2018 Buick Regal Sportback GS Pre-Purchase questions

[Jack GS]

Don't worry, everyone here feels the same. You're in good company lol.

 

[D2R]

OK I did another test drive in a Mazda 6 Signature today, took the same route. I noticed something, when I did the test last time I was rolling, not stopped, this changes things quite a bit. With very light traffic I came to a complete stop, and did a 0-60 launch without neutral bombing the drive or doing a brake-gas hold, this was just a brake then immediate shift to full on gas which there is a 2nd detent and I certainly felt it hit. This time I recorded a 0-60 of 5.8 seconds, which with deviation likely puts it around 6 seconds flat, quite possibly 6.1.

It does have a 2nd detent to it though, and it really wants to pull when you hit that detent, pretty sure that detent sets off something in the ECU to tell the turbo to just go full bore, and holy shit does this thing have some torque. This car gets a lot right, especially for the money, and its pretty quiet as well, its just incredibly sad to see that Mazda is only making the Miata MX-5 and the Mazda 3 as their car options now, as everything else is a freaking crossover.

Speaking of which, my 2 absolute least favorite automotive designs are SUV's and Hatchbacks, the Crossover is literally the unholy spawn of those 2 designs and it makes me sick. Yet because of their versatility they are selling like hotcakes. I will also go on record and say while you can "sport tune" a crossover, it will never be sporty like a Coupe or Sedan can be. I don't get why companies need to have 8 different crossover models which makes them kill off their sedan lines. Chevy nuked their Impala, a long standing staple, Buick got rid of the LaCrosse and the Regal with the Regal being the long standing staple, Mazda got rid of the Mazda 6, Ford now only offers the Mustang but modern Ford is a joke don't get me started. Sure Toyota still has the Corolla, Camry and Avalon, and you have both Hyundai and Kia with quite a few options, however if you look at the amount of Crossover offerings in comparison its NUTS. Sorry for the rant, its just something that irks me.

eh...
The Avalon is dead too.
They are replacing it with the new Crown that looks like turd and nothing like the old one.
Are their designers blind?

 

[PrincipalDan]

eh...
The Avalon is dead too.
They are replacing it with the new Crown that looks like turd and nothing like the old one.
Are their designers blind?
View attachment 38748

Not gonna lie though, I'm very interested in the new hybrid powertrains they're debuting in the Crown. 238 hp and 300+ hp. Keeping my fingers crossed they trickle down to the Camry hybrid.

 

[Spartan0536]

Got an estimated time for when we close on our cash out refinance, its gonna be about 3 weeks (21 days) which is averaged. Not sure if that Buick is still gonna be there by then. We shall see, if not I will either end up in a Maxima SR/Platinum or a Mazda 6 Signature.

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[fng]

Crossovers are trucks in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy calculation. Trucks have to meet a much lower mileage standard than cars.

 

[Bill378]

Looks like the dealer raised the price of the car.

 

[saab93driver]

Looks like the dealer raised the price of the car.

View attachment 38782

Possibly the price is tied to amount of hits the car gets online and probably everyone here has looked at it once since it was revealed, LOL. Playing on the FOMO is a powerful marketing tool.

 

[Regal_84]

OP I know the Buick is off the radar pretty much but you also mentioned not wanting to fix your Lexus because it runs 93. Well the GS runs 93 as well just so you know. You can run lower octane but you’ll loose a little performance and potentially get knock.

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[saab93driver]

OP I know the Buick is off the radar pretty much but you also mentioned not wanting to fix your Lexus because it runs 93. Well the GS runs 93 as well just so you know. You can run lower octane but you’ll loose a little performance and potentially get knock.

The 3.6L in the GS doesn't have the same premium fuel recommendation as the 2.0L

 

[abizzle]

Possibly the price is tied to amount of hits the car gets online and probably everyone here has looked at it once since it was revealed, LOL. Playing on the FOMO is a powerful marketing tool.

I’ve noticed prices have come down slightly in the last month. I’m thinking $28K is about right and there’s no way I would pay those surcharges for financing and trade-in.

 

[saab93driver]

I’ve noticed prices have come down slightly in the last month. I’m thinking $28K is about right and there’s no way I would pay those surcharges for financing and trade-in.

for this particular car it seems it has just increased though in past couple days...

 

[Spartan0536]

They can keep it at 27K, that is what I will be asking them for it, out the damn door. Even if I have to trade in my LS400 to them to get it for that price with a warranty.

