How does Buick still sell autos in 2019?

12,442 Views | 82 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Finding X
AggieChemist
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Hell, we lost Oldsmobile and Pontiac and they both made some badass cars in the day. Nobody is getting nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal.

Their commercials make me want to puke, and I silently judge everyone I see driving one.
Furlock Bones
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AggieChemist said:

Hell, we lost Oldsmobile and Pontiac and they both made some badass cars in the day. Nobody is getting nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal.

Their commercials make me want to puke, and I silently judge everyone I see driving one.
they sell like crazy in China.
LOYAL AG
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AggieChemist said:

Hell, we lost Oldsmobile and Pontiac and they both made some badass cars in the day. Nobody is getting nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal.

Their commercials make me want to puke, and I silently judge everyone I see driving one.
Interesting choice of cars to pick on for a lot of reasons. My dad had one of these and it was actually a nice car. I vividly remember being home on leave from AIT at Christmas 1988 and having several great dates with the older sister of a girl my sister took gymnastics lessons with that, ummm, culminated in the back seat of that thing. So yeah I might actually be a bit nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal!

That aside the Regal was the platform for this beast and, if you've ever driven one, you would DEFINITELY be nostalgic for this bad boy:

AggieChemist
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LOYAL AG said:

AggieChemist said:

Hell, we lost Oldsmobile and Pontiac and they both made some badass cars in the day. Nobody is getting nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal.

Their commercials make me want to puke, and I silently judge everyone I see driving one.
Interesting choice of cars to pick on for a lot of reasons. My dad had one of these and it was actually a nice car. I vividly remember being home on leave from AIT at Christmas 1988 and having several great dates with the older sister of a girl my sister took gymnastics lessons with that, ummm, culminated in the back seat of that thing. So yeah I might actually be a bit nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal!

That aside the Regal was the platform for this beast and, if you've ever driven one, you would DEFINITELY be nostalgic for this bad boy:


Fine. How about the LeSabre then?
1agswitchin4lanes
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Furlock Bones said:

AggieChemist said:

Hell, we lost Oldsmobile and Pontiac and they both made some badass cars in the day. Nobody is getting nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal.

Their commercials make me want to puke, and I silently judge everyone I see driving one.
they sell like crazy in China.
The problem is, its not so much mainstream models like we have here like a Regal or LaCrosse, its small, 1980s/1990s Korean based garbage that wears the shield, also Rebadged Chevy Ventures that sell for 40-80K, and seen as the Suburban/Escalade over there. Can do duty as hotel shuttle, executive transport, etc. Buick in China has a brand recognition like Lexus or BMW here. Any young successful young person will go out and drop $50K US on that Red Buick Regal sitting on the dealer showroom floor. Families end up getting the 1.3L Subcompact deathtrap for $14,000 bucks.

Buicks here sell because the over 50ish crowd buys them. Buick has tried to market to young professionals, and show millenials driving around in a Buick Encore (again, based off the Opel Mokka, which is built in Korea, China and russia) which is Gamma II based so, Chevy Spark/Aveo/Sonic, and maybe they get some business there, but if its not older folks getting them, its rental fleets, and once they come off, they go to places like TDA, Carmax, Vroom, Carvana etc. Where most of the people that shop there have $43.88 to their name and "need a SUV" or "need a big car" and "need to keep their payment around 300/mo". And typically are open to anything other than the Timberlands they walked in off the street on. So they end up often times with something like a Regal, Impala, Charger, 200, Avenger, G6, Trax, Encore, Journey, Captiva, etc.
AggieChemist
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And to be fair, my old man bought an '85 Regal and it was a piece of ***** My memories are not nearly as fond as yours.
LOYAL AG
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AggieChemist said:

LOYAL AG said:

AggieChemist said:

Hell, we lost Oldsmobile and Pontiac and they both made some badass cars in the day. Nobody is getting nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal.

Their commercials make me want to puke, and I silently judge everyone I see driving one.
Interesting choice of cars to pick on for a lot of reasons. My dad had one of these and it was actually a nice car. I vividly remember being home on leave from AIT at Christmas 1988 and having several great dates with the older sister of a girl my sister took gymnastics lessons with that, ummm, culminated in the back seat of that thing. So yeah I might actually be a bit nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal!

