First American Car in a decade

[Jamesons Viggen]

My wife love's her Saab. But it has no warranty and is approaching 60k miles. It's AWD system spooks me a bit, knowing its going to hit me with a repair in the next few years. She works from home and the city mileage of 17mpgs blows.

The closest thing you can get to a new Saab is the Buick Regal. It was co-devloped with the '10-12 Saab 9-5 as they share much of the architecture/engine/trans etc. The Regal is also very germanic as it's an Opel Insignia.

The car drove very nice and came pretty damn loaded out in Premium 1 trim(leather heated/power seats, heated steering wheel, back up cam, park sensors, remote start from your phone, BT, sunroof etc etc).

In '11-13 The Regal T was powered down compared to the GS. But for '14-15 both the T and GS got 259hp/295tq. This makes the T quick'ish at 0-60 in 6.1/14.8@96mph. There is even an aftermarket. This thing does 309whp with a tune and downpipe. So far my wife just wants an intake.

Does it drive like a BMW? Nope. Is it very class competitive with the likes of Acura and other FWD biased cars? Hell yes. Would I pay $35k for one? Nope.

With my conquest cash, supplier discounts and other discounts, this car is Civic EX money. It also has excellent reliability ratings, no seriously.

We walked out with the car for $250 out the door and $250 a month for 12k a year and 39 months. TruCars best was $289 a month and $5900 out the door.

So yeah, not an enthusiasts car. But if you are looking something solid, safe, reliable, comfy, efficient and a solid value-a car for your wife to drive. Give the Regal-T a serious test drive.

[Labeef]

Cool man. I've always liked these. I was able to drive the GS model in manual and loved it. Nice choice.

[claykin]

Jameson, you could have designed that car.

It is a nice car, especially for the price you're paying. I had one as a rental car last year and was not disappointed. And, it was a rental so it likely was a base model.

Only comment I'll make to GM is stop using so much chrome.

So what are you doing these days? In the auto field?

Enjoy the car.

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by Labeef

Cool man. I've always liked these. I was able to drive the GS model in manual and loved it. Nice choice.

Yeah, I test drove an 6mt GS in '12 before I ordered my F30.

Originally Posted by claykin

Jameson, you could have designed that car.

It is a nice car, especially for the price you're paying. I had one as a rental car last year and was not disappointed. And, it was a rental so it likely was a base model.

Only comment I'll make to GM is stop using so much chrome.

So what are you doing these days? In the auto field?

Enjoy the car.

The funny thing is my wife love's chrome. We were about to buy a black on black one with chrome wheels that I HATED.

Yeah, I am the lead designer at a smaller car company out here in Michigan.

[Ali Shiralian]

I'll take the civic EX over this any day. Had a Buick for four years, the ride was floaty, brakes sucked underpowered and not efficient at all. Sure the ride was comfy if you like that kinda ride but the novelty with Buick wares out real fast. Oh and the driver side door wouldn't open from inside in year two of ownership. The car I'm talking about was assembled in Mexico and it showed . The quality of interior... Don't even start me on that....oh it had OnStar which I used twice as the car died on the hiway for no apparent reason (8k on the odometer) cost of replacing the computer $2500.00.

Don't wanna rain on your prade, but it's not for me. I do have Civic in my garage that my son drives, just turned 200K, only thing we've changed on it was brakes.

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by Ali Shiralian

I'll take the civic EX over this any day. Had a Buick for four years, the ride was floaty, brakes sucked underpowered and not efficient at all. Sure the ride was comfy if you like that kinda ride but the novelty with Buick wares out real fast. Oh and the driver side door wouldn't open from inside in year two of ownership. The car I'm talking about was assembled in Mexico and it showed . The quality of interior... Don't even start me on that....oh it had OnStar which I used twice as the car died on the hiway for no apparent reason (8k on the odometer) cost of replacing the computer $2500.00.

Don't wanna rain on your prade, but it's not for me. I do have Civic in my garage that my son drives, just turned 200K, only thing we've changed on it was brakes.

You had a Buick. OK. I had a GM product 10 years ago too.

I am talking about THIS Buick, which happens to have been designed and assembled in GERMANY. It also has reliability ratings that are quite high.

Meanwhile my sister has had a few Hondas and her Oddy for example ate its transmission before 120k.

So if your Buick experience is with this generation of Regal('11-15), I am all ears to your bad experience. But if you had some old GM POS made in Mexico which has a design dating back to the early 90's, that's not the car being discussed here.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/m...2015/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Insignia

[ipilcher]

I can't get past the way they talk down their own brand in their advertisements. Someone flunked marketing 101.

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by ipilcher

I can't get past the way they talk down their own brand in their advertisements. Someone flunked marketing 101.

I totally agree.

The hardest thing for brands like Buick and Cadillac is getting away from decades of negative perception. Its not an easy marketing job.

