2008 Buick LaCrosse for Sale Nationwide

2008 Buick LaCrosse Reviews

• I bought this car for road trips, and I made an excellent choice.

  by Merrill
  Bottom line first: I love this car. I wanted a retirement car that was quiet as a coffin and immensely comfortable. I have owned many luxury cars in the past, including Infiniti, Cadillac and Buicks, and the Buicks were the most dependable so I am a bit biased. I also considered Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8 and BMW 7 Series, but they did not offer more technology or comfort than the LaCrosse to justify the price. Sportier, but that wasn't what I was after. I also currently own a Kia Optima SX that I love, so I seriously considered a Kia Cadenza and the new Genesis sedan. Neither were as smooth and quiet as the Buick LaCrosse, and they did not offer the Alert Seats (nor did the luxo brands), so the audible alarms for the safety systems were so intrusive they were turned off during my test drives. I have now owned my LaCrosse for 6 months and 7,000 miles. The seats are immensely comfortable. The seat heaters are slow compared to my Kia Optima,but the cooled seats are better in the Buick. No car compared favorably to the great LaCrosse buckets and leg room. I am 6'3" so legroom is a huge consideration and Buick really delivers front and rear. My LaCrosse is completely loaded with every option available except for the rear seat entertainment system. Since it is so loaded, there are a couple of glaring omissions on this car. First there is no power tilt steering wheel available. It only adjusts manually. I wouldn't be so annoyed by this if I hadn't also tested a new Chevrolet Impala that shares the LaCrosse platform and drive train, and it has a power tilt steering wheel available, as does the Cadillac XTS. Also, the back seats do not offer heat. My Kia Optima has heated back seats at half the price of this Buick The Buick Intellilink system works better for me than Cadillac's VUE and Chevrolet's MyLink, but it is slow to respond to inputs, and to be honest, I haven't completely figured it out. It does pair with bluetooth devices easily and phones/audible texts work great. But, retrieving a saved radio station by using the touch screen is maddening. I have resorted to only using voice commands because the touch screen is just slow and ornery. Luckily, the voice recognition is outstanding! My gas mileage has been spot on the ratings of 18/28 with an average of 21. Actually, my average has recently been increasing and is now at 23 mpg overall. I have put full synthetic oil in so I believe this has helped with the increased gas mileage. This LaCrosse runs on regular, which is another reason I chose it over some of the other luxo brands I drove. The 3.6 liter V6 is very smooth and quiet with only a subtle growl when you get on it. Power is reasonable, but it doesn't have the grunt of the Kia's turbo 4 cylinder. The LaCrosse drives beautifully with a kind of stately demeanor, but when I trade off with the Kia it makes the LaCrosse feel a little ponderous when I first get back into it. It is not a sports car by any measure. But, I do really like the Hiperstrut suspension with shocks that read the road and anticipate bumps. Chevy doesn't offer this and Cadillac uses a different suspension. Only Mercedes has this kind of sophistication at a much higher price. This suspension is only available on the Premium FWD Buick LaCrosse models and I attribute it for the great road manners and handling combined with the smooth, quiet ride. The technology in this LaCrosse is second to none (really, I looked at everything), and it has already saved my bacon. Shortly after purchasing this car I was cut off on by a Jeep. In any other car I would have hit him, but the LaCrosse saw the Jeep headed my way and the emergency brake assist hit the brakes before I could. I was really amazed at the technology. This thing really does watch out for you. The adaptive cruise control is amazing. It takes care of slow and go driving without any input from me. It was a little unnerving at first, but I trust it now to keep the appropriate distance from the car ahead, regardless of his speed. And, when the road opens up, it resumes back to the speed I set. It just works flawlessly, as do all of the safety systems. The HUD is better than any others I have seen, although most of the other cars I test drove did not even offer one. The trunk is small. For me that isn't a problem, but I suspect many people will be enticed by the bigger butts of the Chevrolet or Cadillac if they need to haul a lot of stuff. I really love the sleek styling of this LaCrosse better than the Impala or XTS. Their rear overhang is not to my liking but it does give them more trunk space. I like chrome. I have taken a lot of flak for liking chrome. I actually put additional chrome on my Kia. I won't need to put more bling on this Buick. Nobody does chrome like Buick. The big toothy waterfall grill is just beautiful, and the details like the chrome across the back that looks like the 1959 Buick delta wing, the portovents garnish, and the subtle sweep spear all pay respect to previous Buicks while still being sleek and beautiful. If you don't like chrome, this probably isn't the car for you. I love Buick styling and all the shiney bits.. It cinched the deal for me. The Interior is beautiful. I really like the accent lighting that sweeps across the dash and lights the footwells and doors. I still have a 30 year old Buick Riviera that has similar lighting, so again Buick is sticking with tradition. The dash lays back away from you. Many people have commented on how roomy it feels and how beautiful the interior is finished. The wood is plood. But, it is quite convincing and I had real wood in a Cadillac that split and peeled after a couple years, so I am happy with the fake stuff. And, cars like the Acura RLX also use plastic wood at a higher price point, One note that I didn't realize until after I purchased this car. I considered a lesser model of the LaCrosse thinking it would save me money while still giving me all the the style details I enjoy on the Premium model. But, I have discovered that the LED daytime running lights that are so beautifully prominent and crystalline on my car are not available on lesser models. A small detail, but I really think it is beautiful on my car and I would miss it.. Also, the buttons on the doors and dash for power windows/locks/lights, etc are matched to the interior leather color on my car. I discovered that lesser LaCrosse models just have black buttons, which look kind of cheap with the cream color interior I have. If you are going to get a base LaCrosse, get a black interior. Bottom Line again: All picking aside, I do really love this car. Reliability with all these techno gadget wizardry safety and entertainment systems is a concern. I just hope it lasts as long as my 1983 Riviera, which is still running strong and has been quite trouble free. Thanks for reading this long winded review!

• Great family car, fun and practical to drive

  by migration_hgqguy
  The only dislike I have, the seats are very stiff, and Im tall, so i wish the power seat lowered further. but it does sit in a command position, in case you prefer to feal like your sitting higher. the transmission shifts smooth, the power matched with the 3.8 is really nice!!! very good fuel economy for a peppy v6.

• Very nice

  by BT1226
  At first when I started looking at a Buick, I was there is no way I am buying a Buick.....WOW. This is a really nice car. Great on the highway. Lots of options, moon roof, rear air, heated and a/c seats. Love the lights on the inside at night