Has anyone purchased a new Lucerne?

[Guest greg72monte]

Any new Lucerne buyers out there, and any comments?

Has anyone seen one in person? I have not. My local Buick dealer had several, but they are all sold.

[Centurion]

Greg, none have arrived at the dealerships here yet, but you might enjoy this Edmunds review from a 36-year old buyer:

Lucerne Review

[Guest greg72monte]

That is encouraging. Maybe that's why the Lucernes go out as soon as they hit the local dealer? I was 28 when I bought my first Park Avenue in 1985, much younger than the average Buick buyer.

[Guest sintid58]

I have not seen any on the road here, lots of La Crosses. With the problems on the Park I may wish I could afford a new one. I really liked the looks of the Lucerne when I saw it at the Chicago Auto show but you couldn't really get in or get close there.

[Guest my3buicks]

This past weekend in Columbus, Oh we looked at 4 of them at the Buick dealer, they had just rolled off the truck, 2 V6's and 2 V8's in a wide range of trim - the most expensive one there was $40,000 - I compaired it to the $42,000 base price Cadillac DTS that I am driving and decided I'd take the loaded Buick over the base CTS. It is very obvious when sitting side by side how many things are shared between the 2. If they ride and drive like the DTS they will be fantastic. I am also going to the "Buick Lucerne Premiere Party" this Friday night in Pittsburgh, sounds like a semi swanky event to introduce the Lucerne.

[BUICK RACER]

I saw one a couple of weeks ago, knew it was a Buick right away, but it was going the other way on a 2 lane road. You would think that I would have seen one in MI way before the announcement, as I saw a LaCrosse in the Meijer(big store in MI) months before they were out, and did a double take. I have driven a LaCrosse with the HFV6, and found it to be a very nice ride, and I'm sure the Lucerne will be too, and I hope it gets alot of customers, but it's not included in GM's new incentive "Red Tag Sale" so be it! And cause it's not included, may get some folks to actually check it out, it looks to be a great new Buick, but I think if they had called it something more traditional, like Wildcat or you name it from the old Buick line more would pay attention, but I'm not a marketing person just an old plant rat, mouse, is more like it!

[tyesac]

The local dealer has had a beige/gold one parked on their front lawn this week. I've been looking forward to seeing one "in the flesh" since seeing the Chicago Auto show intro (on-line only), and the Buick Div web site pics. I have to admit though, on my daily drive by, that this one looks, well, "frumpy & bloated". Maybe it's the color. I saw a new DTS on the street weeks ago, and it immediately looked very sharp. I hope that my first impression on the Lucerne is the wrong one! I have no doubt that the car underneath it all is first rate, but, I'm beginning to wonder if the designers at GM have lost touch as to what a Buick could look like. I say that in memory of how the new Buicks of the 60's, 70's & 80's managed to look better than their GM siblings at first glance.

[Guest greg72monte]

Color can make a HUGE difference. How about one in in Crimson Pearl? I will reserve judgement until I actually see one in person.

[Guest my3buicks]

Greg, you are right about color, the four that I saw all different in color, all taking on a different personality. One of the V8 cars was Black, one Pearl White, both stunning!! One of the V6 cars was the champaign, it looked nice, but not exciting, and yes even a little frumpy. The other was Silver and looked nice in silver. The Black car was REALLY sharp though.

[page2171]

I saw one in Black and I thought it was stunning. One of my favorite parts is the modern interpretation of the port holes...really cool looking.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

frumpy

[Philippe Racicot]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I think if they had called it something more traditional, like Wildcat or you name it from the old Buick line more would pay attention, but I'm not a marketing person just an old plant rat, mouse, is more like it! </div></div>

Roberta, I couldn't agree more! You'd certainly do a better marketing job than the ones currently there!

If it would be available with such a name and rear wheel drive, I'm sure it would sell much better.

[Centurion]

You all might enjoy this item from today's autoextremist.com. Scroll down the page to the "Buick" item:

Lucerne Article

This is good news, and I'm still waiting for my first look at the car.

