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Buick La Crosse New Owners Reports
Just purchased a La Crosse? Tell us about it!
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Love the ride, head height seems a little cramped, but my head does not touch, probably just getting used to a car again after an SUV. Nice radio, sun roof is great. Hub caps no rims, but sunroof overrode rims.
Are there any problem areas with this car that I should be aware of? Is there anything I can do about it if there is?
One criticism is that seats could be more supportve and comfortable. Are a little lacking in latteral support. This will be noticable if you really push the car, as in taking curves at high speeds and changing lanes aggressively. Otherwise, if you drive the car like a normal person the support in the seats will be adequate.
I would compare this car to the Lexus ES350 and on that basis the Lacrosse is equivalent.
The only complaints I have about the car are, 1. no memory for the seats and mirrors, and 2. the seats themselves are rather small and hard which makes them unsupportive. Overall, the car is a keeper. I've had 2 comments so far that people thought it had a Cadillac look. I guess that's good? And, oh yeah, the gas mileage is fantastic. My low was 30mpg and my high was 37.7mpg, all highway. City mileage, though, is terrible. Don't forget this is Canadian (imperial) gallons which is approximately 20-25% larger than U.S. gal.
Lets call her lucypearlnecklace
First, I find the car to be very quiet. Others have criticized the GoodYear Eagle RSAs but I'm fine with them. The car is smooth and confidence inspiring. Other positives are the styling, rear seat room, the NAV system, the HeadsUpDisplay and control layout. I wasn't interested in the HUD and Blindside Alert before owning this Lacrosse, now, having driven it, I highly recommend these options.
The negatives are poor visibility, mediocre gas mileage with the 3.6 (others report more than what I get on Reg Fuel), Bluetooth is missing the download cabability (fixed in 2011 I hear), stereo bass response, small trunk and quirky keyless entry.
Centering the car in a lane is difficult as ther are no sight lines to use. Backing up is not easy, even with the rearview camera.
I got 24.5 mpg on a 200 mile trip which was all freeway with cruise at 75 mph. Others claim 29 with the same drive train.
BT is implemented w/o the OBEX protocol and no transfer of files or phonebook contacts is possible. The voice recognition is very poor when adding tags to manually entered numbers.
The sound system gets an A in everything except bass response. At the low end, this is boomy and fuzzy, not tight and sharp as my E350 was.
The keyless entry balks at times. The remote start has a limited range, less than half what's claimed.
I have an intermittant problem which is yet unresolved. I also had one other very small warranty problem taken care of at 1500 miles (loose weather striping).
Not quite a MB but at $30k price advantage, quite a good buy. As for this being competition to Lexus, until GM dealers learn their products better and provide better service, no chance.
The insurance estimate was $800 but by the time dealer's body work department was finished, the job and the cost was expanded to $2,000. In short, these guys simply ripped off the insurance company and the quality of their work leaves a lot to be desired.
Nevertheless, my CXS is performing as well as expected and more. Quiet, smooth, dependable and fast. At first I thought the 19 inch tires were noisy and attributed that to my coming from an Avalon that was library quiet. But since then I have come to realize that there is a tradeoff between the aesthetics of the low profile tires and road noise. All features work as expected and I am especially pleased with the Xenon HID headlights. I used to be reluctant to drive at nights but now I do it with confidence. This is truly a worthwhile option and I recommend it to all new owners. Gas mileage is poor at 16.8 mpg but that is okay since I do mostly city driving.
Overall, I like the CXS for its handsome looks and performance but for some reason I like the ride in our 2008 Malibu much better. For one thing the seats are more comfortable and the ride is just right..no compromise in ride, comfort and ergonomics.
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It is the tires or the vehicle. My daughter had a Tiburon Shark with very low profile tires. They were not noisy. Her biggest issue was damaging the low profiles.
Poor mileage, I'll say. That is below the sticker city. So far mine looks poor compared to the Aurora V8. I'm hoping it picks up as the vehicle is broke in. I may run lower octane just to see what it does and likely dump oil early to try synthetic.
