Filed under: Car Buying, Sedans/Saloons
Buick Lucerne and some comments on reputation, quality
Car reviews are nothing new, and unless a particular writeup touches off a firestorma (remember
the infamous Dan Neil review of the Pontiac
G6?), we at Autoblog rarely consider them post-worthy.
Well, here's an exception: USA Today's James R.
Healey’s review of the new Buick Lucerne. Though press has been largely positive on the replacement for the Buick
Park Avenue and LaSabre, most enthusiasts have shownabout as much interest as they have in visiting their grandparents
on a Friday night.
According to Healey, the naysayers may want to reconsider.
Healey goes beyond
discussing the car's engines or its portholes, instead addressing popular “prejudices” many consumers
have when it comes to domestic vehicles. This includes Buick’s reputation of being a “fogey car." He
contrasts the Lucerne with its most well-known competitor, the Toyota Avalon (“the best Buick GM never
built”) and concludes that many buyers may well prefer the new Buick's features over the Toyota's.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
iQuack 6:25PM (1/28/2006)
Good review, but would have been helped to see some acceleration numbers for the V6 and V8.
The Avalon is an excellent car, but there is evidence of cheapness: side mirrors that are fixed and can't be folded, for example.
Certainly anyone shopping for a large sedan should take the Buick Lucerne for a test drive IMO.
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Mal Fuller 6:57PM (1/28/2006)
It's too bad that Lucerne is the worst choice for a car model name since Kaiser came out with the Dragon!
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AlmostAwake 7:36PM (1/28/2006)
Isn't Lucerne the name Safeway uses for its store-brand dairy products?
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Ron Casebeer 7:43PM (1/28/2006)
GM must be trying to kill Buick now just like they did with Oldsmobile. The styling and the name of this car or so utterly forgetable it is sickning. If GM is wanting to go out of buisness then they should just do it and I will take my checkbook elsewere. Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell are spinning in their graves! Fire everyone on your styling staff and get someone who can design cars, not some damn kid who wants to do nothing but style Hot Wheels. Give us somthing to get us in the showrooms, we want to spend the money with you! The world used to follow GM!!!
We want style, flash, chrome and color; not another jap car!!!
Signed by an up-set long time customer!
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Joel H. 7:55PM (1/28/2006)
yeah... I think with buick it would help to switch to a letter number naming... Lucerne sounds like an old persons car and if you are trying to break old sterotypes you have to do something new...
I'm not really a fan of the alpla numeric naming but I bet it would help buick...
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RayRay 7:55PM (1/28/2006)
I understand the emphasis of "no replacement for displacement" but a huge V6 engine at 3.8L to put out 197hp @ 5,200 rpm, and 227lbs/ft of torque at 3,800 rpm is pretty pathetic. All that waste of gas for such sluggish power is definetly something I would avoid at all costs when considering a brand new car. This is 2006, yes GM has come up with a new/shared body style for Buick, but the rear end looks just like a Volkswagon. This car may be bigger, but being considered to compete against the Toyota Avalon and similar rivals, I think the Lucerne will need a lot more than just size.
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starlightmica 8:00PM (1/28/2006)
Buick isn't hip for very good reason - they were building rolling coffins such as the Century for years. The Ranier is a badge-engineered Bravada and the Rendevous a warmed over Aztek. Anyone remember the last Skylark with its pointed beak? or the ho-hum last generation Riviera? Or the *cough* Reatta?
There hasn't been anything particularly inspiring about production Buicks for decades. It's going to take something major such as a good Enclave launch to do anything about it. By then Buick will be down to 3 models, which would be just enough by Robert Farago's estimates.
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whofan 8:01PM (1/28/2006)
Buick is probably one of the best cars on the road for the price.They just don`t have the prestige that the other cars have they compare to. I`d buy the Buick and laugh at the guy in the Mercedes. For the money Buick is great and close in comfort. I never owned one but on inspection I like what I see. Its a very well built car.
