Happy with your purchase?

[Astrodog]

I’m close to buying a Tourx Essence. I have some reservations (mostly fuel consumption) but I also wonder if the seat will be too firm on long trips and have some concerns about reliability. I see some discussions here about disappearing lines on the backup camera, needing new control arms, etc. so I’d just like to know if you’re happy with the Tourx. I was really hoping to be able to get an electric AWD with large flat cargo area but I can’t afford the Jaguar iPace or Tesla. Of the few wagons available, the Tourx is the most appealing to me.

Thanks in advance for your replies

 

[kmingis]

I absolutely love my TourX. Bought in mid-May, Essence with the pano roof, upgraded radio, etc. I've had no issues in terms of reliability and have put just under 12K miles on it since I got it. (I commute 50 miles each way to work, so the mileage does add up.) It has an unusually compliant ride, in that it feels somewhat German (which it should, as it's an Opel Insignia with a Buick badge), but with a Buick "glide" – for want of a better word – on the highway. It's peppy when you floor it and returns good gas mileage (using 93 octane). I'm averaging just under 29MPG over the time I've had it, with a mix of driving that's probably 80-20 highway. I've taken it on several long trips, including one to NC (662 miles in one day) and haven't found the seats to be too stuff.
Most of all I LOVE the look. It's a great looking wagon and I don't mind admitting that when I leave the gym every day, I like to glance over at the reflection it makes in the plate glass windows. It's also rare around here (R.I.). I only saw another TourX in the wild just yesterday: same as mine, frost white. I'm hoping Buick keeps it around at least through the 2020 model year so I can snag another one in a couple of years. (I'm also hoping it gets ventilated seats up front as an option, and heated seats in the rear. A sport mode wouldn't be bad either.)

 

[Astrodog]

Thanks for responding. The car is great-looking, I think, and the ride is very nice. Also quiet. Just wish I could get that electric . . . I can get the TourX at 18% below sticker. I guess I should just bite the bullet and do it.

 

[SweetWafer]

I'm not too worried about the reliability of the car. Most of my issues are annoyances (control arm noise being the worst.) The transmission and engine have been around for a while and have pretty good reputations. The LTG engine did have some widespread issues earlier in its life, but those seem to have been rectified a few years ago.

Powertrain-wise I'm pretty happy with it. There's plenty of power for going faster at any speed. The AWD is good in the rain, though in the dry I think its front-wheel drive bias shows up a bit when accelerating aggressively, with the steering going a bit light in some situations. Otherwise the steering is pretty direct and I have to drive a little aggressively in the corners to get some understeer to come up. At highway speeds it has a nice weight to it. It all seems perfect for the car. With the windows down, the sound of the turbo is pretty noticeable, but with them up engine noise is pretty well quieted down (no turbo whistle at all.) The transmission is smooth and I really have not have experienced the lethargy that some magazines have complained about. When I get into the throttle it downshifts and off we go. My car is one of the later 2018s, so perhaps GM adjusted some programming here. With no foot on the throttle, the transmission does have the typical GM programming that is optimized for coasting instead of slowing down.

I've found fuel economy to be worse than claimed around town (17-19mpg) but better than advertised on the highway (30+ mpg without trying.) Auto start-stop is generally quite good. I've had two instances now where I have been braking slightly and the engine shut off and the car rolled back a bit, so I have to be a bit more careful in trying to not game the system. I also wish it would get let the engine get warmed up a bit more before activating. Overall though, I have not been looking for a disable button.

It's a pretty comfortable car. The driver's seat is plenty comfortable on some 4+ hour drives I've taken, though it did take me a few weeks to find an optimal seat position, but that's not really a unique problem to this car. The back seats have oodles of legroom. The cargo area swallows up so much stuff. I love the automagic liftgate and the seats that can be dropped from the load door are very convenient. Three cup holders, glove box, center console, plus generous door pockets give me plenty of storage up front.

As for missing features on my fully optioned Essence, I wish it had automatic wipers (like my Granddad's LeSabre from 2000...) and a 360 camera. I wish the heated seats warmed up a bit faster. The distribution of the heat in the steering wheel is not great. I wish the outside temperature could be shown in the driver info center in the gauge cluster.

The adaptive cruise control is fine under most highway circumstances. It is a bit heavy on the brakes sometimes, because I'm not sure it can always figure out how fast it is approaching other cars. In highway cruising I'm very happy with it as it is very good at lowering the fatigue of the drive. It's easy to learn its limitations and take over throttle/braking when I think it's probably not going to do what I'd prefer. Lane keep assist is not great, I consider this more of a lane departure warning system than any sort of assistance. Left without much steering input, it ping pongs between the the lines. With hands firmly on the wheel it sometimes applies steering feedback that is nonsensical based on where the car is and the lines I see on the road. Auto-brake/warning around town is OK at the medium distance setting, although I do get a few false alarms for turning traffic from time to time. This is a limitation of the system given false alarms are mentioned as normal operation in the manual. It has not jammed on the brakes yet in error (or otherwise.) This system was tested on the Insignia in Europe and performed quite well in mitigating collisions.

Overall I'm really happy with the car and I would buy it again. I do have a few annoyances with it that I've noted above (some of which I knew of and bought the car anyway), but that's been the case with any car I've owned. It seemed like a much better value to me than Volvo or Audi, and looks a million times better than all of the Subaru Outbacks I see around town.

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[Astrodog]

Thanks for responding. Do you watch the instantaneous fuel economy? I'm wondering how accurate it is because I found that if I drove with fuel economy in mind while test driving in town, I could get pretty good numbers if I was careful accelerating. I was close to getting the Lexus NX 300 h in large part because of the good in-town fuel economy but the intrusive navigation screen and awful touchpad to use it eliminated it as an option.

