biggest complaint about your LaCrosse

[ceehow217]

Having a 2017 Lacrosse....my biggest complaint is the lack of a button to turn off the start/stop feature while driving. And the trunk size. The Lacrosse should have an 2017 Impala sized trunk.

 

[Le'Crosse_26]

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What is the biggest complaint you have of your LaCrosse? I know we all love these cars, I'm just curious to see if there is a pattern.

I for one cant stand that i have nowhere to put my left foot when driving. I'm in a very awkward position, that I will get used to eventually. But the wheelwell really makes it difficult to get truly comfortable. I'm always trying to figure out what to do with my left foot, as I only drive with my right foot.

I'm interested to hear your pet peeves.

So, I have an 09 and I got it used but oddly (or maybe not) same year chevy Malibu has audio input jack. Now, I understand that a Lacrosse is more old mans car than a Malibu but....??! So, other than that my heat sux!!! I mean SUXXX BALLZ always has!! I think my heater core was plugged potentially...and now may be source of nuisance leaking...at 240k miles. I git it with 140k so, I am not unhappy as I just got a used 08 with less mileage(~ 175k!!). So, it hit a deer and was a cheap mechanic special. I think it has a rear main oil seal leak but seems pretty good otherwise. The only other pet peeve is an odd thing which may be just a stupid setting but the auto interior light when opening door dies not seem functional or is intermittent. Could be preference settings but thought I had checked that. The only other gripe is that the dark leater seats and black carpet always camoflage my phone 😆 !! Great cars and will be passing the 09 diwn to my kids after some repairs, wheel bearing I think... I have had calipers replaced and hang but thinking that is just brake system (lack of) maintenance issues. Happy overall though with the GM 3.8L products.

 

[rrutter81]

2014 Buick Lacrosse Leather

My biggest and longest lasting gripe is the infotainment system. It boots slower than windows xp and even when it is on, it buffers every time i make a selection or try to use the NAV unit.
Want to get out of the driveway with a reverse camera? yeah. wait for this trash to boot up first and even when it does, it still has a 5 second delay.
It was so frustrating i ripped the entire crappy bose stereo system out. replaced the rear camera with an HD one. A real gps antenna with 4gs connectivity as well as apple carplay / android auto.
Stock chimes are routed through the center-dash paperwafer speaker. Good riddance!
Some other nitpicks:
The door handles are still plastic with chrome tape that tends to peel and to replace them you have to plastic weld instead of a bolt.
The steering wheel controls still use that trash vinyl paint that peels up after a few years.
Even the buttons that remember your seat placement (1, 2, set) bubble up.
And what about these A-pillars that are thicker than nicki minaj's backside? Youre telling me I have to look both ways AND around these wide skyscrapers?
Evidently I am chauffeuring Casper the friendly ghost around because my passenger seat is always complaining someone isnt buckled up.
After this car, I will avoid OEM nav units or "premium" sound systems and get a base model to upgrade instead. GM's infotainment systems are worse quality than aliexpress and thats saying something.

(mechanically the car is sound though)

 

[Buick convert]

My only complaint is the way the A-pillars block frontal visability on sharp corners. Need to lean forward or sideways sometimes to see around them.

AGREED, almost ran over a few people because i could not see them!!!

 

[Buick convert]

2014 Buick Lacrosse Leather

My biggest and longest lasting gripe is the infotainment system. It boots slower than windows xp and even when it is on, it buffers every time i make a selection or try to use the NAV unit.
Want to get out of the driveway with a reverse camera? yeah. wait for this trash to boot up first and even when it does, it still has a 5 second delay.
It was so frustrating i ripped the entire crappy bose stereo system out. replaced the rear camera with an HD one. A real gps antenna with 4gs connectivity as well as apple carplay / android auto.
Stock chimes are routed through the center-dash paperwafer speaker. Good riddance!
Some other nitpicks:
The door handles are still plastic with chrome tape that tends to peel and to replace them you have to plastic weld instead of a bolt.
The steering wheel controls still use that trash vinyl paint that peels up after a few years.
Even the buttons that remember your seat placement (1, 2, set) bubble up.
And what about these A-pillars that are thicker than nicki minaj's backside? Youre telling me I have to look both ways AND around these wide skyscrapers?
Evidently I am chauffeuring Casper the friendly ghost around because my passenger seat is always complaining someone isnt buckled up.
After this car, I will avoid OEM nav units or "premium" sound systems and get a base model to upgrade instead. GM's infotainment systems are worse quality than aliexpress and thats saying something.

