BrownPride

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/buick...t-test-review/



Although they don’t enjoy the market dominance they once did, large sedans are far from dead. Buick only makes one big sedan these days, but for many, it remains the brand’s calling card. Today’s Buick might sell more Encore cute utes, but the 2017 LaCrosse is the brand’s raison d’etre.

Given its flagship status and our infatuation with the last-generation LaCrosse, we had high expectations for the new model. Although we found quite a lot to like about this big Buick, we were disappointed to find many small details had been overlooked in the quest to get the fundamentals perfect.

Our biggest beef was with the interior. It looks very nice, until you get up close. Numerous editors complained about cheap materials on the dashboard and center console. It also took a lot of heat for fake wood that wouldn’t fool a toddler and fake stitching on the dash top that isn’t even carried around the corners, much less actually joining anything. The rubberlike buttons were picked on, too. Several editors frowned at the old monochrome logo on the drab steering wheel because there’s also a modern colorized badge on the nose. The BMW knock-off shifter isn’t very intuitive, but that can’t be blamed on Buick—it’s showing up in a lot of GM products.

BrownPride

I don't remember who or how many of you I got into it with a couple months ago in some long thread about this new LaCrosse, but my claims about it's mediocre interior have been validated. Like i said, it's a GM parts bin special with swaths of low quality flimsy plastic and sub-par fit-and-finish. Like all GM products going all the way up to the Platinum trims of the CT6 and Escalade, there is corner cutting and a lack of attention to detail.

It's pretty sad that Hyundai's first vehicle (G90) from their brand spanking new luxury division mops the CT6 from an interior standpoint.

UPDATE: the esteemed Dan Neil also isn't a fan. Apparently this thing doesn't have a shut off feature for the auto start/stop.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/2017-bui...ose-1479916876

Toys4RJill

I noticed the logo on the steering wheel did not match the logo in the exterior the first thing when. I sat inside. Overall the interior is good but not great, it was supposed to have a remote touch but that was ditched at the last minute. (I think I leaned this from Auto week)

Also, if feels smaller inside. Never understood the issue of fake wood, but I guess it should have real wood.

Overall, this car is a Avalon competitor (but the Avalon is a better car) and it was clearly designed for China, I think the Chinese will lije this car. But at least the car is made in the USA 😂

SW17LS

To be fair the top trim does have real wood...

mmarshall

That's the #1 problem.....the shifter. Nothing else even comes close, except maybe the engine stop/start system that can't be disabled. I disagree with a number of MT's comments about the interior, except to agree that the steering column and stalks look cheap for a Buick. However, the LaCrosse's general interior and exterior trim and fit/finish level is as good or better than anything else in its class. But, yes, that shifter ****s, and, for me, may (?) be a deal-breaker.

And, BTW.....from what I can tell, that shifter has only shown up (so far) in two GM products...the new LaCrosse and Cadillac XT5.

Yes, it can. The also-brand-new Cadillac CT6, its flagship, and a far more expensive vehicle than the LaCrosse, (wisely) uses a conventional-motion fore/aft shifter.

mmarshall

I didn't like that, either. It contributed to the cheap-looking image of the steering column that I commented on earlier. Even mainstream brands like Ford and Subaru use full-color logos on their steering wheels.

Both cars have well-done drivetrains (except for the Lacrosse's non-defeatable start/stop feature), and seem to (now) drive and handle quite similarity, now that the Avalon's suspension has been softened up a little. The Lacrosse's exterior and doors seem to have a more solid feel.

mmarshall

BrownPride, we're not here in Car Chat to "get into it" with others about cars, but simply discuss them and state our opinions. You can pick virtually any vehicle on the market, and people are going to disagree about it. Even auto magazines disagree....MT may have one view, C&D or R&T something else, and CR yet something else.

SW17LS

Its just an aesthetic choice. You mention Ford, yet Ford uses an all silver version of its logo on the top Platinum trim Explorer, and the full color version on lower models. Its not a cost cutting thing, its just an aesthetic choice.

As for the shifters, you guys can't expect to drive a car once and immediately have the shifter be intuitive. While I too prefer regular shifters these electronic ones become intuitive with a little use.

TangoRed

Totally agree with these comments.

tex2670

Agreed 100%. I've never driven a Buick or Caddy with this shifter, but I have a BMW with a similar style shifter, and it took me about 3 days to get used to it. Now it's second nature.

mmarshall

Yes, I agree in the sense that you describe here...the all-silver for the platinum version. But what Jill and I were refering to was Buick using a nice (and traditional) red/white/blue shield on the LaCrosse grille/trunk, while using the cheap chrome-outline badge on the steering wheel. Buick, for a while, was using that cheap chrome-outline shield on all of the American-market vehicles (including the Verano)...but made a shift back to the traditional tricolor on the latest 2017 LaCrosse (except on the steering column).


That was one of the reasons, though, why the old PRNDL shift-sequence became standard, under Federal law, back in late 1960s. Some vehicles had different patterns, such as GM's PNDLR and Edsel's circular button-pattern in the steering-wheel hub, that caused not only confusion, but sometimes even engine/transmission damage. IMHO, the more standardization you have in shifting, the better. One other thing, BTW, that sometimes causes trouble nowadays is the (-/+) pattern for BMW and Mazda auto-manual-shifting vs. the opposite (+/-) pattern for most other vehicles. Most drivers are accustomed to the (+/-) pattern.

SW17LS

This is my point, its not a "cheap chrome outline shield", its a one color chrome adaptation of their logo. Its an aesthetic decision to go with an all chrome logo or a full color logo. Its like printing an advertisement in in a magazine black & white vs in color...they don't do that to save money...its an aesthetic choice...

I don't disagree with you, but when you aren't swapping back and forth between cars all the time the electronic shifters aren't a big deal.

For instance, my Jeep shifter I complained about, and thats been recalled and killed Anton Yelchin is an extreme example of a shifter that really does have some issues. But, while I had trouble with it my wife never did...she drove the Jeep every day I didn't.

JDR76

Neither my GS nor my Highlander have matching emblems on the steering wheel and outside.

On my GS, the outside Lexus emblems are chrome, where the one on my steering wheel is a matte gray plastic.

On my Highlander, the outside Toyota emblems are chrome with blue surrounds yet plain chrome on my steering wheel.

Can't say it ever bothered me.

mmarshall

Yes, I understand that. Still, cost-cutting or not, it at least looked cheap to me.....though it obviously wasn't a deal-breaker on my Verano LOL.


Thanks. When I mentioned the BMW, GM, and Mercedes E-shifters, I had forgotten that some versions of the JGC used one, too.

Toys4RJill

Fair enough points. But Buick was making a big deal out of the fact that Buick brought back color in their logo. So the details are just not there when there is no color on the steering wheel, I would figure that they would get this detail right. Luxury should be about the fine details?