Through the mid-1980s GM owned the midsize car market. Two decades later, it is struggling to remain a player in a segment now dominated by the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. During the 1990s Oldsmobile was given the task of challenging the import brands with cars like the Intrigue. My wife drove an Intrigue for five years. Good-looking car with solid performance, but rough around the edges. Ultimately, this just wasn't enough for most midsize buyers, and Olds is no longer with us.

With Olds' demise, the task of fielding a stylish yet functional midsize sedan has shifted to Buick. (Chevrolet's mission is function over style, while Pontiac's is style over function.) Yes, Buick. Unless Buick is to go the way of Olds, it must develop vehicles that appeal to people with more than a few years left. Maybe even people who still have kids at home.

The Rendezvous quasi-SUV was the first vehicle developed for relative youngsters. Now, for the 2005 model year, we have the first car, the LaCrosse. The LaCrosse replaces the Century and Regal in Buick's line-up. It comes in three trims. The first two, powered by GM's oldie-but-goodie 3.8, are charged with covering Buick's base. The top CXS trim, on the other hand, is fitted with a DOHC six from the Cadillac CTS and sportier suspension settings. This is the one I sampled to gauge whether Buick stands a better chance of survival than Olds did.

Styling

Soon after legendary "car guy" Bob Lutz joined GM in the fall of 2001, he sent two Buick sedans back to the drawing board. Thus I was surprised when I saw a LaCrosse prototype on the road in the fall of 2003. (Living near Detroit I see many disguised prototypes on the road, most recently a large bulky sedan I suspect was Korean.) I had expected the post-Lutz Buicks to be striking. Instead, the future Buick looked much like a Taurus with a Lexus GS front end. Why style a car to resemble a Ford that most people associate with "rental?" Beats me. Lets just say the exterior styling of the LaCrosse is pleasant enough but won't be pulling in customers all on its own.

The LaCrosse interior, while not quite up to the Jag and Lexus sedans it emulates, represents a vast improvement over the Century and Regal. With the partial exception of the headlight control knobs, you'll find no odd controls or tacky styling details. Just clean styling with a moderately upscale ambiance. Especially in black leather. GM has finally figured out how to equip its moderately-priced cars with flush mounted HVAC and audio system controls. (The recessed panels in the Intrigue's center stack dragged down the entire interior.) Just about everything inside the LaCrosse looks and feels nice. Perhaps they had a limited amount of effort to split between the exterior and interior. If so, right choice.

One little change would further improve the ambiance of the interior to significant degree. Once upon a time leather-wrapped steering wheels had leather-wrapped hubs. These days, the hub tends to be vinyl. Such is the case with the LaCrosse. Bucking the trend and upholstering the hub in leather would increase the perceived price by many times the cost of an extra square foot of leather. While they're at it, the "chrome" Buick emblem at the center of said hub could stand to look a bit less like a trinket from my daughter's five-dollar set of costume jewelry.

Accommodations

The driving position inside the LaCrosse is fairly close to the GM norm. Unlike the Intrigue, you do not sit high over the instrument panel Japanese-sedan-style. This tends to make a car feel more upscale.

The front seats are considerably firmer than the Buick norm--you don't sink way down into them--but are still far from rock hard. A good balance of fore-aft support and comfort. As for lateral support, well, not many mainstream sedans offer much in the way of lateral support and this one is no exception.

The rear seats are perhaps the weakest aspect of the LaCrosse. Based on exterior dimensions this is a large sedan, up there with the Chrysler 300 and Ford Five Hundred. Yet its rear seat cannot begin to compare to the ones in those competitors. Or even those in the externally more compact Accord and Camry. Knee room is especially scarce. At least the seat is higher off the floor than in most GM sedans, so it provides a bit of thigh support.

Trunk space is about average for a midsize sedan. While the Chrysler does no better here, the Ford offers the most trunk space of any sedan, period. Like the other two, the LaCrosse does have a folding rear seat, so the trunk is expandable. An increasing number of sedans, including the related Pontiac Grand Prix and competing Ford Five Hundred, have a folding front passenger seat as well, but the LaCrosse lacks this nifty feature. (I've used this feature in my wife's PT Cruiser to carry a twin-size mattress and boxed storm door entirely inside the car.)

