MM Retro Write-Up: 2016-2019 Buick Cascada

















IN A NUTSHELL: A superbly-built small convertible, but with idiotic wheels and tires.

One of the wisest things, at least IMO, that Buick ever did was, after 2010, to start Opel-based products under the Buick nameplate. As far back as the late 1960s/early-70s, German-built Opels (and, after 1976, Japanese/Isuzu-built Opels), had been sold at Buick dealerships. Later, after 2000, Saturn adopted the practice of selling redone Opels as well, until the Saturn division folded.

While rebadged Opels failed to save the dying Saturn Division, they definitely had a positive effect at Buick. While Buick (and GM as a whole) had an excellent reputation in the 60s, from the 1970s on, until the early 2010s, although they made some good engines, Buick more or less shared in the GM stereotype of cheapness of design/materials/assembly, and drove many former customers away…..yes, including me, as I had liked Buicks in high school and college. (An exception was the 4th-Generation Century/Regal, which was reliable and dependable despite its interior cheapness. ….many of them are still running today).

That all changed in 2012, when Buick introduced the Verano compact sedan, which was done on the chassis/platform/interior of the German Opel Astra sedan, with a GM-supplied Ecotec in-line four engine, GM 6-speed automatic, and, of course, the famous Buick Quiet-Tuning for noise-isolation. It was head and shoulders above anything else in the Buick showrooms at the time in material solidness, interior/exterior quality, and assembly quality…although it was not perfect, and some problems later showed up in the engine’s piston rings, transmission hiccups, steering-rack, and drive-line vibrations at certain speeds. But its unibody frame, Thunk-Solid door closings, and THICK durable plastic materials inside (instead of the usual cheap thin stuff), and freedom from squeaks/rattles sold me once car, and it was the first Buick I had owned since my college days 40 years earlier. I was very pleased overall with it except for the oil-use, and kept it for almost 5 years….about my average for vehicle-ownership. And the Opel-based Buicks also helped raise Buick’s reliability-ratings in both Consumer Reports and J.D. Power. Several pro athletes in football, basketball, and golf touted the Verano in ads, and even Donald Trump, several years before he became President, also made an appearance in Verano ads saying how excellent he thought the car was.

In fact, several Buicks of that period were essentially redone Opels….Encore, Verano, Regal, and the subject of today’s write-up, the Cascada convertible. The Verano at least showed a little difference from the Opel Astra in body styling, but the Regal, Encore, and (especially) the Cascada were classic rebadges, of the Opel Insignia, Mokka, and Cascada with only very minor differences except for the drivetrain.

As I said, this was especially so for the Cascada….Buick even kept the same name as the Opel Cascada. As I recall, it even used an Opel-designed drivetrain, with a 1.6L turbo in-line four and 6-speed automatic….the manual transmission version was not offered in the U.S. The Cascada was not marketed in Canada…..why, I don’t know, except that Canada’s cold climate is often not suited to convertibles.

So…the American Buick Cascada was almost totally a European Opel/Vauxhall Cascada with the Buick tri-sheld badge on the door and steering wheel. By convertible standards, and especially for the moderate price (low/mid-30s), it was exceedingly well-built…especially compared to the Sebring and Lebaron convertibles Chrysler had recently produced, which, in comparison, were built like rubber bands. The Cascada had tank-solid materials and hardware for the power-top raising/lowering mechanism, Thunk-solid doors, and the same thick solid plastics inside that the Verano used….in fact, it was a modified version of the Opel Astra platform that Buick had used for the Verano. The top was thick, durable, triple-insulated, and felt like it would last at least most of the car’s lifetime…some convertible tops only last a couple of years. In short, except for the fact that the interior was considerably more cramped than the similarly-priced Chrysler convertibles, quality-wise, it made the Chrysler convertibles look alike a joke. The Cascada was also offered in a couple of nice colors. I especially liked the medium Teal bluish-green (a color that is often neglected these days by automakers)..but the local dealership never stocked one. A neighbor of mine did buy a new Cascada…a smoke-gray-colored one. But Buick, IMO, screwed up royally on one point with the Cascada…..the wheels and tires. More on that in a minute.