Lacrosse Bad List
• Head Rests – A real pain in the neck. You can’t tell me GM is not aware. Just look at the drawing in the owners manual related to proper positioning. Even the artist is aware. The guy has his neck crooked forward like Ichabod Crane without the Adams apple.
• Tires with Touring Package – GY Eagle RSA tires are noisy and hard, and also fall short in other areas according to survey at tirerack.com. They rank 15th among similar tires. They may be cause of oscillating sway, maybe because of sidewall construction linked to tread design.
• Seat Memory – It will move into memorized position as soon as driver door is opened, before you get in. That is dumb! More on this subject after I test what the owners manual says. It says that the position used is memorized in the remote. That would seem to indicate 4 possible memorized settings. Two for the remotes + two for the seat memory buttons. It seems the memory does not work as indicated in the manual. Other GM systems I’ve used only require momentary use of memory button to move seat to programmed position. The memory button alone moves seat to exit position. This button when held for a couple of seconds and with a number button creates a memorized position, different than how the manual says to do it. Also over the last few days I’ve had multiple occasions where it did not move forward to what the last position used was when the vehicle was exited. The manual says the fob remembers that position and it is intermittent. I finished moving the seat into position by holding button 1. Only one fob has been used to date. I have no idea what to expect if my wife carries the second one.
• Storage
Side pockets – They are near useless. If the front ones did not fold out I’d never be able to retrieve what I put in them. They are too small for my needs. And the ones in the rear are even worse. I can see the day coming when I hear screams from the backseat because one of my grandchildren have their hand stuck – safety issue.
Cup holders – As one person wrote, you can’t even put two cups with handles in them at the same time. The arrangement leaves no room for anything else in that area. The rear cup holders only exist if there is only two in back seat. Three kids or adults and you have no cup holders in the rear. They are needed even more with kids.
Center Console – Better use of potential space is definitely needed.
Overhead Console – There seems to be a lot of wasted space here. Certainly enough room to create sunglass storage.
• Speed Sensitive Wipers – I can’t believe they left this off. Even the lowly Malibu has them as standard equipment.
• Seats – They don’t have enough bolster to keep you from sliding around. Some say the Lacrosse has moved from grandpa styling. This seat is like they took a bench seat and cut it in two. Minimizing the amount of lumbar support dialed in does help.
• Back / Lumbar support – One mechanical is not enough to say luxury. Mechanical does overcome variances incurred because of interior temperatures with the air filled ones. But cool down or warm up was fairly quick and it takes a few minutes to settle into the seat anyway. Give me the two air bag system any day and for the passenger as well. Then you might say luxury.
• Armrest – Does not even have a center one. There seems to be enough room that one could be attached to side of console. Passenger side too. Malibu at least has them.
• Floor Mats – These seem pretty cheap. Although my Malibu had upgraded mats and trunk liner at LT2 level, they were much thicker and better quality than these. They likely aided in sound deadening. The trunk liner mat was made of same material. You only get the basic liner on Lacrosse? That says cheap.
• XM reception – I have a lot of dead spots with this car. The couple of known dead spots on the Malibu have quadrupled in size. I suspect I know the reason which is another ‘gotcha’ on GM or Buick.
• Headlamp assembly flaw – Looking at the upper edge, there is a chrome twisted rope design. It has big gaps in it like it is either starting to separate or the chroming was done improperly.
• Steering column – I’ve never seek a rake design that gives the comfort of a real tilt. Especially for entrance and exit of vehicle. Give me tilt!
• Cornering Lamps – They call this a luxury sedan. Anything rated as luxury should have them available if not standard. You don’t know how needed they are until you don’t have them. The potential damage to low profile tires makes them even more needed.
• Suspension tightness – It feels like there is play. Some spots in road induce a sway and it does several oscillations before stopping completely. Sport mode seems to stop most of it, but not all. See ‘Tires with Touring Package’ above.
