Whistler

The fluid in it was pretty much spotless/perfect. I just changed it because I thought it might solve the problem (I was more concerned about the filter anyway), and I knew it wouldn't hurt anyway. I didn't take it anywhere which is risky, but the car only has 28k, is a W-body (I know most problems to look for myself), and the dealer is pretty respected/has a 30 day exchange period. It was a clean title one owner car that only drove like 7000 miles a year. When I did bring it in for the tranny fluid change I got the mechanic to take a quick look over it for anything I didn't notice, and he said it was pretty flawless. It makes me feel better if I know that it is normal behavior. Like you said, on flat pavement/decline they are almost invisible, but say a slight incline and I accelerate "briskly" (not flooring it or anything, but moderate throttle), they are a lot "sharper" and noticeable. Its not a slip, bang, or anything that makes me think the tranny is having a major mechanical problem. I did drive a different Allure before I bought it, and I THINK it felt the same way, but I test drove so many different cars its hard to remember.

Hey guys, Just got an 05 Allure (Lacrosse) about 2 weeks ago. Got it for a good price and its absolutely mint inside and out, only about 30k on it, 1 owner (non-fleet/rental). Anyway, I'm starting to get used to the car, but it has an annoying behavior and I'm trying to figure out if its a problem or not. Need some input from people with experience with the 4t65e/Lacrosse. Is it normal for shifts to be inconsistent in feel? I've been noticing that you can never predict how the shift is going to feel when I am driving around town, mainly the 1-2 shift. Basically, sometimes I will be accelerating from a light, moderate throttle, and it will shift nice and quick with barely any feel at all. Then a few lights later, in pretty much the same situation/acceleration, I will feel the shift a lot more, a little bit more of a jerk than before and definitely more noticeable. Sometimes its a quick and jerky shift, other times is a slow and mushy one. You seem to feel them more when the car is warmed up (at operating temperature) than when you just start it. They never really feel unhealthy (ie it isn't slipping, they aren't really "harsh", and it isn't shifting erratically), they are just inconsistent in feel. Is this something common on the Lacrosse or is it the start of a problem? I want to figure it out quick since the dealer has a 30 day exchange period and I don't want any headaches with this car for a while . I already took it to get the tranny fluid/filter changed (not a flush). Made pretty much no difference, if anything the shifts got more noticeable. So far the auto tranny is the only thing I don't like about the car. The inconsistent shifting + the fact that it seems slow to respond to the driver. I really miss the Performance Shift setting on my old Regal GS.

So I've had the car for a day now, wow! GM really did a great job on this car. Fit and finish inside is amazing, and with the stereo on mute and windows up, the thing is a vault! You can't hear anything. A few of my friends have been commenting about how you can't even tell if the engine is on. Its a pretty different beast than my Regal GS. The Regal was Supercharged, and I lowered it, so it handled like a sports car but rode like an old pickup truck. The Allure blows away the Regal in ride quality, and its handling is sharper than the stock Regal, but not as good as my lowered one. Its also lacking the ooomph that you get when you floor the Supercharged 3.8 in the GS. Very happy with it though. Haven't found a single thing wrong with it, and I miss the sportiness of the other one a bit, but this one will keep me out of more trouble . Heres another cellphone shot after a quick rain shower.