 

[Ctrcbob]

I'm getting between 20 mpg (around the village) and 22 mpg (around the county, including the towns and villages). Have not taken it on a trip yet.

Mpg is perhaps 1 or 2 better around town vice the car I traded which also had a 2.0 Turbo, but the Tour-X has Stop/Start which previous car did not have. Just returned to FL from my NM location with that previous car which got me 34 mpg on the open road. Don't expect the Tour-X to get that good on the open road.

 

[SweetWafer]

Do you watch the instantaneous fuel economy?

I use the last 50 mi tracker part of the instantaneous fuel economy screen and the trip odometer. The values it calculates seem reasonable given the amount of gas I put in the car for miles driven.

Around town I'm pretty heavy on the throttle and it shows in the fuel consumption.

 

[wi_badger]

I am happy with my TourX purchase as well. 2018 Essence in sport red, March 2018 delivery and 9k miles. No issues with the backup camera but I do have the noise from the control arms. The dealer is going to take care of it under warranty. All cars will have something and as long as the dealer is willing to ID and repair the issues all is well.

Fuel economy is good. Highway I have been as high as 35 keeping speed closer to 60 and I am easily over 30 mpg even at 80 mph. Lifetime I would say 70/30 city highway and I am at 26 mpg using 93 octane.

Seat is great on long trips.

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[Astrodog]

Thanks for all of your replies. Given my driving style, I suspect that I'll get decent enough fuel economy until I can get the all-electric car that I hope will be available in 2020. I'm getting close to buying one. Having trouble deciding on silver vs. smoke. I prefer the black interior but not sure it would look good with the smoke. I have a dealer in CT very eager to sell me one. Unfortunately, it's not the dealer that's only 4 miles away. Will keep you posted. Thanks again.

 

[GeorgeG]

check out dealer in New Britain for fully loaded smoke with big discount.

 

[g_577762]

check out dealer in New Britain for fully loaded smoke with big discount.

Thanks! Will look into that. The dealer in Vernon has been very aggressive in trying to sell me the car.

 

[SweetWafer]

I have hit 8500 miles on the TourX now and I'm liking the car even more every day. I've driven it in pouring rain at night on dark rural roads for hours with confidence (thanks LED headlights). Android Auto performs without a hiccup. It has a smooth ride and it goes plenty fast. I have hauled so many cubic feet of crap that would not have fit in my old sedans.

That's not to say the car is perfect. It has some rattles/creaking depending on ambient temperature, UI/radio bugs or weirdness show up a few times a month, and there are missing features at nearly $42k MSRP. Overall though, the good far outdoes anything bad about it.

I have some people approach me and ask about it, and I sing its praises. One guy was, "Is that an Opel from Germany?!" Yep, pretty much! Another was happy to see a wagon other than a Volvo having some nice lines to it. It definitely has a style to it that is instantly attractive to some people, myself included.

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[Cmoneymillz]

Very happy!
Dealer fixed the control arm noise within a day.
Just took a 600 mi roadtrip and averaged 30mpg @80 mph. Super comfortable. Cant think of a better car to have for the money.

 

[shs92645]

When I first saw a TourX in the dealership showroom I was very impressed with the interior layout and space. I wasn’t quite sure if I liked the exterior looks or not.
But having seen several on the road including a black one yesterday in CT that blew by my GS I have to say that is one hot and stylish wagon! Smart of all of you that have bought one!!!

 

[JoeBlog]

I’ve been very happy with mine over the 2,200 miles I’ve driven it since I bought it in March. The ride is very comfortable for my 6’3” frame, it’s optioned very well for the price point (Ebony Twilight Essence, S&S, DC 1&2 @ $33K out the door), the ergonomics are mostly very good (I really wish they’d have made the climate controls more analog; switching settings while on the road can be distracting without the familiar knobs and switches we’ve had in cars for decades), and the performance of the turbo-4 exceeds the SFI V6 in my work car. I get compliments on the car every time I go somewhere in it, and my dealership experiences have been wonderful from the purchase to just getting a free car wash and vacuum occasionally. Happy? That’s almost the understatement of the year.

 

[garbageguy]

I love our TourX. I look forward to my daily commute, have put my drums in it for one gig so far, taken one 600 mile trip, can't wait for my upcoming 800 mi trip with roof rack for bike installed. Can't wait to see see one you get!

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[Uniqez]

Pretty happy with my 2018 TourX. I was coming from VW ownership, unfortunately VW have killed Passat station wagon in the US, so I was searching for alternatives. Audi Allroad is to expensive to maintain,Volvo- just don’t like the brand. So it was pretty much narrowed down to TourX and Outback. After driving outback with 2.5 and 3.6 engines I left Subaru dealership quite disappointed. As soon as I drove Buick, I knew it was vehicle I want.
I ended up with Essence trim, red needles needles , 8” head unit. Over all I like it a lot.Few little thing that I got used to while driving VW Passat and missing in TourX are:
Heated side mirrors, ability to close individual vents, adjustable height for an armrest, sport mode, double sun visors, location of the cup holders. I think this is about it, minor things.
A lot of car for the money!

 

[Steve F.]

Aren’t heated mirrors standard on Essence trim?

 

[The Shark]

Very happy with my 2019 TourX Essence. Just turned 8600 miles, as someone else said it has a few rattles and some UI weirdness but overall I'm really happy. Came from a Subaru Forester, the Tourx is just a more refined automobile.

 

[Uniqez]

Aren’t heated mirrors standard on Essence trim?

I don’t believe so mate. It is strange how they charge for everything extra, even with an essence trim.