When our minivan had to go into the shop for some warranty covered body work, we decided to rent a larger car for the week rather than stick with a much smaller loaner car from the dealer. From Enterprise Rent-A-Car, we were given a 2004 Buick LeSabre, Custom model, with only 550 miles on it.
I’m not that used to driving what my husband normally terms “boats”, so he was worried when I called him and said this was what they had given me (a complimentary one-class upgrade). However, his fears were quite unfounded. As soon as I pulled out of the rental lot, I was as comfortable driving it as I was in our minivan.
The model I drove was grey metallic in color, giving it not the look of your father’s old Buicks (and yes, I remember those - my grandfather had a Buick dealership, even though the family sold it before I was born) but rather a more stylish and eye-catching design. The interior is quite roomy with plenty of room for two adults in the front. The rear seat has three seatbelts, and although for the week I had no problems putting my three kids back there, I couldn’t see taking say a drive to Florida with them back there over our minivan. The specs indicate there is room for six adults total in this vehicle, but I just couldn’t see how unless they were all anorexic. I liked very much that the 2004 Buick LeSabre comes with the hook built in behind the center rear seat-belt, so strapping in my youngest’s car-seat let us take advantage of the clip these seats now come with.
On the subject of safety, the 2004 Buick LeSabre is a great model to choose. It received a double five-star rating in government crash test, probably because of features such as dual front airbags as well as side-impact airbags for the front seat. Anti-lock brakes are a standard feature, and the seats are designed to hold a person in place in the event of a crash, while the headrest moves to lessen the chance for (or effects of) whiplash.
I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me here, and that’s fine. I am just usually not comfortable at all in seatbelts. One thing I hate about our Windstar is the blaring seat-belt alarm if I choose not to wear it that day. The 2004 Buick LeSabre doesn’t have that alarm, much to my delight. However, the seat belts here are mounted to the seat frame rather than coming from the outer wall of the vehicle and above me. This set-up was much more comfortable and I don’t think I’d have a problem wearing the belt most of the time. However, someone who’s a great deal taller than me might.
All of the controls were easy to operate, and quite handy to the driver. Controls for both the radio and cruise-control are built into the steering wheel, meaning I don’t have to lean over to change the station, or even take my eyes from the road to switch between the radio and the CD player once I got used to it. It took me a few days to figure out how to set the equalizer in the radio to just where I wanted it - and to get it to stay there, but once I did it had a nice sound to it and I wouldn’t mind the factory-installed radio over an outside commercial one. Like the rest of the controls, the knobs are larger that I’ve normally seen in a vehicle making it easy to find them.
The climate control is easy to operate and use lights to make it easy to see exactly what the settings are. I never get the multi-zone climate control as for the most part you are sitting next to each other - how much difference can there really be? The exception would be one person wants the fan on and the other person doesn’t. It is offered on this model, however. All of the controls are within easy reach of the driver, and clearly labeled, so getting used to them when I made the switch from the minivan was easy, even without reading the manual first. The gauges behind the steering wheel are also very easy to read. In order to prevent being unable to see them due to sun glare, the dash extends over the gauges quite a lot, although without feeling out of place. The speed and fuel can be easily checked at a glance while the rest of the indicator lights only came on for me when I first started the car.
One truly excellent feature of the 2004 Buick LeSabre is a sensor to know if the headlights need to be on. This is nice because with a certain level of dimness or darkness the lights automatically come on when I turned the vehicle on or when I was driving. The lights automatically went off when I shut the vehicle off as well, meaning it’s quite difficult to accidentally leave them on and drain the battery. There is a chime if the switch is left in the ON position, however.
The seats were quite comfortable to sit in and easy to adjust, as well as adjusting separately for the driver and passenger. Between the driver and the passenger there is a console for change, maps, etc. which pops open easily, even while driving. Two cup-holders are at the front of this console which might give a problem if you have two super-sized drinks since they are right next to each other. One of my few complaints is the location of the recharger for my cell-phone. I had to have the ash-tray opened at all times to have it plugged in (although Enterprise removed the cigarette lighter itself - I guess they don’t want people smoking in these cars). This mean the light that lit this area was lit and although it is low, it could be a distraction. I also personally don’t like the fake wood strips on the trim - to me that is something that just generally doesn’t age well and I could do without.
As far as riding, I was quite impressed with the 2004 Buick LeSabre. As soon as I pulled out of the lot, I could feel how well it handled. The power steering is quite responsive, while not being like the electronic steering of my parents’ Saturn Vue (which I’m not crazy about). Interior noise and vibration was minimal. On all but the bumpiest roads I had a smooth ride (and there are lots of those around New York City this time of year). Still, I can’t complain as I found the suspension handled these bumpy roads a lot better than what I am used to. It will bottom out on dips, however, as I found out when I drove under the train tracks near my house.
The 3.8 V6 engine is quite powerful. Accelerating onto highways was easy and felt like less of a strain than in my minivan with Ford’s own 3.8 liter engine. The 2004 Buick LeSabre handled curves nicely without feeling like I was sliding around the vehicle. The ride is quite smooth and I found myself up a higher speeds without feeling like I was there, so I had to pay more attention to the speedometer. The braking was responsive and although I was never in a situation this week where I had to jam on the brakes, for hills and the like I found that even with the weight of this vehicle behind it, the anti-lock brakes stopped the vehicle quite well. I can’t remember feeling the automatic transmission shift between any of it’s five gears, so it shifts very smoothly.
As for fuel efficiency, in February of 2004 I filled up the vehicle at a cost of $25 for the week and that lasted me the entire week - about 300 miles. Gas prices were around $1.80 a gallon then, so for driving that was heavily city and highway combined the fuel efficiency was pretty good. Part of it probably has to do with the overall great aerodynamic design of the car, but I really feel that an extra effort was made to make the vehicle more attractive in the fuel efficience area. Either that or it’s the rising gas prices on my mind. My husband drove the car as well and liked it so much that he said he’d gladly consider it as a second car (his “second car” is that p.o.s. project car sitting in my driveway - tough luck, you should have thought of that).
If you’re purchasing the vehicle, it comes with a 3 year, 36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper manufacturer’s warranty which includes roadside assistance. There is no extended powertrain warranty. For me, that’s not enough and I’ve learned that I look for a 6 year, 60,000 mile warranty or buy an extended one. On corrosion, Buick does give 6 years or 100,000 miles, which is great.
While I don’t know that I’d recommend the vehicle for more than a family of four to use on a regular basis, it would make a very handy second car, or commuting car that might need to be put into use for the family from time to time. The shortcomings of the vehicle are minimal and the advantages are great.
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