2006 Most Disappointing

[ByTheLake]

I like the Aveo ... neat little car, and I'm seeing many on the road. Glad that the buying public isn't as disappointed.

[ByTheLake]

Originally Posted by Ghrankenstein

Big Al’s Take: Will continue to be the whole Buick line up.

Well said. I truly feel for the Buick dealers, who've had so little to offer to customers.

Enclave looks ok, but appears so smoothed-out and rounded that it lacks the confident stance of the Acadia and Outlook. Will a nice interior be enough to sell the Enclave?

I'm with Big Al ... the entire Buick product line is a disappointment.

[johnstarnes]

Originally Posted by Chronos97

Chrysler Sebring.

Yes indeed...I had SUCH high hopes it would be worth the wait...instead it arrived looking EVEN uglier than the Charger and Caliber, which is very difficult to do.

[sa_seahawker]

Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis/Lincoln Towncar (The car is almost 30....and it shows)

[anthom]

I "owned" a 2005 Aveo LT and first off the reliability of the E-Tech II isnt there despite what was said in this post. At 11 months old the engine and transmission had to be rebuilt, thought I did get to drive a cobalt rental (trash) and a Malibu Maxx (fantastic).

[CrunkedRL]

Pontiac G5 I mean what an abomination. The Cavalier and Sunfire were better differentiated.

[GMFreak8]

Awww leave Buick alone. I love the current Buick lineup. Could there be improvements? Sure. But it's still a great lineup. This coming from a 18 year old, who's probably a lifetime customer of Buick now.

[member12]

Aveo is the best-seller in it's class.

I'd go with the GM CSVs.

[KingElvis]

To be 'most' dissapointed, you must first have the highest of hopes.

For that reason, I nominate the Silverado.

It could have had a 6speed.

It could have gotten much better gas mileage.

It could have trimmed size without reducing room or payload - instead it added girth, making it all the more impractical in close urban quarters.

It could have offered 'custom' suspensions like a low slung Xtreme type version or a jacked up off road model: instead even the 4x4 is the same height as the 4x2.

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by member12

Aveo is the best-seller in it's class.

I'd go with the GM CSVs.

True. But I'll paraphrase the late great founder of one Japan's biggest, Soichiro Honda-san, who once noted:

The best car will not be the best selling and
The best selling car will not be the best car

I think the CSV's transcend disappointment and are an express train straight to crapdom. I'd vote the Lucerne as the biggest disappointment. Not that it's a bad car, so much that it could have been so much more.

[ponchoman49]

I agree about the Aveo but I also rank Buick's whole lineup as a dismal failure for 2006. With Lucernes that have less power and torque than there 1996 Park Ave/LeSabre 3800 equivalents, the same basic 4 speed automatic, far higher curbweights, lazy 2.86:1 axles(the 97-05 Park Ave had 3.05:1), hard plastic dash materials in the Lucerne, no telescoping wheels, intrusive trunk hinges etc plus a Northstar option that dates back to 1993 with WORSE fuel economy and recommended premium fuel while 2000 and above Caddys didn't need it, it's no wonder people feel the way they do about poor Buick. The CSV was a bad joke and the badge engineered Bravada was hardly a compliment to the Buick lineup. I just don't understand how they let Buick wither away like this. There 90's lineup was far superior and most every way. We had interiors with blue and red colors in addition to the dull grays and tans. We had tire smoking Corvette engined rear drive Roadmasters with trunks that make the Lucernes look like a compact car. We had continueous improvements to the 3800 engine as it quickly climbed from 170 hp to 205 hp and then 240 with supercharging. We had the Riviera coupe and a full blown lineup ranging from the compact Skylark to the full sized Park Ave and Roadmaster. We didn't have rebadged Bravadas and minivans and ugly crossovers but instead had a full range car lineup that catered to many tastes and needs. With the dropping of the Terrazza, Ranier and Rendevous Buick currently will have but 3 vehicles to sell: the LaCrosse, Lucerne and the new Enclave. And only the Enclave will be competitive with other 2008 vehicles. This is totally unacceptable!

[Bornfromparents]

The Lucerne is nice car thats about 80% of what it should be, There are many older people who say they would drive nothing but the 3800. So it is the last Horay for the old 90 degree block. They should have the 3.6 available and drop the tired northstar. its a good engine but not so good on gas milage, the outlook and Acadia get better gas milage and have the same horspower.

