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My Buick Century is having issues with electrical problems. The mileage hasn't shown up in I don't know when, and now all of a sudden it is. Also recently, the gas gauge is dancing. So I need to know when I fill up with gas. At times, when I am on a hill at a certain stop light, the gas gauge goes to empty (when I just filled it up recently) and the no gas tone comes on. Recently, it decided to dance while I was sitting on a level street waiting to pick a friend up. I think it is time to say goodbye to my car and get a new one. What do you all think about the new Buicks out~? Before this car, I always had Chevrolets: Lumina, Citation and the Citation X11. I am use to the gears being on the wheel, but from what I have seen they are on the floor. I am not a large person, but I like those large seats that you get when you have the gears on the wheel. Any suggestions are appreciated.
The new Buicks are very good cars and are highly rated. Buick is a company going through a resurgence. Buick currently offers four models: Regal, Lucerne and LaCrosse are all sedans and they offer the Enclave as a SUV.
Of those, the Regal, LaCrosse and Enclave are considered the best and are very competitive for their class. The Lucerne is more old school Buick, but thay may be what you are looking for. You mentioned that you like the large front seat (I am guessing what you want is a bench seat, versus two buckets seperated by a console), that kind of seating is only available in the Lucerne. That style of seat is also available in the Chevy Impala.
FWIW, the Lucerne is a nice car, it's just not that modern. If I were you and you want a bench seat and like the feel of older GM style cars, check out the Lucerne and the Impala. The Impala is a great budget buy and offers many of the features you'll find in the Lucerne.
Thanks for your reply. I know what models the Buick has out now, since I went to look at them and other types of brands. I don't like the LaCrosse since there is so many buttons and stuff on the wheel. They tell me all cars have the buttons on the wheel now. I do like the Lucerne and it doesn't have all those buttons. I think it did have the bench seat, but I didn't think the Chevy Impala did. I guess I am old school, as you call it. I did look at the SUV's in Ford, but those are so large and I don't know if I could handle the Edge. I didn't test drive any but a long time ago, I test drove the Chevy Equionox.
The bench seat on the Impala is an option and it's only available on the LS and LT trims. It may be hard to find a dealer that has one, as front benches aren't anywhere near as popular as they used to be. However, if you did decide to go the Impala route it would be easy enough to order one with the bench.
As for the SUV's, if you think an Edge may be too large for you, there isn't much else out there. The Ford Escape is about the only option that is significantly smaller than the Edge, but it's also not nearly as nice. Chevy brought out an all new Equinox in 2010 that is much better than the older model, but it has also grown in size. Overall, it's not much smaller than the Edge.
If you want something like the Lucerne, I would highly recommend looking to pick one up used. It should be very easy to find a used Lucerne with low miles at a significant discount, they simply don't hold their value that well compared to even other Buicks. Same story for the Impala, they can be picked up for a song even just one model year old. The only thing you want to generally avoid is picking up a former rental car.
I wouldn't want to order a car and most likely will go for a 2010 model with or without mileage, but depending on the mileage. What are some other good cars and/or SUV's that have good ratings~? Someone told me that Volvo's is suppose to be a good car and has saved his family when they had an accident. I've looked at those and the prices are more. Then again, I wasn't crazy about the wheel because it adjust the way I am use to.
If you have a "dancing" fuel gauge, I would hang onto it! LOL, just kidding! I know what you mean, we have a "flickery" gauge on one of our cars too. Very annoying it is.
Seriously, the new Buicks are awesome cars. Buicks in general have always been good cars, but there was some fuel gauge issues in some late 90s-early 2000s GM cars.
Not too many cars offering the bench seat with the column mounted gear shift these days... very few are. Mostly the big cars, which are going by the wayside sadly.
I think the Toyota Avalon still offers the column shift option, but not sure. I know they did as late at the early 2000s.
Not too many cars offering the bench seat with the column mounted gear shift these days... very few are. Mostly the big cars, which are going by the wayside sadly.
I have noticed that when looking that the cars styles have really changed drastically. I don't think I could drive a larger car than this. There is a car show coming up this weekend which I plan to go to. Not only are all the dealers going to be there with all the brands, but they will have the old cars there souped up, painted, parts and accessories for sale too. At least I can see all and get to sit in them to decide, besides asking questions all at one place.
I have noticed that when looking that the cars styles have really changed drastically. I don't think I could drive a larger car than this. There is a car show coming up this weekend which I plan to go to. Not only are all the dealers going to be there with all the brands, but they will have the old cars there souped up, painted, parts and accessories for sale too. At least I can see all and get to sit in them to decide, besides asking questions all at one place.
That's probably the best way to go shopping. You get to see everything in one shot and get an idea of what is out there and suits you best. I tried to give the best advice I could based on your previous car history, which was generally large, old school GM...which they still have to some extent, though I would personally think you are missing out on a lot of good stuff by limiting yourself to those.
When it comes down to it, what are your needs/wants/uses for a car? That can help us give you some more ideas.
As for the column shifter thing, you will pretty much only find them on cars with bench seats and trucks. The main reason for that migration was the prevalence of "manumatic" shifters and the move from bench to bucket seats making placing the shifter on the console a more natural place.
I would personally think you are missing out on a lot of good stuff by limiting yourself to those
Why do you say that~? You think I should drive a foreign car, I presume. Correct~? "If you live in American, you should buy American", as my Dad would say. I also agree with him tho it is difficult to find American things, and I am sure there are foreign parts in the American cars too.
Why do you say that~? You think I should drive a foreign car, I presume. Correct~? "If you live in American, you should buy American", as my Dad would say. I also agree with him tho it is difficult to find American things, and I am sure there are foreign parts in the American cars too.
Not at all. I drive the most "American" American car they make, the Chevy Malibu. My wife drives a Buick Terraza and before that she had an Avalanche, an Equinox and a Cavalier. I've owned a GTO, a Mustang, a Camaro and a Jeep. I've also owned BMW's, VW's and Audi's.
What I implied was that by wanting something like a column shifter and a bench seat, you were basically limiting yourself to choosing between a couple cars, both of which are being phased out in their current trim do to being essentially throwback designs that are very long in the tooth. Basically, no one really buys cars like that anymore, but if it's what you want, it's what you want.
By limiting yourself to those things that simply aren't popular or available on many models anymore, you are basically missing out on a lot of good product. The Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu and Buick Regal would be the first "American" ones that come to mind that don't have those 'features' you seem to want, but are very good cars.
I would say by limiting yourself to only buying an American brand, you are missing out on some good stuff. However, I would also say that buying "American" today in the car world isn't nearly the sacrifice it used to be and in many cases the "American" option is just as good if not better than the foreign brands.
Of course what is and isn't American all boils down to what you consider "American". Is it the company, where the car is built or where the parts come from? In terms of assembly and parts content 4 of the top 10 "American" vehicles are Toyota's, 3 are GM's, 2 are Ford's and 1 is a Honda.
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I know what you mean, we have a "flickery" gauge on one of our cars too. Very annoying it is. 
