I had no idea Infiniti & BMW produces front drive cars.. The ES350 is this Buick's target buddy. Yes indeed... The ES looks dated next to its rival from Buick....

 

Yes the ES is a Camry-derived fwd appliance, not a car for an enthusiast.

But unlike most GM cars, an ES is reliable and backed by a stable and well-respected automotive company.

 

And so is this Buick..

And so is Buick...

 

It does. But more people are going to cross shop the ES with the LaCrosse than the 3 series with the LaCrosse. I suppose you could say look at my... 3 series owner looking at the LaCrosse but you also have to understand I'm in no way considering a 3 series for my next car or anything similar to it. My mentality for my next car is very different.

Buick's reliability and quality ratings according to JD Power are nipping right at the heels of Lexus... and in some instances Buicks actually put up significantly better reliability numbers than some Lexus models. The ES350 in particular has gotten average to slightly below average marks from JD Power for its initial quality... which would make it not all that difficult for the LaCrosse to exceed the ES' quality.

 

I agree that a lot of the automotive stereotypes are B.S.

However, a while back I looked at the buyer demographic of the Lucerne on the J.D. Power website. It said that 90+% of buyers were age 56+. Definitely preferred by older buyers. Not that it's bad, it just the market for Buick right now.

Maybe the new LaCrosse will change that, but as others have said, it will be a tall order no matter how nice it looks .

 

Yep. Demographics don't lie and stereotypes exist for a reason. Sure not all of them are true, and sure it's not cool to talk down to somebody because they like a car that's not stereotypically part of their demographic's cars of preference, but over the average there are absolutely strong demographic trends that establish Buick's average buying age as significantly higher than that of most other brands. Most of their cars have traditionally stuck with more subdued styling, bench seats, less powerful engines, more quiet interiors, and soft rides that are typically more popular with the older crowd that values practicality and comfort over performance, style, and technology.

Buick is trying to change that though since their current primary audience is shrinking rapidly.

 

That's "geezer-pleaser" territory. Even Toyota is familiar with that due to the demographics of the Avalon buyer, considered by some to be the better Buick.

And btw my age isn't far from that. But I have better taste and more economic sense and buying power.

 

Yup, one of Toyota's stated goals when they rolled out the current gen Avalon was to lower the average age of the buyers. Don't know if it worked or not. The ES350 is up there too but a couple of years younger on average than the Av.

 

Ummm....sorry, but this couldn't be farther from the truth. If you look at any demographic statistics for North America the overall population is increasing at the older end, not the younger. In today's age of smaller families and better birth control it is the older generation that is significantly increasing in size, not the younger one.

This population pyramid illustrates this:

http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/id...t=Submit+Query

If anything, there will more likely be an even higher demand for Buick like vehicles over the next couple of decades that target "older" customers.

 

Wow, I thought Buick was part of GM, an unstable, debt-ridden, bloated, poorly managed company.

 

I'm sorry, but the current LaCrosse is trash.

It's time to move on for Buick if they want to survive, and sticking to second rate, under developed garbage (which is what the current car is), will not work. Those 70-80 year old hard core buyers won't be there in ten years. It's about time GM made a bold move. Looks great.

 

I'm in no rush to own a car with a pushrod engine with antiquated 4 speed slushbox tranny on tall SUV tires with tons of fake plastic wood and zero support bench seats suspended on soft springs and low performance shocks.


I agree, thankfully this is a Lexus forum where most of the owners are better informed and more demanding than the average Buick owner.

 

This has nothing to do with FWD, but thats for showing your ulterior motive. You said the Buick makes the ES look dated. It does not. Both look good. If you feel the Buick makes the ES look dated, then it makes all your favorite cars look dated. In 3 yeras the ES has aged very well and is a handsome car (much better looking that the last model).


FWD or not has nothing to do with your commentary about styling.

Threxx no way I am saying this car is competition for the 3. I highly doubt it and I didn't even list it as the cars that need to be worried about this.

CDNROCKIES is correct and Mike and I have stated that in the past. There is a HUGE opportunity with the aging demographics in America. Buick could really hit home with these people.

 

And I'm one of the middle-aged folks in the mainstream of US demographics and I don't want one of the current geezer-pleaser Buicks of the current lineup. In fact almost all the Buick dealers closed in my huge population area (south bay area), but maybe I'll stop by the Buick section at the auto show this weekend.

 

Exactly, IS-SV. Everywhere you look in the current LaCrosse, you find under egngineered, cheap touches which form the perception that this a truely ancient car. The tiny radio and climate controls, for example, are awkwardly thrown onto the console like an afterthought. The powertrain, as you mention, may have been competitive back the ninetees. The styling is the only "modern" cue that I can see in the car. Everything else about the car, and I mean everything, is inferior to all of it's competition, and for good reason. There is a reason Buick doesn't sell well to lower age demographics - call it being "informed".