Toys4RJill

I think the issue you are having is that you do not think the Lacrosse is a true luxury vehicle from a real luxury brand. I can understand that parts bin comments, but I will say Lexus does this with many of their vehicles. Most of Lexus vehicles are using platforms and parts that are shared with Toyota. The Avalon and ES are the perfect example. Another thing I think you are struggling with is that this new LaCrosse was designed and built for the China market first and foremost. This is why the roof line is 1.6 inches lowers, Chinese consumers are not as big as Americans.

I have been to enough BMW, Lexus, Audi, and MB dealers to finally understand how important the dealer and after purchase experience is. I don't Buick really lives up to the expectations that luxury dealers provide. I would also add that BMW, MB, Lexus, and Audi all provide and emotional experience whether it is positive, neutral or negative. I don't find that Buick achieves this.


The base price of the LaCrosse comes in just two colors and looks to be priced at the starting price of the Avalon.

My big questions is could this LaCrosse start at the price of a Lexus ES350 which is about $6000 more?

Toys4RJill

I have to quote this:

Hasn't this all been done before?

SW17LS

Buick isn't a luxury car, and the dealer experience isn't going to be anything like Lexus, or BMW or MB etc. Thats not important to every consumer though, and at the entry level it may be important if people are straining to achieve that status, or it may not if its somebody thats always driven an entry level car and the dealer experience is kind of passe

mmarshall

Depends on where you go. While it's true that, in general, luxury-class dealerships do a better job of pleasing customers than lower-line ones, dealerships of all types can vary enormously from one to the next. My brother, who drives a lowly Kia Sportage, gets treated like a king at his Kia shop.....though it doesn't hurt that the dealership's owner is also my brother's Congressman, representing his district.

And, as a Verano owner, I get what is IMO better treatment from my Chevy/GMC/Buick shop than I did when I owned my Lexus IS300.

SW17LS

Customer service is universal, you can get great customer service anywhere. But the dealership experience is not the same. Buick dealers aren't fancy, there aren't high end perks, loaners aren't as common (although not unheard of) it's just a different experience. I've gotten good service from a wide variety of brands. Probably the best was Ford because of my service guy, likely tied with Lexus when my good service guy was still there. I had a good Jeep guy too, customer service was very good there. The experience at Ford, Jeep, etc however was not upscale like it is at Lexus.

People do value the upscale, especially people who aren't accustomed to luxury cars. Buick is not a luxury brand, and their dealers reflect that. Very similar to Jeep dealers.

mmarshall

OK.....clarification understood.

Buick is an interesting case....especially since Ford got rid of the Mercury division, which was probably Buick's closest American-badged competitor, and GM dumped the sister Pontiac and Olds divisions. Buick, among American brands, pretty much stands alone now in that big gap between Ford/Chevy/Dodge and Chrysler/Cadillac Lincoln, though Buick is probably a lot closer to Chrysler than Caddy or Lincoln. The closest Japanese equivalent to Buick, of course, is probably Acura.....which fills the gap between Toyota/Honda/Mazda/Nissan/Subaru and Lexus/Infiniti. But, in other ways, Buick does have luxury touches. Their vehicles are comfort-oriented, packed full of sound isolation, and the Buick 6/70 and 4/50 warranties equal those of Cadillac, Lincoln, and the Japanese luxury nameplates.

SW17LS

Buicks have luxury touches, like Jeeps for instance. Or some high end Chryslers, but they're not a luxury brand. Not supposed to be.

dseag2

You need to do a bit more research before you call someone else's statements false. I built an XTS with Luxury Package, and with $4,000 cash back being offered by Cadillac it comes in just over $47k. 19" wheels, Bose sound system, leather cooled seats, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, etc. etc. Here is the link. Maybe you can tell us what is it missing that the ES offers?



http://www.cadillac.com/preceding-ye...iU1VNTUFSWSJ9@

mmarshall

For Buick, a better term than "luxury" might be "upscale". That could also be descriptive of Acura.

JDR76

Forgive my completely random and not Buick related post, but this weekend I was on a run in VERY rural Oregon (Birkenfeld, OR) and ran past this place, The Birk. Was trying to remember where I'd seen it recently and remembered it was from this Buick review.

LexBob2

Good catch!

mmarshall

An interesting shot, JDR. if you look closely, that wheel behind the car (which is probably part of the building's display) could be confused with the old fifth-wheel add-on that used to be standard when the auto press did a road test. The wheel was used to calibrate the speedometer and verify peformance tests.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

besides loaners, what 'high end perks' are you referring to? people who dress nice to greet you?

i want to NEVER SET FOOT in my dealer if possible. so far with the jeep its been twice a year which is enough.

SW17LS

Youd be surprised by what some of these newer dealers have. Putting greens, golf simulators, food, theatres, some have beauty salons...it goes on and on.

Im like you, I want to just roll in and get my loaner and go, but plenty of people love hanging around the dealer. I was there last week because I had a nail in my tire, I decided to wait figuring it would be quick. Took 1.5 hours...ugh. Anyways, dealer was full of people waiting, enjoying the facilities, talking, having a grand old time. They all could have just had loaners, but there they were.

mmarshall

Well, I figure if I'm going to be at the dealership for least an hour and a half, that's enough time for a decent static-review and moderate test drive: