All was quiet on the General Motors front at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show, save for the Buick brand. Sure, Cadillac had brought the 2017 XT5 to LA, but that had already made its splash in Dubai a week prior. All eyes were on Buick in LA.
Before the 2017 Buick LaCrosse debut, we were invited to take a closer look at the car and, after spending some quality time with all-new LaCrosse, we’ve compiled our first impression notes. Let us know how you’re feeling about the 2017 LaCrosse and, should a question arise in the comment section, we’ll be back to try and answer it to the fullest extent.
Exterior
The 2017 Buick LaCrosse is a looker. From a full front angle, to the front quarter view, the design is an absolute knockout to look at in person. Shifting the wheels forward has really helped with filling out the E2XX platform here and provides a potent sense of elongating the car. The new grille is also a win, sitting recessed, and not bulging out like the current LaCrosse grille does. It’s darker, sleeker and, quite frankly, sexy up front.
But, we start to get lost towards the rear. The design lines used try so hard to mimic the Buick Avenir shoulder hunch, something done with the flexibility of the Omega platform for the show car. On a front-wheel drive application, it’s not as successful. There are some angles where the 2017 LaCrosse shoulder looks quite good, but other times it sits as a tad awkward.
Then, there’s the rear itself. For all the good stuff going on up front, there’s half of the magic in the rear. To be blunt, it’s pretty boring from behind. The new winged LED taillamps are nice, but it’s all too subtle, and really seems to be lost in translation from all the stylistic love up front. We do love the sloping roofline, which spills into the integrated lip spoiler, however.
We’re curious to see the 2017 LaCrosse outside of the pedestal and show lights, and actually take its shape on the road.
Interior
If there’s one thing everyone will, no should, love about the 2017 Buick LaCrosse, it’s the interior. Buick promised soft touch materials at every touch point, and it has delivered on that promise. Are there still some hard plastics? Yes, no doubt. But, they’re not places where your hand will be encountering them.
Looking at the cockpit as a whole, we simply want to start a slow clap for the designers involved. It’s an utter eye pleaser to sit inside the 2017 LaCrosse. The flowing lines hit in all the right places, buttons were placed in the most ergonomic location and the new Electronic Precision Shift felt premium and had a nice heft when selecting a gear. Not to mention, the floating center console looks great, and provides newfound storage space. Oh, and the integrated phone charging slot. That’s a major win from a design and engineering standpoint.
As for actual roominess? It’s good. We sat in the backseat with the driver’s seat pushed all the way back and there was plenty of wiggle room to be had. This may be the first sedan you would feel absolutely comfortable with road tripping in since Ford’s Panther-platform trio (Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Town Car).
Seats felt well bolstered and comfy up front, too, and the actual cockpit wraparound made for a pleasant surrounding for the driver.
Ah, but this can’t be a perfect interior, right? Right.
Rear seat headroom is definitely going to be an issue with passengers. To move to a first-person perspective, I’m 5’9″ on a good hair day, and I could just feel the roof grazing my head in the rear. But, overall, this interior is one of the nicest design executions we’ve seen from GM in a long time. Yes, it trumps even some Cadillac designs.
Takeaways
The 2017 LaCrosse looks good, feels good and does a lot of things right from a first impression. Our biggest gripes reside in the marginal rear headroom, and a rather boring rear end design, but we digress.
Obviously, we don’t have driving impressions (but we do have full specs right here). Only what you see above is what we were able to gather from the 2017 LaCrosse before the car is whisked away to the next venue on the auto show circuit. But, we seriously think Buick has a winning combination on its hands, and maybe an even more compelling reason why we continue to think Buick has an excellent shot at becoming an American Saab in design, luxury, amenities and maybe some quirkiness found in all of that “white space.”
Comments
Rear seat headroom in many of the GM designs seems to be stuck in the 1950’s when 5’10” was tall. It’s not unusual now to have kids over 6 feet tall. It make be okay in designs like the Lacrosse, but mainstay vehicles in the Chevy line need to be more accomodating
I’m 6′-2″, and I don’t have any problems fitting in the rear of the current Lacrosse. The new one supposedly only loses .2″ of headroom at the rear, so it will be interesting to see how it translates into the real world. The rear seat headroom in the Regal on only rated .3″ less, and I can’t even sit upright in the rear of a Regal. My head is pressed firmly against the headliner tilted at a 45* angle towards the side. All the numbers I see are without the sunroof though. Who is buying a $40k car without a sunroof? As there is no contouring of the butt cushion for the center seat in the new Lacrosse, I’d say that one is not going to be usable for an adult.
American’s haven’t grown in height in more than a generation. The average American is 176.3 cm (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in). We’re the same height. Just more Americans are overweight or obese.
