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Looks like you have to pay about $35000 at BMW to get HID high beams?
HID's are to halogens what halogens were to tungsten filament lighting from the 60's and 70's. They will be the norm in all cars in due time as their price drops as a consequence of the economies of volume.
To be a player in this niche GM should at least offer them on the CXS as an option. Nowadays people are not simply looking for their money's worth in a car; they are now looking for more than their money's worth. GM has a deep hole to crawl out of competition-wise and if their offerings are not absolutely top-of-the-line in technology, quality, and options availability, they don't stand much of a chance. They clearly dropped the ball in failing to offer HID's on the CXS.
Car itself is great, however.
Not always. I wouldn't buy the Bonneville I bought in late 2001 right before it was phased out a few months ago. Its price crept to a price level where it was out classed by similarly priced competition.
The other unusual thing about this deal is that I did not have to negotiate one iota to get this price. I simply called into the Dealer's Internet Sales Rep (listed on the Buick and GM BuyPower websites), said I was interested in ordering a Lucerne with so-and-so options, and what would be the price? After some iteration with the GM order program to ensure that we had the correct set of options, he gave me the price as 500 below invoice. Done deal.
Again, I had prior experience with this dealer when I bought a Pontiac GP there 2 years ago. However, in that case I went through CarsDirect.com. Even then I got what seemed to be a very good deal. But considering that CarsDirect had to get something out of the deal, I didn't know how good it could be by going straight in as I did this time.
Time for a definition please.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Bench seats were very comfortable. I personally dislike mandatory bucket seats. If I wanted that choice I'd buy another Mustang (I owned two).
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Does the availability of HID headlights on the Nissan Maxima for thousands less mean no one buys the Infiniti? I think not.
The issue of HID headlights is not merely a "nice" feature. They are a critical safety feature. They do not simply provide brighter, more natural light (more like daylight and less like yellowish-orange light), they provide a wider, uniform beam which far better illuminates both the outside of the road and the inside, right and left, than do old timey halogens, their gross superiority over which has not quite yet caught up with market consciousness. In time, they will be looked upon as essential safety equipment, the same as airbags and door side intrusion beams are now. Is it not more important to prevent an accident than to survive it?
I agree they are a safety factor but in the negative. They blind on-coming drivers with their glare as the car's angle change up and down causing extra bright glare in other driver's eyes and then dropping in brightness after the pupils have constricted.
They need to be banned along with the malaligned "fog" lights that are on many cars and are badly adjusted as if they actually helped visibility at all.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
They need to be banned along with the malaligned "fog" lights that are on many cars and are badly adjusted as if they actually helped visibility at all.
Utterly ridiculous and emotional statements exactly parallel to the sorts of things stated about halogens at the time of transition to them from the then conventional incandescent lights. Properly functioning HID's are substantially less "blinding" to oncoming drivers than conventional halogens or fog lights which are almost invariably improperly aimed and even when not improperly aimed are more subject to light scatter compared to the HID's which have mechanisms in place to make sure the lights are not aimed too high for the specific purpose of not blinding oncoming drivers. Why do you think the popularity of HID's is increasing worldwide, because they are dangerous??!
I personally live in an area where there are many HID's on oncoming cars and I find them considerably less hard on the eyes than halogens. I would not buy another new car without them.
But don't take my word for it. The Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America in its Volume I Number 4 April 2005 issue published an article in which it was concluded that " . . . the photometric performance of the current HID low beams is superior to that of the current tungsten-halogen low beams."
http://www.iesna.org/leukos/Volume1/number4.cfm
They produce less eyestrain while providing greater visibility and at reduced energy consumption than halogens and are objectively clearly the next logical progression of the automotive lighting continuum and are generally considered in all ways superior to halogens except for cost. Which is why the Buick Lucerne does not have them. If GM is going to outcompete the competition, they need to get with the program rather than hawking the technology of yesteryear to the biased and the misinformed. If I can buy a car with HID lights for the same or lower price than a car like the Lucerne CXS, I will go for the former every time. Quite frankly, even if the HID's were on a car that cost more than the Lucerne, they are worth the price. But when the car actually costs less, such as in the case of the Nissan Maxima or Acura TL or Lincoln Zephyr, all three of which have the HID's either standard or at least available, the Lucerne is simply not on the playing field.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060306/AUTO01/603060373/1148-
I will say the NHSTA is investigating the HID's right now for blinding oncoming cars. I really doubt anything will happen though.
I hear that cheap painted bulbs sold in stores are part of the problem with these kids putting them in there compact cars and cruising along without a clue.
I beg your pardon.
>They produce less eyestrain while providing greater visibility and at reduced energy consumption than halogens and ar
Less eyestrain for the driver of the car but not the case for the oncoming driver as the car's angle changes or they're not properly aimed downward enough!!! They get blinded and then the brightness drops and then rises again as the car bounces.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Yes, HID's put out over twice the light of halogens and look more blue than white or yellow. Properly aimed, they improve things for the driver. But the sheer brightness and the dark/light contrast are distracting to oncoming traffic. These lights are also very hard on the eyes of most people over 50 years old (like me) due to the eye aging process.
It will be several years, and probably require several changes to the standards for HID lights, before anyone can prove the safe/unsafe factor. They are too new and to few at this point in American driving. Europe has different roads, roadsigns, lighting standards, etc., so a comparison will not work here.
Bottom line: Today, HID's are no reason to buy, or not buy, any car. But it would be good for GM if Lucerne made them optional to appeal to a wider market. The Lucerne is still on my short list....