In college, I had to take an automotive marketing course. We saw a case study of the CTS where focus groups loved the car until it was revealed as a Cadillac and everyone was like yeah, I would have bought it if it wasn't a Cadillac. Ouch.

[bahasad]

Originally Posted by Ali Shiralian

I'll take the civic EX over this any day. Had a Buick for four years, the ride was floaty, brakes sucked underpowered and not efficient at all. Sure the ride was comfy if you like that kinda ride but the novelty with Buick wares out real fast. Oh and the driver side door wouldn't open from inside in year two of ownership. The car I'm talking about was assembled in Mexico and it showed . The quality of interior... Don't even start me on that....oh it had OnStar which I used twice as the car died on the hiway for no apparent reason (8k on the odometer) cost of replacing the computer $2500.00.

Don't wanna rain on your prade, but it's not for me. I do have Civic in my garage that my son drives, just turned 200K, only thing we've changed on it was brakes.

This car is basically an Opel Insignia in a Buick guise - it is assembled in Germany, I believe.

This isn't your old Buick Lesabre or whatever those garbage cars were that GM made in the 90s-2000s and that you probably had.

It's pretty funny you should mention the civic because the current gen (especially the 12-13 versions) has been very lackluster. It is not like the older generations, getting bloated, less competitive in a very high contested segment.

Quite the opposite of Buick actually being that this car has generally been praised for offering decent performance and good luxury for an inexpensive price.

[FC4]

Originally Posted by Jamesons Viggen

With my conquest cash, supplier discounts and other discounts, this car is Civic EX money. It also has excellent reliability ratings, no seriously.

So then why did you pick this car over the Civic EX?

[1smokehouse]

Originally Posted by ipilcher

I can't get past the way they talk down their own brand in their advertisements. Someone flunked marketing 101.

True, but I still like the old lady who yells from across the street: "That's not a Buick!"

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by FC4

So then why did you pick this car over the Civic EX?

Durp durp

[w0ady]

Looks better than older Buicks but still a Buick.

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by w0ady

Looks better than older Buicks but still a Buick.

About the only thing Buick about it is the grille and chrome. My wife likes chrome lol. Luckily we didn't buy the one with hideous chrome wheels.

[w0ady]

Originally Posted by Jamesons Viggen

About the only thing Buick about it is the grille and chrome. My wife likes chrome lol. Luckily we didn't buy the one with hideous chrome wheels.

Got to keep the Mrs. happy. I'm anti-chrome. My headlights piss me off lol.

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by w0ady

Got to keep the Mrs. happy. I'm anti-chrome. My headlights piss me off lol.

I'm not a fan either and try and delete what chrome I find.

[FC4]

Originally Posted by Jamesons Viggen

Durp durp

It was a serious question.

[wilson29]

oh Lawd 60,000 miles what a tragedy, so $10K over the next 39 months without any ownership.... Seems like a waste of $10k

[eric@helix]

A friend bought one last year. The dealerships were giving them away--probably for the negative brand perception mentioned above. The deal the OP got on an Opel/Vauxhall sports sedan was, what we call in the biz: smokin'.

Congrats, OP.

[Jamesons Viggen]

Originally Posted by FC4

It was a serious question.

Oh ok then.

She hates the tiered dash and sightlines of the Civic, finds it too small, and cannot deal with the lack of power/tq. She had an Verano rental last month and said she liked it but would need the turbo model. The Regal is a better car than the Verano so that's how this went down. That is not taking into consideration the fact that the Civic would cost more and "imports" are a bit frowned upon in Metro-Detroit.

Originally Posted by wilson29

oh Lawd 60,000 miles what a tragedy, so $10K over the next 39 months without any ownership.... Seems like a waste of $10k

Do we really need to get into the logistics of pro/cons of leasing? Lame.

FYI, the only two other cars I ever leased I bought it before lease end and it worked out great. Don't ASSUME we plan to just lease and walk.

And yes, her car had 56k and no issues. But I also know for a fact that the Haldex AWD system can become quite $$$ without a warranty as it cracks 100k. My other car is 135k(my DD, not my BMW) with no warranty and with a nice new mortgage, I did not want to leave myself with two(three with the M factored in) warranty-less cars.

Originally Posted by eric@helix

A friend bought one last year. The dealerships were giving them away--probably for the negative brand perception mentioned above. The deal the OP got on an Opel/Vauxhall sports sedan was, what we call in the biz: smokin'.

Congrats, OP.

Thanks!

We bring it home next week as we moved the closing date up two weeks

[Jamesons Viggen]

Really enjoying the new car.

its very smooth without being boatlike/american.

Its quick'ish, my wife did note if we buy it out early that we will tune it.

It does show more response when fed 93. Driven at 70-75 on the highway and it can net excellent fuel economy as shown.

[Never_Enough]

Congrats