Ordered my new car (2018 Buick Lacrosse)
#167
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
I'll just throw this out there so I'm not totally off topic
https://youtu.be/uQKcYNqtUpA
https://youtu.be/uQKcYNqtUpA
#168
Lexus Fanatic
I dont get the bashing of Buick over the window stitches not having auto up on just one of the windows. And technically it's not exactly cost cutting as the Envision is a first year model, therefore it never had the auto up on all four windows to begin with. So how is cost cutting of it next had it?
And might I add to everyone driving their current Lexus models and even myself with my Toyota model, Lexus currently has how many drivetrains and platforms that are dating back to 2006 or 2007. The LS460 is essentially the same car as it was in 2007, Lexus even went so far as to reskin the whole thing but they left the doors intact. The current ES has an engine that dates back to the 2005 introduction of the Toyota Avalon. Lexus LX570 is how old really? But good thing they all have auto up on all four windows right?
And where are such model luxury or options? such as Auto start stop, a modern rear hatch for the GX or LX, Android Audio or Apple Car Play, perhaps active grille shutters, etc etc. My father's own ES went totally el-cheapo on the rear trunk hinges. They also sure cost cut out some of the plastic engine coverings on some models. So Toyota/Lexus does do it too..
Now, as for the Envision. The biggest issue for me is that it is built in China. That to me is a big disrespect for the American people as GM could of easily just built it in the United States. I don't care of it is well built or poorly built or if it does not pass a smell test. GM should of made it in America.
And might I add to everyone driving their current Lexus models and even myself with my Toyota model, Lexus currently has how many drivetrains and platforms that are dating back to 2006 or 2007. The LS460 is essentially the same car as it was in 2007, Lexus even went so far as to reskin the whole thing but they left the doors intact. The current ES has an engine that dates back to the 2005 introduction of the Toyota Avalon. Lexus LX570 is how old really? But good thing they all have auto up on all four windows right?
And where are such model luxury or options? such as Auto start stop, a modern rear hatch for the GX or LX, Android Audio or Apple Car Play, perhaps active grille shutters, etc etc. My father's own ES went totally el-cheapo on the rear trunk hinges. They also sure cost cut out some of the plastic engine coverings on some models. So Toyota/Lexus does do it too..
Now, as for the Envision. The biggest issue for me is that it is built in China. That to me is a big disrespect for the American people as GM could of easily just built it in the United States. I don't care of it is well built or poorly built or if it does not pass a smell test. GM should of made it in America.
Last edited by Toys4RJill; 06-02-17 at 11:02 AM.
#169
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Lexus currently has how many drivetrains and platforms that are dating back to 2006 or 2007.
And where are such model luxury or options? such as Auto start stop,
Now, as for the Envision. The biggest issue for me is that it is built in China. That to me is a big disrespect for the American people as GM could of easily just built it in the United States. I don't care of it is well built or poorly built or if it does not pass a smell test. GM should of made it in America.
Last edited by mmarshall; 06-02-17 at 11:44 AM.
#170
Lexus Fanatic
I'm not bashing Buick, this is just an example of one of the things that they're lacking if they want to really be a premium nameplate. Little stuff like this, using fake wood trim stubbornly, etc.
#171
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Same with leather. I fully-understand the attraction that some people have towards smell-good leather seats, particularly the nice, soft-feel leather used in Lexus and Jaguar products, and I respect that view. Jaguar, in particular, made its reputation, years ago, on fine wood and leather in its products. But, as I personally see it, it's a needless waste of animal life, real leather is often not as durable as synthetic, needs periodic treatments, can crack in the sun, can be slippery unless it has a rough suede (Alcantra) finish, and, of course, costs more. On the new Lacrosse, Essence and Premium Trim-levels come with real leather...one more reason why I stayed with the Preferred level. Lexus, in particular, deserves credit for developing one of the best alternatives to real leather that I have ever seen...the NuLuxe material. I was amazed the first time I sat on it and felt it......in the CT200h, when it debuted. It could probably have fooled a professional leather-tanner. I'd like to see Buick adopt the NuLuxe (though my guess is that Lexus probably has a patent on it)....or go back to offering the soft velour seating they had a few decades ago. I always liked those velour seats.....but they went out of style.
#172
Lexus Champion
You brought up memories. My mom had a '67 Buick Electra Coupe, white with a navy vinyl top. It always had rust around the vinyl top area, but even as a young child I polished that thing within an inch of its life. I drove it during high school. Blue vinyl interior. I drove it until my dad got a '73 Pontiac Grand Am. Then the Electra wasn't that interesting.
#173
Lexus Fanatic
You brought up memories. My mom had a '67 Buick Electra Coupe, white with a navy vinyl top. It always had rust around the vinyl top area, but even as a young child I polished that thing within an inch of its life. I drove it during high school. Blue vinyl interior. I drove it until my dad got a '73 Pontiac Grand Am. Then the Electra wasn't that interesting.
#175
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
You brought up memories. My mom had a '67 Buick Electra Coupe, white with a navy vinyl top. It always had rust around the vinyl top area, but even as a young child I polished that thing within an inch of its life. I drove it during high school. Blue vinyl interior. I drove it until my dad got a '73 Pontiac Grand Am. Then the Electra wasn't that interesting.
I'd love to have a restored '65-70 Electra today (driving them was like a magic carpet), but they are just too big and impractical for the everyday traffic and parking conditions I face today. The new Lacrosse I'm waiting for, as Buick's current sedan flagship, will be as big for me as is practical today.
Last edited by mmarshall; 06-02-17 at 08:23 PM.
#176
Lexus Champion
We are all entitled to our own views. The Grand Am was the first domestic sedan that actually tried to compete with the Europeans. I believe it was the first domestic car with front bucket seats. Yes, it fell apart. The genuine "Crossfire Mahogany" wood peeled off the dash, but the 4 barrel carb 400 was fast for its time and the engine lasted forever. My dad gave his '73 Grand Am to my cousin and her husband in the 80's and it kept going even with all the interior parts falling off!
#177
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
As for the first domestic sedan to try and compete with the Europeans, that title would probably go to the early-60s Chevy Corvair (yeah, the car Ralph Nader loved to pan LOL), with its rear-mounted air-cooled engine and squirrelly-handling swing-axle suspension, that tried to imitate VW designs of the period.
Yes, it fell apart. The genuine "Crossfire Mahogany" wood peeled off the dash, but the 4 barrel carb 400 was fast for its time and the engine lasted forever. My dad gave his '73 Grand Am to my cousin and her husband in the 80's and it kept going even with all the interior parts falling off!
#179
Super Moderator
The true GTO replacement, of course, did not come out until 2004, on the Australian-designed Holden chassis with the GM powertrain. But nobody actually bought it.....because they thought it looked too much like a rental car. (I didn't agree with that rental-car view, BTW.....I had a lot of respect for it, even more so when they added the two-hood scoops for 2005, like the original 60s GTO had).
#180
Lexus Fanatic
And IMHO there was nothing nostalgic about the car but the nameplate. Their strategy may have worked otherwise.
Look at the Camaro, or the Challenger, or the Challenger...and look at the GTO...
Look at the Camaro, or the Challenger, or the Challenger...and look at the GTO...