• Audio Speakers – From the trunk you can see the rear speakers. That is they can easily pass any noise from the trunk. Quality systems would have the back side sealed and ported to the interior if necessary for sound pressure. The size and magnet size is not inspiring for faithful reproduction. Very unlikely they will produce good bass notes such as bass drum or bass guitar. I definitely now wonder what the bandwidth capability of the amp is.
• Today, 20 Oct 2010, the light caught the body in such a way I thought I discovered a new body line. I checked it and it is not a body line, but a deep scratch in the sheet metal accompanied by a wrinkle to both sides. Paint flows well to the scratch area. No damage to paint. This was obviously in the quarter panel prior to painting and makes me think it was done when the quarter panel was dragged to the assembly area. Robot painted right over it.
• Nav/infotainment display – Dimming of it seems to have issue. If light conditions are dim enough to bring headlights on, such as under heavy tree canopy, the display dims and becomes unreadable. I’ve turned the dash brightness control all the way up and gave it the ‘display day’ command which did not help. And the rearview camera is not able to cope with some lighting conditions giving a very poor image.
4,000 miles and two long trips results in average highway of 27.5-29 MPG at speeds of 80 and 70, respectively. Oil change at 2000 and 4000 to get break in flotsam and getsum out of car. MPG in town approx 16 with big variations.
4400# car set up for highway with great 6-speed trans that is programmed for mileage so upshifts to higher gears are quicker than downshifts IMO. 18" alloy wheels with Michelin MXM4 all-season tires handles exceptionally well with only normal road noise on bumps and rough spots. H-arm in rear seems to keep car on the ground with stability control and well designed suspension. MAJOR point is car
uses regular fuel NOT premium that is hard to find in manufactured shortages.
Interior is OUTSTANDING in all respects IMO. Drivers aids are well thought out with information system, XM radio, A/C,bluetooth, one-year free OnStar and airbags all over the car for safety. Heated leather seats are very firm and lumbar feature makes for comfy hiway trips. Headrest does protrude to the maximum but is avoidable with electric seatback adjustment on both sides. Vision outside is helped with oversized mirrors. Front pillers are large and obtrusive compared to older cars but not newer Federal rollover compliant models.
Overall Conclusion: Excellent choice for a car in the low 30's for MSRP. most current features are available in different trim levels depending on your budget. Real grade will be long term durability and GM desire to provide top notch service for inevitable problems with all those disposable parts on a vehicle. Thanks to GM (read Lutz & Co.) for a competitive model at a good price point for most of us.
Audio speakers - have terrible fuzzy sound on low bass notes. At one point I thought maybe something was loose and creating the resonance. The left rear door speaker sounds like it is a bad cone, like torn.
Nav/infotainment display - The system has locked up a couple of times and the only way to unfreeze it was to pullover, shutdown, & restart.
Today, the scratch - Today I happened to be looking closely at the outside mirrors and there swing function. That is when I noticed the piece of trim on passenger side to the front of mirror, not on door. It was sticking out along the top edge. It turns out that there are two pegs that clips on the piece slide on to before latching it into place with a clip along the bottom edge. They totally missed the top rear peg. I seriously doubt this would be put on by a robot and a blind person would have known it was installed incorrectly.
The top man of sales at my dealer told me that the issues of new cars was no longer true, a myth. I know we have all heard from someone that said better to buy a year or two old. Let the original owner fix the quirks and kinks. Either that statement by sales is false or I am certainly glad I did not buy new during those years the myth developed.
The sport mode seemed pretty harsh early on, but I also noted it stopped most of the sway induced when only one side or one tire hit a pock mark on road. The ride has softened to the point that I much prefer running in sport mode because of the better sway control.
I have no input as to if or whether the cooling weather has affected the ride.
I was a down-shift junkie and never had a brake job done on my Honda (or clutch job) which had 106k miles when I traded it. Although we've had an automatic in the family for a long time, my main car was always a manual.
