Yup. BMW's A/S/S system requires you to restart the car by pressing the ignition button if the system shuts the engine down and you open the driver door.

 

makes sense.

 

Back to topic. Anyhow, in a nutshell, though I have a lot of respect for the way the Genesis G80 and Kia Cadenza are built (and their warranties), the long-term reliability of the Toyota Avalon and Lexus ES350 (despite some of thin, lightweight materials inside), and for the better (conventional) shifter and controls in the Chevy Impala, I'm not one bit sorry or disappointed in choosing a Lacrosse...as with my previous Verano, I look forward to driving it nearly every day. And, given the number of reliability-complaints on the 2017 in Consumer Reports, I'm even more glad I waited for the 2018....that was maybe the wisest decision of all.

I just hope GM doesn't drop this car (and the Chevy Impala)...which, given the slow sales, is a distinct possibility. Next time (probably in about 4-5 years), that would probably force me over to the Genesis or Lincoln shop....unless Ford also decides to drop the Lincoln MKZ.

 

is the lacrosse sold in china?

 

 

imho Buick has fought the fact that they appeal to an older crowd, in general. It was big news to get the avg. to 59. On forums, you'll get the, "My wife and I are 27 and 26 respectively, I don't know what they're talking about." But these are outliers, as forums tend to attract enthusiasts. There was this family around the corner where the wife had this ruby red Enclave, and the husband had a Lacrosse, and I would say they were 30 if that. But they're not typical of the buyers of Buick (my wife thinks that red is sharp, pretty sure it's a pearl). And then again, there's China, where the brand image is strong. Embrace the people who are buying the vehicles!

 

they sold almost 2000 in february in the u.s. while not hitting it out of the park, that's better than 'not doing that well'.

i know you want it to fail for some reason, but it's not.

 

mmarshall: one thing about the lacrosse and your experience and wanting it is you said you wanted a 'big buick' like you had decades ago but this really isn't a very big buick. it's just slightly bigger than a camry.

 

It looks like there currently is a $4,500 purchase allowance on the 17's or 1.9% for 60 months. This should help to boost sales in the short term as they clear out the older model.

$2,000 on the 18's.

 

Size-wise, of course it is not like the big American cars of the 1960s...that pretty much goes without saying. But it is Buick's flagship American market sedan today, the largest sedan it offers here (though a Holden-based RWD Park Avenue is offered in China...I've posted images of that one before), and I'm certainly not disappointed. And, unlike the big Electra I owned in college, this one has a reliable/efficient fuel-injection system (no carburetor quirks), a reliable electronic-ignition system (no periodic tune-ups), two to three times the average fuel mileage (on cheaper regular fuel to boot), responsive rack-and-pinon steering instead of recirculating-ball and its notorious slop, a modern clearcoat paint job that doesn't fade almost overnight like the GM acrylic lacquer paint of the 60s/70s, and 4-wheel disc brakes that don't fade with use. And it is a lot easier to park and maneuver. My college-days Electra, though, had a somewhat softer-suspension, softer-riding tires, a cloth front bench-seat that was so soft and cushy to sit in it was like your living room sofa, a Super Turbine 400 automatic transmission (somewhat different from the regular Turbo-Hydra-Matic used by the other GM divisions) that, at the time, was considered to be the smoothest automatic in the world, and a nice hood ornament.

 

I drive an RX 450h. Being a Toyota hybrid, the starter motor is bolted directly to the engine flywheel and can spin the engine up in a fraction of a second. Really remarkable in that it's almost completely unnoticeable.

How do the start-stop systems on other cars work? The traditional pinion-gear on the flywheel?

 

Most of the stop/start systems I've tried recently were virtually unnoticeable, though some, even on the same vehicle, vary slightly from almost completely seamless to a noticeable but small bump. The overall smoothest one of all, from what I've seen, is on the Kia Cadenza.

 

Here's a good example of what I consider the car's only real quirk. Observe, in the first video, around the 1:37-1:45 mark, that the two yellow warning lights to the upper-right of the speedometer come on with the ignition, and are briefly-followed for a split-second (in the same space) by two red engine warning-lights. Then, observe, in the second video, at the 1:48 mark, the same two yellow lights come on, but the two red lights do not come on afterward. Other times, a different single red light will show up in the same space. Most of the time, with my car (but not all the time) it's like the second video....just the two yellow lights, and no reds. Weird.

 

They are specifically designed to do what they do, meaning, it's not the same as taking a regular car, and shutting it down at an intersection, and starting it back up--this imho would be excessive wear.

I spent 4 mos. with a BMW 328i loaner, and I liked it, felt confident it added 1 to 1.5 mpg to my commute since it's mostly city driving. Also, I was impressed that even in the blazing summer, there are times the motor is off, and the a/c is still cold, and when it can't provide cold air, the motor starts up on its own. Some coworkers who own cars that have it in the office say they disable since they feel there's wear/tear. But if leased, I would say no way should that be disabled, take the fuel savings...

 

I understand that cars with auto-stop systems used beefed-up, higher-torque starters that smooth out the starts and allow them to withstand higher frequency use. In addition, when the engine is stopped, it is done so with pistons and valves in certain positions that allow for quicker, easier startup.