Lots Canadians up here obese. Bit of an epidemic.
Embarassing how gm can’t make a roomy sedan.
Dale,
Don’t get us wrong, the car is extremely roomy. Plenty of room up front and in the rear, but that elegant roofline’s slope compromises headroom in the rear somewhat. I wouldn’t call this car embarrassing in the slightest.
Cheers,
Sean
The car is not without its room.
The alternative is to go boxy and lose sales with cars that look like a Taurus.
Most people buy for size anymore and if they like or want more headroom they have already buying SUV and CUV models.
I agree that most people are extremely vain, but when an accord has more usuable room this can’t be called a roomy sedan. I think the new Malibu may be a better buy if you plan to have real people with a neck and head in the back.
Correction, Cadillac has the CT6. For good space I guess there is the Suburban or Acadia.
But why do car buyers need to be forced to buy a CUV or SUV to get decent headroom? I’m 6’4 and I don’t want to feel like I must give up on sedans and coupes just to fit decently.
American Saab, really? I see old school Buick. Reminds me of 1990s Park Avenue.
Stephen,
American Saab in theory and model lineup, not in style or design language. Buick is all about its “white space.” Trust us.
Cheers,
Sean
Sean I think you may want to go into detail a little better on just what the Buick White Space is, what it means and the kind of things we may see.
I really don’t think people really have grasp just what Duncan outlined the other day.
The Lacrosse here is just the improved main line sedan for the division and really does not even really hint at all we will be seeing from what I believe will happen.
Too many forget that this is not the same old GM that we have lived with in the past where just good enough is approved. I expect to see big things from both Buick and Cadillac that we never expected to ever see in the next 5 years.
As for Chevy starting with the new Camaro, Cruze and Malibu I think many will be surprised just how far these new models will be from anything they have already done. Refinement is much more than all three have ever seen.
I see the Lacrosse here much like the past Silverado. While it may look much like past efforts the things under the skin are much more advanced they we know.
Would like to see a review of the new Malibu. Only people that have reported on it seem to be Motortrend and Car and Driver. That car with a 2.0T would be a fun family ride.
I think you will like what you find. While it is not a CTS V it will be one of the most refined cars in class and will have looks unlike most of the other generic models out there.
I see it having as big or bigger impact than the Fusion did at Ford. Ford messed up and really never followed up much on the Fusion and the other caught up fast.
Wonder if Gm would make a wagon version of the Malibu for to share with a possible Regal wagon (Insignia Tourer)? That would make it even more appealing. Mark Reuss has hinted that he is going to unleash a mainstream wagon/hatch at some point.
No if there is a wagon it would be a Regal shared with Opel.
just not enough volume for a Bu.
scott3,
Good input, you may be seeing a piece on what exactly “White Space” is and means soon…
Cheers,
Sean
I hold no specifics here but I do understand what Duncan meant and I also know what is possible. Even at that I could underestimate what they are doing.
The book is open to Buick to take advantage of the many models that Opel has that may not do large volumes here but with Opel’s volume let them take advantage of it to offer things like some of the OPC models, Hatches could be in the mix as well as a Regal sedan that is much more than what we have today.
Adding in the sharing with Holden and Vauxhall we may see some really need and different products.
The Buick price point lets Buick do things Chevy just can not do on a budget in the smaller cars.
Even simple things like the Encore were not what we would call a traditional Buick product but they took a chance and it really worked. I see more chances on marginal things that if they pay off they pay big if they don’t they go away with little impact.
I preach looking at the big picture and this is one of the things we need to watch. Too often people get fixated on a single element the trunk room by a foot or option like a heated mirror on the passenger door. Many of these things are either small or transitional. It is what matters in the long run not what is just in front of you. GM is working 5-6 years out and what we have today was done often by people no longer at GM. Many of these mistakes will vanish in the near future and that is where we need to focus.
White Space to me is where Buick takes chances and gets edgy to change not only their line up but their image. GM was not know for taking chanced in the recent past and I suspect that will change.
My questions are:
1. Since the license plate isn’t at a convenient height to have a touch pad tucked above it anymore, can you push on the Buick logo on the trunk to open it?
2. Is the headliner sueded? The current car has a sueded headliner with the chocochino and sangria interiors, but a much less nice one if you pick black or neutral.
3. If you got to spend any time with the black/brandy interior, what color are the seatbelts? It’s hard to tell in the pictures, but I’m guessing they are black. Seems like it would be more appropriate to color match them to the seats. It’s a bit too obvious of a cost cutting move that the current car includes black seatbelts with the chocochino and sangria interiors, but maybe that’s the trade-off for having a nicer headliner.
