Looking at a 2009 Lacrosse CXL

[HilarityEnsues]

Have you checked your car's owner's manual? No idea what kind of phone you have so you are on your own for that.

The owners manual wasn't in the glove box when I got home last night. I'm taking the Buick back tomorrow, they said they want to detail it. I'll ask them.

 

[mmadden2]

Download it from Buick until you can get yourself a paper copy. They have your year, you're in luck!

 

[HilarityEnsues]

Can anyone recommend a good oil to use? The car has 17700 mi on it, and I usually use pennzoil. I was thinking about Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic or Havoline 5w30 deposit shield.

 

[pogster]

I use Mobil 1. I'm quite sure any of those you are thinking about would be just as good.

 

[Buick Customer Service]

Have your questions been answered? Please feel free to contact me as well for more assistance. Thank you.

Tricia, Buick Customer Service.

 

[HilarityEnsues]

Dealership pissed me off today. I took the vehicle in for detail work. I waited 20 minutes for a loaner which not surprisingly had 1 gallon of fuel in the tank. I signed a paper saying I was authorized to drive the car. What they didn't tell me however, is that they took one of my license plates off the Buick and put it on the Focus. I wait 2 hours, call them and they BS me about how the keys came back 2 seconds ago. I get the car, leave, get 20 miles up the interstate on my way to class and I get a phone call saying I have to come back and get my plates. I get back, I hear no apologies and end up getting to class 15 minutes late, considered tardy. 😱

 

[journeyforce]

I think you will find once you sign the papers that say you are now a car owner and are stuck for a few years, that the dealership pretends you don't exist. Some dealers are like that and some realize that somebody will replace their car in a few years and by treating you with respect then they might get the chance to sell you another car. The Focus is a nice car. I had a 2005 and there is not a day that i don't regret trading mine in after I had paid it off. It only needed a trans service every 30,000 miles (regular maintance per owners manual), gas and a set of new tires .

But I digress on this.

Cheer up as a person that was tardy many a time in college(I still got a 3.4 GPA 😀 ) one time is not going to hurt and you will smile and forget that lateness once you see your new car sitting in front of your home

As for your past posts regarding fuel econ, it seems that you will be getting around the same fuel econ as you did on your Century. The advice of the folks in this post was actually sound when they suggested a smaller car to your question of good gas MPG's. Most LaCrosse or Lucerne, Lesabre, Park Ave or any large Buick owners that went out and bought the cars are buying them for refinement and comfort first and MPG's second. The 3800 gets great gas mileage for a V6 but compared to a smaller car with a 4 cylinder engine or a smaller V6 engine the 3800 gets crappy mileage. I get about 24 to 28 mpg on my 2005 LeSabre if I drive it nicely. If I am stuck on that big parking lot called 495(Capital Beltway) of punch the pedal down then I am lucky to see 23 MPG. I opted for the Buick because I had a 1989 Century in the past and I enjoyed the ride

The 3800 is a good engine and the Series III version finally had good intake gaskets and a aluminum upper intake, these were the only two big issues with a super reliable engine.

Enjoy the car

 

[HilarityEnsues]

Holy crap! I ordered the owners manual for my Buick but the service manual is $200. The hell with that, I found a website based out of Michigan that has free chiltons manuals for every make and model up to 2011.

 

[journeyforce]

Well the reason the service manual is so expensive is because it gives an in depth break down of issues and repairs, such as diagnosis trees for trouble shooting . I find the buy off the shelf repair book to be lacking with many things

The cost of the manual is money well spent

 

[HilarityEnsues]

Lmao, I learned something new in class today. 😱

The rest of the class was removing manual transmissions while me and 3 other kids who sit in the same row replaced cv-axles on a project car. About 7 months ago I replaced the drivers CV axle in my century and noticed puddles of what I thought were oil under the vehicle afterwards. Turns out me, my uncle and my friend forgot to force the splined end that fits in the transaxle hub with a mallet. I have to go and check the trans fluid tomorrow. I'm guessing its a few quarts low.

