2001 Buick LeSabre review from North America

This car was very reliable. The 3.8 Liter Overhead Valve engine was old fashioned, but smooth and reliable.

The Buick LeSabre I had represented a traditional American Car for an older driver audience. I didn't like the car personally, since it was purchased for my ex-wife. However, I can say, that if this is your type of car, it's a very good value for the money.

It's a large car, cheap to fix in terms of parts, and the 3800 series engine has been around for a very, very long time. It has 200 horsepower from 3.8 Liters of displacement, which is not a lot with 3.3 Liter multivalve engines putting forth 240-250 HP, but it's a low revving, high torque engine, and moves the car along well.

The 4 speed automatic has too much ratio between 1st gear and 2nd gear, and it upshifts too fast, in an effort to get fuel economy. With a better shift program, this engine is very powerful if only the tranny had a different shift program.

The ride is overly soft and the steering very overboosted and lacks road feel. The car, with stiffer suspension and more aggressive gearing would be much better. It's an overly soft ride and handling. However, the target drive of 50+ years of age would like this car.

If you don't need a minivan, a need a large, cheap, reliable sedan, this is a good buy. As a used car, it's also much cheaper than cars of similar size and represents good value in terms of reliability and size, but poor performance for even the most tepid of drivers.