2010-2011 Buick LaCrosse

scott_bl · January 2010

".. If you have proof via gallons bought and miles driven, take that to the dealer..."

I've been going by the trip computer, maybe that's been wrong?

e_net_rider · January 2010

e_net_rider · January 2010

It has been pointed out that there is a change to mirrors? Is that for blind spots and a directional signal? I test drove one a couple of days ago and the sticker said it had it but I certainly could not see it.
Also, just a couple of weeks ago the GM site with the four levels of LaCrosse showed a different rear suspension linkage on all models from the base model. Now it appears that suspension is only available on the CXS as an option? That is the "four link H". The one I test drove CXL did not have it.
Also the power from the 3.0L was rather disappointing. Early posts in this forum were thoughts that this vehicle was quite similar to the new Malibu. My 09 with 2.4L AT6 is far peppier. So, what gives?

kplacer · January 2010

The 3.0L engine in all applications so far seems like a real dog. I suspect it will not last long in its current form before GM is forced to upgrade it. The problem seems to be a severe lack of torque.

e_net_rider · January 2010

Believe it or not!
They are planning on putting the 2.4L in it this spring. But, if that comes with EPS, electric power steering, NO THANKS.

doc15 · January 2010

:confuse: 2010 Lacrosse 6.0 CXL 1600 miles
Start car, 1 second after hear a "Clunk". Sounds like metal to metal. (Not a hard hit more like a dropped metal wrench on floor.) Front of car, under engine. Only when car has sat in cold for a few hours. Of course didn't happen at dealer's service area. Thinking of leaving it there over night so they can start it in morning. (I'm not a mechanic)--- Does starter has moving parts inside of some kind of relay that moves after engine starts and releases? Anyone had similar problem, or ideas so I can mention to mechanic at dealership?
Thanks

[Deleted User] · January 2010

I believe it, and it is the only Lacrosse model I am interested in buying.

cooterbfd · January 2010

The only thing a starter would have (and my guess is it is a possibility) is the starter drive gear. When you start the car, the gear engages with the flywheel, then when the car starts and you release the key, the flywheel's extra speed will disengage the drive. It could be hanging up in the flywheel before snapping back, and that could be the sound you hear. A little lithium grease should do the trick. But, that's only a guess.

dslong · January 2010

Is anyone having a problem with lack of support in the driver seat. After only a couple of hundred miles it feels as if I've lost about 50% of the support on the door side of the seat as compared to the console side. Getting hard on the lower back and easy right turns have me against the door. For those wondering, no weight problem 185 lbs. Will be talking to the dealer Monday. Hope there is an easy fix.

doc15 · January 2010

I will mention to dealer service this week. I'll post what they find.
Thanks again, advice is appricated.

eric227 · January 2010

I'm quite interested in the 2010 LaCrosse CXS. Currently have a 2004 Accord EX and am thinking of going back to GM. However, I've been disappointed to see that on most, if not all, of the LaCrosses I've seen on dealer lots in the Chicago area the chrome trim between the passenger side doors doesn't line up at the top. The rest of the doors looked in alignment (beltline trim and the chrome accent at the bottom of the door). Drivers side is always pretty good, but the passenger one is bad. I don't know when the ones I'm seeing were built, but I hope the factory can get this remedied. Has anyone else noticed this?

juliachild · February 2010

Still don't have my car back. Buick told my Service Manager that it is going to be Feb. 15 before a new computer can be shipped. Seems to me that a customer who has already paid for their NEW car should have a priority on parts. Of the 300 miles on the car, I only got to put 50 miles on it. Yes, GM has provided me with a rental car from Enterprise. A filthy dirty Pontiac G6 with nothing on it. No leather, no heated seats, no XM, no Nav, no power seats..... I'm getting a bad case of buyers remorse. Almost wish I would have just bought out GMC Envoy Denali out of it's lease.
:lemon: ?

e_net_rider · February 2010

I feel for you. I've been in 3 enterprise vehicles with 4 month old malibu. They should be called rent-a-wreck. I'm certain no one would pay to rent these at an airport.
I'd complain to dealer until they give you an upgrade.

verdugo · February 2010

I hope both of your problems get solved quickly. However, there's a reason why they don't recommend buying first year model cars. :lemon:

e_net_rider · February 2010

The last time I knew of someone having a clunk related to starter, it was actually loose. The mounting bolts had backed out. It tore up the ring gear, pull transmission, and cracked the mount.

