2004 Buick LeSabre Limited review from North America

Driver's heated seat malfunctioned at 38,000 kilometres.

The car makes a strange gurgling/trickling noise on the passenger side whenever it rains. I think the seal at the base of the windshield is to blame. No visible water leakage inside, though.

One of the rear lights comes on and off intermittently, it seems like a bad connection.

I love my Buick. It's a perfect first car for me.

Gas mileage has been surprisingly good. On a 7 hour highway trip this winter, it averaged just over 30 MPG cruising at 115 km/h (70 mph). Not so good in the city, but I can't expect a 3.8 to sip fuel in stop and go traffic.

In cold Quebec winter weather it handles really well with Michelin X-Ice tires. It started flawlessly every morning even after being left outside all night in -20C and warmed up almost instantly. (This seems amazing after being in a VW Diesel for the past 7 years!)

Very comfortable cruising on the highway, and the cruise control is very precise.

I wouldn't change a thing about this car, except the climate control and rain-sensing wipers. The climate control's auto mode is anything but automatic... in freezing cold weather, the air is only directed to my feet, even when the engine is up to temperature and warm air is coming through. I have yet to test the air conditioning. As well, while the rain-sensing wipers are fun for the first 5 minutes, I don't find them to be nearly as effective as the old-fashioned variable intermittent wipers, especially when it's snowing.

I hope my LeSabre lasts a long time. I'm going to miss it when I look for my next car in the (hopefully distant) future.