2006 Buick Lucerne CX

[ChevyRules]

As many of you know my sister crashed my dads BMW 330xi. So while it is getting repaired we got a Buick Lucerne as our rental. So by riding in it for 5 days( can't drive it since I have to be 21 ) I will report my findings.

First the exterior. It is silver on silver. Meaning the car is silver with the silver grille. When the commercial says that they know the meaning of a mm or something like that, they meant it. The door gaps are small, and the car overall is well put together. The hood is easy to open. But, where is the button to open the trunk? There is none. You have to use the fob to open the trunk. Bad move Buick. I like the rear end on how it looks. Even though Buick ripped it off from VW, Buick made it better with a cleaner look. The doors are easy to open. The handles are big enough to get your hand in and aren't so stiff that it takes effort to pull the handle and open the door.

Now the interior. Stupid Enterprise gave us cloth seats and not the leather, but the cloth seats sure are comfy! The bottom seat supports my legs perfectly going out to my knees! BTW, I am 5'7". The back support is nice and comfy and supports my back. The fit and finish of the interior is nice. Minimal gaps between parts and material. The dash does use a bit of hard plastic, but gets softer on the door with a nice soft leather. There is ample legroom in the front passenger seat and driver seat even! The rear seats have pretty good legroom as well. And the trunk! It is huge! The cloth material on the seats, glovebox, etc are nice and soft and doesn't look like crap. Headroom is also ample.

Now the Powertrain. The 3800 Series III V6 with 197 HP mated to the Hydra-matic 4T65-E Transaxle powers the Lucerne wonderfully! Great acceleration thanks to the loads of torque produced. For you nay sayers, the 3800 V6 is a very good engine. It shouldn't be killed. Although I agree for the Lucerne as a entry luxury vehicle it should have more horses, the 3800 is in no way a POS. It is a refined and smooth engine. When I took it out of the garage to take pics, after I was done I put it into neutral. I revved the engine and it had a nice exhaust note and at the same time didn't sound raspy and unrefined like the 3400 V6 does that is in my 'Nox. I don't know if it was a safety feature or what, but when it hit 4000 RPM, I would hear a "click" and the engine would start to rev down. So I couldn't get it past 4000 RPM. I will have to take back my comment in my Equinox review that the Aisin transmission is better then the Hydra-matics. As the Hydra-Matic 4T65-E Transaxle shifted smoother then the Aisin. The shift between 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4, were absolutely flawless and smooth. I could barely tell it shifted to 2nd. Normally in the cars I have driven in, the shift from 1st to 2nd was always the easiest one to feel.

Finally, the ride. The Lucerne is a very smooth riding vehicle. With Magnetic ride control, I bet it is even better! But, the stock suspension in the CX delivers nice and smooth ride. Absorbs all the road imperfections with ease. You can barely tell you went over a bump. It still scores a close 2nd to the nicest riding vehicles I have been in. Which 1st is still my Equinox. In which some of the bumps I took the 'Nox over gave me some jerks in the Lucerne, but if it was equipped with Magnetic ride control, in no doubt the Lucerne would be 1st in my book.

Overall, Buick has hit the nail on the head of precision with the Lucerne. It deserves every sale it gets( which I hear it sells pretty good). And for the base $25K model which I have, it is a knock out. And listen up Buick! As a teenager, I would buy the Lucerne in a heart beat! Before the Lucerne, I was with the kill Buick crowd, but after the Lucerne I say Buick's future is bright if they keeps on producing products like the Lucerne.

Pics:

http://homepage.mac.com/quagmire2/PhotoAlbum14.html

[expyfan]

Very good review, I haven't been in a Lucerne yet, but it looks like is a solid vehicle.

[pkd87]

Good review. I haven't been in a Lucerne yet but ive read good things about it.

[CRBoyd91]

That's a nice well thought out review.

[asim]

Good and fair review!

[ChevroletRevived]

Very good, I drove the Lucurne also and I loved it. Very nice car; inside and out. And this is just the beginning...I can't wait for the Enclave and it's sedan counterparts...eventually, at least.

[Old Dood]

It is too bad you cannot get all the goodies with the 3800 Engine. They should allow this. Not everyone wants V8 power. Forcing people to buy up to a V8 in order to get all the options is stoopid. I am a guy that simply loves the 3800 engine. It is a solid engine with a great track record. It gets decent gas mileage for it's size.

I am tempted to rent a few different cars like the Lucerne myself. To me that would be a great way in which to fully judge a vehicle. One that is "broke in"...even abused a bit. See how they hold up. I miss the Hood Ornamant on the top end Buick. That should be there as well. I love seeing that on my Park Ave. It is a nice touch....

[2005 Equinox LS]

Originally Posted by Chevy_Rules

As many of you know my sister crashed my dads BMW 330xi. So while it is getting repaired we got a Buick Lucerne as our rental. So by riding in it for 5 days( can't drive it since I have to be 21 ) I will report my findings.

First the exterior. It is silver on silver. Meaning the car is silver with the silver grille. When the commercial says that they know the meaning of a mm or something like that, they meant it. The door gaps are small, and the car overall is well put together. The hood is easy to open. But, where is the button to open the trunk? There is none. You have to use the fob to open the trunk. Bad move Buick. I like the rear end on how it looks. Even though Buick ripped it off from VW, Buick made it better with a cleaner look. The doors are easy to open. The handles are big enough to get your hand in and aren't so stiff that it takes effort to pull the handle and open the door.

