mmarshall

A short mini-review/test-drive of the all-new 2017 Buick LaCrosse

I was up at my local Buick shop this morning for some routine service on my Verano, and my old Buick salesman ran into me and offered me a new LaCrosse test-drive. I took him up on it...but waited a little till the worst of the notorious D.C.-area rush hour had eased up a little (it is one of the most congested in the U.S.

(When I don't do a full-review, I thought I'd try a new format this time for very short/quick reviews and see if you all like it)

http://www.buick.com/sedans/lacrosse...ury-sedan.html


IN A NUTSHELL: Nicely-done overall, but the sister Chevy Impala IMO is more pleasant to drive for less money.

CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Toyota Avalon, Lexus ES350, Hyundai Azera, Kia Cadenda, Chevrolet Impala, Lincoln MKZ. (The MKZ and ES are in a slightly higher price-bracket, but, IMO still overlap somewhat in the competition).












MINI-OVERVIEW:

The all-new 3rd-Generation 2017 LaCrosse replaces a somewhat controversial 2nd-Generation model that was a clear departure from the former Buick stodginess and opulence in its sedans. The new LaCrosse brings back much of the opulent and wood-tone interior (even more) of the original 1st-Generation LaCrosse...but with far better materials and what is (mostly) the best interior fit/finish I've ever seen on a Buick product, though the steering/wheel/column and most of the switchgear/stalks attached to it were a little on the cheap side. One basic drivetrain is offered....GM's ubiquitous 3.6L normally-aspirated V6 with 310 HP and 282 ft-lbs. of torque, a new 8-speed automatic, a choice of FWD/AWD (depending on trim version), and a engine start/stop system at idle that, unfortunately, cannot be shut off. Prices range from $32,990 on the base version to $41,990 for the Premium trim-line.

For the test-drive, I selected an Essence version with 18" wheels (20" wheels are available on some versions, but I felt they would ride too stiff). It listed at just under 41K.



WHAT'S GOOD:

Good power from the 3.6L V6. This engine is also used in a number of Cadillac models.

Seamless shifting from the new 8-speed automatic avoids some of the hiccups and hesitations in the old FWD 6-speed.

Right-now brake pedal has virtually zero sponginess.....feels like the pedal in a German sport sedan.

Good sound insulation from the Buick Quiet-Tuning process.....with one exception (see below).

Good combination of ride-comfort/handling/steering response (with the 18" wheels)...but IMO not quite as good as the V6-equipped Chevy Impala.

Superbly-finished exterior/interior also re-introduces traditional tricolor Buick logo.

Handy remote-pulls help fold down rear seats from trunk opening.

Pushing on the logo on the trunk lid pops the trunk-release, VW-style. No need to fumble with keys, fobs, or dash-buttons....though there is also a trunk-release inside on the drivers' door.

Superb stereo sound quality.

Generally well-finished cargo area....but carpeting is only on the floorboard.

Excellent interior and exterior hardware.

Fender-porthole-trim remains for Buick traditionalists.




WHAT'S NOT-SO-GOOD:

Underhood sound insulation needs a little improvement. Engine noise is noticeable at low speeds during even moderate acceleration, too much so for a Buick flagship.

Toss out the frustrating electronic joy-stick for the transmission and use a conventional GM fore/aft shifter, like the new Cadillac CT6 has done. The recent Lincoln system of dash-buttons for shifting is also easy to use.

Put in a deactivation switch for the engine start/stop system. Buick claims it is so smooth and unobtrusive that most drivers won't want to shut it off (perhaps not)...but I disagree. I still find it annoying, and, though close, not totally seamless.

Use some better switchgear inside........the cheap-looking/feeling steering column and stalks are totally out of place in the (otherwise) superbly-done interior.

Front seats, though basically comfortable, are just borderline in size for a guy with my a big frame.

Extra-cost policy for all of the paint colors except black and (non-pearl) white is ridiculous. Some European manufacturers also do this.....charge extra for all of the metallic and pearl paint jobs.


THE VERDICT:

Generally very well done on Buick's part....a lot of money and development was obviously spent on the new interior and, to an extent, the chassis and drivetrain, though a few cheap touches remain around the steering column. The paint-job marketing, E-shifter, and start-stop system need attention, for reasons I explained above. IMO, the new LaCrosse competes well with all of its rivals, though, especially for the money, I still think the Chevy Impala competes best....it has the most comfortable chassis, best ride/handling combination, and, to my thinking, the best driving experience. But I'd probably choose the Lexus ES, though, if long-term reliability were a factor.

And, as Always.......Happy Car-Shopping.

MM

mmarshall

Next planned full-review: 2017 Lincoln Continental.

tex2670

Some? More like all. I thought American and Japanese would not cave to this. Guess it's a sign of things to come...

mmarshall

The reason I said some, not all, was that Fiat and VW seem to be exceptions,at least with non-metallics. They usually don't charge extra just for certain pigment-colors.

Aron9000

I can understand the upcharge for some colors like the pearl white on my Lexus, its a 3 stage/step paint job. First you paint the white, then you paint on the pearl/metallic layer, then you paint on the clear coat. Its more labor and probably costs the company A LOT of money to add another step on the paint line, which involves a whole separate paint station with more robots.