Chris,
Yes, when you press the Buick badge in the rear, it does open the trunk. According to the designers, that was something Opel designed. It’s pretty slick actually.
No one seems to recall if the headliner is sueded actually. There were so many other things we were trying to take in all at once. Same goes for the seatbelt colors though, if memory serves, they coordinated with the interior well.
Cheers,
Sean
Thanks, good news on the badge press to open the trunk. I know VW does something similar on the Golf and CC.
I guess I’ll find out about the other stuff soon enough.
Wow… Grandpa and grandma are really going to like this swell car…..
I think Duncan meant to say ‘white bread’, not ‘white space’.
More like ‘Wonder Bread’.
As in ‘wonder why they couldn’t make something special?’ They were theoretically starting from a clean piece of paper.
Interior’s kinda nice.
Exterior looks like like a Lucerne made in Asia.
Is this a rebadge??
‘When better cars are built, Buick will build them’ was a marketing/sales slogan for Buick a few years ago. After 110-plus years later, the 2017 Buick LaCrosse embodies that slogan well. I was at the LA Auto Show just yesterday and was quite impressed with the look and design of the new LaCrosse. Because the 2 vehicles they had there were sitting on revolving displays away from direct attendee contact, I can’t say how less roomy the rear seating is, but it appears to be as roomy as the 2016. It appears the A-frame and C-frame issues with the lack of peripheral citing, and small trunk space has been resolved. The crew at the Buick exhibit were quite informative about the vehicle. The front appearance is clearly that of the Avenir concept. I think had they went with the boat tail of the back of the Avenir concept the rear seating roominess signature of the 2010-16 LaCrosse would have seriously been compromised. It probably was best to go forward with the rear look reminiscent of the Lucerne as was done with the 2017 to preserve that signature roominess. There were no GM test drives at this show so I couldn’t test drive the Malibu or Impala to get a feel for the platform and applicable performance on the new platform. Thus leaving me anxious for when the LaCrosse is at a dealership for a test drive. Hopefully Buick will still have the 24 hour test drive program at that time.
overall, the design seems quite pleasant, a step up from Toyota Avalon and upper- end Acura and Nissan designs. With large sedans in a slump, i wouldn’t bet on it being a barnstormer, but if it does well in comparisons with other “upscale brands,” Yes that old Buick slogan, (“when better cars are built),…..etc etc., that’s pretty much from the “turret top” days, but still a meaningful motto for the GMmovers and shakers. While i would consider this Buick quite ample as a personal car, i think the contested rear headroom issue would compromise its selection as a livery car. but i don’t think Buick is particularly chasing that market. i mean, Cadillac has its XTS, i believe it is (Caddy’s naming scheme still seems awkward and bordering on the ridiculous to me, only slightly better than Lincolns, imo….. for a car brand that’s supposed to be eschewing foreign luxury maker forging its own American road, the slavish copying of German naming schemes seems very unoriginal,insensible and enigmatic. i say return to its roots, an American car that is proud to celebrate Detroit’s French founding father. i’m sorry i digress from what we were talking about, i just wanted to unload on Cadillac. i used to drive taxis and livery in New York City, around the time Lincoln Town Car had totally supplanted the Cadillac Sedan de Ville, and it seemed that you would see 200 Lincolns before you would see a Cadillac. My father drove a Cadillac Fleetwood 75 and i eventually bought a Lincoln Town Car, which had a bulletproof reputation, as well as a grand rear seat. i sold that car after 300,000 rough miles and it was still going strong. GM needs to build engines like the old ubiquitous 350 which i had in my ’78 Custom Cruiser wagon until it got stolen. i’m sorry for getting off track, i’m not t–h—a–t old, but i did have a stroke which decreased my short-term memory and concentration, so please cut me a little slack. i used to think Buick unsalvageable, but i am proud of GM for doing what it has done. And thank goodness for China. But don’t rest on your laurels, GM. GR Waggoner and Roger Smith might as well have burned GM to the ground. i think the whole country should be proud of Mary Barra, i think she’s done one heck of a job. And please GM, don’t ever forget that ignition fiasco. Someone who was domestic leaning like myself could have died from the decision to buy an American car. i myself might have bought a Cobalt if i was in the market at that time, i liked my rental Cavalier very much… What’s my point? i guess that Buick needs to follow its old slogan in an ever fast-changing market, become a solid “doctor’s car” again, stylish, upscale, but eminently reliable. Ms. Barra, watch out, theres always a tailgater in your rear-view mirror. Anyway what do i know? i liked both the Pinto and the Vega. Just give buyers a reason to choose Buick over Chevy, Buick needs to earn its keep in the GM stable.