Naationwide Dealership Lucerne unveiling, who went?

[my3buicks]

Who all went last night to the national dealership unveiling of the Lucerne. I went just to go, it was a nice event. They had 3 Lucernes in the showroom, a base one for $26,500, a mid line for about $32K and a black loaded one for $40K
The parking lot was a sea of Park Aves, LeSabres, and various other Buicks. I listened to comments and all seemed very good and positive. I want the black one!!! Could they make them in AWD please?

[Matt Harwood]

I'm glad they're doing something to try to get people in the showrooms. I read in AutoWeek two weeks ago that the average Buick dealer only sold 4 new Buicks in September and/or October. I would think that doing anything would help that sad statistic.

With a V8, this seems like a pretty nice car. But at that price, there's some substantial competition. I agree, AWD would probably level the playing field somewhat.

Here's to hoping GM starts gaining some momentum.

[Straight eight]

My wife and I went, and it was great! Hot hors durves (sp), georgeous red , really red one, black one, and a medium one on the floor. Several available for a test drive, which I took and was VERY impressed. Extremely quiet, back seat could hear conversation in front seat at normal conversational tone. Fit and finish superb, Handled more like a speed boat than the queen Mary. Prices ranged from 28 to 40,000.

Sure liked the Buick ties, anybody know where I can get one?

[imported_JohnD1956]

I went along with my sweetheart Linda and our son Doug. They only had a white-gold one on the floor but three more outside for test drives. Here's what I noticed:
The white-gold paint is superb, but I wouldn't buy one because it looks like any repair would require a complete repaint.
The test drivers were CX models. All with v6's, which I am more interested in anyway. But I would want a CXL with the v6 plus the dual exhaust tips and fog lights. ---unfortunately, not available.
The test drivers all had bench seats. I would only buy buckets.

The car rode nice. It was quiet and tight. Power seemed adequate. But the price of the options really pushes the overall price up, and fast too.

I think I'll wait a while. Rumor has it there may be another Buick Prototype in the works, with an R logo. At least that's the talk on the ROA maillist.

JD

[variablepitch]

A VP at our local dealer was upset that they had no Lucerne to show. They are building onto the dealership and that was a factor, but they had no Lucernes at all. They will contact me when one comes in. They intend to have a showing at a later date. Out west here maybe we are too far and few between and they've given up on us. I sure hope that's not the case. They have had one come in, but it was immediately delivered to the new owner.

[Centurion]

Lee, I have seen three different Lucernes out on the road in my area. Given the heavy domination of import brands in the greater Seattle area, the Lucernes really stand out.

I was all prepared to attend the Premiere Party in Puyallup, but had to work late. I stopped by Clyde Revord Motors in Everett, which has a beautiful CXL V6 on the showroom floor. They have postponed their party until mid-January, when they expect to have additional Lucernes in stock.

[SBRMD]

I went, Jim Lupient Buick in Golden Valley, MN.

I was by FAR the youngest customer there (age 43).

All CXL's shown, V6 and V8.

Very nice on the outside, definitely a leap ahead. Inside, some good points, some not so great. I thought a few of the interior appointments were still a bit cheesy.

The presentation, I thought, was an insult to one's intelligence. Dealer personnel saying how great their dealer is, and how wonderful the new Lu is, but for the latter, not much on exactly why. "Why? Because we say so!" They made a big showy demonstration of packing the trunk with specific suitcases and golf bags, and then said it's a huge 17 cubic foot trunk. My '92 Bonneville is 18 cubic feet, as is my mother's '97 LeSabre. They both swallow the same stuff. This is an advance?

Except for more modern styling (sorely needed) and the "quiet tuning", I'm not sure what else makes this car so much better than the one (two) it replaces. It is not as much of a leap as it should be. GM has already offered this car in two previous flavors (the most recent Bonneville with the 3800 V6 and I don't remember the V8, and the last Aurora, with a different V6 choice and a smaller Northstar) which were both failures in the marketplace and discontinued. Having said that, I think it's an excellent replacement...but really just for the LeSabre, and seems still mostly targeted to the LeSabre's demographic.

This is a nice car, but a flagship it is not. I hope for Buick's sake there's more in the pipeline.

[imported_JohnD1956]

Quote:

and seems still mostly targeted to the LeSabre's demographic.

This is exactly what the salesman said to us when we test drove it. Honestly, sometimes it's better not to say anything, especially if people came out specifically to view "what's new". What's wrong with these people anyway?

JD

[NTX5467]

I somewhat doubt that AWD was considered in the mix, only FWD and an upgraded platform (shared with the 2006 Cadillac DTS).

The CXL I've seen had the Northstar V-8 and stickered for low $30s--which seems like a really good price for such a luxurious car. For the non-power-hungry, the normal 3800 V-6 should be fine and comparable to what prior LeSabre and Park Avenue owners had in their prior vehicles. The black CXS really looks good, though!

It seems that the marketing and "content" operatives have tried to pare production labor such that fewer and fewer separate options are available as such--unlike in the 1960s and 1970s when you could pretty much mix and match to your heart's content. That's why some items are only available with certain trim options (which you NOW have to read the deck lid nameplate to determine). But, regarding the fog lights, I recall some '80s Regal 2-drs that had a different front bumper cover and had fog lights as part of the standard equipment whereas the 4-drs had front bumper covers with no provisions for the same foglights. 2-drs were supposed to be more "sporty" and need the fog lights?

I think it would be VERY NICE if the new Camaro platform could have the wheelbase lengthened a few inches, have Buick sheet metal/amenities, and the "R" name on it!!!!! It's going to take more than GTOs and Camaros to make that plant viable, I suspect, so lets have a Buick variant too!!!!

At this early date, I suspect that Lucerne production is not fully "up" just yet, but I would hope it would be soon.

I'm not so sure about the Park Avenue owners wanting to purchase a smaller car that gets worse fuel economy than what they might be used to (in the case of the V-8 vs the SC3800). In reality, the interior dimensions of the PA might have been a little wider, but it was still pretty much a 4-passenger car for most owners. In that respect, the Lucerne will still provide that same basic amount of comfort and room--for 4 passengers.

Just some thoughts,
NTX5467

[Ron Green]

Quote; "I'm not sure what else makes this car so much better than the one (two) it replaces."

It will be interesting to see how sales are after GM quits spending money on advertising after the first year and goes in to their sink or swim attitude. It is a nice car but so was the Bonneville.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pontiac-B...sspagenameZWDVW

[variablepitch]

Took my GMC pickup in for service Wednesday, and just as I arrived at service, I was told by the writer that two Lucernes had come in. They sent me over to the receiving lot and I had them all to myself even though it was snowing. They sure looked great, a dark red CXL and a silver CX. I was really impressed with fit and finish. Keys were on the seat, but I had my work clothes on and didn't want to do anything but look. Showing will be later. I liked what I saw for sure.

[norb]

I have lived in mid-Mich all of my life so far and have never felt I needed a four wheel drive.The Park is great in deep snow & no problems yet.I too, have looked over the Lucerne & liked everything except the no key trunk.I cant afford one now but maybe a pep car or Salesman demo. I drove a new four wheel drive car from eastern Ohio this week & noticed it was a little noisy and got bad gas millage. Why is this when the two wheel drive is used ?