That aside the Regal was the platform for this beast and, if you've ever driven one, you would DEFINITELY be nostalgic for this bad boy:


Fine. How about the LeSabre then?
LOL. Yeah, much better choice! No nostalgia there. My grandmother might be though. I'll ask her.
easttexasaggie04
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I honestly had to google Buick. I just assume they no longer sold cars under that brand. That station wagon they make looks kinda cool!
BigPuma
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My great grandma used to own nothing but Park Avenues back in the day. basically she wanted a nice car without the Cadillac price tag.
chimpanzee
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easttexasaggie04 said:

I honestly had to google Buick. I just assume they no longer sold cars under that brand. That station wagon they make looks kinda cool!
Looks kind of cool, by all accounts it isn't.

GM can't help themselves, on the occasion they don't design a product to fit something like Chinese brand image or a dumb marketing gimmick against Ford, they go and make it hideous, refuse to market it, or kill the model outright.
1agswitchin4lanes
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chimpanzee said:

easttexasaggie04 said:

I honestly had to google Buick. I just assume they no longer sold cars under that brand. That station wagon they make looks kinda cool!
Looks kind of cool, by all accounts it isn't.

GM can't help themselves, on the occasion they don't design a product to fit something like Chinese brand image or a dumb marketing gimmick against Ford, they go and make it hideous, refuse to market it, or kill the model outright.
Dealers actually dropped the prices on the Regal Wagons, so you can get one for like 25K now.
Gibbs Slap
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Here is your LeSabre..
chimpanzee
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1agswitchin4lanes said:

chimpanzee said:

easttexasaggie04 said:

I honestly had to google Buick. I just assume they no longer sold cars under that brand. That station wagon they make looks kinda cool!
Looks kind of cool, by all accounts it isn't.

GM can't help themselves, on the occasion they don't design a product to fit something like Chinese brand image or a dumb marketing gimmick against Ford, they go and make it hideous, refuse to market it, or kill the model outright.
Dealers actually dropped the prices on the Regal Wagons, so you can get one for like 25K now.
Getting better. Wish they had't bothered with the Subaru Outback/Volvo Cross Country/Audi Allroad vibe on the wheel wells and extra inch of ride height.
WP69
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Blue Hair's in a Buick. An American icon.
Canyon99
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Look at this hideous POS. Great styling, Buick.

Macarthur
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My company has a 14 LaCross that is used daily and has well over 100k miles and it's been a great car.
sts7049
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for the first time in my life, i opened up the buick configurator online.

i loaded up a regal x "essence" and it came in a hair under 40k. even if they are going for less, i just can't help but look at it and go

91AggieLawyer
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Quote:

Buicks here sell because the over 50ish crowd buys them.

Its more like over 65 crowd now. My crowds' parents were conditioned to think that ALL foreign jobs were POS, and the GM ladder of Chevy/Pontiac/Olds/Buick/Caddy actually meant something. Buick was the Caddy jr. or Caddy lite.

That thinking changed, though, with GM's problems over the last decade. Buick will probably be around as primarily an overseas brand.
Waltonloads08
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91AggieLawyer said:

Quote:

Buicks here sell because the over 50ish crowd buys them.

Its more like over 65 crowd now. My crowds' parents were conditioned to think that ALL foreign jobs were POS, and the GM ladder of Chevy/Pontiac/Olds/Buick/Caddy actually meant something. Buick was the Caddy jr. or Caddy lite.

That thinking changed, though, with GM's problems over the last decade. Buick will probably be around as primarily an overseas brand.


This. My grandparents in their 80's bought a Buick instead of a Cadillac as a value buy, and my grandfather hated it.

"It ain't a Cadillac"

I don't think they ever considered anything else but that GM chain.
Waltonloads08
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I always love the lifecycle of cars and their owners posts
drumboy
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AggieChemist said:

LOYAL AG said:

AggieChemist said:

Hell, we lost Oldsmobile and Pontiac and they both made some badass cars in the day. Nobody is getting nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal.

Their commercials make me want to puke, and I silently judge everyone I see driving one.
Interesting choice of cars to pick on for a lot of reasons. My dad had one of these and it was actually a nice car. I vividly remember being home on leave from AIT at Christmas 1988 and having several great dates with the older sister of a girl my sister took gymnastics lessons with that, ummm, culminated in the back seat of that thing. So yeah I might actually be a bit nostalgic over an '85 Buick Regal!

That aside the Regal was the platform for this beast and, if you've ever driven one, you would DEFINITELY be nostalgic for this bad boy:


Fine. How about the LeSabre then?
Lost my handy V card in a mid 90s LeSabre. Or maybe a Skylark
1agswitchin4lanes
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WaltonBlanks08 said:

I always love the lifecycle of cars and their owners posts


I should make a PBS documentary about it.
drumboy
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Oh and the new Regal TourX wagon looks nice.


