A serious shift upscale: What people think of Buick's redesigned LaCrosse

Buick’s flagship sedan, the LaCrosse, has been retooled for 2017 with styling cues borrowed from the Avenir sedan concept introduced in January at the 2015 Detroit auto show. Buick executives believe the new LaCrossewill be a major volume contributor for the brand. Here’s what some critics and others are saying about it.

“Good on Buick for distilling the best of the Avenir concept into a sedan that is leaps and bounds more handsome and attractive than its predecessor. It remains comfortable inside, but there’s a level of style and maturity in this design we haven’t seen in Buick showrooms for quite some time. Let’s hope this is the start of a trend and not just an aberration.”

-- Eric Weiner, Automobile

“For years, Buick has been wanting us to take them seriously as a luxury brand, and for years it seemed like a tough sell against brands like Lexus and Infiniti. This LaCrosse looks to get the luxury side of things done correctly.”

-- Brian Moody, Autotrader

“The Buick LaCrosse epitomized the old Buick: The GM brand with the oldest customer base, a car for people who don’t care much about driving, and altogether far more garish more than stylish in a contemporary way. Here is the new LaCrosse: Swoopy and decidedly American, but with a thoroughly upgraded front-wheel drive architecture, a redesigned 3.6-liter V-6, and a quick-shifting eight-speed automatic.”

-- Jens Meiners, New York Daily News

“The only large sedan debuting in Los Angeles, the LaCrosse design should translate well from the auto show stand to the road. The body has a number of subtle shapes, including multiple creases on the rear fenders. The interior promises luxury for people who don’t want the flash that goes with Cadillac styling.”

-- Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press

“The redesigned LaCrosse is first to wear the new face of Buick that includes a darkened grille design and a tri-color (red, silver and blue) shield accented by wings that gives it a sportier-looking front. The grille was influenced by the Buick Avenir concept, which won accolades in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. … Inside, Buick engineers and designers worked to make it easier to enter and exit the back seat by making the doors open wider. The trunk can handle four golf bags. The interior has soft-touch and premium materials, a new center stack with fewer buttons and controls, moon-white ambient lighting and available wireless charging. An electronic precision shifter is positioned higher and closer to the driver. Front massage seats are available.”

-- Melissa Burden, The Detroit News

“The redesign of the brand’s LaCrosse flagship comes on a new structure that helps reduce the sedan’s weight by 300 pounds, wrapped in exterior styling that kindly borrows from the Chevrolet Impala. Although the footprint of the LaCrosse stays basically the same, Buick stretched the wheelbase by three inches for more passenger space. Even storage is grand, with the trunk capable of swallowing four golf bags. Under the hood, a revised 3.6-liter V6 makes 305 horsepower, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is available. The rear suspension changes from a four-link to a five-link design. Inside, there’s a floating center console, an 8-inch touchscreen with fewer buttons, and an infotainment system that plays with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.”

-- Consumer Reports

“It also can’t be tailored for only U.S. consumers. The front-wheel-drive LaCrosse has an international audience. While Buick sells about 50,000 LaCrosse sedans annually in the U.S., the car is a huge seller in China, where consumers gravitate to large vehicles with roomy back seats. China accounts for 80,000 to 90,000 LaCrosse sales annually.”

-- Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times

“Showcasing the LaCrosse in a hip urban setting like L.A. is in keeping with the division’s “That’s a Buick?” ad campaign, which makes a self-deprecating case that its newer cars are too cool for its geriatric reputation. The average Buick buyer is 66, according to San Diego-based consulting firm Strategic Vision. By contrast, BMW’s average buyer is 50 and Lexus, also known for comfort like Buick, has an average owner age of 59.”

-- David Welch, Bloomberg

“Through two generations, the Buick LaCrosse has barely registered on the Car and Driver radar screen. It’s been an underwhelming car in a segment made up of spacious, somnambulant entry-level luxury products such as the restrained Toyota Avalon and the forgettable Hyundai Azera. The LaCrosse, like its rivals, has delivered essentially zero driving enjoyment for enthusiasts like us. We’re hopeful, however, that the new-for-2017 LaCrosse will change that. General Motors claims to have put the LaCrosse through the same type of weight-loss regimen as the Cadillac CTS and the Chevrolet Camaro, 10 Best Cars awardees that are spectacular to drive. Another new GM product that recently lost a lot of weight is the new Chevy Malibu; the LaCrosse uses a longer-wheelbase version of the Malibu’s Epsilon II platform. The engineering team claims that this LaCrosse is nearly 300 pounds lighter than the outgoing car; fully half of that weight drop comes from a lighter steel structure.”

-- Rusty Blackwell, Car and Driver

“The exterior styling stands out, but without engaging in over-the-top drama. Instead, its proportions are spot on, it uses surface detailing effectively, and it emphasizes width instead of height. The combination makes it one of the best looking Buick sedans in years. The new grille treatment is smaller than the old LaCrosse grille, and adds a crossbar high atop the traditional “waterfall” motif. It’s the centerpiece to a surprisingly nuanced design. For example, the accent lines sweeping across the hood from the grille subtly imply Aston Martin without outright copying that British marque’s design. The surface details on the car's sides, such as the crease on the rear quarter above the rear door handles, catch your eye without assaulting your aesthetic sensibilities.”

-- Keith Buglewicz, Kelley Blue Book

“Luxury cars are increasingly adding high-tech safety features, and the LaCrosse is no different. Available features include adaptive cruise control, a blind spot warning system, a backup camera and GM’s Safety Alert Seat, which warns the driver of potential safety issues by vibrating different areas of the seat cushion. Also offered are lane departure warning and prevention and forward collision warning with automatic braking for both other cars and pedestrians. There’s also available technology designed to keep an eye on young drivers, with the ability to mute the stereo when front-seat occupants aren’t wearing their seat belts, emit visual and audible warnings when a preset speed is surpassed, and provide parents with a report card on their child's driving.”

-- Mike Hanley, Cars.com

“And perhaps my favorite addition to the LaCrosse is new smartphone wireless charging. The phone storage slot in the center console will inductively charge smartphones without plug-ins or cables. That is, if your phone has that capability, which most do not yet. Regardless, the LaCrosse shows that the Buick brand isn’t just for grandmas anymore. Instead, it’s putting its tech foot forward, joining ranks -- and sometimes outpacing -- even some of the German carmakers.”

-- Nick Jaynes, Mashable

“Looking closely at the side profile, you may notice that the LaCrosse looks just a little bigger and lower. Overall length has increased by 0.6 inch, although width increases by only a tenth of an inch. Meanwhile, the car sits lower than before, dropping 1.7 inches from the roofline. We think the LaCrosse looks more athletic than its predecessor thanks to its more pronounced hips and new character lines running across the body. The new LaCrosse also features a short rear deck in the rear. No longer does the LaCrosse have the thick chrome accent bar running below the rear insignia. Slimmer taillights complete the minimalistic look.”

-- Kelly Pleskot, Motor Trend