(mechanically the car is sound though)

Nailed It! Especially THE HUGE PILLAR and Lousy overall no line of sight looking out any window. Scares the hell out of me not seeing people around my car.

 

[Buick convert]

The trunk is not accessible via a "key" entry. I found this to be a huge issue shortly after I had my car. I accidentally left the lights on and my battery died. Of course, I had jumper cables in my trunk, however, since the battery was dead, I could not open the trunk. I had to enter the rear passenger seats, fold them down, and open the trunk via the emergency latch, you know the one in case someone is locked in the trunk....ugggg frustrating!!

What also sucks is putting your key fob into your gym bag or brief case and tossing it in the trunk and then realizing you just locked your stupid self out of the car. I hoped it would still get a signal being it did opened the trunk and is in the same area but, NOPE YOU ARE LOCKED OUT!! After 3X being locked out so I removed the key from extra 3rd fob to hide somwhere outside the car but everything is Sealed, Plastic & Aluminum so the Hide A Key box has no place to attach???

 

[EDSELRANGER]

What also sucks is putting your key fob into your gym bag or brief case and tossing it in the trunk and then realizing you just locked your stupid self out of the car. I hoped it would still get a signal being it did opened the trunk and is in the same area but, NOPE YOU ARE LOCKED OUT!! After 3X being locked out so I removed the key from extra 3rd fob to hide somwhere outside the car but everything is Sealed, Plastic & Aluminum so the Hide A Key box has no place to attach???

I'm sure the issue of hiding the key can be solved. With no fob attached to the actual key, it is small and thin enough that it could be duct taped somewhere under the car if necessary. Certainly not very convenient but at least it would be there in an emergency.

Then you have to keep in mind... The moment you try to unlock the door with that key, the alarm is gonna start blasting (at least in my experience). with no way to shut if off until you retrieve that fob. Doesn't really endear you with the folks at the burial service on the other side of the hedge.

 

[Buick convert]

Thank You. Agreed, I have a tiny wrench to turn the laser cut key blank because only a 1/4” nub sticks out of door handle lol but it works. Just a pain with the underside aerodynamic panels sealing all areas under the car it hard to find anything to stick/attach to. Buick did a good job of sealing everything for that wonderful quiet luxury ride!

 

[bigblock496elcamino]

Current hate; trying to find struts for this 2008 Lacrosse super. And now the shifting. I bought the car and shipped it down to Florida in 2019 and surprise; the motor was shot, I had a crate motor put in it from up in Indiana. It’s been my daily driver. Oh yeah the dash died. I want to like it but it’s probably my last domestic car.
Anyone else own a black 2008 Buick lacrosse super?

 

[nexusnrg]

What also sucks is putting your key fob into your gym bag or brief case and tossing it in the trunk and then realizing you just locked your stupid self out of the car. I hoped it would still get a signal being it did opened the trunk and is in the same area but, NOPE YOU ARE LOCKED OUT!! After 3X being locked out so I removed the key from extra 3rd fob to hide somwhere outside the car but everything is Sealed, Plastic & Aluminum so the Hide A Key box has no place to attach???

You might not want to be putting a FOB outside or even inside of your car and this video will explain why.

A thief who wants to get into your car and steal it can easily do it with a hacking technique called the relay attack. This is where the thief uses a device to scan for your FOB and once the device receives the signal the device can then impersonate your FOB and send commands to the car. The car will think it's your FOB sending the commands for example to unlock the door, and then once in the driver seat the thief can disable the anti-theft protection and engage the starter on the car and just drive off.

Your only protection against this attack is 'distance'. If your FOB is outside of 30 feet from the car the thief's device cannot receive the signal from your FOB inside of the house. That's why having a FOB hidden outside of the car on the car is bad. Now they have techniques where a second person can use another device with an antenna to walk around the house until it finds the signal and then relays the signal to the 2nd thief who impersonates the FOB unlocking the door etc. This video shows the whole thing.

This affects ALL VEHICLES which use a FOB to get inside and to start the engine.

 

[Mama's Lacrosse]

You misread the post. He said " so I removed the key from extra 3rd fob to hide somwhere outside the car but everything is Sealed, Plastic & Aluminum so the Hide A Key box has no place to attach???" He removed the key from the fob, he should have just removed the battery because he didn't realize that he would need a wrench or pliers to turn it. And their is plenty of steel around the exhaust area or the rear shock mount. Hope he figured it out.