Now the interior. Stupid Enterprise gave us cloth seats and not the leather, but the cloth seats sure are comfy! The bottom seat supports my legs perfectly going out to my knees! BTW, I am 5'7". The back support is nice and comfy and supports my back. The fit and finish of the interior is nice. Minimal gaps between parts and material. The dash does use a bit of hard plastic, but gets softer on the door with a nice soft leather. There is ample legroom in the front passenger seat and driver seat even! The rear seats have pretty good legroom as well. And the trunk! It is huge! The cloth material on the seats, glovebox, etc are nice and soft and doesn't look like crap. Headroom is also ample.

Now the Powertrain. The 3800 Series III V6 with 197 HP mated to the Hydra-matic 4T65-E Transaxle powers the Lucerne wonderfully! Great acceleration thanks to the loads of torque produced. For you nay sayers, the 3800 V6 is a very good engine. It shouldn't be killed. Although I agree for the Lucerne as a entry luxury vehicle it should have more horses, the 3800 is in no way a POS. It is a refined and smooth engine. When I took it out of the garage to take pics, after I was done I put it into neutral. I revved the engine and it had a nice exhaust note and at the same time didn't sound raspy and unrefined like the 3400 V6 does that is in my 'Nox. I don't know if it was a safety feature or what, but when it hit 4000 RPM, I would hear a "click" and the engine would start to rev down. So I couldn't get it past 4000 RPM. I will have to take back my comment in my Equinox review that the Aisin transmission is better then the Hydra-matics. As the Hydra-Matic 4T65-E Transaxle shifted smoother then the Aisin. The shift between 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4, were absolutely flawless and smooth. I could barely tell it shifted to 2nd. Normally in the cars I have driven in, the shift from 1st to 2nd was always the easiest one to feel.

Finally, the ride. The Lucerne is a very smooth riding vehicle. With Magnetic ride control, I bet it is even better! But, the stock suspension in the CX delivers nice and smooth ride. Absorbs all the road imperfections with ease. You can barely tell you went over a bump. It still scores a close 2nd to the nicest riding vehicles I have been in. Which 1st is still my Equinox. In which some of the bumps I took the 'Nox over gave me some jerks in the Lucerne, but if it was equipped with Magnetic ride control, in no doubt the Lucerne would be 1st in my book.

Overall, Buick has hit the nail on the head of precision with the Lucerne. It deserves every sale it gets( which I hear it sells pretty good). And for the base $25K model which I have, it is a knock out. And listen up Buick! As a teenager, I would buy the Lucerne in a heart beat! Before the Lucerne, I was with the kill Buick crowd, but after the Lucerne I say Buick's future is bright if they keeps on producing products like the Lucerne.

Pics:

http://homepage.mac.com/quagmire2/PhotoAlbum14.html

I did notice that about the Equinox that the 5 speed in it could be a bit smoother at times. Dad notices that in his and Moms Equinox also. The 4 speed in the 2000 Monte Carlo shifted smoother. While it isnt bad in the Equinox, I hope when GM does make these available in more cars that they try to make the 5 speeds smoother. It actually gets a little rough if its really cold(below 10 degrees F.) Glad the Lacerne is so good. Hopefully GM can make all their vehicles as good.

[ChevyRules]

Originally Posted by 2005 Equinox LS

I did notice that about the Equinox that the 5 speed in it could be a bit smoother at times. Dad notices that in his and Moms Equinox also. The 4 speed in the 2000 Monte Carlo shifted smoother. While it isnt bad in the Equinox, I hope when GM does make these available in more cars that they try to make the 5 speeds smoother. It actually gets a little rough if its really cold(below 10 degrees F.) Glad the Lacerne is so good. Hopefully GM can make all their vehicles as good.

GM can't do anything about the 5 spd in the 'Nox as it is outsourced to Aisin, a Japanese transmission maker.

[nsap]

Originally Posted by 2005 Equinox LS

I did notice that about the Equinox that the 5 speed in it could be a bit smoother at times. Dad notices that in his and Moms Equinox also. The 4 speed in the 2000 Monte Carlo shifted smoother. While it isnt bad in the Equinox, I hope when GM does make these available in more cars that they try to make the 5 speeds smoother. It actually gets a little rough if its really cold(below 10 degrees F.) Glad the Lacerne is so good. Hopefully GM can make all their vehicles as good.

GM is basically done with 5-speeds altogether. As Chevy_Rules said, the 'Nox 5-speed is an Aisin unit. Starting in 2008, the Theta's will have Hydra-Matic 6-speeds.

I'm just curious, but did you (and your parents) ever have the transmission service bulletin performed? That makes it shift much smoother. I noticed a big difference after they did it to mine.

[MaxLegroom]

Very good review! I've laid hands on one of the V8 CXS models, had great dirty fun with it.

[gmhashope]

The Lucerne is really nice. Even though the 3800 is a great engine, the 3.6 DOHC V6 is a better choice.

[jfnz24]

As for your trunk comments, hold the unlock button on either door down, and it pops the trunk.

[beelzebub]

I checked out a lucerne today at BPG dealership and found the rear seat not as spacious as the size of the car suggests. 3 large adults will probably find it not all that comfortable (should room/width wise) for long rides. And whats with the large front overhang? Why does the driver has to sit so far behind the front bumper? It is that much painful driving this in city traffic. you'd figure GM would have gotten the cabin packaging right by now.. designers need to take a page out of Chrysler/Toyota book and push the wheels out farther.

[Gm786]

Nice review.