So, a couple weeks ago I was driving my Regal when the unexpected happened. Since it was a 99 with 205,000km, it didn't take too much damage to write it off. Not the end of the world since everyone was ok and I wanted to replace the car anyway. So, the new car search started. Originally I planned to go brand new... A Fusion or Malibu... but the more I thought about it, the more I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to have a decent sized car payment weighing me down. Even a Focus or Elantra would cost me over $300 a month with what I had to put down, and that is a lot of money for a car I probably wouldn't even like. So, on to the used car search. I decided I wanted to get something for around 10k cash and looked at a TON of cars. I think every Grand Prix for sale in the city, a bunch of 06 Impalas, a few 05 Impalas, an 05 Montecarlo that I made an offer on but couldn't get as cheap as I wanted, a bunch of Altimas, etc. Bottom line, I couldn't find anything that cheap that was acceptable. Everything either had cosmetic problems, drove strange, or had a questionable history (accidents, ex-rentals). Then I found her. A 2005 Buick Allure (Lacrosse) CXL with 46,000km (28,000mi). Fully loaded with pretty much everything but leather. One owner car from a small town about an hour from here, clear Carfax, clear Carproof, and very little warranty problems based an a check of GM's computer system. The car was absolutely flawless inside and out and drove great. It was a little more than I wanted to spend (12.5k Canadian), and the dealer is a no haggle price store, but I thought about it for a day and decided that was a reasonable price for the condition it was in, and paying a little more for a car that seems perfect to me was worth it in the end. I did end up financing it because it was more than I had cash, but I put a decent amount down so the payment is dirt cheap. I'm also pretty sure I will be able to pay it off in about 2 years (its over a 5 year term). Anyway, here she is, just a quick cellphone pic, I'll get better ones when I pick it up on Saturday.

Has GM announced what happens to the Cobalt SS Turbo when the Cruze takes over in 2011? Are they going to carry over the drive train into a Cruze SS or something? The new SS seems to be wiping the floor of the sport compact segment, so it would be a shame to see performance Chevy compacts die off when the Cruze is introduced...

What do you know about the South Korean market? Korea is not the same as Japan. Koreans do not drive tiny kei cars in ultra crowded cities... Yes it is very urbanised, but much more like the US than Japan... take a look at a picture of traffic in Seoul, the streets are full of big Sonatas, minivans, Hyundai Genesis, Azeras (Grandeur), Hyundai Equus, Ssangyong Maxima clones, even SUVs. There are plenty of American/Canadian built models that would appeal to Korean consumers if they weren't so protectionist about importing them. Look at China, their consumers LOVE big American style sedans. I think the Korean market would accept them.

Its basically a Korean Lucerne...

I got a chance to check out the new Aveo today and was relatively impressed. Its a fine car for the segment. Compares favorably with the Yaris, Accent, and Rio... More interestingly, sitting in it I felt like it actually had a better interior and seating position (I'm 6'3") than its big brother the Cobalt.

Uhhh.... Pretty weak compared to what other small cars? From fueleconomy.gov: Chevy Aveo: 27/34 Honda Fit: 27/34 Hyundai Accent: 27/33 Nissan Versa: 24/32 Yaris: 29/35 The 2009 Aveo looks pretty competitive to me...

Why? Some people don't understand where badge engineering is bad and where it is acceptable. If GM has a great car overseas from a brand that doesn't exist in North America, I don't care if they just slap a North American badge on it and sell it/build it here as is. There is no problem with that. Only a tiny percent of people (car nuts and people that spend huge amounts of time overseas) will know that its a badge job, and its the cheapest way to get a foreign GM here without drastically changing the car ($$$$) or importing the whole brand/marketing/dealers (even more $$$$). Thats why I have no problem with the Astra, GTO, G8, and the Insignia if it ever comes here. The problem with badge engineering is when they take a car that is sold here under one brand, make minor changes to the grille and back end, and sell it under a different brand in the same market. That just reeks of cost cutting, examples being the current Equinox/Torrent, the old Cavalier/Sunfire, Cobalt/G5, and dozens of other cars from the 80s and 90s.

Anybody notice in the Lordstown pics the Cruze has a new Chevy bowtie? Its got the thinner/longer one from the Camaro... Looks way better than the short/stubby one that they've been using for a few years...

Awesome looking ride... I always knew you'd end up in a LaCrosse.

GM should have left the Hybrid system out of the Malibu until they are ready for the 2-mode system. They released it to get publicity has a "Hybrid" in commercials, but all the reviews are lambasting it as "not a real hybrid" and criticizing its mediocre MPG increases. This will hurt when the REAL 2-mode Malibu Hybrid comes out they will have to start from scratch because lots of consumers will have "Malibu Hybrid = Fake Hybrid" in their minds.