[70Wildcat]

Saw a Lucerne on Sunday at a local dealership. Crimson Pearl. This is a nice looking car. Had the six and listed for over 33K. Thing is if they are up against the 300C for that money you can get a Hemi. Friend of mine bought a Charger with a 250HP six for 22K. Hope they don't mess up the marketing with this car,it really stood out in the lot among all the Lacrosse's which look a little plain to me. What struck me was how nice the paint was. Hope this works out. If didn't need a truck I might be tempted......

Mark Lewis

BCA#41402

65&70 Wildcats

[Guest COMPACTBC]

I think we need an investigation at Buick, and find out who the "Frenchman" is in the car name assignment department. Examples: Le Sabre; La Crosse; Velite; and now Lucerne. We need some good ole American names like, Wildcat, Skylark, Grand National, Century or Roadmaster.

[Guest my3buicks]

Well, the Lucerne is reportedly named after the SWISS town of Lucerne, also Switzerland is reportedly Mr. Lutz's heritage. While I love th old names, and they can never be outdone - I somehow can't see the targer market for the Lucerne really wanting a car called the Roadmaster nor is the name Roadmaster even appropriate for todays car market in general. The people that Buick hopes to attract are not the old one foot in the grave customers, but the baby boomers that are buying Toyota's Lexus, and the likes. People that are not lyol to or even care about Buicks history. They want hip, sexy, or trendy names. Some names like Invicta may still have some life in them, the Skylark name was tarnished in the last decade of production. Wildcat, well maybe - Riviera still has a ring to it. The Century, while a great car, became known as the geriatric car so I am sure Buick will want to steer clear of that one. The new names may not be our cup of tea, but they fit todays market well. I wouldn't mind seeing the Centurion name used on the upcoming Sporty Crossover replacing the Rendezvous and Rainier.

[Guest bkazmer]

Velite is Latin - the skirmishers in front of a legion

[Philippe Racicot]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I think we need an investigation at Buick, and find out who the "Frenchman" is in the car name assignment department. Examples: Le Sabre; La Crosse; Velite; and now Lucerne. We need some good ole American names like, Wildcat, Skylark, Grand National, Century or Roadmaster. </div></div>

Being a Frenchman myself (or should I say french Canadian!) I already emailed Buick a few times about the poor french names they have... LeSabre was OK but please no other... Velite isn't well suited to a Buick either... If they want a Latin name, at least choose Invicta. Centurion would also be better than Velite!

Sportwagon, Limited, Wildcat and Riviera are also great names! And it would be nice if they could get rid of those generic CXL and CXS trim designations. I'd prefer GS or GSX! (But please no Lucerne GSX!)

[Reatta Man]

Agree strongly with the comments so far.

1. NAMES: I'm soooooo turned off by the GM name game. Terraza has to go, Ranier, Yukon and Tahoe are too regional, and I can't tell you how many times I've seen Rendezvous misspelled. And of course, the Canadian Lacrosse had to be renamed the Allure AFTER GM found out what the Canadian slang meaning of Lacrosse really is....... And the foreign name game sounds tooooo stuck-up to me (the Mercedes S- <span style="font-weight: bold">class</span> , like if I don't drive a Mercedes I have no CLASS....or the BMW 3-series....as if this is a grade in high school--I hope one day to graduate to the 5-series). If excitement (emotion) sells cars, then build a car that will scream FUN while sitting still, pass 95-99% of the cars on the road and maybe even offer a convertible or two-door and call it a WILDCAT. Then GM could do sports tie-ins with all the universities that have the Wildcat as its' mascot. (Go Google 'university wildcats) to find out how many there are.)

2. PRICE: Hyundai and Kia is kicking GM's a$$ at half the price. Several publications have referred to the Hyundai as the best Buick you can buy today, or referring to it as the Korean Buick. Why in the world would I pay nearly $40K for a Buick when a) the Buick will be worth $25K five minutes after I buy it and I can get one of several Cadillacs for less than $40K?

When those people in Detroit are doing their focus groups and customer research, I sure do wish they would get out of suburban Detroit, New York and Los Angeles.