Considering the fact that its sat there for over 3 months, the manager said lots of people out of state are interested but they don't ship, tells me no one locally is seriously interested except me. There is a recall on the vehicle as well. I still hold the upper hand, if they want to play "**** around and find out" they will end up eating that cost at auction where they will definitely lose money.


How do I know they will lose money?

CarFax is an interesting tool when you know what to look for... someone traded that car in at a Kia dealership, at that same day someone bought a Kia Stinger. This lines up perfectly for someone that just owned a performance based sedan. They likely gave him about 22K for that car in trade in value, considering they reconditioned it. This means at 27K they made 5K plus whatever my LS400 gets at auction after reconditioning, which is likely 3K-5K, these cars have a cult following because of how well they are made, and mine is STOCK outside of the infotainment and audio system which was done professionally for high fidelity and modern connectivity.

I know at 27K they have way more upside taking my cashiers check than they do risking it for a biscuit at auction.

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[Spartan0536]

All of that being said, if they do want to risk it, then that is entirely on them, I have hard limits for a reason. The absolute max is that I get that car or any car in my list for 27K with a warranty if I trade my car in, or I get any car in my list for 30K with a warranty without my trade in.

The rules for me are simple, and there will be an offer that meets those criteria, someone is getting my money, will it be them or someone else?

I have 0 qualms about driving a Mazda 6 Signature, sure its not as "sporty" on the inside, but damn is it luxurious, and fun fact, that SkyActiv 2.5L I4 Turbo puts out the same horsepower as my LS400 does, with way more torque, weighs 250lbs less, has more trunk space, more features, has a warranty, is a full 1.8 seconds faster 0-60, and gets VASTLY better gas mileage than my LS400.

Same thing goes for the Nissan Maxima SR/Platinum's I am looking at (2018 - 2020), just with slightly different metrics, although the Mazda 6 Signature and the Nissan Maxima SR weigh exactly the same in curb weight, which is mildly humorous.

 

[PrincipalDan]

You are braver than me on the Maximas, I wouldn't go anywhere near a Nissan/Jatco CVT.

 

[Spartan0536]

You are braver than me on the Maximas, I wouldn't go anywhere near a Nissan/Jatco CVT.

I recommend only buying 2018 or later as they use Nissan's Gen 3 CVT with a larger transmission cooler which handles the heat much better. The reason why Gen 2 CVT's failed so much is two fold...

1. Nissan loves to over embellish (lie) about how little maintenance their CVT's need, its a lie, dump and pump every 35K like its a religion and you should be gold in that respect. This information came right from an ASE Master Mechanic that works on Nissans, and has for over 20 years.

2. On Gen 2 & 2.5 CVT's they had really poor transmission fluid cooling which caused thermal breakdown under wear and then it would destroy the CVT belt. Gen 3 on the Maxima uses a larger cooler that helps with this under NORMAL driving conditions, if you continue to hammer it you need to get a NISMO or aftermarket trans cooler installed at the front of the car, this info again came from that same ASE Master Mechanic.

To sum up, drive normally or get a performance transmission cooler, stay away from the Gen 2 & 2.5 CVT's, and dump and pump the transmission fluid every 30 - 35K like its a religion. This is what a Maxima requires to have your transmission last you about 150K - 250K miles.

 

[PrincipalDan]

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that if the Maxima gets to hang around that Nissan gives it the 9-speed conventional auto that they just put in the Pathfinder. I'd love a manual like the "Four Door Sports Car" (4DSC) that the Maxima once was but I won't hold my breath.

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[D2R]

OP I know the Buick is off the radar pretty much but you also mentioned not wanting to fix your Lexus because it runs 93. Well the GS runs 93 as well just so you know. You can run lower octane but you’ll loose a little performance and potentially get knock.

Nope.
Our generation of Regal GS uses the GM LGX engine.
That engine does not use premium in any of its application.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/gm-engines/lgx/

 

[Spartan0536]

Nope.
Our generation of Regal GS uses the GM LGX engine.
That engine does not use premium in any of its application.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/gm-engines/lgx/

Fun fact, that GM LGX engine is the same one that is on the Camaro.

 

[abizzle]

I have 0 qualms about driving a Mazda 6 Signature,

Until you get smoked by some cat in a 4-cylinder Regal!

 

[Spartan0536]

Until you get smoked by some cat in a 4-cylinder Regal!

How do you figure that? The 2018 -2020 Regal Sportback in 4 Cyl config puts out the same Horsepower (250) but only 260 ft/lbs of Torque while weighing more than the Mazda 6 which puts out 320 ft/lbs of torque.

Here is an excellent website that I use to look at the fine details of cars: https://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_cmp2.php