biggest complaint about your LaCrosse

[Mama's Lacrosse]

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).

I'm sure that was the case as the car has a five star safety rating, but they should have received one demerit for creating another safety hazard.

 

[Fcar1953]

The one thing I hate is not the Lacrosse, Its that they don't sell us the Lacrosse.

 

[Human]

The one thing I hate is not the Lacrosse, Its that they don't sell us the Lacrosse.

...at least not in North America.

 

[tombalas]

The one thing I hate is not the Lacrosse, Its that they don't sell us the Lacrosse.

Buick customers have traditionally purchased sedans. When Buick stopped selling any sedan in NA, you sort of saw the writing on the wall that GM was going to allow the Buick brand to shrivel up and fade away. Not many of us want cross overs or trucks - we'll just look elsewhere when our Buicks finally reach the end of the road.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

Buick customers have traditionally purchased sedans. When Buick stopped selling any sedan in NA, you sort of saw the writing on the wall that GM was going to allow the Buick brand to shrivel up and fade away. Not many of us want cross overs or trucks - we'll just look elsewhere when our Buicks finally reach the end of the road.

in 2005, the last lesabre and park avenue were made

the lesabre was the SEGMENT LEADER FOR .. 14-15 ish years!!
Full size sedans, buick lesabre sold the most and had huge loyalty and the car was available in a modest custom trim up to being priced near good equipped park avenues (the flagship) with features that complimented this from top to bottom depending on how it was equipped

Then... they just decided they were no longer going to make that car, not even use the name anymore. id like to know how that makes sense.

The lucerne was about the size of the park avenue and lesabre (same platform) , unimaginative and boring, but it was fine as a car, and sometimes could look sharp depending on paint and trim but that lucerne isnt what people who bought lesabres would be looking for.
The la crosse was smaller, competent car with the same drab sterile styling, had inferior internal gauges/readouts, but it was finely assembled and had a shifter on column or console optioning so you could at least get a bench seat with it, and had very quiet/adequate build quality that it wouldnt be downgrade there. its suspension was a down grade, but not in a way people who buy passenger cars were often aware/caring of.

The la crosse obviously had a couple generations and then the verano and regal , at least to me, seemed like they came out and competed for the same relative size (but maybe not features/trim?), so more questionable choices, and then of course they just decided to kill sedans at GM because they no longer want to compete, yet again.

Seems this deciding to no longer attempt to compete is a common theme in these "big 3" companies and its getting annoying

I suppose if you declare people just dont want your cars, and then stop selling them, the fact the germans and japanese now sell about ALL the sedans is conveniently supporting the prior statement, but only if you arent able to understand order of events or time.

 

[Human]

The Lucerne was actually the last model made on the venerable H platform, on which the LeSabre, Pontiac Bonneville, and Olds Eighty-Eight had previously been based. The styling of the Lucerne was too close to the last W-body Impalas (2006-2016) for my taste. The first few years of the LaCrosse were also on the W platform, which had been in use since 1988 (Chevy Lumina, Monte Carlo, and Impala; Pontiac Gran Prix; Olds Cutlass Supreme and Intrigue; Buick Regal, Century, and LaCrosse). The later LaCrosse was based on the Epsilon II Extended platform, which also included the Cadillac XTS and the last iteration of the Chevy Impala, which was a longer wheelbase version of the Epsilon II platform, on which the last iterations of the Chevy Malibu and Buick Regal were built. While the Regal was a direct re-badging of an Opel Vectra, the later LaCrosse had no Opel counterpart. In that transition, the LaCrosse made the leap from a larger midsize to a full size car. The Epsilon II platform effectively replaced the aging H platform, while the shorter Epsilon I replaced both the aforementioned W platform, as well as the G platform on which the Olds Aurora and the final iteration of the Buick Riviera (1995-1999) were built. The Verano, on the other hand, was built on the Delta II platform, which it shared with the Chevy Cruze and Opel/Holden/Vauxhall Astra. These car platforms were essentially lost to GM when they sold the Opel/Vauxhall division off to Stellantis Group.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