e_net_rider · February 2010

09 Malibu, in its second year, but still should never have gotten off the line. The Lacrosse is apparently going through major changes already for 2010 model. Soimething about directionals and avoidance on outside mirrors being available now. Also major changes in rear suspension according to build it site. And GM says it will soon get the 2.4L. I was not impressed with pep of CXL having 3.0

dslong · February 2010

Update: called dealer about the seat. They got me in right away this morning. After 2 hours I was told they measured both sides of the seat and found only 1/8 of an inch difference, within tolerances. I wasn't going to argue and create more of a problem but told them I had put a level on the seat prior to going to the dealer and found 1/2" plus of a difference. Not satisfied I talked to the service manager, who said they would contact Buick to see if there was a known problem and fix. Service Manager seemed like a decent fellow, saying that after going through Buick they would somehow make it right.

verdugo · February 2010

The Lacrosse is apparently going through major changes already for 2010 model. Soimething about directionals and avoidance on outside mirrors being available now.

That's not a change. That's delayed availability, similar to the 4 cylinder engine.

doc15 · February 2010

Will have dealer check it out tomorrow.

Thanks for info

doc15 · February 2010

Follow-Up 2010 Lacrosse 6.0 CXL FWD 2100 miles

Dealer service claim Noise coming from the "BAFFLE" (Looks like long muffler running under center of car).
Part to be ordered. ----Special order
Will follow-up and post.

doc15 · February 2010

Yes, My 2010 CXL has the Drivers door slightly out of alignment. Not vertical but horizontal. Dealer said will address after fixing a noise problem I have with car. (see other post).
Could this be a sign of quality problems to come with the Lacrosse??
Hasn't GM learned yet??

cooterbfd · February 2010

If there is a broken baffle, and the door needs a slight adjustment, I'd say that's minor. MIne went in for a rattle and the rear sunscreen. The rattle turned out to be a "pivot point" in need of some grease, and there was some dried glue on the shade which hung it up and caused a small tear. VERY minor. I still love this car.

BTW, 6.0 CXL??? I could only wish

doc15 · February 2010

Yes, sorry that's was wishful thinking. You caught me. :confuse: I'll downsize it to 3.0 v6

asctony · February 2010

I had my 2010 Buick LaCrosse CXS since Oct 2009 and only have 1373 miles on it. I had it in my garage since Sunday with the Alarm set (blinking red light on Dash.) This morning I went out to start the car and it was battery dead. It has been in the 20s for the past days. I am in the process of charging the battery and after a slow 2 om charge, it started and looks OK. Will let it remain on charge for about a total of 8 hours. I did check for open doors/trunk, but found none.
I assume it is just a freak occurrence. I have had cars sit out in this and lower temp for at least 2 weeks without a problem.

Any suggestions or advise?

I will start it at least every other day from now on. Yes, I do have another car that I use when it snows or we have bad weather that I drive.

lacrossesoaked · February 2010

if it is not a sealed battery, suggest you check the fluid levels in the cells. also, you may want to consider buying a "battery tender". you hook it up and leave it on the vehicle when you know you are not going to be driving it for a few days. provides a trickle type charge which keeps the battery at peak charge. after the battery reaches peak charge, it automatically stops charging and then kicks on again when below peak.
if you merely start the car every other day without driving it or letting it idle for quite a while, you will be doing more harm than good---because you will put a drain on the battery everytime you start it and then if you turn it off in a short period of time, it will not have had time to re-charge.
But I agree with you, something sounds fishy as to why the battery was dead.

asctony · February 2010

Thanks for your input. I do have it on a 2 AMP charge and charging it for 8 hours. It is a sealed battery. I agree with you, as to starting it and not driving it. I will drive it more, but I still don't understand the battery drain. Will post more on the results for others INFO. Thanks again.

berri · February 2010

I had the chance to stop by the auto show and sit in the new LaCrosse. It seemed very nice and I really liked the leather they are using. Too often leather on cars is more like upgraded vinyl, so this was a nice surprise.

cooterbfd · February 2010

Take it to the dealer. Although I didn't have this problem, they did do a battery draw down test on it, as there is a TSB or something for it. Good luck.