Joe

[Guest BJM]

Names aside, the Lucerne should be advertised more - on TV - not in traditional enthusiast magazines. The Riviera name will probably always be tied to 2 door models, which are seriously out of vogue now.

I deliver pizzas part time in an affluent part of town and there are a lot of 3 car garages and disposable income. I think a lot of those 2 income professional family types would buy a Riviera as long as it was HIS car or HER car.

I have a friend that's upper middle class and his wife drives a fully dressed Olds Bravada (one of the last ones made, $37,000) as a commuter vehicle. She could just as easily slip into a Lucerne or a 2 door Riviera built on that platform.

Isn't that why GM and others went to the "platform" way of building cars, so they could put different bodies on the same platform and essentially have different cars with different personalities?

[Ron Green]

Quote; "Names aside, the Lucerne should be advertised more - on TV"

Yes or it will eventually go the route of the Pontiac Bonneville who did not advertise. A good car with all the bells and whistles, roomy, priced from 28K to 35K pending options and also had a Cadillac Northstar engine available. Zero advertising helped its demise.

[Guest greg72monte]

I have seen several Lucerne TV ads, very impressive presentation. The first I saw was during the Macy*s parade on Thanksgiving. From what I read, they are planning on a big TV ad campaign.

[Guest sintid58]

So far I have seen more Lucerne adds than I have every seen for Park Avenue's or Le Sabres or for that matter even LaCrosse's. I like the adds I see but would still like to see more.

[Philippe Racicot]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> And of course, the Canadian Lacrosse had to be renamed the Allure AFTER GM found out what the Canadian slang meaning of Lacrosse really is....... </div></div>

I was the one who pointed that to GM. Just a few weeks after that, they apparently had to do a focus group on that name in Quebec to see how people would react to it!

Bob Lutz (who speaks French)was surprised to see what it meant in Quebec! Still Allure isn't a very good name either "mais ça a plus d'allure" (don't try to translate that but it means: "it makes more sense") than LaCrosse!

[Guest BJM]

I don't watch much evening TV anymore so I might be a bad judge of ads on TV. I have seen several Ford ads for their Taurus replacement and Mercury ads. i wonder if ad placement is based on TV markets, customer affluence, etc.

[ranchero]

Well my wife, for the first time since we've been married, noticed a Buick ad on TV and told me so. I have not seen it, but the subject is the heated windshield washer system in a Lucerne. This is amazing progress for a stylish, smart, professional woman to notice an advertisement for a Buick!

I like the Lucerne a lot. The style - both inside and out - is great. I like the Northstar V-8. The interior looks wonderful; I like the easy to use, big controls. The colors are good. The new, longer warranty is quite welcome.

I would prefer a coupe - a Riviera version about four inches shorter. I do not like a four door sedan. And I would prefer rear wheel drive. But I will not rule out the Lucerne despite these issues.

I would not buy one as GM is simply too much of a financial risk for me to own a three or so year old used GM car, with still some warranty remaning, when I get tired of the car and want to trade on something else. I would consider the car on a good two or three lease deal, but I don't want to be stuck with a nice Buick with a year remaining on a warranty from a bankrupt GM.

Interior colors could be better and have more variety. A dark brown, red or blue would be appreciated. Yet I like the car and would lease it if there was a deal. Sorry, but that is what GM has come to.

Respectfully submitted - Ranchero

[Reatta Man]

Ranchero,

Good comments.

I was a little harsh in my previous post, and don't want to slam the Lucerne. It seems like a legitimate attempt to return some of the cache and luster of those elegant, powerful and luxurious Buicks of the 1960's.

I hope it succeeds beyond Buick's wildest dreams. I am concerned about how Buick has decided to price it. There used to be some sort of logic behind how a car was priced; pay more, get more. But when GM started adding $15K-20K onto a dressed up Suburban and calling it an Escalade with MAYBE an additional $1,000 in content, that logic went out the window.