Other than the "ride" improvement noted by e net rider, does using Sport at all improve gas mileage? What other benefits might I note if I do concentrate on using this effectively more often? I had to learn to use the clutch way back when so I could learn this system as well, I think, if it was worth it.
Aw, heck, I probably should have posted this in a different thread but I got it here now so ....
So first thing I notice is missing the seat automatically moving, no HUD, or rearview. The list of missing items is a bit long if you add in the items standard to CXS.
A couple of items I notice immediately is it also has the gap at the seal on the front edge of front doors and the boots falling down on the rear suspension.
Now for the road, a drive I've made quite often with mine. Road noise has almost completely disappeared. OK, there is a different suspension, but part of the reason for the hyper-strut was supposedly quiet along with improved handling. It might also be quieter from the rear since I noticed the armrest was down in the back and I seem to recall more noise from the rear when mine was down and trunck was empty. I'll check the trunk on this one closely to see if I can spot any differences.
As of now I'm strongly suspecting that most of the road noise is because of the GY (badyear) tires compared to the Michelins & not the size.
Handling: It definitley handles differently on the front end and I'll credit that difference to the hyper-strut which is intended to give better camber & caster angles as well. I'd bet the tires have some effect as well, but mostly the hyper-strut I'd bet.
I did not drive it far enough to get a good feel for the rear alone so as to compare the touring package against the standard rear suspension. Nor fast enough, such as highway, to find out if there was any sway on rear. But the overall ride seems to be more bouncey or what some might think more cushioned. I can do without the bounce since I've owned vehicles that had zero bounce except under the harshest conditions.
I am having them rotate, balance, & check alignment because I have been getting what seems like a bit of tire squirm on some surfaces lately along with passenger seat vibrating. I am not at all happy with GY tires since they seem to change handling characteristics frequently compared to other tires I've owned. Mileage, temperature, and road surface all seem to change handling over time. It will be interesting to see what happens after first rotation.
Now having covered those points, engine performance. I would have bet it had 3.0L instead of the 3.6L. Even the shifting seemed to be a bit different as to when it shifted up. A bridge on the intercoastal waterway I frequently cross is arched enough that it never has to open and going up it, with what already seemed decreased acceleration, it shifted up, maybe into third or fourth and lost all acceleration until I crested the bridge. I'm sure more foot would have changed response, but I was trying to compare the two vehicles by the habits I use. Overall, it just did not seem as peppy, but then I did not employ WOT, wide open throttle. Also I reset the MPG when I left their lot and for a run I'd been getting about 20 MPG, this one was just a tad under 23MPG. The type of mileage I was seeing before it suddenly decreased on mine. I am certainly going to watch this more closely. Also the less power might be that someone put regular in it and I only use premium, 90% of the time it is shell V-power.
Just checked the radio and the basic radio is not as good as the 11-speaker, but as I've said before the 11-speaker is a good distance from perfection. And I checked the trunk to see if it had the big holes in the rear-deck or if there were covers over the holes. The liner might be of the same quality as the CXS, but no holes in the rear-deck, but then there are no speakers in it either. If you've seen earlier posts of mine concerning this, you know I've been against having those holes present because they let noise from the trunk into the vehicle interior. Also it is an indication of cheap when you use the trunk space as a resonator to get more bass out of speakers. It does work, but then you get all the noise as well. I can tell you Bose did not do that on systems I had. Those rear deck speakers were in sound insulated enclosures so they produced true sound. The trunk could be considered a tuned cavity and will resonate more at certain frequencies which will definitely give a flutter/buzz like a bad speaker cone.
Has anyone experimented in this area to improve quality of this HK 11-speaker?
My thoughts are that maybe covers are missing from those holes in rear-deck, trunk side. I'm considering covering them, but will check to make sure there is a port back to the interior of vehicle for venting the pressure generated by the back side of the speaker cone. If it is not there, then I'll see if it is possible to add one. It would probably be best to add speaker enclosures because I'm not impressed with the material covering the lower side of the deck, that is as to how it will isolate or handle sound. And if they had to use the trunk space to get more bass out of the speakers, then they might be poor quality as well.
