2005 Buick LaCrosse CX from North America - All Comments

How can you refer to a car as a "heap", when you have not even driven one?! I have ridden in Camry's and Accords, news flash, they are NOTHING SPECIAL! In my opinion, they are just very bland and ugly. GM on the other hand, makes cars that actually look good, inside and out. Do some research, Buick has higher reliability marks then Honda AND Toyota. So before making unfounded statements about a car, you should have statistics backing up your claim, and I have yet to figure out why people can claim a car is so bad, but have not even driven one.

What heaps? Certainly not heaps for sure. Why don't you drive one? In fact, try mine, you might like it, instead of comming on websites like these, bashing cars.

I have a 91 LeSabre, 3800 of course, gotta have the very best. 270,000 kms, original tranny too!

I tell you, the 3800 has a lot of low end torque you don't find in many cars. At 80 KPH, OD is in, and the engine is coasting at 1300 rpm. It still has pick-up at that speed! Impressive!

I love the exhaust note when the engine goes near its red-line, its quite unique and pleasant.

I've had nothing, but minor problems associated with cars of this mileage, and am pleased with it. Particularly with its 30-35 MPG mileage. Pretty impressive for a heavy 3000 (arounds there) pound car.

When my Grandmother took the leap for her 80th birthday and bought a new Toyota Camry, we got her '94 Buick Regal with the 3800 engine. A family of four kids, three of which drive. Mom and Dad drive their Volvos and Saabs and the Buick is left to my sisters when they are in need of wheels. Without Collision Insurance, they drive it like they've got nothing to lose (and they don't, really). Full speed at speed bumps and many-a-miles between oil changes. At nearly 200 000 Kilometers, no problems. Knock on wood, 'Bula' will be around by the time I get my liscence so that I, too, can enjoy the smooth power and supreme comfort offered by our Regal.

I have a really dumb question to ask all the 3.8L fans. Why did my local GM dealer's service manager tell me to get a Toyota or Honda, versus a Pontiac Bonneville with the 3.8L engine, when I asked him what would last up better with fewer problems, for a traveling salesman that drives 60K miles a year? ENOUGH SAID!!!

A reply to the above comment: Your service manager might be thinking of the leaky intake manifold problem on the Series II 3800 engine. I've heard that there's a fix for it, but I don't know much about it. The Series I 3800 engine never had that problem. On the other hand, I personally would never trust a service manager or any mechanic at a dealership, no matter what they say. Almost every experience I've had with dealer service departments has left much to be desired...they've given me wrong parts, wrong diagnoses, looked at me with dumb looks on their faces when I clearly describe an issue to them and ask about tech service bulletins, on and on. I don't bother with them anymore because my local independent mechanic is much better at getting to the root of a problem and fixing it right, is easier to deal with and is actually more knowledgeable than dealer service departments. Enough said there in my opinion! And the Series I 3800 engine is bulletproof!

Buicks are amazing cars, so are Toyotas. My family has one of each. We have a 2000 Park Avenue Ultra and a 2005 Toyota Camry XLE V6. They're both nice cars. The Ultra has a Supercharged 3800 engine. We have had to do no work on it at all, and it is driven 15 000 km per month!! (3hr daily commute). The average in Canada is 20 000 km per year. It is up at around 225,000 km now, and with regular oil changes, we expect it to go well past 300 000 km. We use synthetic high mileage oil. The Camry is also a good car however. We have not really had it long enough to compare it fairly to the Buick, however we also expect it to last a long while. This is just to show that American and Japanese cars can peacefully co-exist! lol. Buicks are great cars. Prior to purchasing the Ultra used, we had a 1995 LeSabre which we put 100 000km on in just over a year. We got rid of it because of a great deal on the Ultra, and we bought the Ultra becasue of the reliability of the other Buick with the 3800 engine. Get a Buick, Get a Camry. You make the decision, just know that there is nothing wrong with the American Buick.

In referring to highly biased magazine articles, I don't see any of the Toyota people referring to the recent articles in major publications stating that Ford now betters Toyota and Honda in reliability. I also haven't seen them referring to the comparison Car and Driver did with the Accord, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata and Camry, where Camry was rated DEAD LAST. Neither have I seen any comments regarding the recent recalls of Toyotas for very serious safety problems such as sticking accelerators or defective air bags. Of course, I think it is a big mistake to base ANY car buying decision on a magazine. What really matters are the MILLIONS of satisfied owners (like my family) who have drive GM products (including Buicks) hundreds of thousands of miles with nary a problem. I've never known a Buick owner who was not satisfied with their car. In addition, I happen to care a great deal about my fellow Americans, and I can't for the life me understand how supposedly good people can openly advocate the destruction of companies that provide a living for American citizens. No doubt these very same people would scream bloody murder if some person who lost his job due to foreign competition applied for welfare or food stamps. I'm sure there is enough room in Japan for these folks to find a home.

How ironic you're going on and on about buying American cars when the Buick LaCrosse is made in CANADA.

The LaCrosse may be made in Canada, but the parent company is based in America, not Japan. The billions made by GM benefit Americans in many ways.