As for advertising, anyone living in South Texas is almost assured of not seeing a CAR ad down here. It is trucks, period. A break in a local program is almost always made up of ads for Ford, Dodge, Chevy and Toyota trucks. Trucks, trucks, trucks, seperated by lawyer ads or a furniture store. Yeah, I would like to see more CAR ads, especially those that highlight their style, flash and elegance. Even a sporty flavor would be welcome. Right now, the only car ads we see (barely) are for Toyota Corollas, Kia or Hyundai, and an occasional ad for the new Mustang.

Good luck to Buick and their new models. Just hope they don't make any more Buick models in Mexico (their VIN starts with a "3").

Joe

[Guest bkazmer]

Philippe, Bob Lutz learned his French in Switzerland, and as you know Quebecois is different enough in slang (and accent!)for this to slip by. But why a Canadian GM person didn't catch it I don't know. But the cars all come with a jack standard.

[michel88]

On Wednesday night I was watching "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" which is a reality TV show. The challenge for the two teams was to prepare a presentation for the new Buick Lucerne. This was very good PR for the Lucerne. The winning team came up with a very nice display with which featured spot lights and pictures of the features of the car. It was well done and used the Lucerne with black paint. The car looked very sharp and Buick is going to use this display in their dealers showrooms. There were a lot of commercials for the Lucerne during the show and I am seeing quite a few on TV now. I think the Lucerne is the best car that Buick has come up with in recent years. I would like to have one with the Northstar V8!

[Reatta Man]

I can see the Martha Stewart version of Buick advertising now:

"Lucerne: It's a Very Good Thing."

[Guest my3buicks]

And it would be true!!!!

I think that Martha Stewart would be an excellent person to have on board with Buick -much better than Tiger Woods actually.

[Centurion]

Others of you who signed up with Buick to see some of the early online images of the Lucerne probably received your invitations today (via e-mail) for the upcoming Lucerne Preview Parties hosted by dealerships in your area. Scheduled for December 13, my understanding is that these Preview Parties will feature the displays created by the teams on Martha Stewart's Apprentice show.

[NTX5467]

Ron, by observation, when "management" (or whoever) decides that a vehicle is "on the way out", investment in the vehicle and its advertising drops off big time. When the sales brochures get bland, serving more of a utilitarian function than to really promote the vehicle, the handwriting is on somebody's wall.

In the "self-fulfilling prophesy", "no or decreased investment" = slow sales and the resultant justification in pulling the plug on the particular vehicle (or vehicle line!). Orchestrated? Hidden agendas? Who's responsible? Who Knows??!!

In the case of the Camaro, the sales brochures got pretty predictable. One great centerfold shot with a vintage Camaro, maybe even the requisite Police Camaro having a Mustang GT pulled over, and then "just the facts" in plain pictures and descriptions. Then, after the future demise of the car came out, the loyalists send their cards, letters, emails to GM in protest. The very next year, the brochure was much more "exciting" with some fancy and expensive-to-do action shots. Even mention of national Camaro clubs on the GM website! Still, no obvious change in the funeral plans ( but possibly a "second coming"? ).

Similar things happened with the '90s era T-birds. A pretty decent car at a great price point, but a bland sales brochure. Ford obviously knew when the tooling would wear out and planned things accordingly. No effort was seen to keep the iconic Thunderrrbird magic alive . . . until the last generation of T-birds was launched.

I concur that the last Bonneville was a much better car than the other Bonnevilles (fwd) that came before it.

The new Charger is a pretty neat car. It's got all of the "buzz things" that car people tend to get excited about--including rear wheel drive and optional HEMI power. The 3.5L V-6 is a good running engine (or at least "was" in the 300M and Intrepid) that should do pretty well on fuel economy.

So what's not to love about it?? A few things you have to live with every day, like the Chrysler cruise control is on a separate stalk that you might hit instead of the turn signal lever (it's pretty strong too!). The indicator light for the cruise control is on that little stalk too--a faint goldenrod colored light "dot". Unlike the GM cruise control, you have to turn the Chrysler cruise on every time you start the car (or it at least appeared that way) rather than it being "On" until you turn it "Off" (as the GM cruise is set up).