The other possibility is to do a total sound-proofing of the trunk. The easy part would be throwing a quality carpet on the deck, but then that leaves a lot of other space to deal with including the trunk lid. Foam is the only thing that comes to mind, especially for all the space behind the panels, over the wheel wells, etc.
All for now.
I have 6400 miles on mine and have no complaints whatsoever. There are two minor issues, first is that the BlueTooth does not have Contacts download enabled. The 11 Speaker sound system has very loose and fuzzy bass response.
conclusion: Great car AND outstanding value as per consumer mags.
I'm not sure when the hyper-strut was added to the CXS, maybe not on 2010 models.
But I can tell you that my driving experience with the 2011 CXL showed far less road noise. It did seem to ride more cushioned on some roads but overall more bouncey on others when comparing to my CXS with touring.
Since the hyperstrut is supposed to make quieter, I have to assume it is the GY tires unless there is some other path for the road noise to enter. Of the CXL, I'd say you will be happy with this vehicle if you like the last generation of LaSabre, assuming you don't get a buggy one or get the bugs worked out. With 3800 miles it had too many for my liking.
Also comparing the handling of both vehicles, I'd say the CSX is superior and attribute that response to the hyper-strut. But then I have not driven a CXS without touring so I don't know how much that would influence my decision. That is, does the touring package change anything besides having H-arm on rear and bigger tires & wheels all around? It does give sport mode selectivity, but I don't know if it has to be in sport mode to get full time suspension management. That is it may do it all time, but adjust differently according to whether it is in or out of sport mode.
A wild guess to the problem is the rubber parts are too hard and don't allow enough dampening of bumps, or possibly the struts valving is inadequate.
Note, I do find sport mode necessary some times on highway to dampen rear sway induced by bumps or binder joints on road.
I'm happy to be back in my CXS, but frustrated with issues. Unfortunately most of it was written off as normal or could not duplicate. And at least two were the second time.
One of those is that seat memory which is intermittant and you never know where it will position. No logic to when it acts up. The loaner did not do it for the short time I had it programmed the same as mine, but it also gives a full 3 seconds before it starts to move and that is one of the gripes on mine which gives you about 1/2 second to get in.
Also the lumbar support has driven me crazy as to how it is supposed to function. The loaner was the same in this respect, but it is not to the manual. No one was able to describe how it functions and they are supposed to be checking into that so they can let me know. The up and down toggle is what bewilders me. As an easy example, fully retract, then push the up or down side of button. When you think it is supposed to be going down, according to manual, it actually inflates the lower. If you push the upper side, it actually inflates the upper. So how does it actually get adjusted to some point in between with both upper and lower portions as desired. The Aurora was easy, upper and lower bags, each adjusted separately.
But about a month ago it would retract in 10-15 minutes of driving and was doing it when I took in. Response, they could not duplicate.
So for an hour I sat at dealer trying to make it act up and the memory. I gave up and turned in loaner. Opened door on mine and it went to bad position. I did get to show that to service manager. Closed door, opened second time and it went to proper position. Nuts!, but documented. And on the 10 mile drive home I had to put air in lumbar 5 times. Double Nuts! So I'm waiting on call back from dealer. BTW, they forgot to rotate tires and wrote off dropped shock boots as normal. I see they tried to put them back in and one is almost out and the other one has a gap already. Hopefully they will replace next time.
I have reviewed your concern with the Technical team and they would like to see you take your vehicle to another dealership for a second opinion. As you stated your concern is a "clunk" type noise, and it should be
investigated a little farther. We have no pending investigation for a clunk noise in the front end at this time. Please email me your VIN, complete contact information incuding telephone and address, dealer, and current mileage. I look forward to your response. Have a great weekend!
