Buick LaCrosse

theo2709 · November 2003

GM played with the idea of making a Buick Siecle off the Epsilon platform to replace the Century, bet decided against it.

tomcat630 · December 2003

Reg, you got your DOHC engine, now what will be the thing that is "wrong" with it?

regfootball · December 2003

let's see if its ugly and if the plastic sucks.

the interior is pretty nice by that picture.

tomcat630 · December 2003

The 'Buick' name will cause something to complain about. Be it the glove box light, trunk release button, or taillight lens shape.

regfootball · December 2003

I've owned and driven several Buicks but after the mid eighties they all bit. I would love to see a Buick Renaissance. So I will check out the LaCrosse. But if its ugly, or has a cheap interior, then no go. At least they might have fixed the powertrain issue.

corvette · December 2003

Can't compete with the imports unless the car has a full complement of safety features, including amber rear turn signals. GM has decades of bad lighting design and has fought NHTSA's attempts to implement the superior Euro-spec requirements.

Any spy shots of this car?

tomcat630 · December 2003

"GM has decades of bad lighting design and has fought NHTSA's attempts to implement the superior Euro-spec requirements."

GM has sold many cars with Amber rear turn signals, including as far back as the 1977 LeSabre. And numerous imports have all red rear turn signals.

a_l_hubcaps · December 2003

I'll second that. My Pontiac has brake lights that are shared with the hazards. This means that when I apply the brake, the hazards stop flashing. I hope that whatever moron designed that is no longer employed by GM.

-Andrew L

stormdavy · December 2003

Seems late in a high-stakes naming game to change what this replacement car will be called. Buick LaCrosse (whether cancelled or no) is a great one: good sound, association of a sport, invented by N. American Indians, while it doesn't have the coveted letter "x", the name in fact means X (cross), or crosier (bishop's sceptre).

Hard work to come up with a home run name for this... Since we'll know in a month, any guesses? predictions? favorites? Greek deities? Roman soldiers? Birds of prey? Foreign words? Place names? Letter/ Number combos? Retro options? Guess 'Banshee' is out!! Buick "Rex" (sounds like a dog name/ also 'wrecks').

ehaase · December 2003

Buick should have just kept the Regal name.

tomcat630 · December 2003

Regals are not selling, the name is dated and dead.

olrdv · December 2003

The Regal name did NOT die by natural causes, they just killied it.
It has been the only model that had reliability surveys comparable to and even beating the japanese brands.

theo2709 · December 2003

Lutz just wants to start Buick over again. He doesn't care about the heritage of the name.

joey2brix · December 2003

In stead of wasting time with names, how about GM comming out with some production versions of these concept cars. Hey Theo, are you a dealer with access to the order config lists? Funny you know all the options and color lists when no photos or drawings are even out. Probably a re-badged Grand Prix. They got all the same mechanics and option checklist setup right from the other car.

theo2709 · December 2003

Back in the day (until last week) anyone could go on their merry way to the GM Dealer website and get all the 2005 info they wanted. Of course, they took it down after people went on posting sprees of the 2005 options. And no, I do not work at a dealership.

a_l_hubcaps · December 2003

theo-

Yeah, I figured that out after I started seeing that info all over the place. Actually I went to the fleet site -- they had PDFs up for 2005 (incomplete, though). I should have downloaded them while I had the chance...

-Andrew L

rutledge1 · December 2003

With the NAIAS just about a few weeks away, I was wondering if in one out there had run across any spy photos the LaCrosse anywhere, I'm really interested too see what this car looks like

theo2709 · December 2003

Well it seems as if the car won't be debuting at NAIAS, probably New York. Surprisingly, there hasn't been a SINGLE half-decent spyshot, except for that shot of the interior I posted a while back.

naias2004 · December 2003

I have heard the Lacrosse with be a Lexus GS 300 with Buick badging is this true?

Does anyone have ANY new pics or info?

rctennis3811 · December 2003

Where'd you hear that from!?! A Lexus with Buick badging?? They're not even the same parent company! The LaCrosse is rumored to be a CTS, or was that the upcoming Park Avenue or LeSebare. Anyways, it will not be a Lexus.

theo2709 · December 2003

I refer you to TSX's post a while back. He said it looked *similar* to the GS.

post 38

rutledge1 · December 2003

I have gotten to the point that I am willing to pay someone to see spy photos of this car......Has somebody out there seen this car and why is Buick being so secretive?

rctennis3811 · December 2003

You're that desperate!?! I'd rather buy spy photos of the next RL, upcoming Skyline GTR, M35. But, that's you're choice....

Does anyone know what the engines for the LaCrosse will be???

theo2709 · December 2003

The 3800 V6 bumped to 230 lb-ft and the CTS 3.6L DOHC down-tuned to 240 HP.

setzer · January 2004

the Regal's styling looks like an Oldsmobile's somewhat.

bigdaddycoats · January 2004

Lacrosse will debut on Feb 4th at the Chicago auto show.

stormdavy · January 2004

yet didn't see LaCrosse on Chicago Show web site's list of intros, like Mercury Montego is.