Needless to say, I grabbed a test-drive on the Cascada (a white one, as I recall), as soon as my local Buick dealership got a couple of them in stock. I was astounded at the body/frame-solidness and lack of cowl-shake/flex, which historically has been the bane of many convertibles because of the relative lack of support from the enclosed roof. The Cascada, frame/body-wise, with top up or down, was virtually as solid as a sedan or coupe. I had sampled a couple of rock-solid Mercedes and BMW convertibles in my time, but not at this kind of low price. The Cascada had a reasonable amount of power for most normal driving, although it was obviously not meant to be a dragster like the RWD Mustang GT or Camaro SS convertibles. It was a pleasure to drive for an open-air experience…..except for the ridiculous 20-inch alloy wheels and low-profile tires, which, on a relatively light vehicle like this, pounded one over bumps and pavement-irregularities in a very UN-Buick like manner. This was, without question, the stiffest-riding Buick product I had ever sampled. I can’t imagine what the designers were thinking when they put these giant wagon-wheels and rubber-band tires on, except maybe to try and cash in on the big-wheel fad at the time. If it had not been for those wheels, I would have seriously considered trading in my Verano for one….I had never owned a convertible, despite many test-drives. I checked the tire pressures to be sure they were at recommended and not over-inflated (which can also cause an overly-stiff ride)…..they were close to recommended.

The Cascada, sadly, did not turn out to be a good seller, and lasted only a few years in the U.S….it was dropped after 2019. I attribute that to two main reasons……First, the fact that convertibles were going out of style by then, as the public was switching to more practical CUVs and crossovers, and, Second, the harsh ride over bumps from the wheels/tires which was unworthy of a Buick nameplate. My neighbor, though, doesn’t seem to mind the stiff ride…I guess to each his or her own. And he’s an older Baby-Boomer like me…..so much for the old stereotype about small convertibles being feminine vehicles.

And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Memories

MM

 

The Cascade is a beautiful Buick. It really is too bad these mainstream brands have abandoned all of these small personal convertibles. I love all the buttons on the centre stack that go along with the screen

 

Yes.....definitely one of the better-looking ones. And built as good as it looks.


The Mazda Miata and any leftover new Fiat 124 Spyders at the dealerships that have not been sold are still available brand-new. (the 124 has been discontinued in the U.S.). Both, of course, are purpose-designed RWD sports cars...in a somewhat different class then the FWD Cascada. Mustangs and Camaros are available as convertibles, but are RWD ponycars and more sport/performance-oriented.

 

Those are not the same cars as I am talking about.

Cars like the LeBaron, the Cavalier, Sunbird those cars come to mind,

 

Mechanically, those convertibles were a piece of junk. That wasn't the case with the Opel-sourced Cascada.

 

I actually saw a LeBaron the other day. At a local car show. I liked it very much.

 

Which Lebaron? The huge Imperial Le Baron from the 60s/70s? The Volare/Aspen-based Lebaron from the late 70s? The K-Car-based Lebaron from the 80s? (I briefly owned one). Or the later Lebaron? None of them were very well-built except for the 60s'-vintage Imperial Lebaron.

 

MM. I thought I posted the pic.

 

Thanks. I had a 1983 Lebaron sedan....a little older than the convertible version there. I had a lot of trouble with it....it was poorly built, despite having a nice plush interior and good-looking styling. Only kept it a year and then converted to a Japanese make....Mazda.

 

Did you have a turbo ?

 

No. I don't think a turbo was offered in the Lebaron series until a couple of year later.

 

Anyhow, back to topic...the Cascada.

To show how cookie-cutter similar the Buick and Opel/Vauxhall versions were, here are some comparison shots..............

 

I actually rode in one of these for the first time last week. Co-worker took me to lunch. Horrible ride quality. Also, the center stack is overloaded with buttons. Must have been 40 or 50 buttons in an area of about 1 square foot. Not well laid out.

 

That jittery ride is because of those ridiculous (standard) 20" tires and wheels......they have no place on a car like this. Why Buick used them is beyond me.

Having buttons is often better than computer touch-screens......you don't have to scroll through a bunch of stuff to get things done.

 

I don't blame GM for doing this. Opel isn't sold in the US, and most Americans don't even know what it is. Why spend a ton of money to differentiate a vehicle from one US customers won't see.

It's a shame this car was so out of date and sub par; it's a decent looking car.