I'm seriously thinking about an Astra as my first new car when I'm done college next year, but as much as I love it what were they thinking not having cupholders and an armrest? I know its European and European cars don't have a lot of the convinience features of American cars, but I mean come on I'm not asking for 8 big gulp sized cupholders and a storage bin that will fit a laptop... just at least ONE front cupholder and a simple armrest. Even the Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio offer that.

I've noticed too that a lot of the times when you see a newer buick with somebody under 50 driving, its almost always a black person. I'm 20, white, and drive a 99 Regal... I'm very lonely out on the roads. Black people seem to have a much better appreciation for American luxury cars in general... be it Buick, Caddy, Chrysler, Lincoln, etc... Meanwhile when you drive around in the majority white suburbs you see rows and rows of Lexus, Acura, BMW, Infiniti... I think its good that Buick is going to market to the black audience.... If that gets more younger people in Buicks, so be it! Thats a big part of what saved Cadillac and Chrysler.... You can only sell so many beige Centurys... the people that normally buy them are dying off sadly and the new generation of older people seem to be import drivers now (I see a LOT of older people in Accords, Camrys, and Avalons now...).

Sweet! Some of those look awesome... Lots of people hate on the whole "Dub culture" but I actually like a lot of them... Lots of them are very original and way more tasteful than the stupid Civic mod obsession a few years back where EVERYBODY did the same thing... And hey, if it gets young people into Buicks and Chevys it cant be bad. I don't care if they are black, white, or yellow they are young and thats better than a bunch of 80 year old white people that won't be buying cars anymore soon.

I just got my Regal GS and I plan on keeping it at LEAST 3 years... so it will be a while before I get another one... It will depend on my job by then... I'd love to get a new Zeta when they are out... but chances are I wont be able to afford it. That said I'd like an Impy SS, 300/Charger, Mustang or Camaro, or a Silverado if I feel like a truck. I'd buy another Buick too, especially if they put the 5.3 in the Lacrosse.

I really liked the one where they show the Vietnam clips, Nixon, Katrina etc...

I love the GMT-900s but I hate the Yukon's front end... it looks like a smily face. Trucks should be more agressive. Has anyone tried photoshopping the Sierras front ends or even just the headlights onto the new Yukon? I think it would be sweet.

The nice thing about trucks is they can be beat to $h! and they actually look cooler than brand new. Trucks are SUPPOSED to be beat up... thats half the fun... I never get these guys who buy a truck and keep it all nice and polished, no scratches, clean bed, etc... I mean I understand it, but they obviously bought the wrong type of vehicle.

Sweet ride... I love those cars... I almost got an older one but it was too high on the miles... The STS would probably be my idea car if not for the price of maintenance on them... thats why I got the Regal GS... its a similar style car, but a lot simpler and cheaper mechanically. Edit: 125,000 mi!?!?! Holy sh*t! Just looking at the pics I'd have guessed 50k maybe.

I just came out of a 78 Monte Carlo, and for all intents and purposes, in this kind of car it doesn't matter WHAT direction the engine is... FWD, RWD... either way the car is meant for a straight line and not flying around corners, there is very little noticable difference in every day driving between the RWD Monte and the FWD Regal. Actually, I'm WAY more confident pushing the FWD Regal to the limits than the Monte. Now if we are talking sports cars like a Vette or Porsche.... then i'd agree. In that kind of application RWD pays off.

Funny you should say that... One of the 6x9s was actually already blown when I got it... and I think I just blew the 2nd with the help of my friend Jay Z. Oh well... according to the GS forums the early Monsoon 6x9s were weak for blowouts... 97-2001. I'm going to throw a pair of JBLs in there... I work at Bestbuy so I get an awesome discount, they will work out cheaper than GM replacements and should sound better than the originals.

Just got it last week... its a 99 with 96k miles (155km)... love it so far, has a few little issues to take care of but it runs great and I love that supercharger whine!

Are you nuts? OnA were basically dead before XM... No radio station would take them. XM is what brought them back to life. They are back on regular radio now because their XM show was so GOOD that every FM market wanted them. You don't get syndicated in just about every major city of the US because you are a failure.