mmarshall

The last couple of threads I had on my new Lacrosse (shopping and ordering) were quite long-winded, and so were many of the responses I got...and the length of the thread, so I'll try and keep this one a lot shorter. The Break-In period is over now (moving toward 600 miles), and I've gotten familiar enough with the car's driving habits and electronic/video functions to give an Owners' Report. Instead of a long explanation of each of my opinions and experiences, I'll simply make a list of Likes/Dislikes and assign a rating of (*) symbols to indicate how strong I feel about each. Then, if any of you have any comments or questions about each item, I can take it in further detail from there. But the idea here is that, (if applicable) I want to spare you a bunch of long-winded reading for nothing.

LIKES

(*****) Tomb-quiet under most driving conditions...IMO exceeding that of most of its competitors.
(*****) Pleasant and relaxing to drive.
(****) Butter-smooth V6.

(****) Generally silky-smooth 9-speed transmission, except for occasional firm low-speed down-shifts and slight rubber-banding on acceleration.

(****) Firm, responsive brake pedal.
(****) Smooth ride over most surfaces...but not quite as smooth as big Buicks of the past.
(****) Gas mileage significantly better than I expected.
(****) Almost concert-quality stereo sound
(****) Classy styling inside and out.
(****) Classy-looking (IMO) gray/gold-flake Pepperdust paint color.
(****) Plush interior (even with Leatherette) except for cheap-looking steering wheel and column.
(***) Well-padded, comfortable seats.
(***) Needle-type gauges cover everything but oil-pressure.....very unusual in non-sporting sedans.
(***) Hood is a delight to use without pesky manual prop-rod.
(***) Plenty of space in the rear seat (especially compared to my previous Verano).
(***) Good-quality Continental Contipro Contact all-season tires.
(***) Keyless entry system for door/trunk unlocking nice and convenient to have.
(**) Buick Infotainment touch-screen reasonably easy to use.
(**) Generally good handling for a car of this kind of comfort.


DISLIKES

(****) Radio stations and (some) climate-control functions cannot be simultaneously displayed on the screen....you generally have to chose one or the other, and shift back and forth (This is something that irks me, but I'm getting used to it).

(****) Power-mirror controls (the selector-switches, not the mirrors themselves) constantly revert to neutral...you cannot keep the function set to either left or right-hand mirror). The lack of an automatic tilt-down feature for reverse was one feature I had to give up on the trim-line I chose....so I'm always re-adjusting them.

(***) Gimmicky electronic shifter...an (IMO) needless device that I'm also getting used to.
(***) Very thin body sheet metal reminiscent of 70s-era Japanese cars.

(***) Engine Idle-Start/Stop system cannot be switched off...but there are sometimes ways to get around it.

(**) Doors and trunk don't close with a very solid thud....typical of many American-designed GM products.

(*) Chrome-outline Buick emblem on the steering wheel should be Tri-Color to match exterior badges.

Toys4RJill

I actually test drove a Buick LaCrosse Essence today. White on ivory. I was going to do a big write up. But looks like you took a thread for yourself.

Coleroad

Continental Contipro Contact all-season tires are fine till you get any real snow. Continental must give a great deal on them to auto manufacturers, because the sure come on a lot of different new cars. Even here in west Kansas we didn't get much snow last winter. Those tires didn't provide very good grip even with an inch of the white stuff.

Guess im not the only one who finds the start stop feature annoying on cars.

nice update on the Buick

mmarshall

By all means, give us your view on it. I'd like to hear it. Hope it had the softer-riding 18" wheels....if not, you probably bounced along LOL. I'll assume it was a FWD model with the V6.....but AWD is now available on the Essence version this year (2018) as well as the Premium. The 4-cylinder hybrid is standard this year in all but the Premium (that was one of the things that delayed my order). If you had a 2017 Essence, of course, it was a FWD V6 with the Aisan-built 8-speed transmission....that was the only way they built them.

mmarshall

The Continental high-performance Contipro all-seasons that they put on my Verano worked quite well in snow. It wasn't quite the snow-bunny that my former Subaru Outback (with Bridgestone RE-92 all-seasons) was....but, for a compact FWD sedan, did very well. I haven't had my Lacrosse, yet, in snow.....going to have to wait at least a few months for that.

On the Lacrosse, it doesn't always come into play.....only at certain engine temperatures, load conditions, A/C settings, and state of battery-charge. And there are ways of feathering the gas and brake to delay or eliminate it. It DOES, however, help wth the gas mileage....along with several other gas-saving features.

There are rumors (though noting yet official), that the government is going to require this system in all new American-spec cars in a few years.....without a dabbling switch. I can't imagine the Trump Administration agreeing to that.......but, we'll see.

Thanks.

I know I'm probably talking to a very limited crowd in Car Chat with threads like this.....lots of people here don't like Buicks, even the Opel-derived ones. They still have an (outdated) Granny stigma in the auto press and among many enthusiasts.

Toys4RJill

Short answer as I don't have tons of time to write it up, was blown away by the quality and powertrain of the car. Funny enough, just drove my father around on Thursday as a chauffeur (lol) and for the most part, the LaCrosse exceeds an ES350, but the ES dates back to 2012 as a 2013 model.

Some of the highlights were that it very smooth and quiet in around town. Really nice leather seats. Excellent seat positions. Excellent infotainment screen that was easy to use. Great visibility. Excellent guages. Very nice and easy to use HVAC that is both touch and hard buttons. Large trunk. Love the exterior styling. Really like the front end

Some of my dislikes were more minor. The battery is in the trunk on the left side. The material covering was loose fitting and very easy to move and push around. Can't get over the fact that the Tri shield is not color on the steering wheel or on the key fob. Steering wheel would be more satisfying if the logo was color.

Other than that, it feels like a very good comfortable long distance cruiser.