e_net_rider · February 2010

2 amp charger, 8 hours, that is only 16 amps. Hardly enough to make a difference on a dead battery, unless it is for a lawn mower or motorcyle.
Are you sure it was the battery and not a malfunctioning start circuit? One way to check the condition of the battery when it won't start, is use a charger of 10 amps or more with a meter. Watch how many amps it is drawing when it first starts charging. As the battery is replenished, it will eventually start drawing less current and taper to near 0. If this occurs quickly, then the battery is incapable of holding a full charge. Example, assume a battery of 350 cranking amps. If it was fully dead, at 10 amp charge it should take about 35 hours to charge. It may only need to be half drawn down to not start, say 175 amps, That would still take roughly 17.5 hours at 10 amps to fully charge. Assume you have a battery that won't turn vehicle over. If charger indicates it is charged in an hour or less, it might start vehicle now, but it is also a battery that is on its last legs.

kplacer · February 2010

Interesting; there was an article in the ocal paper over the last week or so on this very subject. They talked to a mechanic who said the "vampire" loads on batteries in current cars can kill a battery in a week or so if not driven. They also talked to those running the long-term parking at the airport, who said that they have had to equip themselves with quick-start battery jumping units because of the problem with so many customer cars refusing to start upon return from their trips.

asctony · February 2010

I did a 2 amp charge for 20 hours and got in and it started up the next day. Drove it yesterday and today without any problems. I may have been unclear when I said I tried to start it. The car was completely dead. The remote unlock would not work, I had to use the key to open the driver door. No lights came on, nothing before I charged it. After the charge and the first start, I noticed the Compass had to recalibrate, my clock was off by an hour. Other than that, no other changes noticed. Will continue to report how it is going.

Thanks for your replies and information.

kjs8 · February 2010

I just took delivery on my CXS on Saturday and had it in the garage for three hours yesterday learning all the systems and downloading CD's into the hard drive. I noticed the battery indicator light on the dash but since it's a new car didn't pay much attention and continued to play with the nav and music features. I went to the gagage last night to take it for my first night time ride to see the interior lighting and it would not start. The HID's came on as did all interior lighting but nothing happened when you press the start button. I put a charger on it for about 30 minutes and it kicked right over. Drove it for about 30 minutes and now back to normal. I guess all of the electronic stuff in the LaCrosse does draw a lot of current when in the accessory position. I'll keep an eye on this during future music downloads.

e_net_rider · February 2010

Both of you having such problems seems really strange. Electronics don't draw much power, not near as much as lighting or starter. And several GM have something built in to shed load so you don't draw down to the point it won't start.
I'd check if you have that, and learn how it works since it might be malfunctioning.
It is also likely that in trying to shave pounds from the vehicle, lead being so heavy, they are using a battery that is at minimums for the vehicle or you got a battery that sat during the whole time GM was shut down.
I had a ford that required a special battery, 1300CCA. Unfortunately there was not a great demand and no aftermarket available. The last time I needed one, they had it on shelf. It had been sitting almost a year but would not take a charge. They ordered from next level up. Took almost a week to get and same thing. They ordered through Detroit and got a fresh one from manufacturer. It lasted 74 months.
I don't know why a battery will die if left sitting on shelf. It does not just drain of power, it will not take or hold a charge.
With the number of battery problems I've been hearing about on new vehicles, 09-10, even on the lot, I'll venture a guess that those batteries were stock piled somewhere for a length of time.

asctony · February 2010

What is a TSB?

cooterbfd · February 2010

technical service bulletin

asctony · February 2010

Thanks, I will search for one regarding this.

poodog13 · February 2010

Upon seeing the new Lacrosse on the road for the first time about a month ago, I immediately became concerned about the visibility / sight lines due to the shape of the rear windows. I made a point to pay particular concern to this during my trip to the auto show this weekend.

While not quite as bad as I feared, the windows seems both small and high relative to where I'd normally look when changing lanes. Perhaps I could get used to it, but I didn't like it.

More concerning though were the rear windshield and side mirrors. The rear windshield's extended angle of descent creates a very narrow vertical opening (the "box" size that you actually see when looking out the rear window). Also, the side view mirrors seemed oddly shaped and oddly angled (seem to be tilted down at the outside by design).