For something like your basic silver, where the metallic flake is mixed in with the base color coat(its a 2 stage paint), it doesn't cost the manufacturer any more money to spray than say regular white or black. If the manufacturer can get away with charging you $595, $795, $995 or whatever for metallic paint, that is just 100% profit and a total money grab on the part of the car makers.

mmarshall

Well, yes, that's what happens in some cases. Some companies aren't charging extra just for Pearl or Tintcoat paint jobs like the one on my Verano (which is understandable), but for simple metallic colors in general. As both me and tex2670 pointed out, many European manufacturers, particularly German, have been charging extra for metallics for years, eliminating the charge only for solid non-metallic colors. Now GM seems to have jumped into the fray with that, at least on some models.

mmarshall

In this video, the lady does a fair job of explaining how the E-Shifter works, but I still wasn't very impressed with it....it was more complex than it needed to be. I see it as the shifter as as an attempt to fix something that wasn't broken.

Buick 2017 LaCrosse Electronic Precision Shift - YouTube

MattyG

I don't know. It's a nice car for the people who look for this car, but seriously... it's just so... stuffy. The shape is plain vanilla and a ho-hum interior. Sigh.

It's an improvement for GM that's for sure, but there are far better vehicles coming out and it shows that you're not really trying that hard because you think the Chinese like your brand better so you don't worry too much about the domestic markets that much. I'll take an Avalon or one of the Korean cars. Love the advertising now on that website - they show a young multi-racial guy and his significant other. Are they shifting their potential buyers?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

nice review, thanks! i think it's a really sharp looking car and expect to see lots of them at the rental car lot.

mmarshall

Well, it's not supposed to be a sports car. And, at least IMO, (though I know that some posters here may not agree with me on this), few things in the auto industry are as ludicrous as sedans with humpback-whale rooflines that try and imitate coupes, like the Mercedes CLS and VW CC.

As for the interior, go check one out. I'll admit that the steering column/wheel and some the switchgear attached to it are somewhat cheap-looking/feeling, but the rest of the interior has excellent materials, hardware, and first/finish....some of the best I've seen in a full-size Buick (or what passes these days for full-size LOL) for more than 40 years.

Buick also tried doing radically different interior styling on the last, 2Gen LaCrosse, and the result was quite controversial. This latest 3Gen LaCrosse inter brings back a lot of the Buick-ness of the 1Gen one...but, except for the steering column and switchgear, with MUCH better materials and fit/finish.

The Avalon is in contention again this year as a decent LaCrosse competitor, since Toyota softened up the suspensions on the non-touring models. The too-firm suspension was the source of many customer complaints (including mine, when I reviewed it) when it was introduced a couple of years ago. But the new 3Gen LaCrosse (IMO at least) clearly outdoes it in its general feel of solidness...the Avalon feels like it is made of very thin and light materials. Not so with the LaCrosse. I'll give the Avalon credit, though, for a well-designed, refined, and durable drivetrain....and it's not hampered with a start/stop system that can't be turned off, like on the LaCrosse. The Hyundai Azera and Kia Cadenza are both credible competitors, and are well-made...neither sell well, so good discounts are available. The Azera is going to go out of production shortly...so, if you want a new one, I'd start shopping now. Some dealerships may no longer have them in stock.

(And definitely check out a V6 Impala if you are interested in the this class of sedan. IMO, it is the best-driving car in its class).


Well, if you remember, here in this country, for several years (until he got into his legal and marital problems), Tiger Woods, a golf star and multi-racial himself (Part Asian, part African-American), was Buick's poster-guy in ads. More recently, after he left, Shaq O'Neil, an African-American NBA star (and a guy huge in physical size), did ads for the 1st-Generation LaCrosse.

SW17LS

I'd definitely take one as a free upgrade

tex2670

Well--the 3 speed column shift automatics in the 80s weren't broken--we should have stayed with that, right? Keeping the status quo until something is "broken" is not progress; it's regression.

I've posted before, I have a BMW with a similar style shifter--it took me about 3 days to be used to it. I think this is more intuitive then the push button style. I just wish I had that storage space under the console like the LaCrosse does.

mmarshall

Well, we know there will probably be a lot of them in the driveways of senior citizens....and some not-so seniors.

Glad you enjoyed it, but, to be honest, it wasn't much of a review. Since I didn't have a whole lot of energy that day (I hadn't slept well the night before), and I didn't have any specific CL or other requests for a full-length LaCrosse review, I decided to skip the long, detailed stem-to-stern coverage and do just a very short simple summary. (I had also done a short, previous static write-up).

mmarshall

You're talking apples and oranges, at least to some extent. Avoiding E-shifters/joysticks is not necessarily "maintaining the status quo". There are numerous other ways (besides E-shifters) that transmissions can be controlled...including Lincoln's push-buttons on the dash, GM's conventional fore-/aft shifters, the zig-zag shifter-patterns that several manufacturers use, Chrysler's rotary-**** shifter, and Chrysler's former "side-stick" lever that bumped left/right to manually shift.

SW17LS

Personally, I would much rather have an e shifter than push buttons, or a rotary ****. I'd rather have a regular gearshift than an e shifter though.