[Hunter]

getting rid of the more powerful V8 (torque, torque, torque) in favor of the 3.6? Wouldn't that be a bit of a step backwards? They really should replace the 3.8 with the 3.6, and then replace the G-Body with Zeta

[AdmiralViscen]

I think the Lucerne is a bigger disappointment than the Aveo. Though I guess we're talking 2006 unveils, not 2006MY.

Originally Posted by GMFreak8

Awww leave Buick alone. I love the current Buick lineup. Could there be improvements? Sure. But it's still a great lineup. This coming from a 18 year old, who's probably a lifetime customer of Buick now.

WTF? The Buick lineup as of today is garbage.

[LAMRONH]

Originally Posted by ponchoman49

I agree about the Aveo but I also rank Buick's whole lineup as a dismal failure for 2006. With Lucernes that have less power and torque than there 1996 Park Ave/LeSabre 3800 equivalents, the same basic 4 speed automatic, far higher curbweights, lazy 2.86:1 axles(the 97-05 Park Ave had 3.05:1), hard plastic dash materials in the Lucerne, no telescoping wheels, intrusive trunk hinges etc plus a Northstar option that dates back to 1993 with WORSE fuel economy and recommended premium fuel while 2000 and above Caddys didn't need it, it's no wonder people feel the way they do about poor Buick. The CSV was a bad joke and the badge engineered Bravada was hardly a compliment to the Buick lineup. I just don't understand how they let Buick wither away like this. There 90's lineup was far superior and most every way. We had interiors with blue and red colors in addition to the dull grays and tans. We had tire smoking Corvette engined rear drive Roadmasters with trunks that make the Lucernes look like a compact car. We had continueous improvements to the 3800 engine as it quickly climbed from 170 hp to 205 hp and then 240 with supercharging. We had the Riviera coupe and a full blown lineup ranging from the compact Skylark to the full sized Park Ave and Roadmaster. We didn't have rebadged Bravadas and minivans and ugly crossovers but instead had a full range car lineup that catered to many tastes and needs. With the dropping of the Terrazza, Ranier and Rendevous Buick currently will have but 3 vehicles to sell: the LaCrosse, Lucerne and the new Enclave. And only the Enclave will be competitive with other 2008 vehicles. This is totally unacceptable!

Something about management...
Ponchoman, you pretty well finish the sad story that Big Al started here.
I had the cartoon question marks over my head when the re-named Regal/Century was held over for a year so Lutz could work his "magic" on its styling, which he called lame, unacceptable, or a curse word. The new, improved LaCross was a puzzle to me. As I've said a dozen times, it looks like a Jag and a Hyundai got together one night...
Instead of a brilliant child with the class of a Jag and the innovation and price point of a Hyundai, LaCross is the same old rabbit-in-the-hat trick that GM seems never to tire of: The childish belief that putting a new name on the box of Corn Flakes will somehow transform it into fillet Mignon.
Perhaps it's not a childish belief, but a childish attempt to yet again, Fool the Customer rather than Convince the Customer.
What GM did was to again dump on loyal customers who have been buying Regals and Centurys. But hey, they're just old folks, who cares?
Ditto the Lucerne vis a vis the Roadmaster. Ponchoman illustrates this all too well. If Shakespeare were here, he could write a tragedy around this embarrassing, silly, childish GM attempt to fool people. To me the height of it was the embarrassing, silly, childish--but I repeat myself--heated washer fluid Lucerne ads. If that is the summary talking point after a ______ million dollar "transformation," then General Van Winkle had better start raiding Hyundai's engineering and styling ranks.
Dumping the LeSabre and Park Avenue names is nothing if not a clear symbol of how confused and scatterbrained GM continues to be.
I will not even rehash the 4-speed issue, that case of deja vu all over again has been beaten to 1000 deaths.
Was anyone actually in charge of either project? If I'd had a voice in either or preferably both, I'd have demanded GM contract for the Mitsu 230 HP 250 TQ 3.8 or for the Hyundai 3.8/5-speed. That way they would have gotten some serious power, and true to GM's habit, they could call it the 3.8 and who would be the wiser?
FOOLED AGAIN!
Now that Wagoner has disposed of Dr. Death, he should dispose of those horsemen populating GM who still believe that fooling customers with new names is a substitute for product, product, product.
Or perhaps he drinks the name game Kool Aid too?