 

[HilarityEnsues]

I noticed an issue today. It rained off and on all day and I noticed the top of the door leaks about a foot behind the door hinge. Has anyone had this issue and if it was fixed, how so?

 

[HilarityEnsues]

Fixed it. The weatherstripping just needed to be pushed firmly up into place.

 

[rdanville]

Can anyone recommend a good oil to use? The car has 17700 mi on it, and I usually use pennzoil. I was thinking about Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic or Havoline 5w30 deposit shield.

The 3800 engine is easy on oil. PYB and a good filter will serve you well. I use PYB (Pennzoil Yellow bottle) 5W30 and a NAPA filter.
As for gas mileage just be glad you don't have the newer 3.6 engine. They guzzle gas compared to the older 3800.

 

[tjc78]

As for gas mileage just be glad you don't have the newer 3.6 engine. They guzzle gas compared to the older 3800.

No they don't. There is maybe a 5% penalty across the board. The 3.6 has 100 more HP in a 400lb (or so) heavier car. The 3800 is a damn reliable "old school" motor, however its rough, underpowered and unrefined compared to the 3.6.

 

[Kevs Lucerne]

I've been tracking my expenses over the past month of ownership (actually I'm @ 22 days since purchase on 1/5).

70 extra key programming

Just curious why there is a charge for key programming when this can be done in 30 seconds based on the info in the owners manual. I'm ordering a new key for my 2011 CSX Touring and this looks like it should be easy. Is there something that only the dealer can do?

 

[rdanville]

No they don't. There is maybe a 5% penalty across the board. The 3.6 has 100 more HP in a 400lb (or so) heavier car. The 3800 is a damn reliable "old school" motor, however its rough, underpowered and unrefined compared to the 3.6.

Also it gets better gas mileage. There are numerous threads concerning the unimpressive gas mileage of the 3.6 cars on this and other forums.

 

[pogster]

Just curious why there is a charge for key programming when this can be done in 30 seconds based on the info in the owners manual. I'm ordering a new key for my 2011 CSX Touring and this looks like it should be easy. Is there something that only the dealer can do?

If you program it yourself it's free, if you have a shop do it you pay. There is also the cost of getting the key cut.

 

[tjc78]

Also it gets better gas mileage. There are numerous threads concerning the unimpressive gas mileage of the 3.6 cars on this and other forums.

People are unreasonable bashing the 3.6. It's FE is comparable to any other manufacturer's 300 HP modern V6s. The biggest problem with the LaCrosse in terms of FE is its weight. I'm getting 18.5 pretty much 80% city driving with a heavy foot. Not complaining at all.

 

[HilarityEnsues]

I wish I could afford the 3.6, but I have no issues with the power I get from the 3800. The first week and a half I had the car I drove like my grandma. Today I was flying down the interstate like a mad man. I just got back from the 3D Star Wars movie (save your money, looked like I was at home watching it on a CRT television) and at a stop light some cocky lookin kid in a honda pulled up and revved his ricer. Soon as the light turned green I floored it and spun tires with traction control on. Felt preety good.

 

[tjc78]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having the 3800. Its a super reliable engine. It provides a decent amount of low end torque to get out of the hole quickly and does so without having to rev the hell out of it. IMHO its downfalls are its no where near as smooth as the newer crop of V6s and is down on power as well.

Your LaCrosse weighs less than the current porker so the 3800 is better suited to that car. What people fail to notice is GM geared 4th gear in the 3800 car super tall to allow for great highway FE. The downside to that is even on modest inclines it will downshift to maintain speed. I've owned a 3800 car and drove plently as rentals over the years to observe this.

Enjoy your car and I apologize for jacking your thread. If anyone wants to compare the 3800 to the 3.6 start a new thread and I will be happy to open my big mouth.