The apparent lack of knowledge displayed in some comments regarding the reliability of the Buick is strong indication of the power of ad hype, biased comments in Japanese-owned magazines, and the power of urban myths. I'm a mechanic, and I honestly don't see how anyone could regard the 3800 Buick engines as even remotely unreliable. They are one of the most trouble-free and durable engines in the world. For someone who has never even driven one of these solid, smooth and very well-built cars to criticize them is an example of uninformed bias on a dangerous level. My family has owned one Toyota, one Mazda and one Volkswagen. The Toyota was OK, but no more realiable than any of the 30+ American cars we've owned since 1972, and more complicated to work on when it did need repairs. I decided long ago that my money was better spent where it can benefit Americans, and since the overall value of American cars (lower initial purchase price, lower maintenance costs and greater longevity) are better than the imports, I feel much better buying from a company that is based in this country and benefits the American economy. And yes, I know Honda builds cars here and the LaCrosse is built in Canada, but the COMPANY is based in America and benefits the American economy. Honda and Toyota employee a tiny number of Americans and most of the money earned from people who pay full list for their cars goes into the Japanese economy, not ours.

You must be kidding.

While GM, Ford, and Chrysler are closing plants, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other Japanese/Korean ones are OPENING them and employing thousands.

And if you looked inside any of these so-called American cars you would soon discover that a lot of the parts, especially electronics, aren't even US in origin.

This is a global economy and "buying American" when it comes to cars means nothing anymore. If you're soooo concerned about keeping Americans employed you would buy a "foreign" car made here. After all, THEY are the ones that are going to continue to employ these people for years to come.

Or think of it this way. Toyota has a market cap that is greater than GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler put together. Now, which company would you stake your family's future on?

This is absolutely ridiculous.

Firstly, the LaCrosse is a midsize traditional premium sedan - that's the sort of car that the reviewers at the big magazines (Car and Driver especially) simply don't care about at all. If it promises a spacious interior with comfortable seats and a smooth ride, it's an anathema to them, so of course the Buick will get poor reviews.

But, German and Japanese sports sedans with no suspension and revvy engines simply aren't for every one. The LaCrosse is something different and should be judged based on its own merits. It is a very, very well-made car, I can't even believe there could possibly be a debate on that point as it's a well established fact.

Park a LaCrosse next to an Accord or Camry and tell me which one has better aligned body panels? Which one has more consistent color from panel to panel? Now sit inside them. Which one has better textured plastics? Higher quality leather? Tighter seams between components? The answer: the Buick by a wide margin.

It's completely true, the only reason why the other cars outsell Buick is because the marketing wizards at Honda and Toyota have so carefully built up their brands' images over the years to the point where people blindly buy their cars without even thinking or comparing. GM's marketing team, on the other hand, appears to have been on a 20-year coffee break. The cars are excellent, but the buying public can't be trusted to figure that out for themselves, it's up to GM to toot their own horn for once, and they still aren't doing it.

Look at the facts. The JD Power and Associates 2006 Initial Quality Survey puts Buick well ahead of Mitsubishi, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Scion, BMW, Subaru, Mazda, MINI, Saab, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Isuzu, and Land Rover - all supposedly "superior" import brands. Buick also ranks nearly dead-even with Volvo. This is measured in reported problems per 100 vehicles within the first 90 days of ownership, it covers new cars only. You can't argue with it, it is an impartial study conducted under scientific standards, and Buick does quite well.

That's not to say Toyotas and Hondas aren't fine cars as well, of course they are. And of course those companies add value to the US economy just as much as GM does. But that doesn't mean that anything not Toyota or Honda should automatically be dismissed as "junk". People should do the research for themselves and go into the car buying process with open eyes, ready to consider all alternatives- and these days that includes Buick.

1) Auto magazines reviews lots of cars in this segment, including BMW 5 series, Mercedes E Class, Audi A6, Hyundai Sonota/Azera, Toyota Avalon, and so on - depending on how you are defining this segment.

2) LaCrosse is built in Canada so it is taking jobs away from hardworking Americans. If you want to support Americans buy a Honda or Toyota.

3) The marketing argument is simply untrue. GM spends inordinate amounts of money on marketing. And brands like Mini and Scion, which had little initial marketing, because runaway successes.

4) No matter how good the LaCrosse is it is part of a dying brand. Just this week GM announced it was cutting back spending on Buick. Gm is essentiallly going to be Cadillac, Pontiac, GMAC, and Chevy as core brands. All others are up for the chop.

The LaCrosse, like most GM vehicles, is too little too late.

Comment 18:32 is one of the best I've read and makes some really valid points. I've long been very wary of paying a great deal of attention to automotive magazine articles regarding cars. As this commenter so aptly points out, car magazines don't look for the qualities a great many of us prefer in a car. When I read that a car "rides a little mushy" in Car and Driver magazine, I know to interpret that as "this car will be very comfortable on the road". When I read "this car handles great" I know it means "this car will jar the fillings out of your teeth". I currently drive a mid-sized domestic car that Car and Driver described as having "excessive body lean in corners due to a too-soft suspension". I can assure you this car gets me thru traffic with far more ease and agility than my previous rough-riding performance car that Car and Driver just loved. It also leaves my fillings intact. The only way to determine if a car is right for you is to drive one. I've compared the LaCrosse to the Camry and there is no comparison. The build quality of the LaCrosse (or any Buick) is better. Before making unfounded assumptions based on media hype and high-budget ads, people need to go take one of these incredibly well made Buicks for a few miles on a moderately rough road, then do the same with a Camry. Unless you suffer from some sort of mental disorder you will admit that the Buick is by far the more comfortable vehicle. As for reliability that is a moot point. As comment after comment (as well as real world experience) shows, the Buick will last as long as any Toyota ever built.

Having looked at the Camry and LaCrosse, I find the Buick a much more appealing car in every respect. The feel is more solid, the fit and finish is better, and the ride far more like a much larger luxury car.