It certainly looks better on the outside than any Buick I've seen produced today. It looks like it has a lot of potential, of course they aren't available yet.

The interior looks typical GM pieced together - just doesn't look "integrated" enough, especially around the radio and such.

Regardless, with a Northstar V8 (albeit strangely enough still not quite as powerful as the 5.3L now available in the Impala and such) and Magna ride suspension, it has a lot of nice features. If they keep the price low enough and the build quality and reliability high over the life of the car, it could do a lot of good for Buick's image.

One question though: no available nav system?? What the hell is GM thinking?

 

OK I've been doing some more reading. The old 3.8L V6 - FWD, 4-speed auto is going to be the base engine in here? WTF?

And the chassis underneath this 2006 model car dates all the way back to 1995 model Olds and Buick models!?

OK I guess I was a little overly optimistic.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it in regards to the 3.8, and maybe the chassis (I have no idea what chassis it is.)

 

I guess if it was truely so amazing over a decade ago that it remains highly competetive in today's market, then sure, but an 11 year old chassis going into a brand new car design is akin to Dell making a brand new top of the line computer only to put Pentium 3s into it, IMO.

 

A RWD sedan with a v8 option on a newer platform would be alot more exciting to me.

 

Navigation systems seem more at home in Cadillac or aftermarket to me, give me a QUALITY Buick, function and style, that says: value with indulgence...

 

No I dont' Buick will still get the same customer base they have had for years. They need to redesign their lineup from scratch. You make every Buick in the lineup look Velite esque and then you'll see a breakthrough. As it stands IMHO, the warmed over 90's styling aint going to cut it.

Buick, look at the Velite conecpt, design a theme around it and make every car look some version of it, much like Caddy has done with its Art and Science theme after the CTS. You'll be better off. My 2 cents.

 

I don't know about breakthrough...but it's going to be one damn nice product.

I got a chance last winter, to sit in one and take a really close look. VERY nice interior, nicely styled exterior, (if you squint, you'll get a Lexus feeling), and optional Northstar V8.

As far as I can tell, the Lucerne hits the Buick formula bullseye.

In case you can't tell...I like it.

 

Nope not at all,

just another Generic FWD car, to blend in with the other 11 million Generic FWD sedans. :blah:

 

NAV is optional on the Lucerne. The body (If I recall correctly) is W body, or perhaps is it G body. Can't remember off the top of my head.

With it's aging 3.8l engine and 4 speed automatic, I feel the Lucerne will not live up to expectations.

 

I don't know how anyone could possibly see the Lucerne as "breakthrough" in any respect. Was the second generation Aurora a breakthrough product for Oldsmobile? It wasn't, because while it had nice styling and good engine choices, it simply did not have the chassis or modern componentry to go after the big dogs.

Compared to the Aurora, the Lucerne has new, duller looking sheetmetal and interior peices, a cheaper, less powerful, V6 engine choice, and a slightly more powerful V8. Oh, and it's four years later. That's it. Nothing else I can think of has been changed.

So if you ask me, this is no breakthrough product. It's GM management saying, "we really need a new Buick, but let's see how little money we can spend making it." More of these efforts will be all it takes to send Buick following Oldsmobile to Hades.

 

Again, more proof that nothing has changed at GM. All this talk and we still get lameduck sedans and miss the mark cars.

 

Seems like it might be a good car for the Buick faithful. If that's who GM is aiming at with this ride, then with the LeCross as an example, no doubt it's a bullseye.

I know Buick is never going to create another "Grand National", and their upcoming "sporty" car is going to appeal more to the demographics of the now defunct Thunderbird (and Lexus convertible), so I doubt there's going to be anything to get my blood going from them.

Doesn't mean they are bad or boring cars by any streach. Just that I'm probally not the target customer.

 

Nothing has been a breakthrough for Buick since the 3.8 Turbo, this won't be any different.

 

The Lucerne is G-body based. I agree that the 3.8 has no place in this car. The 3.6 DOHC that is in the Rendevous should be the base motor with the N* optional.

That is what Buick is doing. The Lucerne is the production viablility of the Velite theme done on a sedan. The grill is VERY Velite like. As far as it not being RWD, that is the SMARTEST thing GM could do at the moment. They needed a new fullsize car for the Buick faithful, PA debuted way back in 97 and that is what the Lucerne is. It has a world class interior and lookst great on the outside.[/quote]

The DTS rides on a VERY similar platform and NOBODY complains about it. The Deville and DTS consistantly are RAVED about because of their smooth driving truely luxurious ride. They aren't sport sedans, something that may be lost on this crowd, but they perform their job VERY nicely. To show a little about the now replaced Deville I read a review about the then a Deville with the DTS package and they said one very memorable thing, "NO FWD car should be this fast and luxurious to drive. And yet this one is, it is a true Caddliac." Shows you that even if it doesn't appeal to you and it is a few years old the "1995" dated chassis still has a few years left up its sleeves.