Maybe they're keeping it a surprise-- and hopefully it knocks everyone's socks off. After Terazza, we need that!

theo2709 · January 2004

http://www.newswire1.net/NW2003/AutoShow/Update2/assets/LaCrosse%- 20taillight.jpg

stormdavy · January 2004

Thanks for that tantalizing glimpse. Looks sharp.

ranndino · January 2004

http://www.autoreview.ru/cgi-bin/gallery.pl?idir=Buick/LaCrosse

theo2709 · January 2004

That's the concept car that debuted back in 2000. The LaCrosse will look nothing like that.

regfootball · January 2004

unfortunate about that, actually the show car was hot.

theo2709 · January 2004

All pre-Lutz concepts have been thrown out the window, just as an FYI.

wsag26 · January 2004

Looks like a Benz. That has to be a compliment.

joey2brix · January 2004

with a different front end, just like the mini-vans: 100% exactly the same from the nose back.

orwoody · January 2004

Somewhere I saw a spy photo of the new LaCrosse (before name change decision). Don't expect too much excitement. I was really excited with the concept LaCrosse. The Spy photo I saw didn't show a drastic departure from the current design.

theo2709 · January 2004

The G6 and LaCrosse are on totally different platforms, therefore it is a totally different car. The minivans are just badge-jobs.

logic1 · January 2004

Joey is never one to let the facts get in the way of a dissing.

Boy Joey, that G6 sure looks a lot like the Malibu, Maxx, Saab 9-3 and Opel Vectra it shares its platform with (NOT).

joey2brix · January 2004

They add a few inches to epsilon and it's a whole new platform. I guess you think the Nox is a new platform also cause they strech the wheel base six inches over the Vue. Instead of the stupid little remarks why don't bring some facts of all your inside knowledge to the forum.

wsag26 · January 2004

They're not alike otherwise I would have said the LaCrosse looks exactly like the G6. The LaCrosse is on a different platform. The Nox (Equinox) and VUE are on the same platform, so is the G6 and Malibu & Malibu Maxx. They can be longer, yes and still be on the same platform. The LaCrosse, on the other hand is on a totally different platform than the Nox or Malibu, meaning it will have a different wheelbase (longer or shorter), have a different engine, interior, styling, design, architecture, practically everything.
JUST REMEMBER: They did the same thing with BMW's and no one realized. All the 5 & 7 series is are the same vehicles, looking different, but having the same engines, interiors, everything. Just because GM is doing it, doesn't mean all the others aren't!

theo2709 · January 2004

The G6, Vectra, Malibu, 9-3, and the Saturn version are all Epsilon. The LaCrosse, Grand Prix, and Intrigue are/were on the W-body. Very different; the W-body has been around for about 10 years. They've upgraded and improved the platform a lot for the Grand Prix and LaCrosse. Even those two will be hard to tell apart.

rctennis3811 · January 2004

W-body?? You'd think they'd at least make the platform with a flashy name like Epsilon or Sigma. LOL..just a thought.

theo2709 · January 2004

Back in the dark ages at GM (late 70s to early 90s), they used a rediculous amount of platforms. They had A, B, E, F, G, H, J, K, N, P, U, W, X, and Y-bodies. There are probably more that I can't remember.

Now they are trying to take a Japanese approach to things, reducing the amount of different platforms and re-engineering them for different vehicles, so they can look and drive differently.

logic1 · January 2004

are on the Epsilon, a platform developed under the management currently heading GM.

The W body, which will base the Buick LaCrosse was developed during the early Zarella days.

Other than that they are both car platforms, there is nothing in common with the Epsilon and W platforms.

The Nox and VUE share a platform and are in many ways the same.

Toyota, Honda, BMW and DaimlerChrysler are all big platform sharers. GM sells more cars through more branded dealerships. Most likely its percentage of swapped platform sales is right in line with the competition.

FACTS JOEY. FACTS.

theo2709 · January 2004

Exactly right. Honda uses the Accord platform for everything, but they re-engineer it for each application, which is a much better idea.

BTW if it means anything to anyone, Epsilon was primarily engineered in Europe.

regfootball · January 2004

toyota spawns about ten vehicles off the camry platform.

alpha01 · January 2004

about 10 on the FM Global (read: Altima) platform.

~alpha

alpha01 · January 2004

posted all the GM platform alphas:
10 points per if you can name at least TWO of the cars that at one time shared that platform. (I have to confess, I dont know them all).

~alpha

a_l_hubcaps · January 2004

All off the top of my head...

A: Buick Century, Pontiac 6000, Chevrolet Celebrity, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera/Cruiser

B: Chevrolet Caprice/Impala, Buick LeSabre/Estate, Pontiac Parisienne, Oldsmobile Delta

F: Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird

G: Pontiac Bonneville, Chevrolet Malibu, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

H: Chevrolet Vega, Pontiac Astre, Chevrolet Monza, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Starfire, Pontiac Sunbird

J: Chevrolet Cavalier, Cadillac Cimarron, Pontiac 2000/Sunbird/Sunfire, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Firenza

N: Buick Skylark, Pontiac Grand Am, Chevy Malibu, Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais

W: Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Impala, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, Buick Regal, Buick Century, Pontiac Grand Prix, Oldsmobile Intrigue, Buick LaCrosse (2005)

X: Chevrolet Citation, Pontiac Phoenix, Oldsmobile Omega, Buick Skylark

Yeah, so there are a few I don't know :-)

-Andrew L

theo2709 · January 2004

What I have:

P is really P90. That's what the old Malibu, Grand Am, and Alero are on.

G is the premium front-drive platform. The Park Ave., Deville, and Aurora are on it.

The Delta 88, LeSabre, and Bonneville are on H.

K is the old Seville.

The U-bodies are the minivans. The Y-bodies are the Corvette/XLR.

A good, fairly complete list: http://www.automotive-esources.com/platforms_codes.htm

Buick LaCrosse

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