Christina
GM Customer Service
I have the CSX with 19" wheels. The thunk/clunk noise is more noticable in this model likely due to the less compliant tires (low profile), causing more suspension input. I have driven 3 other LaCrosses (different models) and all have this thunk noise - some less noticable. The service director at the dealership has told me he notices it on all LaCrosse's now that he knows what he is listening for. Even the same model 2011 vehicle had the same issue. The service supervisor and I went for a ride together.
I agree, there is an issue with the dampening due the rubber durometer - could be at the top of the sturt, but not sure. I am completely frustrated - the dealer and GM engineers can not even tell me where the noise is coming from. This should be the first and simplest part for fixing a problem. I think GM knows there is an issue, but is unwilling to fix it due to cost.
I often rent inexpensive compact vehicles (1/2 the cost of the LaCrosse) and none of them have this annoying issue.
This is the 1st GM vehicle I have owned in the past 12 years. If this does not get fixed, my next purchase will be non-GM.
I have tried to resolve this issue with Somerset Buick in Troy, MI and with the Buick Customer Service (case number 71-922394425).
Customer Service has closed my case as a "dis-satisfied customer". Great!!
I am planning to visit the dealership and return my lease. Once the problem is fixed, I would be happy to re-assume my lease.
Any help you can provide would be greatly apprecieted.
I posed a question to one of the owners of the dealer I'm with. It had to do with the defective design of the CAF and the fact that GM obviously knows there is a problem because of the bandaid fix to stop air from moving around the filter rather than through it. And that with all their wisdom they chose to use open cell foam to seal it (sarcasm).
He apologized for the problem and then explained that GM was bigger than them, much bigger. That basically they work for GM.
It is little wonder that their business has expanded the way it has. They handle GMC & Buick. Their real growth has been in Mercedes and BMW.
I apologize for your frustrations. Have you spoke with Customer Assistance? Can you please email me your VIN? I look forward to your response.
Christina
GM Customer Service
As I previously stated, my case number is 71-922394425. The representative how "helped" me was Drew.
My VIN should be available under the above case number.
The dealership, Somerset Buick in Troy, MI is well aware of this issue and should be able to provide any info you need.
Please keep me informed.
Regards,
That is I agree with much of this.
Mine was not a scratch in paint, but the metal with a crease. Then factory painted over.
Touring Package and it seems the 19" GY are the source of road noise. Much noisier than CXL.
I wish all features worked.
A double yes to HID lamps over standard lamps on CXL.
Around 2500 miles, my mileage dropped about 2 1/2 MPG so that makes it a bit of a guzzler in my book. The 4.0L V8 Aurora got about the same around town, but actually better on highway. Plus all the advantages of a V8.
Although the seating in the 09 Malibu is quite firm, it is also quite comfortable for distance because it did not sag against hard points. The lumbar adjust was mechanical only and not much. But Buick could definitely improve. Unfortunately Malibu had some real safety issues on top of bugs.
The second owner discovered one of those herself.
It appears I now have a real safety issue on this one. I drove approximately 250 miles round trip yesterday. In that time I'm sure I had to add air and adjust lumbar over 100 times. The return trip much worse than heading out. That is when I became accutely aware that all that one handed driving is a safety issue. And on what has been a high death stretch of road since the 70's. It was off limits back then, because of that issue, to Marines stationed just south of its start. Hundreds have been killed on it.
Even with my efforts to keep it adjusted, I ended up stretched out for two hours when I got home because of back pain.
Buick, if you are listening, I'd like to be part of your seating torture test team. Heads up, it involves the seating design team (insert evil laugh).
Thank you, I am looking into this situation further for you. I will update you with any new developments in your case.
Christina
GM Customer Service
Although, you are telling me the same thing the dealer and customer service have been saying for several months now - "we will check into it and let you know". To start, have the GM NVH Engineers put a Lacrosse CXS on a 4 post road simulator and find out where the noise is coming from. Once this is determined, GM can find a fix. I would feel a lot more confident if someone could tell me where the noise is coming from. No one has told me the source of the noise - dealer or GM. Pathetic after 3 months.
