2010 Buick LaCrosse a Hail Mary Pass From a Beleaguered American Automaker

By Jim Hamel

Jim Hamel

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I am now the editor for one of High Gear Media's newest and most exciting sites called "InsiderCarReviews.com." I road test brand new vehicles each... More

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2010 Buick LaCrosse

(Starting at $27,085)I never understood why the Chinese market was so crazy about Buicks. In that country a Buick sedan apparently has about as much cachet as an Audi. Yes, you read that right. The maker of the dreadful Century and Roadmaster has a whole nation of fans that thinks it is makes cars as good as the A8 and TT.

While this used to be a wholly ridiculous concept to me I am starting to see what the Chinese valued in the Buick brand thanks to the 2010 LaCrosse. And to make matters even stranger these best part of the new LaCrosse (the interior) was actually designed by a GM team in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />China. While it may be a few years before mainland Chinese manufacturers land on our shores with anything decent, the inside of this new LaCrosse shows that their tastes in design are already highly honed.

Based on the Opel Insignia, the Buick LaCrosse builds on that highly worthy platform by adding supple leather, gloriously textured plastics and some of the most convincing wood trim seen in a Buick in the last 15 years. Growing up my parents had a Buick Electra Estate Wagon which had faux wood trim appliqué that was really just a bunch of glorified stickers. After a couple of years it all started to peel off of the dash and the outside panels. Thankfully the wood trim inside the LaCrosse appears like it will suffer no such ignominious a fate.

The center console is canted in a very sporty, near horizontal fashion and is dominated by a large navigation/control screen. There are a number of large and easy to discern dials and buttons below the screen that even one of Buicks older, more visually impaired devotees could easily learn to use. But the thing is, this LaCrosse looks so cool inside and out that I daresay the average age of the typical Buick buyer is going to plummet. I am 34 years old and I would proudly drive one.

The interior just exudes a truly bespoke style with soft blue illumination permeating the cabin from under the door handles, the side of the center console, the inner door panels and pretty much anywhere Buick could squeeze in a bulb. The effect is mesmerizing and truly luxurious. The quality on hand is easily as good as one finds in lower end Lexus sedans like the ES and IS. Yes, you read that right. A Buick is finally as good as or better than a Lexus.

Motivation for this stylish beast comes from a 3.0 liter V6 with 255 horsepower or a torque rich 3.6 liter with variable valve timing and 280 horsepower borrowed from the Cadillac CTS. Buick plans to introduce a 4 cylinder version later in the year for those looking for the utmost in fuel efficiency. No matter which engine you choose, however, the stylish exterior and stunning interior always come as standard. Its about time Buick finally proved it could build a luxury sedan Americans would actually want to buy and not just rent. Or borrow from their 86 year old Aunt Suzie.