hitokiri89

Sry for bad spelling I'm typing from my phone

balticgreen

I won't dispute that concerning the vehicle itself (and for the record, I think the car looks great) but I want to add that when it's sold in the US as a Buick and serviced in the US as a Buick, you must deal with an American company and dealer network. American brand dealer networks seem to vary in quality much more widely than German brand dealer networks. I'm sure the domestics have some wonderfully high highs and if you tell me that the GM dealership in your town is excellent, I'll believe you, but I also know for a fact that they have some dreadfully low lows. That's not something I've personally encountered with German brands so I'll continue to drive German cars that are badged, sold, and serviced as German cars.

C300Kid

This I will absolutely agree with..though I do think GM is working to improve their dealer network and overall customer experience as best they can.

C300Kid

I don't know why I'm even responding again since you're clueless and unwilling to have an open mind, but have you driven it? Clearly not. It's easily as sporty as a TSX or C300 (which isn't a sports car either). You're basing your entire opinion of the car on a badge, go drive it or don't..but don't offer fabricated information. It's not a big car either..it's a midsize sedan that's essentially the same size as the the competition. It's also not slow or boring..the turbo (which will be the volume seller) does 0-60 in the high 6 second range which is on par with the C300 and 328i and perfectly adequate for a sub-$30k sporty sedan.

Lastly, it's not a Buick, nor was it designed to be a Buick..for the millionth time. It only has a Buick badge on it because that brand was the most logical choice to market it under here in North America after they killed Pontiac and Saturn (the car was initially going to be sold under one of those two brands). It doesn't really share much dna with the rest of the Buick family. It's absolutely a well-built, competent, sporty sedan. Do I like it as much as my Mercedes? Not a chance..but I'd absolutely choose it over one of those fugly Acuras or the Maxima..or pretty much anything out of Japan as I find most of it to be lacking in quality. Before I get my head ripped off..reliability and quality are not one in the same.

LiC300

I actually test drove this car before buying my C-class, and I loved it but to me, it just didnt feel right, but I will say this if I was looking for a replacement for a maxima, tsx, TL or a accord I would jump on the Buick in a heart beat, the styling is different it drives great no road noise, but its not aimed at the 20 - 45 crowd, it's aimed at the 55+ crowd because I think my grandma would love to drive this Buick instead of her Grand marquis ...


and do you realize how shallow it makes you look when you keep saying it's " a Buick ".

but I will agree that the customer service provided by MB was unmatched by infiniti or BMW, Cadillac's customer service was really great but its not better than MB.

C300Kid

I'll agree it has a more mature feel than the yuppie C-Class but I wouldn't say 55+...that's more the LaCrosse.

bnam

As other posters have pointed out, this Buick is the rebadged Opel Insignia built in Russelshiem (sp?) and the follow on to the Vectra C. I had a 2003 vectra C for 3 years before coming back to the US. There are features and elements of the Vectra I miss in my C.
B

hitokiri89

First it's not shallow to say it's a Buick when it's marketed as a Buick , had I said it's just a Buick you would have had a point but you don't . I like the car and the direction it's going in . Buick as a brand ate doing the right thing by moving forward . As far as picking it over the Japanese stuff based in looks that's all preference . I drove the new Maxima before I got my c class and it's a really great car , great feel a d good power even with the cvt transmission its still very fun to drive . Again I say it's a Buick and I will explain why . Sure it is a Opel but that does not mean Buick didnt totally change the behavior of the car , the transmission , throttle response , suspension , everything . So even though it started out as an Opel it no longer is . The Grand Cherokee is on a Ml chasis that does not mean ut drives like a ml it drives like a jeep and that's fine . And who said the original Opel was any good to begin with . Just because it's German doesn't make it good . If any one us shallow than they are the people who assume something is great based on it's country of origin .

jctevere

I have very mixed feelings on this car. While yes, at first my initial reaction was, "Its still just a Buick" meaning that it is a car for old farty people (because most of their cars have been geared toward the older crowd for a while now). But eventually I went with my girlfriend to go car searching after her honda's engine blew at 70k miles (who ever said Honda makes reliable cars?!?!) and her father had two acuras in which the tranny blew as well. Maybe they just have bad luck, but she decided to look for a new car that wasn't made by Honda.

We went to Hyundai and she fell in love with the new sonata. It is a very pretty car, and for the price to feature ratio, it simply can't be beat. In fact, I was even jealous that it offered some things we don't even get in our mercedes (something as simple as heated seats in the rear). I can't speak for its reliability or safety, as I haven't seen it first hand, but it really isn't that far off from our mercedes in initial quality, the trunk opens like ours, the ride is as soft, if not softer, quiet, and the signature german quality exists - the doors close and make that noise that just sounds nice.

So after I realized that my immature and close-minded view of other cars was silly, I took a second look at this regal. It really is a great car, and I have now since decided to have an open mind to anything. If hyundai can turn it around, I am sure Buick can too.

On the topic of german dealerships vs gm dealerships quality. At least in my experience, where I live, I find that the mercedes dealerships on long island have very professional salespeople, but the service SUCKS! They treat you like a moron and try to bend you over and charge you extra for everything. They never seem to replicate any of my issues and are never easy to get to fix or do anything. They also would never let me know about anything extra like updates available or anything. This is between 3 different mercedes dealerships on long island that I have personally used, and the experience doesn't differ much for stories I have heard about 2 others on long island.

