You mean the Centurys, don't you?...not the SUVs in the Buick ad Jill posted.

 

People watching that ad is one thing, but people actually believing it is something else. No offense, Jill (and I know you meant well when you posted it) , but that ad is clearly insulting to Buick sedan and convertible owners. Notice how it deliberately diverts attention away from the Regal, Cascada, and Lacrosse to the SUVs. And, BTW, that Pepperdust-colored Lacrosse in the ad is a spitting-image of mine.

 

I just saw a few Regals which had 3800s (or at least as an option). I didn't see any Centuries but I don't believe ever got it; it had the 3.1 IIRC.

 

Good catch. My bad. Sorry, you're correct. I had forgotten that only the Regals of that generation (not the Centurys) offered the 3.8 (and the Regal GS Gran Sport the supercharged 3.8). The bread-and-butter Centurys had the smaller 3.1L V6.

 

Yeah, now that you point it out, that ad is clearly a shout out to crossovers.

 

Insulting?? With the Regal, Cascadia and Lacrosse going away it seems to me the ad is communicating Buicks still offer vehicles that may be of interest to the 30 somethings in the ad.

 

First, as far as the ad being insulting to Buick sedan owners (or shoppers), that is exactly what I said, and exactly what I meant. No wiggle-room here for error or misinterpretation....none. Second, as far as 30-somethings are concerned, one of the sedans that got shunted in the ad was bright red Regal GS...a German-sourced sport-sedan that even auto enthusiast magazines like. (I reviewed a red one, just like that, myself, a couple of years ago).

I'm not blaming Jill for it, though...she meant well when she posted the ad, and, had she not done it, someone else on Car Chat probably would have. That's just the nature of this forum....and it's not something the moderators would delete, because it doesn't break CL posting rules.

 

I am sorry that your find the ad offensive. But I just posted it to show that it was the most watched ad. I think lexbob makes a good point though.

 

No problem, Jill. You meant well. Like I said, if you didn't, somebody else would have. I've been on Car Chat for more than sixteen years, and I know how it operates. You can sometimes set your watch by guessing what people are going to post.

Although there are some exceptions, in general, though, the most-watched ads for vehicles are run during the Super Bowl. That's why they cost at least several million dollars (minimum) for a mere thirty-second spot.

 

Why would Buick spend a lot of expensive ad time and money advertising cars that that won't be available much longer? It seems like a bad investment. As nice as it might be, the slow selling red Regal is going away so no need to spend much time and money with advertising. GM has made their decision on the direction they want to take and, IMO, this ad reflects it. Noting too controversial.

 

What's doubly-sad about the Regal's disappearance is that GM also dumped the Opel Division with it. Like several other small-to-medium-sized Buicks (sometimes with or without GM-sourced powerrtarains), the Regal was a rebadged Opel Insignia. As such, it was a well-built sedan, with very good materials inside and out, avoiding some of the problems that beset domestically-sourced Buicks. the Opel-sourced Buicks were primarily, but not totally, responsible for Buick's recent good showings in the reliability department...at one time third overall, and the best American-badged make.

 

The previous Regal was a nice car. I like the current (discontinued) version as well, but people are not buying these cars anymore. Most of the seniors who live in my building are now doing cross-overs, I know one couple at 75 that have a Nissan Rogue, it is much more comfortable, spacious and easy to get in and out of than than any Buick sedan (or any sedan really) can offer. Older consumers are sharper than you think.

 

yup, no question you were triggered by that ad. seems an odd reaction to me, but obviously you're entitled to it.

Buick KNOWS that MOST people in sedans are looking to move to cuv/suv's and so Buick is SMARTLY telling current Buick owners, hey we have great options for you.

while marketing is not a science, and certainly can't please everyone, i have no doubt that buick knows what they're doing. you've said yourself you're open to considering a cuv/suv next time, so in theory you might still be interested in a buick next time? as you've also pointed out, buick sedans or not, your sedan options are unfortunately shrinking fast.

 

Lol no worries!

Those 3.1s had decent torque, good enough for around town driving.

 

Thanks for your tolerance and insight on this matter. You have to remember that I've given GM, and Buick, two vehicle-purchases in a row (a not inconsequential sum of money, and they have turned right around and cancelled both of them right out from under my nose (and now, the Regal as well), without even sending me a survey or questionaire, as a repeat customer, whether I would purchase another Buick sedan in the future. In other words (and I know smooth double-talk when I hear it...I've been watching the auto industry for a more than a half-century), it was a bunch of that smooth market-talk on one level, while, underneath, where it really mattered, it was, basically..."We're going to do what we think will earn the most money per vehicle-unit, and **** our long-time, faithful sedan customers,"........ some of whom have been buying their products a lot longer than I have.

Now, put yourself in that place for a moment. What if Genesis decided, on a mere whim, that the G90 would go out of production, and you bought or leased something else (maybe a G80 or the upcoming GV80)...and, in a couple of years, Genesis decided to can those, too? You would probably be pretty irked, although I'll give you credit for being quite flexible......in the time-period I've known you, you've owned a wide range of vehicles, from a Miata to several different mid-size SUVs to what IMO is one of the nicest luxury sedans in that class. Also, if Genesis did that, we probably wouldn't see the kind of enormous reaction against them that we saw with GM and the massive UAW strike, since Genesis, as a much smaller company, would not be shutting down as many plants, or potentially tossing as many workers out of a job.