The Lucerne was actually the last model made on the venerable H platform, on which the LeSabre, Pontiac Bonneville, and Olds Eighty-Eight had previously been based. The styling of the Lucerne was too close to the last W-body Impalas (2006-2016) for my taste. The first few years of the LaCrosse were also on the W platform, which had been in use since 1988 (Chevy Lumina, Monte Carlo, and Impala; Pontiac Gran Prix; Olds Cutlass Supreme and Intrigue; Buick Regal, Century, and LaCrosse). The later LaCrosse was based on the Epsilon II Extended platform, which also included the Cadillac XTS and the last iteration of the Chevy Impala, which was a longer wheelbase version of the Epsilon II platform, on which the last iterations of the Chevy Malibu and Buick Regal were built. While the Regal was a direct re-badging of an Opel Vectra, the later LaCrosse had no Opel counterpart. In that transition, the LaCrosse made the leap from a larger midsize to a full size car. The Epsilon II platform effectively replaced the aging H platform, while the shorter Epsilon I replaced both the aforementioned W platform, as well as the G platform on which the Olds Aurora and the final iteration of the Buick Riviera (1995-1999) were built. The Verano, on the other hand, was built on the Delta II platform, which it shared with the Chevy Cruze and Opel/Holden/Vauxhall Astra. These car platforms were essentially lost to GM when they sold the Opel/Vauxhall division off to Stellantis Group.

The Olds Aurora* not the 88, the H/G/C platforms 2000+ were all the same ultimate vehicle
The Aurora, Bonneville, and Lesabre are effectively the same, pretty sure same assembly line. The Park Avenue was similar but bigger, made mostly in orion assembly, and the seville... was the same body iirc late 90s to early 2000s, then the last... DTS? alongside the lucerne till 2011
Seems the deville was as well (2000+)


The C platform 1997-1999, and the G platform 1995-1999 were just like the 2000+
Minor differences but overall the same

The olds 88 was apart of the H platform up till 98 or 99

 

[Rally Sport]

gas mileage

My 2008 Buick lacrosse Cx gets 28/30 miles to the gallon and I live on hilly and curved roads

 

[Al Dente]

One of the very few gripes I have with my 2017 Lacrosse is the battery access. It's not unusual for batteries to be located in the trunk. On this car they provide a nice little access cover that lets you easily see only the negative post of the battery. To see if you have any corrosion on the positive post of the battery you have to remove half of the trunk lining, crawl in with a flashlight and a mirror. Of course you better be in shape if you need to remove this 54 pound battery while you're leaning in this position.

If you have a dead battery and your trunk is closed, you have to get a jump (under the hood) from another battery just to open the trunk. The rear seat back release is in the trunk so you can't use it until you get in the trunk, unless you know the screwdriver hack that will release the seat back from inside of the car. You guys with an earlier Lacrosse should be grateful that you don't have these situations.

Also the graduations between 9 and 14 on the voltage gauge do not interpolate to any equal round numbers. You just have to guess at what it's reading while driving.

I'm grateful that these are the only things I have to complain about on this car yet, otherwise I love it. We'll see how I feel after I rack up more than the 21k miles on it now, I've had it 8 years since new. Previously I had a 2010 Lacrosse for 7 years and 54k miles with no serious problems.

 

[Mama's Lacrosse]

At the moment it would have to be that the drive shaft on my 2011 awd is not rebuildable.

 

[EDSELRANGER]

One of the very few gripes I have with my 2017 Lacrosse is the battery access. It's not unusual for batteries to be located in the trunk. On this car they provide a nice little access cover that lets you easily see only the negative post of the battery. To see if you have any corrosion on the positive post of the battery you have to remove half of the trunk lining, crawl in with a flashlight and a mirror. Of course you better be in shape if you need to remove this 54 pound battery while you're leaning in this position.

If you have a dead battery and your trunk is closed, you have to get a jump (under the hood) from another battery just to open the trunk. The rear seat back release is in the trunk so you can't use it until you get in the trunk, unless you know the screwdriver hack that will release the seat back from inside of the car. You guys with an earlier Lacrosse should be grateful that you don't have these situations.

Also the graduations between 9 and 14 on the voltage gauge do not interpolate to any equal round numbers. You just have to guess at what it's reading while driving.

I'm grateful that these are the only things I have to complain about on this car yet, otherwise I love it. We'll see how I feel after I rack up more than the 21k miles on it now, I've had it 8 years since new. Previously I had a 2010 Lacrosse for 7 years and 54k miles with no serious problems.

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All good points and points well taken! The 'Battery in the Trunk' issue has (as you know) been discussed here quite a bit. That is/was such a monumentally stupid design that I would hope someone was called on the carpet over it.
But... knowing the way things unfold in these brain-trust board meetings that snafu may well have contributed to the discontinuation of the Buick Sedans.

"Hey... the battery in the trunk idea didn't work out too well so let's just eliminate the trunk!"

Anyway... I just wanted to agree with your point about the graduations on the voltage gauge. What in the world were they thinking with those numbers!? Probably the same design team that put the battery in the trunk.