You heard me right. Sadly, the model year is now 2006 and not 1996

I was looking at a very downmarket sub-$25K Buick yesterday. The paint was a hideous and slightly lavender light blue. It was the sort of color that I haven't seen for the last 10 years or so. That should have been a clue.

I stepped behind the wheel and the first thing I noticed was how high the seat was set. I reached for the power seat control, and the thing wouldn't go any lower. So, the car is meant for shrunken 80 year olds. No problem. A bigger problem was the fact the seat cushion was absolutely flat and squishy. Like so many cheap American cars, it gave you feeling that the entire seat was tilted towards the door - sort of an encouragement to get out of the car.

Interestingly, the seat was yet another one of those "half power" units that blight so many GM (and other domestic) products.

The foul odor was another reason to get out of this Buick. There was a very strong and very offensive chemical odor in this particular LaCrosse. It reminded me more of chemical plant than of a brand new car. Maybe the stink was coming from the very unimpressive fake wood trim? There sure was plenty of shiny, cheap and unconvincing plastic wood in that Buick. I guess the attempt had been made to mimic a Jaguar. In reality, it looked precisely like a Buick. That's not a good thing.

The worst part of the entire LaCrosse is the rear seat. For some reason, it seems as if there's less room back there than in the old Century/Regal. Perhaps that's the best way to sum up the LaCrosse. A car that should have actually been more in every way than it's mid-90s predecessors ended up being less. Less spacious. Less comfortable. Less tasteful. Less appealing by every measure that counts. The mediocre old Century/Regal could be forgiven many of it faults because of its realitive old age. However, the LaCrosse is supposed to be an "all new car." It's very hard to look past its flaws - there are far too many of them.

As I started by saying, the LaCrosse reminds me too much of the current Ford Taurus - a car with roots that pretty much dates back to 1996. Bob Lutz can claim that the Lexus ES330 was the "benchmark" for the LaCrosse, but it's pretty obvious the real target was Taurus. When you're sitting on/in the squishy rear bench, this car feels like the soon-to-be-extinct midsized Ford. Even the curvy rear quarter windows remind you of the Ford.

As much as I'm disappointed by cars like the Five-Hundred and Fusion, I at least have to applaud Ford for attempting to change its game plan. Who knows, the plan might have worked if the 3.5 liter Duratec hadn't fallen so far behind schedule.....

Buick's limp LaCrosse is class of its own - almost literally. It's the last of a dying (or should I say "already dead") breed. It almost seem as if this midsized Buick is a symbol of all of GM's self destructive managment traits. The LaCrosse is doomed to the status of the bottom feeder of the midsized class.

 

[QUOTE=redzed]

I stepped behind the wheel and the first thing I noticed was how high the seat was set. I reached for the power seat control, and the thing wouldn't go any lower. So, the car is meant for shrunken 80 year olds. No problem. A bigger problem was the fact the seat cushion was absolutely flat and squishy. Like so many cheap American cars, it gave you feeling that the entire seat was tilted towards the door - sort of an encouragement to get out of the car.

QUOTE]


EXACTLY sums up my seating experience with a Century i had rented last year, thats all that stuck in my mind with that car. i HATED it The bench in my Vic is wayyyy beyond better than that was. Funny that Buick would keep such a kak seat. ( I , for the most part, do like Buicks btw)

 

Well, based on this completely objective report, I shall cross the LaCrosse off my test drive list. Redzed says it is crap, so it must be.


:blah:

 

That redzed, he's so witty.

 

From the User's Agreement on this site:

He/she/it has a pattern of this....IMHO.

 

Hmmm...odd to spend your time looking at a car you know you will not buy....musta had some time to kill while the Datsun was in for a recall service.

 

IMO, too.

 

so, why do we give this guy the time of day?? All he does is bash everything non-import..

 

There was a time when redzed had some decent arguments. Sadly those days are long gone. Now it's nothing more than a whiney rant.

 

I'm just curious as to why redzed has the time to test drive nearly every vehicle ever made.

 

The subject of the thread about resemblance to Taurus was discussed a loooooooooooooooong time ago.

Hence, allow me to post somethign I posted a while back.



civilization
begins.......................................1 AD...................REDZED........TODAY
<---------------------------------|------------------x----------->

 

I actually get a kick out of RedZed's comments.

He reminds me of a small minority political backbencher that, right or wrong, surrepticiously calls out his political dogma and rhetoric to a house that no longer takes him seriously.

I agree with Joe's statement. There once was a time when Red actually did have some valid comments.......

 

The subject of our next poll about redzed.

"Redzed. He, she, or it?"

I vote "it."

 

He doesn't actually drive them. Some of his arguments are verbatim from car magazines, and we all know how unbiased they are

You will notice, he didn't drive a LaCrosse...he sat in it. BFD.