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The Buick LeSabre is a completely different vehicle from 30 years ago and yet no matter what they do to it, it's still the vehicle of choice for senior citizens. I could understand when it was one of the cheapest big cars you could buy but now it's the same size as just about every other car on the road. What is it that makes people still buy them in lockstep once they turn 65? Does anyone under that age own them? Will today's young people automatically buy them when they get old? I'm in my 50s and can't even imagine owning one. I'll keep my jeep and still drive it with the doors off thank you very much.
It has to do with marketing strategies of the past. Today's GM cars are pretty much marketed for their style and features, but years ago they were marketed as a stairstep between quality levels, with Buick being the highest step below Cadillac. So for a GM driver, the goal would be to drive a Buick once you could afford to (in other words, once the kids were out of the house). So the senior citizens you see driving them now are the ones who were subjected to that advertising when they were younger. I think it will die off with the next generation of seniors, possibly to the extent that it will be the end of Buick.
Mercury and DeSoto used to hold that niche, as well, but have been abandoned. As I recall, Buick is the most popular US export car, with the same kind of upmarket reputation (deserved or not) as Infniti, Acura and Lexus carry for the Japanese Big 3.
So I would assume that GM is running the Buick line to meet international demand, and as long as Americans still have a hankering for them, too, that's just an added bonus that they don't mind exploiting.
Is it a thing where old people want to look like other old people, even though the car has no additional functionality one wouldn't be able to find another model?
Buick has very good reliability records and people like a bigger more comfortable car. Its not as big as it used to be but its still got the reputation of being comfortable.
I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one but I'd certainly have no problem owning one. Many people don't care about image and just want a good car.
Be honest. When you see an old guy( 65+) driving a muscle car or a convertible do you think he's driving it because he values its performance or do you think he just trying to recapture his youth?
2 door coupes were all about image and they lost appeal as people finally woke up to the fact that sacrificing practicality and funtion for style didn't make much sense. Now four door sedans and SUVs dominate.
It really comes down to does it even matter what somebody drives and who cares what anybody else thinks.
I'm guessing that they buy them because they like them.
I got one as a rental car back in 2005. That sucker would float down the road like no other car of its size I've ever been in. Maybe that's one of the reasons older people like them: it's more comfortable to ride in.
It has to do with marketing strategies of the past. Today's GM cars are pretty much marketed for their style and features, but years ago they were marketed as a stairstep between quality levels, with Buick being the highest step below Cadillac. So for a GM driver, the goal would be to drive a Buick once you could afford to (in other words, once the kids were out of the house). So the senior citizens you see driving them now are the ones who were subjected to that advertising when they were younger. I think it will die off with the next generation of seniors, possibly to the extent that it will be the end of Buick.
I doubt it. Buick is VERY popular in China, which is not the fastest growing car market in the world. Also Buick is rebranding itself to change its older person car reputation. Without a doubt the Lesabre is a old persons car, but they no longer make them.
The Regal, the Lacrosse, and the Enclave are very good cars that are no longer limited to old people. Not too many young people will be buying Buick because they are a little expensive, but people in their late 20s to old age is the new market with these cars. The Lucerne seems like an old persons car. If Buick plays its cards right it could become a hip brand with younger buyers.
Buick's are good cars for the money you spend. For sure there is better cars, but Buicks can compete with them at a cheaper price, while offering a similar product. I also think the new Buicks look cool.
Im in my mid twenties and I just purchases a new CXL turbo. I absolutely love it. It is a joy to drive and is made with high quality parts, especially in the interior. It isnt a sports sedan, but it is sporty. It isnt a luxury car, but it is close. It also was much cheaper than the other cars in its class unless you consider the performance Optimas and Sorantos.
As for the LeSabre. I think it was marketed as an old persons car.
I'm in my early 30's and drive a '94 Olds 88 which is a clone of the LeSabre(and Park Avenue, Pontiac Bonneville). When I was a kid in the 80's my mom drove a late 70's Olds 98. That thing was a tank and I loved it for some reason. So since then I have always loved big cars. Then my mom got a Park Avenue in the 90's. My step dad bought it from the company he worked for because it was cheap and had low miles. She loved it because it was comfortable and reliable. The older i got and the more into cars I got, I realized that these are good cheap reliable cars. So I bought a wrecked 88 back in 2003 that had 89,000 miles on it for $800. It now has 294,000 miles on it. And on a recent trip to the Outer Banks, coming home it averaged 30mpg on the highway.
I know they are completely unpopular for my age, but sometimes I have to laugh when people spend big bucks on a new popular car and then some catastrophic failure happens to it.
But I must be honest. I do all my own repairs and have gone through a transmission.(My fault) And have had to do other annoying repairs that the average car owner would have abandoned it long ago for. But for how cheap parts are for it and how comfortable it is, I absolutely stand by it. My wife actually prefers to take it on long trips for its comfort factor, and my friends tell me the back seat is like a couch. One regularly falls asleep back there.
The LeSabre for many years was Buick's cheapest full size car offering. Given the brand stratification mentioned earlier and the fact that many other full sized cars had gone away by the early 2000's, the LeSabre was the closest thing many could afford to a traditional full size American luxury car. It didn't hurt that Buick has a long reputation (that was actually true, if you look at most lists, after Porsche or Lexus at number one, it was always Buick at two or three) of being one of the most reliable automakers. It remained the most popular full size car in America until it was discontinued in 2005 to be replaced by the Lucerne, which itself is being done away with as Buick works to reinvent itself.
Basically the Lesabre was for the older generation who didn't want to or couldn't afford a Cadillac Deville. The same thing happened with the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS; the Lucerne shares much of its body and interior appointments with the Cadillac DTS but can be purchased for $10K-$20K less.
The Lesabre may not be an attractive vehicle by any stretch but it IS comfortable and VERY reliable. the old GM 3800 will last FOREVER and EVER. Those engines are bulletproof, probably the best engine to ever come from GM. Know what they do? Get rid of it (2009 was last year). Stupid move.
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