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Wrench 8:19PM (1/28/2006)
RayRay, GM tunes their engines correctly. That is why this 3.9L will get the same mpg as a European/Japanese 3.0L. They opperate at lower rpms than smaller engines. They also have greater low end power. Meaning you don't have to the rev the shit of them. That is where you waste gas. GM is actually ahead of the curve on that fact. Notice how the import engines have grown over the past couple of years from 2.7L to 3.0L to 3.5L... American 3.9L engines can get you 30mpg highway.
You'd be fool to want a smaller engine. For example, if your carrying 3-4 people you should op for a V6 over the I4 in an American midsize car. The V6 will work alot less and probably get you better "real-world" mpg.
I get so tired of people acting like the Japs do everthing better. GM/Ford know the American roads best! They infact build the best value product on the road.
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ron 8:26PM (1/28/2006)
I've read a lot of comments critical of Buick, but to-date I haven't read one recommendation regarding what Buick should do to improve its products/image! So how about what YOU THINK Buick should do (other than roll over and die)!
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whofan 8:58PM (1/28/2006)
I was dumbfounded when I learned of the buick minivan. That was a silly move by GM. Buick should be focused on affordible up scale cars.
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Hammer 9:03PM (1/28/2006)
RON
I would get a little daring with Buick. GM is shying away from retro. They should use Buick as a retro design test case. It's clear to everyone Buick's best design days are far behind them. They should follow the Chrysler 300 with a 1950's fastback RWD sedan, kind of like the Ford FortyNine Concept. They should base it on the next CTS (RWD) Sigma Platform. They should also offer a GMX Supercharged version, that's my opinion.
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whofan 9:05PM (1/28/2006)
I second what you said Wrench! We are in a group of the brain washed. I don`t see any advantage of the OHC over the OHV. I like the OHV engine better. GM builds both variations anyway.
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AndrewH 9:07PM (1/28/2006)
That reviewer is either retarded or paid off by GM. Implying that the Buick is equivalent to a Mercedes S-class or BMW 7-series, just because they also provide comfortable rides? Give me a break. I'd like to see the Buick even *try* running with the big dogs on the autobahn.
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Steve S 9:10PM (1/28/2006)
Perhaps Buick is starting to get a bit daring. Look atthe Enclave Concept/Production vehicle.
http://www.buick.com/enclave
Looks good to me, so much so it's at the top of the list for my families next car.
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laserwizard 9:33PM (1/28/2006)
After seeing the Lucerne at a recent car show as well as having seen one out in the real public, I have concluded:
1. This is one of the worst Buicks in decades.
2. The interior is awful. Better than the dreadful 1990's versions, but this car reeks of cheapness everywhere you look.
3. The outside is not ugly. It looks like a child drew it and then pasted on the trappings of ancient buicks. Add to the insults that Volkswegan should be suing Buick for ripping off their rear quarterpanel and tail light and trunk design. These areas aren't just a hint of Volkswegan - they are plagaristic.
4. The front end is eye health threatening. The grill is ugly. The huge gaps between the grill and headlight are amateur looking, and the headlights are bug eyed dreadful.
Nothing on this car works. Who cares how it drives. The thing should be crushed before it kills someone just by looking at it.
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Mick 9:43PM (1/28/2006)
We could take Healey's Lucerne review more seriously if it were only about the Lucerne and not partly about the Toyota Avalon. To include all those Toyota references means that Healey has got a political point of view. Do I want that in an auto review? Absolutely not.
And here's the other suspicious thing about his review: it contains practically no negative comments about the Lucerne! Isn't there anything he found wanting? I can find something to criticize in every car I've ever owned. This shows up Healey's critique for what it really is: a pro-Buick puff piece.
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G. Snyder 9:48PM (1/28/2006)
Wrench - there is no such thing as rpms.
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woodie 10:00PM (1/28/2006)
The prejudices are mainly caused by the press heeping undo praise on foreign cars. I've owned Hondas and Nissians all where junk.
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Robert 10:29PM (1/28/2006)
She's not sexy, but she certainly isn't bad looking. The Lucerne that is. I dislike the looks of the Avalon to the point that I wonder what mental ailment the driver has to be able to buy something that ugly.
For the price the Lucerne looks like an excellent buy.
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