Many GM cars have trip computers as part of their standard equipment. In the Charger (according to the owner's manual), you have to order a somewhat expensive option package that includes steering wheel controls for the radio just to get a trip computer. And, unlike the Impala SS V-8, it will not tell you how many cylinders are operational at a given point in time.

And it's got some "square" aerodynamics that do not help real world fuel economy one bit. Sure, it looks great and muscular and American, but combined with the "road hugging weight" it also carries, performance and ultimate real world fuel economy will suffer. Still, it weighs close to what the Cadillac CTS weighs. Ahhh, that little Cadillac with the 3.6L V-6 of similar power to the Chrysler 3.5L V-6 . . . but something must have shrunk those Chrysler horses compared to the GM horses as the CTS whups up on the 300Touring in acceleration (or did the road testers leave the Chrysler's traction control, aka ESP, system on during the tests??).

The cruise control items and knowing how the ESP system can impact performance are things you find out by actually driving the cars for a few days. In the case of the Charger R/T, the intervention threshold with the HEMI was a good bit higher than it was for the Chrysler 300Touring of last year.

Just some thoughts and observations,

NTX5467

[ranchero]

Today I inspected the one and only Lucerne our local Buick dealer has. This one was a six cylinder car; the salesman informed me that the Northstar Lucerne is not yet being made (?). Also not yet available were any sales brochures (is this a good way to introduce a new car?). The interior is the best part of the car. It is very well designed. This one had bucket seats with a console - very nice. There is a tach. The controls are well thought out. Also the rear legroom is amazing - like a BMW 7 series.

The cruise control on that Dodge Charger is pure Mercedes. It is quite easy and logical to use when you drive the car daily.

- Ranchero -

[Guest my3buicks]

The V8's are very much out there on the lots - I think it sounds like you need to find a different dealer (one that has a clue) - I hate salesman that don't have a clue then make up stories to make it sound like they have a clue. I have looked at several at different lots now, both 8's and 6's. I got brochures at the invitation premiere I went to, so I can't say if the dealers have them or not. I am still not sure if they are "officially" released yet. Possibly the 13th of December since that is the national dealership invitational presentation night. If I didn't need an SUV there would be one in my driveway.

[Philippe Racicot]

The local Buick dealer didn't have Lucernes when I went there for an oil change 2 weeks ago but they had the brochures (in French).

[Guest greg72monte]

My local Buick dealer in Westfield, NJ had 5 Lucernes when I stopped by last week, a nice range from $28,000 to a fully loaded $40,000. I will be going to the presentation on the 13th. I have seen more TV, print, and radio advertising for the Lucerne than I have seen for ANY Buick in ages. This is just the car Buick needs to get back on its feet. Hmmmm, now how about that convertible?

[Ron Green]

Quote; "Ron, by observation, when "management" (or whoever) decides that a vehicle is "on the way out", investment in the vehicle and its advertising drops off big time."

Unfortunately the Bonneville was never advertised even when it was having decent sales figures in the 90's. With heated seats and mirrors, tilt to the curb mirrors when in reverse, heads up displays, roomy interiors, killer sound systems, traction controls and loads of other goodies including the Northstar the dealers didn't even have much ligature on these vehicles.

It will be interesting to see the resale value of the Lucerne in the next few years as many of the GM one year old vehicles in the rental fleet with low milage are typically 50% off sticker when sold at the end of the model year.

[Guest my3buicks]

Passed one on the road today, other than the color, it looked great on the highway.

[Centurion]

I've finally had my first look. I met a silver one on the street on Saturday night. It was fully dark, but I recognized it as a Lucerne as it drove past me. The car looked dramatic and beautiful under the street lights.

Today, I noticed my local dealership displayed its first Lucerne in the showroom. I checked it out at lunch time. This was a dark gray CXL V6 that was beautifully turned out with sunroof, etc. It's great that it's not necessary to order a CXS V8 to obtain the stylish wheels and the nice interior appointments.

For the first time in years, here's a new Buick that I would be really proud to own and drive.