TexAg2016
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It's the fake hood "portholes" that really finish off the design of the polished turd.
AgGrad99
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That's how you know it's a female vehicle...
1agswitchin4lanes
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TexAg2016 said:



It's the fake hood "portholes" that really finish off the design of the polished turd.
And here too....

Burdizzo
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Daddy had a Buick and Mama loved to ride
Daddy like to drive it and Mama liked to glide
Four white walls constantly in motion
from the Great Smoky Mountains to the California ocean,
Two-tone, rag-top, holes in the side,
Daddy had a Buick and Mama loved to ride.
TexAg2016
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Burdizzo said:

Daddy had a Buick and Mama loved to ride
Daddy like to drive it and Mama liked to glide
Four white walls constantly in motion
from the Great Smoky Mountains to the California ocean,
Two-tone, rag-top, holes in the side,
Daddy had a Buick and Mama loved to ride.
Three blocks long and two lanes wide
Daddy had a Buick and Mama loved to ride!
cmiller00
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Parents had an early 90s LeSabre forever that went over 200K miles. Had a lot of fun times in that car. When I was 15, parents let me drive it to a girl down the road's birthday party. Me and some buddies left the party drove it to the nearest "wet" town about 20 miles away and bought beer. Puckered all the way but felt like BSDs once we pulled it off.
johnrth
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First and only car I totaled (knock on wood) was my mom's 94 Buick century right after I got my license. She actually thanked me for totaling it. I ended up getting an Oldsmobile achieva after that. She made me stick with Grandma cars. Then when my grandmother couldn't drive she gave my wife my grandmothers 02 Buick century because her neon crapped the bed. I hate buicks.
Ribeye-Rare
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A buddy in high school had a '71 Buick Skylark GSX. And it was a legit muscle car.

Quote:

It was powered by a 455 V8 that produced 350 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque. Yes, you read that torque figure correctly. The GSX produced the highest torque output of any American production car not only for its time, but for the next 33 years. The car that finally surpassed that torque figure? The 2003 Dodge Viper. How do ya like them apples? So clearly we've got one kick ass Buick here that wasn't made for permanent residents of a newly established retirement community down in Boca. In fact, the GSX's output was, not at all surprisingly, likely underrated.

Even though he got it used in '76 it just screamed. When he dropped the hammer down on that 4 barrel carb it snapped your neck back and threw your whole body into last week.

But, it sucked because he was always asking for gas money for that beast. That thing drank it!

I lost touch with him when I went away to college, but someone told me he totaled it. Damn shame.
FarmerJohn
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So the only good story about a Buck on the automotive board involved a gymnast. Noted.
drumboy
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My first car when I was 15 was a 71 Buick Skylark w/ a GS hood & air cleaner and I dreamed of getting a GSX every day until driving a 25 year old car w/ no AC everyday got old. Had some sort of big block 350 (at least it looked a lot bigger than the 350 in my buddy's chevelle) and was pretty quick.

Still can't believe my mom let me get it; she gave me a budget of $3,000 and I found it for $1,600.

Agmechanic
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I just cant believe in this day of leaning out corporations why the different brands even exist.

Everthing should be Chevrolet.

Everything should be Ford.

Same goes for all the other "premium" brands that are just rebadged corrolas, accords, and altimas. Seems like just a giant waste of corporate money to keep all of them going. Esp for GM.
a gmechanic 01@gma i l (no spaces)
IDAGG
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Agmechanic said:

I just cant believe in this day of leaning out corporations why the different brands even exist.

Everthing should be Chevrolet.

Everything should be Ford.

Same goes for all the other "premium" brands that are just rebadged corrolas, accords, and altimas. Seems like just a giant waste of corporate money to keep all of them going. Esp for GM.
To quote Steve Martin "It's a profit deal!" Take a Tahoe, add some premium soundproofing, better leather seats etc and sell it as an Escalade for $95K instead of $55K while only adding a few thousand dollars to your unit cost. People want premium stuff but for ego reasons they need others to know they bought premium stuff. This is the reason why they won't pull the plug on Cadillac and try to sell gussied up Chevrolet Tahoes for $95K...nobody who is anybody wants to pay $95K for what will be viewed as a mere Chevrolet.

Same with every other premium "twin" brand, Lincoln, Acura, Lexus, etc
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