 

[buickla19]

My driver seat is crooked and it drives me mad. The back will tilt so the right side is further away than left. Sometimes it will snap back in place but doesn't last.

 

[eots44]

My biggest complaint with my 14 would be the transmission. I’ve had it about 4 years, 42K miles when I got it and now has almost 150K miles and the transmission has never felt right to me since day one! It’s just so erratic and sloppy at times. I’ve done numerous fluid changes, had the dealer look at it and tell me there’s nothing wrong with it. At this point I just live with it, but coming from a Cadillac that had a silky smooth 4T80-E, it is definitely frustrating.

 

[Mama's Lacrosse]

My biggest complaint with my 14 would be the transmission. I’ve had it about 4 years, 42K miles when I got it and now has almost 150K miles and the transmission has never felt right to me since day one! It’s just so erratic and sloppy at times. I’ve done numerous fluid changes, had the dealer look at it and tell me there’s nothing wrong with it. At this point I just live with it, but coming from a Cadillac that had a silky smooth 4T80-E, it is definitely frustrating.

I believe it is the way Buick programed the transmission to shift and when the tc locks up. They wanted smoothness instead of function and reliability. The tc unlocks too much instead of downshifting to the correct gear and keeping the tc locked up. I always use manual mode when driving on the Interstate or major highways. Buick should have also tuned the engine for more low end torque instead of top end power. The VVT doesn't seem to work as well as it does on other engines. The 2.0l turbo in my Volvo pulls from 1500rpm to 6k like a V8, but the low end torque is what put a smile on my face.

 

[LKarstens]

Battery life. I love this car. Bought a 2015 in 2016 with about 15k miles. It has 117K now in 2024 and THE ONLY PROBLEM is batteries and all the hassles that happen with this car when the battery starts to go. I'm on battery #5 and its only 11 months old, and now my anti-theft system just went off and the car is in Aux mode. Plenty of diagnostics at dealers so no parasitic drain. Just a design flaw.

 

[EDSELRANGER]

Battery life. I love this car. Bought a 2015 in 2016 with about 15k miles. It has 117K now in 2024 and THE ONLY PROBLEM is batteries and all the hassles that happen with this car when the battery starts to go. I'm on battery #5 and its only 11 months old, and now my anti-theft system just went off and the car is in Aux mode. Plenty of diagnostics at dealers so no parasitic drain. Just a design flaw.

2015 LaCrosse here too, with almost same mileage. On my second battery since new and still going strong (knock on (faux) wood trim). Not much support for the "design flaw" theory.

 

[CorySmoot]

My biggest complaint (fixed in later models) is the ability to lock your keys in your trunk if you approach a locked car, open the trunk, and accidentally drop in your gym bag or briefcase in and close it. Even though fob is just inside the trunk, it stays locked (no delay, no beep warning -- nothing).
Credit Buick for fixing, but never should have been an issue. This may sound strange, but if I'd had know this before buying, I might have thought twice. I'm at the gym every day, and always have to resist urge to plop keys in my bag with other personal belongings for fear I might drop bag back in trunk and have to call someone to come get me. Every buyer has small "pet peeves" that are a big deal for them in particular, and this is mine.

The other overriding issue is weight. The car is too heavy. It hurts handling, accelration, and fuel economy. There is no reason in 2012 that Buick can't build lighter cars that still offer quiet luxury.
Some of the symptoms addressed with newer, more powerful V-6, but still car needs to drop 400 pounds if Buick wants to continue to try and expand their age demographic downward.

I've learned to live with lack of storage, poorly designed armrest, no trunk release, ventilated seats that just lightly suck sweat off your body so only cool under very specific climate conditions, etc.
They don't bother me much anymore.

Be careful

 

[Meb]

Be careful

2012 Buick weight issue resolution "save gas, be lighter no spare tire "

 

[G-643978]

My only complaint is the way the A-pillars block frontal visability on sharp corners. Need to lean forward or sideways sometimes to see around them.

I agree 100 percent. everytime I turn my head they are in my line of vision, and was my first complaint while driving.

 

[tombalas]

I agree 100 percent. everytime I turn my head they are in my line of vision, and was my first complaint while driving.

That is an issue for sure. I suspect the designers needed to make them that large for structural reasons (i.e., in case the car flips, the roof won't cave in and crush the occupants).