As for the start stop. Was not bad. I doubt many people will notice it as GM claims. Still would be better if they would give the option to turn it off.

If I had the money for a car of this size. I think I could part way with Toyota for this Buick. Been finding them very attractive the last little while.

Toys4RJill

A few other things. Despite the size, the car is very light which is a nice pleasure. Sadly, the car was not as silent and tomb like as you say on the highway going 60MPH. Alex on Autos says it 70db at 50mgh which ties the Avalon and a whole bunch of other cars.

Now, sadly, the dealer experience was not great. I set up an appointment via online and they called me to schedule. Then I got an email that said I was going to be treated to the VIP treatment. The car would be outside waiting. The salesperson would welcome me once I got there. Sadly, when I got there they had no idea that I made an appointment. They had the car burried in the back behind a few cars. There was no demo car as this would a brand new car. It took about 20 minutes to move some cars around and get it prepped.

Now, the most bizzare thing of the whole afternoon was how many times they told me to test drive the Chevrolet Impala. At least 5 mentions and the sales persons boss even mentioned it. At one point, I was about to say "would you like me not to buy this car" and leave. But I didn't. I did test drive a demo Impala right after the LaCrosse. I didn't care for it. It was annoying because I was so smitten by the LaCrosse and liked it so much, the sales guy with his stupid Impala talk really took away from the LaCrosse as he didn't realize how much I just adored the car.

mmarshall

No problem.....as I stated above, I tried to keep my own report shorter this time than last. Thanks for what you write up.

Does your dad own a new Lacrosse?....or were you looking maybe at one for him?

You seemed to like the screen more than I do. I liked most of the things about it.....except that you cannot get the radio station-displays and the climate-control settings at the same time for instant-reference. You have to switch back and forth.

Trumk-mounted batteries are usually done either for reasons of weight-distribution or space-limitation under the hood, although the Lacrosse is generally not the type of car that seeks the sort of sharp handling that optimum front/rear weigh-distribution gives with sports cars.

Yeah, that was one of my nit-picks, too...though a minor one.

As I told Coleroad, we may (?) be stuck with it in a few years, if Big Brother decides to require it. The system seems to work (mechanically) about equally-smoothly with both last year's 8-speed and this year's 9-speed transmissions, though it seems a little quieter with the new 9-speed....the 9-speed, co-developed with Ford, was specially-designed for the stop/start role.

You, of course, had an Essence....with options, they typically run in the lower 40s (U.S. dollars). The Preferred model, which I have, is several thousand (U.S.) dollars cheaper than the Essence, although you admittedly give up some electronic safety and driver/passenger-convenience features. My Preferred, with the V6 and rubber floor-mats, listed around 37K. (My Verano, for comparison, was between 25 and 26K)

Toys4RJill

When I said chauffeured. I meant took him to a few places in his ES350.

mmarshall

A lot of that weight-reduction, though, seemed to come in the very thin sheet metal...which I was not impressed with. I put that on my list of gripes. Today, as I was washing my car, just the sponge-rubbing from my hand-pressure caused metal-creaking in some areas (fortunately, no dents).

Alex Dykes knows his stuff.....I have a huge amount of respect for him, and certainly won't question his findings. Different types and textures of pavement, though, can cause different levels of road noise, even at the same speeds.

Yes, GM shops can vary quite a bit. Mine has treated me like a gem....but some them could use a course in Customer-Relations 101.


The current Impala is based on an older platform....though that platform is still TONS better than the old rental-grade ones before that. The new Impala, next year, will use the current Lacrosse platform...I plan to at least test-drive it.

P.S.......if SUV sales keep drowning out those of large domestic sedans, though, don't look for either one of them to last much longer in GM's hierarchy. The Impala, Lacrosse, XTS, CT6, and Chevy Volt are all on life-support, right now, from poor sales. Ford and Lincoln are also having trouble selling the Taurus, MKZ, and Continental.

Coleroad

One other benefit of the battery in the trunk is longer battery life. Heat kills batteries, especially a lot of heat soak for the battery if you're in stop and go traffic/ slow moving. I've had four cars with trunk mounted batteries that I had long term. Each and everyone of them the original battery lasted atleast 8 years the jaguar that battery lasted 10 years. Time will tell with the camaro only had it for a year now. We'll see if we can make it five for five on the 8 or more years.

mmarshall

Idle-start-and-stop systems, though, may compensate somewhat for that by placing more of a demand on the battery....again, we'll have to wait and see.

Toys4RJill

If you read some of the reviews about the LaCrosse. They do not use the battery or starter to restart the car. It's done differently on the LaCrosse.

mmarshall

Yes, I dealt with that in an earlier thread. Several different sources (some from the actual service department) have told me several different things about just how the system works. I hope, though, that you are correct.

One thing, though, that helps (and all of the sources agree on this) is that the new 9-speed transmission for 2018, which was specifically designed for this system, uses a pressure-accumulator that keeps line-pressure in the transmission ready for instant re-coupling the moment the computer tells it to. The Aisan 8-speed transmission used for 2017 lacked that feature, and, if you listened carefully, you could hear a very faint whine of the starter-motor (though all of that thick Buick soundproofing) when the engine re-started.

(That, BTW, among a number of others, was one reason why I decided to wait for a 2018 and not spring for a possibly cheaper 2017 model sitting on the lot. I'm glad I waited).

tex2670

It doesn't bother me on my BMW. I disable it on really hot summer days because of the A/C, and sometimes if I'm waiting at an intersection, so there's no hesitation when I'm ready to go.

I rented a Chevy Cruze over the summer--that stop/start was almost unnoticeable. Hopefully, the Lacrosse's system is like the Cruze. And I read the system is disabled if you use the A/C in Max instead of Eco on GM cars.