On the Road

I was mightily impressed by GM's new corporate 3.6-liter when I tested it in the CTS. This engine felt strong and refined throughout its range. In my mind it was the best all-around engine an American manufacturer had yet created. For the LaCrosse this engine misplaces a significant chunk of its horsepower and torque, and is hitched to a four- rather than five-speed automatic. As a result, it is not as impressive here as in the CTS, but remains very competitive. Acceleration is a bit soft off the line--the shorter first gear of a five-speed automatic would help--but feels very strong once up to speed, especially on the highway. Actually, forget about a five-speed. GM is developing a six-speed automatic for its cars. I hope this will be one application.

Even with the four-speed the LaCrosse CXL feels quicker than a Chrysler 300 Limited or Ford Five Hundred Limited. I would not be surprised if the other LaCrosse trims, with their torquey low-tech 3.8, also felt quicker than the competition.

The LaCrosse, even in more tautly suspended CXS trim, is no sport sedan. Push the car into a corner and you'll find a reasonable amount of lean but a healthy amount of oh-so-safe understeer. The steering is well-weighted, but lacks the sharp on-center feel my wife's Intrigue possessed. Then again, few sedans these days have the sort of sharp, ultra-communicative steering I love. Compared to the Chrysler 300 and your typical Japanese front-drive sedan, the LaCrosse holds its own. The Ford Five Hundred does a bit better in terms of on-center steering feel, but just a bit.

From behind the wheel the LaCrosse feels significantly smaller than the Chrysler and Ford. The Ford's extra-high seating position gives it a more massive feel, while the Chrysler simply feels large. Which feel is best depends on your personal taste. I personally prefer the more nimble feel of a more compact car. The Buick hardly feels nimble in an absolute sense, but everything's relative.

I suppose Buick was aiming at the Lexus ES 330 with this car. If so, it has scored well on that mark. The Lexus' handling is considerably more flaccid, even unwieldy when pushed. In comparison the Buick leans less and generally feels tauter and more composed. It's just about a match for the Acura TL in this regard.

The Intrigue's largest weaknesses were a sometimes harsh ride and excessive road noise. The LaCrosse does much better here. You do feel the bumps a bit, but outright jolts are few and rarely upsetting. Noise levels approach luxury-car-low. The LaCrosse might not handle as well as the Intrigue, but it gains much more in ride quality than it loses in the handling department. An easily defensible tradeoff. Overall this is a much more refined sedan than the Intrigue, Century, and Regal it replaces. I'm just not sure if this commendable refinement will be enough to carry the day.

Buick LaCrosse Price Comparisons and Pricing

For quick, up-to-date pricing, and especially user-specified price comparisons, check out the website I created: www.truedelta.com. Why yet another vehicle pricing website? Well, I personally lacked the patience to keep using the others. They were too slow and required too much effort, especially when trying to compare prices. So I taught myself some programming and created a site where there is no need to dig through option packages, prerequisites, and the like one by one -- the TrueDelta algorithm figures these out for you in one swift pass.

A few examples:

With the aid of a $1000 rebate the LaCrosse CXS costs about $500 less than a Chrysler 300 Limited after adjusting for differences in equipment (including a $700 credit for the Buick's standard Onstar). Compared to the Lexus ES it has a roughly $2,200 advantage ($1,200 invoice to invoice). On the other hand, the LaCrosse costs about $2,000 more than a Ford Five Hundred Limited (again after adjusting for equipment differences). The less sporty LaCrosse CXL is more competitive, with a price $2,200 lower than the CXS' (the only adjustment is $200 for the fog lights on the latter). It's the better value for most people. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a much larger rebate on the LaCrosse in coming months, as most GM sedans have at least $2,500 "on the hood."

Last Words

The LaCrosse represents a considerable improvement over previous GM midsize sedans in many areas, most notably interior quality and overall refinement. However, the styling is bland, the rear seat is cramped, and the handling falls short of thrilling despite its commendable composure. Add in a fairly high price on the CXS, and I'm not seeing how Buick is going to compete with Chrysler and Ford, much less the imports. The Buick could be the best choice for those whose top priorities are a tastefully upscale interior and refinement. But I doubt this is a large enough slice of the market.

A Note on Buick LaCrosse Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a LaCrosse rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Buick LaCrosse reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the LaCrosse--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Acura TL review
Chevrolet Impala review
Chrysler 300 review
Ford Five Hundred review
Nissan Maxima review
Pontiac Grand Prix review
Toyota Avalon review
Amount Paid (US$): 28000
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: Loaded CXS