If this is not fixed, my next vehicle is going to be non-GM.
Ughhhh!! :sick:
I apologize for you frustrations. Someone should be in contact with you for more information reguarding your concerns. Please feel free to email me with any questions comments or concerns. Have a great weekend.
Christina
GM Customer Service
My 2011 CXS with 19" wheels continues to exhibite the front suspension clunk noise. There has been zero progress the last 4 months to determine the root cause of this noise that is always present when traveling over quick small bumps at speeds less than 50mph.
Niether the dealer or GM have made an sign of progress in 4 months. Is this GM's idea of customer service? What is so difficult about finding the source of this CLUNK? The dealer service director say's all LaCrosse's have this annoying clunk. Maybe this is just GM's standard of quality??
I did get a call from the customer service person (Drew) and he said there is no progress. My case is being closed as a "dis-satisfied customer". Wonderful.
Good luck
New 2011 Lacrosse 6cyl. Oil dipstick in this car is not the same as in the owners manual.
My stick is more torpedo shape on a wire. Manual shows a flat dipstick.
My problem is I took it to the selling dealer for its first oil change. When I got home I noticed it was listed as a 6 qt change. The manual shows it to need only 5&1/2. I questioned the dealer and was told it was filled to proper level and not to worry. Level of oil is above the torpedo shape and on to the wire. Look to me to be over filled. Not good . Any body else have this style dipstick
If that is where yours is at, then they used 5 1/2 quarts. I guess you could say no one sells half quarts of oil.
They apparently fixed the column lock and the leather on the steering wheel looks a bit dark, like maybe they got some grease on it and it stained. I was told they ordered and replaced the entire column to fix the locking issue.
I raised the hood and saw that they had not cleaned the battery residue that got scattered all over under hood when they replaced the battery.
And I may have forgotten to include the door seals coming apart at the factory splice point when I faxed GM. I think I may have discovered this after the fax, when I washed it a day or two before taking in.
But the boots at rear shocks look like they got messed with. They had completely fallen, and the one on the driver side looks like they may have attempte to put back, but it is half way out again.
As to what they did with AC, I do not know for sure. Glancing at paperwork it did not mention corrective action. I know they intended to replace the expansion valve, at least until I talked it over with them explaining it had to be something with the inside controls that made it blow heated air at a low fan speed when it was 96 degrees and in auto set at 75, then faster fan at 72 degrees. I fear they went into the freon system because it did not seem to blow as cold as it did before.
And as to my complaints about the cabin air filter, GM rep told dealer it is not a problem. BFS. If the dang air is not going through the filter but around it, then it is a problem.
BTW, smells would enter mine, even in recirulate. The Regal also had smell issues, but they'd dissipate quickly once it was put in recirulate, so apparently mine has a door issue on top of other AC issues and the bad filter.
I can tell you that new Regal also has temp control issues. Set at 68 during sunny day to keep comfortable, but have to move to 75 at night or it will freeze you. They obviously have issues with sun/load sensing/computing circuitry. That Regal, you definitely won't make the mistake of hitting key again because of it being so quiet. And it also has a tranny/differential whine, especially when letting off at highway speed.
I'll figure the rest out later.
And I stopped to fill with gas at a station near dealer. They were not having a good day either. Turned out someone else had same issue earlier today. It was taking a very long time to fill and the numbers were not moving fast. So I checked oil. Raised hood and as I bent in to pull stick, very strong smell of gasoline. Just in case, my mind directed me to check nozzle. Sure enough it was running down side of car. I ran to shut off, and it would not release until I pulled on handle several times. Car is sitting in a pool of gasoline and vapors to knock you out.
I let it sit a very long time to let some of it go away. I was afraid to get in and start. Later it occurred to me that maybe I should have tried the remote start and maybe I would have gotten lucky. That is, I have had it with GM. I am convinced they can no longer build quality automobiles. Or am I the one that got all the bad parts?