Altogether, I foud the sight lines to be pretty bad on this car. It's the only thing I didn't like, but maybe enough to eliminate it for me. My driving style is fairly aggressive and I don't hesitate to change lanes to whip around traffic, and I'd really worry that I'd miss something and get myself into real trouble.

asctony · February 2010

I found this site to review 2010 Buick LaCrosse TSB if anyone is interested.
http://www.mycarstats.com/getstarted/login.asp

lacrossesoaked · February 2010

a little follow-up: I found an excellent website regarding batteries/chargers..great tutorials..here is the link:
http://www.chargingchargers.com/chargers/faq-charging.html
it does warn against leaving "trickle chargers" hooked up for extended periods of time unless they are "smart" chargers, meaning, they stop the trickle when the battery is fully charged. otherwise, with a "dumb" charger, one runs the risk of overcharging, causing the liquid in the battery to dry up. The website also talks about cold weather reducing the charge in the battery; like close to 55% reduction at 20 degrees.

asctony · February 2010

Thanks for the link. I had my charger for years and use to use it for my MB Diesel. I do appreciate the time you took to find this and post it. Thanks again!

e_net_rider · February 2010

Smart chargers, yes!
As to cold reducing the charge, that is not technically correct. The cold slows the chemical reaction which produces the current so you don't have the full power at a given slice of time. The battery will still produce the same total power, just slower over a longer period of time and that might not meet the instantaneous demand of the starter.
Batteries were rated at Cranking Amps which was the available power at 32 degrees. I think they are now all standardized to Cold Cranking Amps which is read at 0 degrees.
A trick for warming a battery so it puts out more amps is to put a draw on it for awhile. The chemical reaction creates heat. Slowly pouring hot water over the battery also works, that is if it is so cold it just is not putting out full capacity.
But a new car with new battery? None of that should be necessary.
Someone should check if they are putting more than one battery in vehicle. It might depend which line it rolled off or intended destination. Cars going to cold country definitely need bigger batteries that those headed for southern destinations.

scott_bl · February 2010

I don't know if any Lacrosse owners have noticed this, but I sure have. As you probably know, many of the newer Hands-Free systems in cars automatically turn up the speaker volume when the car goes to faster speeds to compensate for wind and engine noise, and then reduces the volume when the car slows down. The problem with this in the new Lacrosse is the car is SO DANG QUIET, so there is no need for this automatic adjustment in call volume. There is no wind noise or engine noise, even at 65 mph! So what happens is your call gets louder and softer when you don't want it to. It's particularly funny when you suddenly accelerate or brake. Sure it's a testament to Buick's Quiet Tuning system, but for frequent hands-free callers like me it does get very annoying and I wish it could be tweaked.

imidazol97 · February 2010

The volume speed compensation is adjustable on our radio, so I assume it's adjustable just like OnStar since it's using the radio. Choices are none, low, medium, and high. Our leSabre is on low compensation.

cooterbfd · February 2010

My mom and dad were so impressed with my LaCrosse, they just bought one!!! A carbon metallic CXL w/ nav.

carnaught · February 2010

My mom and dad were so impressed with my LaCrosse, they just bought one!!!

So...you can't say this ain't your father's Buick

dslong · February 2010

Update: Dealer service manager called and said there was no TSB about seats but bring the car in and they would have a loaner for me and fix the problem. The loaner turned out to be another 2010 LaCrosse, with a few thousand miles on it. It felt like the drivers seat on this one also was uneven although not to the degree of mine. A couple of days later dealer called to say it was ready to be picked up. I was told that after checking to make sure that there was nothing wrong with the installation or any of the metal frame they sent it to their upholstery shop to add what was needed to level it out. The seat feels great and the whole experience was the easiest I've ever experienced with auto service department. Never having dealt with this dealership before I don't know if this is a new attitude or the way they have always done business. The car had been through the slush and snow and they had it detailed when they delivered it to me. Thanks Luther Buick!

10sfan · February 2010

I found a similar problem on the Acura TL but not on the Lincoln MKZ. I want to replace an older Acura RL which has great visibility and sight lines which is one reason why I kept it. I will be test driving the ES350 next month to see how that compares. Visibility is important.

johnh7 · February 2010

Haven't bought an American car since the late 70's but I'm getting a Lacrosse in March.

Karen_S · February 2010

Sounds like you got some great service there! Be sure to post a review for them. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

http://www.edmunds.com/dealerships/drr/jump.html

doc15 · March 2010

2010 Buick Lacrosse CXL
Has anyone had the following
While on a call, if another call comes in, and you hear the call-waiting sound, when I press the "phone" button on the steering wheel, it does not pick up the call. Rather, the response is "Ready". I checked in the book, and there is no response to this for call-waiting.

Is there something additonal I need to do? My phone with my carrier has call-waiting.
Thanks

2010-2011 Buick LaCrosse

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