to go for the Allure...when the Impala does practically everything the same. The only good news for the Allure is due to how people bought one, its actually fantastic value on the used market...which is a horrible sign for any car wanting to do well in the future.

My Score: 4/10 - Better value than the Lucerne, but GM infighting means its still not a good value but due to poor sales its used price is very good.

Overall: 30/50 - The Allure isn't a bad car, but its lack of appeal and charm along with redundant GM siblings which it help start eliminating has hurt the car.

2008, 2009 Buick Lucerne CX

I have a bit more time today so, some more reviews...I noticed I haven't put out that many GMs so here they are.


Introduction: The Buick Lucerne was introduced in 2006 as a replacement for Buick's previous large cars like the LeSabre and the Park Avenue. Buick made the Lucerne less expensive than the relatively inexpensive LeSabre but particularly with the V8 option it also ranged more expensive than the Park Avenue. The Lucerne is the last remaining vehicle on the H-body platform which was first introduced in 1986 from the LeSabre from that time.

I'm not particularly a fan of Buicks...to me they're always associated with the elderly. Other than some of the stranger Buicks like the Reatta and the classic Buicks...they've never appealed to me. As a result I really didn't care whether I drove one or not, in this job I drove quite a few so I'll review them.


Performance: The Buick Lucerne was given 3 engines, 2 of them are V6s and the other is a Northstar V8. I've driven both V6 engines since the earlier Lucernes had the 3.8L 3800 Series III engine(197 hp and 233 lb.ft of torque) while the 2009 and newer Lucernes uses the 3.9L High Value V6(227 hp and 237 lb.ft of torque). Now I know I mentioned how savage the Grand Prix's 3800(the exact same engine) was, its far more reserved in the Buicks. Pushing the Buick and the Grand Prix the exact same way...despite the exact same engine you get a different result...the Pontiac gives a rough jolt of power as you press the pedal...the Buick is quiet and the power is very spread out. It might be the ECU or transmission programming that affects this. The 3.9L V6 is really not all that different...it some ways it doesn't even attempt to distinguish itself. That said the Lucerne is no slouch, its acceleration goes from 0-100 km/h in 7.2 seconds with the 3800 engine, due to how little torque was increased in the 3.9L I assume its practically the same with no official numbers out for this engine.

My Score: 9/10 - Fantastic for the Buick's traditional customers, very quiet, very smooth and very refined...not as lovable as the Grand Prix reacts using the same engine though.

Handling: One thing Buicks are not known for is taking corners with agility. The primary focus of the Buicks seem to be road comfort and making the wheel easy to turn. The Lucerne does not walk away from that meaning this big car is very poor at taking corners at speed. You also don't get very good steering feedback from the very light wheel. In essence for the driving enthusiast they'll be very bored driving these cars, the elderly who need the soft ride to not destroy their bones and extremely light wheel to deal with arthritis will absolutely love this.

My Score: 3/10 - Totally set up for comfort, totally discourages turning at speed unless done slowly.


Interior: The interior of the Lucerne is extremely large inside. There is a lot of room for passengers in both front and back, the trunk space has not been sacrificed at all making it very good for carrying luggage and people at the same time. On a CX trim level, the Buick however is very unsophisticated other than power options and a stereo...there really isn't much to it despite being a car this large and having a higher price than Chevrolets. The seats are comfortable and the atmosphere is catered to Buick's base. The build quality isn't really a problem in this car, its built in Hamtramck Michigan, in the United States.

My Score: 6/10 - A very roomy and comfortable interior, but lacks anything that might interest someone younger.

Styling: The Lucerne does not attempt to change Buick's image in any way. This design looks like a natural progression of the old LeSabre being really inoffensive and extremely conservative. There are no sharp angles in the design anywhere and it even has something retro in the styling featuring the long gone ventiports from much older Buicks having a vent on the fender corresponding to the number of cylinders in the car. 3 on each side for the V6 and 4 for the V8. Its a design catering to Buick's loyal customers, sadly not very inviting to anybody else who may feel they'll be seen as an old person in a design like this.

My Score: 5/10 - An extremely conservative design, appealing to the loyalty crown unappealing to others who dislike the conservative design.

Value for money: As I mentioned in the introduction the Lucerne is less expensive than what Buick used to charge for the LeSabre or the Park Avenue. The cars that the Lucerne competes against are however much better suited for a larger target audience. Even within GM the Pontiac G8 and the Cadillac CTS are much more attractive to a bigger audience. The Impala may cannibalize the Lucerne's sales due to that car having similar mannerisms but at a much lower cost. The competition from outside means its up against the Toyota Avalon, Ford Taurus, Nissan Maxima and Chrysler 300. The Avalon and Taurus are better executed and offer higher quality for the audience Buick wanted to attract for this car while the Maxima and 300 go after the bigger market of younger drivers.

My Score: 2/10 - Aside from loyal customers, even within GM there isn't a truly compelling reason to buy a Lucerne over a G8, CTS or Impala. Older customers I doubt will find the Impala to be much different and for very conservative drivers who distrust front wheel drive, the Crown Victoria is far more appealing.

Overall: 25/50 - Its a perfect car for your grandparents, but a terrible choice for just about anybody else.