When the techs at the dealer get confused the owners don't have a chance!
Good luck
I have followed the Lacrosse since the new model was introduced and yours seems to be the one with all of the insolvable problems so it may be time to move on and swap it for that perfect vehicle from another maker.
good luck with your search.
I know with this idea of modulartiy that they bolt different sized pans on the same engine. Some of that is likely the available room. But, then if 5 quarts is good, why use 6 quart or 7 or other sized pans?
This don't pass the smell test.
And it should match the picture in the book indeed. Otherwise I'm inclined to believe they did not use the proper dipstick with the pan size. And with what I'm learning of the new GM, I have reason to postulate that.
Read my next post on hard drive to understand one of reasons.
I like the idea of more oil not less for heat, dilution with gasoline blowby and the old diesel engines with huge oil sump capacity. I can not believe that gm would make different pans just to use more oil capacity when the installation layout allowed for it. It is hugely confusing for service techs - not to mention the grossly maintenance undertrained buying public these days. I think more oil helped with longer intervals, which I personally DO NOT agree with but who cares?
I suspicion that your are right on the dipstick mixups. Easy to do on the engine assembly line with various configuration of the same size engine being manufactured. so far ours has been great and is pretty well matched to the 6-speed, car weight and driveability features. As posted, MPG has been better than expected so all is well here. Wife's car and I only drive it on trips, but we both are pleased and that ain't easy folks!
And I bought one because of the amount of music I have. It is too much for my iPod which works great except the playbar on screen will not move like it does on the iPod itself.
BTW, unless you have the Navigation system, it is not very cool as I found out in the Regal. It has USB port and will display whats playing on the small screen, but no way to control it what-so-ever. And the iPod thinks the car is controlling so it won't let you access it either. You can only unplug iPod, set up you play choices, then plug back in loosing any control.
Back to the HDD.
"This Media Can Not Be Used" is the message I get when I plug it.
Thumb drives work, iPod works. I formatted the HDD and then copied what was on the thumb drive to it. So there is an issue of sorts.
Has anyone had luck?
I called GM customer assistance which did not go well. The entire tier 2 nav group had the day off. Dummy tried to tell me that I had to get the Nav Update, $200, to get it to work. Since it is in the owners manual that it is supposed to work, if the update is needed, someone will be intalling the update free.
I'm beginning to think they make this stuff up as time goes by and never test.
And as far as things failing or not working, I can now easily say this is the worst car I have ever owned. And that spans 45 years of driving, most of it two cars, and prior family experience. The only good of it is that it has cost me nothing but the payments, an oil change, and patched tire.
Heck, I'm still getting used to something more than 5 quarts. In by-gone days when oil was changed around 2000 miles, it called for filter every other oil change. A fill without filter was 4 quarts. A lot of customers felt they were being cheated out of the other half quart when the filter was used. Don't know that was the reason, but eventually it became filter every change and pans increased to 5 quarts for change. I Had an 84 Mercury Topaz diesel and that took 7 quarts or slightly more. Two filters, one changed every other time. Vehicle had a couple of bugs, and I might still have it if it was not for the Ford mechanic that put timing belt on one tooth retarded. It had 170K when I said good-bye to it. It was definitely an MPG champ. And built rock solid. I am very sure the basic body had some beefing up and extra sound deadening.
The variety of fills has to be confusing, but I'd bet they don't even change oil without checking some computer screen these days.
Turns out I'm not alone. The Equinox and Cadillac SRX have very long threads about difficulty getting the USB port to work with a variety of media. There were a few that had tried portable HDD and ran into the same issue I have. One was a Western Digital, mine is iOmega, so that is at least two brands that don't work. That makes it more suspicious that it is a programming issue of the system, not the drives. So, maybe the GM rep I talked to is correct. She said it needs the new nav disc for proper updates.