On the other hand, I have been to two different cadillac (GM) dealerships and while the salesmen are professional, they are true salesmen at heart and not as professional as mercedes sales. BUT, the service is top notch, exceptional. Not only is everything cheap and covered under warranty, but they even suggest things to me to get done. Such as, "I noticed that your driver seat is wearing worse than usual or supposed to be, if you would like I can get this replaced under warranty" Of course I accepted. Buick also gets serviced at the same locations as cadillac, and so the same service would follow. Of course, maybe I wouldn't get as premium of a treatment because it isn't there ultra luxury brand, but I am sure it isn't far off, same advisors. Then again, I am not paying near the price I did for the cadillac.

The biggest thing for me is that I never seem to get a mercedes loaner, EVER! I end up getting some cheap rental car like a camry or pontiac g6... Simply not acceptable. When I bring in my cadillac I get either the exact same car or a comprable car - always (or they let me pick my own rental car, but I never had this happen before). When I took my escalade in once and they held it to have work done for about a week because they were waiting on a part, I was given a cts because they didn't have a larger car ready. It was an amazing car, but it would have been better to get something a little bigger. Two days later they called me saying that they got in an SRX or a DTS loaner (which are the two largest cars they make besides the escalade which they don't have in loaners) and asked if I wanted to swap I figured why not, and had the cts for 2 days, so I would try something new. I switched into the SRX and the next day, he called to follow up on how the loaner was serving, updated me on my escalde's status, and if I wanted the dts (which is a car vs the SRX crossover, but it offers more cargo and seating space). Again, I figured, why not? I might as well try them all. The DTS was a cool car, yeah, it wasn't killer on the looks and looked like something my grandpa would drive, but it was soft, luxurious and packed with features.

These are the types of diferences that really mean a lot to me, and make the world of difference. I am glad that the American car companies are making a come back, between Ford and GM, I think I am going to support American next time around!

The bottom line is this, I am not going to let branding stand in my way of whether or not I will get a vehicle or not. If it looks great, good reliability, good performance, and not a bundle of money to maintain, suck gas, or insurance, etc, I will get it. I think that the regal gs has the potential to be an phenomenal vehicle, but GM sold it short this year. It cut some of its funding for projects on the engine and awd. Which is to be understood for a company coming out of debt trying to repay tarp funds. Hopefully in 2-3 years this car will get what it deserves, and will build the name and reputation it once had.

balticgreen

I have driven the new Grand Cherokee and I think it drives a lot more like an ML than like any other Jeep I've driven. Exactly like an ML? Perhaps not, but I was quite at home inside the Jeep because the Daimler influence is definitely recognizable.

Sportstick

The most incorrect assumption is that the Buick badging inherently changes the character of the car. "Buick" is a marketing division, with folks who do advertising, marketing plans, develop pricing/rebate strategies, etc. Buick has no engineers, procurement&supply, nor manufacturing...those are employees of General Motors, or a subsidiary source who provides the vehicle, in this case, Opel. there is nobody at GM with "Buick" in their job title who would have the first idea about a trans cal, spring rate, etc. By making a late change to market the vehicle as a Buick instead of a Saturn, GM engineering may or may not have asked Opel to change spring rates, bushing durometer, steering gear, etc. The final conclusion will be based on as objective an evaluation of the vehicle's dynamics as is possible, instrumented or otherwise. But, leaping from reading the name on the car to predicting it's driving characteristics, without first driving it, particularly when the entire brand is being repositioned in the wake of the demise of Saturn and Pontiac, reveals naivete and lack of insight as to how the industry I worked in for almost three decades actually functions. If you like the car, great, if you don't like the car, also fine, but if you don't know, don't make it up.

hitokiri89

Point taken I don't know how it drives and I do like the car . I probably wouldn't buy one but I do like looking at it . If we want to be technical than yes your right Gm us responsible not the marketing team and brand known as Buick . I just think the term sport injected us silly and thus whole thread us ridiculous now . If you like the car fine if you don't that's fine too . And I apologize for not knowing the careers of the members on this forum .

cjh.

I agree. C class is the baby Benz...nothing to write home about.

bigben320e

Exactly.

No insult intended, but the C is one of lower classes in the MB lineup for a reason. I would not rule out Buick's or even the Genesis as being so beneath a C Class. Mercedes has been stripping quality, when comparing interiors fit and finish how far off is the Buick Regal in comparison to a C Class? Honestly....

Sportstick

It sounds like your primary point of contention is with someone at Buick's advertising agency, where the copy writers come up with such descriptions. If these words and images don't "speak" to you, this may just suggest you are not in their psychographic target, but is not relevant to the actual car.

I don't expect you to know our backgrounds...in response to the brand name dogma, I was explaining the credentials behind my position. On many other subjects, I become a listener, as we do have a variety of experts here on diverse subject matters.

Happy motoring, and you probably want to stay away from Buick showrooms!!

hitokiri89

I will admit my main issue is the marketing . In terms of fit and finish I agree that the competing cars are on the same level if not higher than the c .

C300Kid

I'm not saying it's good because it's German. I was just disputing the claims that it was "American junk."

The ML and Grand Cherokee share basic underpinnings...nothing else. Not even the engines are shared. The Regal IS an Opel Insignia..they're identical...they didn't change the transmissions, suspension, etc...they just imported the car here and called it a Buick..the end. They may have made minor tweaks to better suit American tastes but it's still the same car. That's like saying a Camry in the US is not a Camry because there are minor differences between it and it's JDM counterpart.

FWIW..the new Grand Cherokee is excellent.

C300Kid

They came up with "sport injected" as a marketing ploy to announce "hey, this isn't your typical Buick, this is something new for us." I'm not sure what the big deal is. Compared to the Buicks we're all familiar with, this new Regal is definitely sport injected.

masterstudent

I really like the direction Buick is going. I would probably never own one but seems like fun to drive