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Thats funny most on here can figure out what they are saying in their commercial Buick sales are way up so I guess GM knows what they are doing. Not to bad for a brand that has been around for 111 years.
The Encore is a tiny crossover, essentially a small car that is raised up a bit. Fuel economy is better than many AWD sedans/hatches, too. As to reliability, the Encore has proven to be pretty reliable, which is true for most Buicks.
My main gripe with the Encores that I have driven is the lack of power, as in it seems to take an eternity, well 10-12 seconds, to reach 60. a factor on some of the NY-area roads on which I drive where there's a stop sign at the end of an entrance ramp to a parkway/highway. In my own cars, there's no issue with such entrance ramps because they accelerate quickly, but the Encore had me really pressing the accelerator to the floor, and avoiding a couple of entrance ramps because they are not conducive to a slower vehicle. It has a small turbo 4-cylinder engine, which is fine, but I'd like a bit more HP, personally, though the 138hp may be adequate for other driving environments. The interior is plush, as would be expected, and the vehicle is pretty smooth for its size, as some tiny crossovers can have an unsettled ride.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
If there's one thing you can count on with the United States. is that we eventually get things right. The clunkers of yesterday are a distant memory, made in America cars are just as reliable and actually probably more reliable now than Toyotas and Hondas.
Let me chip in on the Buick Lesabre. Its going and going and going. In the last 70,000 miles on my 2003 Buick Lesabre I've changed fluids, the tires, and replaced brake pads. Its got 118K on it now.
I've never had any other vehicle treat me this well.
it was my aunt's car, bless her memory. She traded her 91 Century for it. My grandaddy was a Buick man.
LOL. Im male. That being said theres some other similarities. I got it after the passing of a dear friend who I respected greatly, his son gave me a great deal on it, and....I wanted it because of who had owned it before. They also traded in a prior Buick for it. They owned Buicks for the reliability as well.
In 1990 the Buick won “most trouble-free domestic”, and fifteen years later, the LeSabre won “most dependable full-size car.”
OMG, we both inherited them, do you hear that sucking sound as the world grows a bit smaller? I meant our cars were sisters. Maybe yours is the younger brother.
Mine is a Limited. Champagne gold. Cruise set button doesn't work. 57K miles. She kept all of the service records. It is immaculate, save for a bit of rust starting on the LH fender.
I had a 3800 in a 1985 Electra that developed a bad wrist pin in one of the cylinders at around 50,000 miles. It ticked like a diesel but it kept going till I sold the car at 150,000 miles.
Many of the GM auto transmissions have not been the best but neither have most of the competition's trannys either. I had a Camry that I bought new in 2000. The tranny was kaput at 130,000 miles.
Today's 6 speed auto in many of the GM products can be a problem. GM says it's a no maintenance tranny and the fluid and filters are good for the life of the tranny!!!! LOL. Ya sure, if you want the life to be 80 to 100 thousand miles. If looked after you can get 300,000 miles on one of them. The drive train in my 08 Aura is identical to some of the Buicks out there. 3.7 L engine with a 6 speed tranny. The nearly 300 horsepower mated to that tranny and the car really honks let me tell you. It's the best driver I have had since my BMW 535, The Beemer handled a little better at high speed but that is the only thing it was better at. The GM is quieter and smoother. If it had only come in a standard 6 speed tranny I'd be in heaven with the car.
I agree, the 3800 was a very good engine, and the Series III that was used from 2005-2008 in the Lucerne and until 2009 in the LaCrosse fixed the intake manifold gasket issue that was a problem in the Series II. Outside of that, and when repaired, it usually did not fail again, the Series II was a very good engine. Buick developed that engine, I believe, and it was then used in other GM vehicles, but was replaced by the newer 3.6 engine from the CTS in the Buick, though the Lucerne used a 3.9 engine as the base from 2008-2011.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
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