However, the CXS has so many other things which are not available on the CXL V8 (4-way lumbar support, fog lights, turn signal mirrors, 18" wheels, magnetic ride control, and chrome exhaust outlets), I am focusing on it. Too bad that GM does not offer the 40-20-40 seat on the CXS, as it would cost them nothing to do so (in fact, they would make a bit more profit from the cars ordered with it, as it is an extra cost option).
Interior storage does seem to be a weak point on the Lucerne. Compare it with a Montego / Five Hundred which has large door pockets with bottle holders, and a nice storage compartment on top of the dashboard. The rear seat back does not fold, a significant oversight on a car as expensive as a Lucerne.
Also, HID head lights and LED tail lights are standard on the Montego, and should also be standard on the significantly more expensive Lucerne, especially the CXS.
I never cease to be amazed at the criticism some will give on a car for its lack of a particular, small market-if any market, option, especially if it's an American brand car.
I notice my LeSabres have all had reclining front seats, a great option. They have had a large trunk for carrying "things." There are many other features standard that I probably won't get on a lesser car if I purchase one, new or used, next. E.g., a glove box light that turns off and on with the glovebox door-Accords have a light that's on only when the headlights are on and that's all the time. Turn the headlights on at night and the glovebox light is on whether you open it or not.
HID headlights are offensive to oncoming drivers because of the extreme brightness and the differential in the brightness as the car dips and changes angle relative to the oncoming driver's eyes. The headlights on my 03 LeSabre are more than adequate for driving 99% of the time. Other times I use the high beams.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Better convenience for the driver but not other people - typical of rich people let me go ahead of you mentality
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Again, theft is a problem waiting to be solved. As someone posted above, HID's are probably the "light of the future" so someone needs to make them more theft resistant. All ideas would be welcome at Nissan, GM, Toyota, etc....
First, I am looking for a car for business use. We carry a full-sized digital camera, files and papers, and other things, plus tools and equipment to inspect buildings for toxic materials. Real estate agents, insurance adjusters, and various other business people would have similar needs. People traveling and families with children also need places to keep things.
Five things ended our consideration of the car:
1) The lack of interior storage, something especially strange for such a large car. The center console is tiny, the glove box is tiny, and the door pockets are small and shallow, so things would fall out. It is quite a contrast to something like a Ford Five Hundred / Mercury Montego with large door pockets with bottle holders, a large glove box, a very handy compartment on top of the dash board, and a nice big center console.
2) The trunk is not big enough for my 15' Little Giant ladder (55" x 22" collapsed). I could replace it with a shorter ladder, but again, the ladder fits in the Montego with no probelms.
3) The back seat does not fold, so carrying the bulky items we sometimes need to tote for work or personal tasks would be difficult or impossible. Again, the Montego and many other much less expensive vehicles, such as the GM Chevrolet Impala, have slit folding rear seats.
4) There is torque steer. While the Northstar V8 sounds nice, it is very jumpy, as it appears to be programed to be very sensitive upon initial throttle application. My guess is that they want it to seem faster than it is. Still, the engine is powerful enough that I could overlook the four speed automatic. However, torque steer is just not acceptable in a car which, even with a price well under sticker, would have cost me $35,000 plus taxes. Where is the rear wheel drive and/or the all wheel drive?
5) The fuel mileage from the 4.6 V8 is not very good, and they want owners to run it on premium. Why? Other engines do better. For example, the Ford 4.6 V8 produces more power than the GM 4.6 V8 and is designed to produce full power and mileage on regular.
The positives are the availability of cooled seats, a dimming exterior mirror, rain sensing wipers, and the electronically adjustable suspension dampers (shock absorbers).
I have a car with On Star now, and it is OK, but Bluetooth would be superior, as the cellular minutes on my Cingular phone are less expensive and there are are forwarding options not available with On Star. XM radio is good, but XM or Sirius radio is available in just about any car from the factory or as a simple aftermarket addition.
My wife does not like the "whale mouth," as she interprets it, front end. We both think that the fake wood looks far worse than that in the Malibu, a far less expensive car.
As for premium gas, it is "recommended" for maximum performance on the V-8, but not "required". My Supercharged 3800 Buick recommended premium, but I used regular for over 100k miles without a problem. The V-8 will run just fine on regular, with no harm at all. If that's being used as a reason not to buy one, that's stretching it a bit.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
As for the interior storage, I haven't notice a problem, although I don't carry that much stuff that I need to look at while I'm driving. The trunk, however, is the largest one I've seen since I got rid of my '68 New Yorker many moons ago.
As far as the grill goes this is Buick trademark, why change it.
No HID lights, either!
A luxury car? I think not.
It now does have the OnStar Navigation system which will be better for most. YOu push the button, tell the person where you want to go, they look it up and input it, it downloads to your car, and then gives you verbal commands as it watches where you go. Sweet! The only thing you do not get is a cool looking screen to imprress your buds!
However the penetration on vehicles under $30k is almost nil. Few want to pay flr something that is almost 10% of the total costs of the vehicle!!
The answer if because most people don't want it. If you want one buy the portable; they're easily updated.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Now if we can find a Lexus or Acura that doesnt have one feature found on the Lucerne can we say that model isnt a real luxury car? The TL doesnt have cooled seats, 18" wheels, rainsense wipers or remote start but I'm sure you still think it's a real luxury car.
I love rainsense wipers. There's a large part of time when mist or spray occasionally hits the windshield and rainsense wipes when it would be a pain to touch the one-swipe button or to have the wipers on longest delay where they wipe when there's nothing on the windshield. Instead it does it when it's needed. AND that sensitivity is adjustable!!!
How could a car like the Tl not have them if it's luxury. My LeSabre has them!!!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,