Friends of Buick: Buick LaCrosse/ Allure

When current GM Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz arrived on the scene in late-2001, he chose to delay the launch of the Buick LaCrosse by fourteen months.

There was no shortage of midsize sedans on the market - even, of premium midsizers such as LaCrosse, he observed.

Certainly, few could carry six passengers, as can LaCrosse; yet, from a premium vehicle, one expects more than pragmatism.

Buick could do better, Lutz urged. Buick had long demonstrated that it could strike an enjoyable balance in the face of the numerous and often contradictory demands that are placed on midsize sedans: for one, the stability and solidity and creature comfort of a large car, and the controllability and verve of one rather smaller. The upmarket midsize sedan was simply too vital a territory for Buick to not excel.

Indeed, Buick's Special of the early-60s was the definitive midsize sedan of its era. More recently, midsize cars have continuously been critical at Buick since 1973, when the division's yearly guide for the media stated of the then-new Century, "the big story at Buick for 1973 is an all-new intermediate series with sleek, contemporary styling and numerous upper series features which provide a new level of luxury and convenience for intermediate size cars."

Three decades after this passage was written, the new LaCrosse was the car that would replace the Century

and Regal

(there would, it was decided, be no Epsilon-based Buick Siécle - a model that had been contemplated - below LaCrosse, and so LaCrosse would fill both roles).

The goal would be to design and engineer a sedan whose driver both needed and desired it: to offer fluid styling; fluid power delivery, and fluency of conduct and responsiveness that would do the Buick buyer justice.

LaCrosse has delivered.

Presented at the Chicago Auto Show on February 4^th, 2004 and launched in September of that year, Buick's premium mainstreamer can be motivated by an available Cadillac-bred, all-aluminum 3.6-liter V6 (among the most advanced six-cylinder motors in the world); its sheer quiet resonates with the marque's unequaled mastery, among its peers, of refinement; and its luscious curves present to the world the antithesis of plebian family transport.

In the 2005 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, LaCrosse was found to be the Highest-Ranked All-New Redesigned Launch Vehicle in North America. It was no surprise, then, that later that year AutoPacific's Vehicle Satisfaction Award for the premium mid-size car class went to LaCrosse.

Discover Buick LaCrosse's graceful design

The LaCrosse front fascia draws from those of the 1959 and 1960 Buicks, the '59 car having been a new mix of grace with traditional Buick stoicness. The modern Buick believes that a car should have the durability of a tank, without having to look like one. So, in LaCrosse, solid unibody construction is incorporated into a body of fluid lines, with diving hood meeting a curved belt-line that gestures with the spirit of older Buicks (if not quite to the same literal degree), and certainly with more effort than in current mainstream vehicles.

Understated the LaCrosse may be, but its curvaceous surfacing and form belies the mass-produced nature of its segment - and, despite its entry-level stature in the Buick line, arguably celebrates the romance of the automobile more than does a vehicle with a parallel waterline and oversized details atop a body that blandly (if protectively) deemphasizes the very wheels responsible for the vehicle's motion. This might describe several LaCrosse competitors.

Years ago, GM Vice Chairman Lutz made headlines when he noted at the 2001 Automotive News World Congress that several automotive designs looked either "like a whole family of angry kitchen appliances: demented toasters; furious bread machines, and vengeful trash compactors," or were "the assemblages of mere steel tubes; leather, and plastic (that) look like exercise machines."

Understated the LaCrosse may be, but such a description could never fit it.

Despite what Lutz described as "designers no longer designing for the public, but rather for each other, trying to be ever more off-the-wall than the competition," he also observed concepts that "seemed to be drowning in a sea of sameness: tiny windows; flat fronts; rhomboidal headlights, and slab sides."

Lutz concluded, "it reminds me of the height of the abstract-art boom in the 1960s and 1970s, when you viewed one blue circle and one line on a canvas, and then had to read a two-page description of what the artist meant."

Understated the LaCrosse may be, but appreciating it asks simply that one observes light dance across its gradually delineated planes, rather than question a ham-fisted, incongruously sheared approach to surfacing.

Indeed, we encourage comparison with the Toyota Avalon's flat surfaces; bluff front end, and front overhang which drags lethargically over its front wheel. Avalon's wheelarches themselves make no attempt to integrate into the body, leaving the car appearing undertired. Contrast with Buick designers, who spent considerable time perfecting LaCrosse's fender-to-tire relationship. For Buick, this is a key aspect of visual athleticism, and has been closed by 5/8^ths of an inch versus Buicks of just a few years ago.

How important is stance to a car's design? Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum gives it absolute priority. "The way the wheels sit relative to the body, and the body relative to the ground," for Callum, is critical: "if you get that right, you're halfway there, and doing that is what I pursue above everything else" ('Early Draws,' Autocar, July 27^th, 2004).

A flare at LaCrosse's rear deck reminds of the '59 Buick's Delta Wing. These are Buick lines, with modern Buick understatement despite surfacing that is intricate enough to offer the sense that this is more than a mass-produced conveyance. Topping it off are a few highlights; "chrome is making a comeback," says LaCrosse designer Dennis Burke of the sprinkling of chrome accents, adding, "we have bright metal finishes inside and out" (Automotive Industries, March 2004).

Efforts made under the wheelarches underscore attention-to-detail across the LaCrosse: precision body-panel fits; intricate surfacing lit with accents, and jewel-like lamps front and rear. Indeed, LaCrosse panels fit in under three millimeters, a painstaking improvement from 3.5mm.

Attention to detail continues at the streamlined door mirrors - a common source of wind noise - which contrast with Avalon's oversized units that appear as though lifted from a truck.

"If it means that we have to spend a little more to give you a little better - we do," Buick explained in 1963. The philosophy rings true today.

Aesthetic fluidity is a fine thing to behold. Yet premium passenger car refinement should extend to fluency in ride and roadholding - and, in this respect, the LaCrosse is in a class of its own. Refusing to compromise, Buick shows mastery of the tenuous balance between comfort and grip, all the while clinging tenuously to the road with a linearity - a fluidity - unknown to its competition.

That fluidity is the result of fine-tuning a quality suspension. Designed under Chief Engineer Ed Hufnagle, these are the parts that keep LaCrosse's tires perpendicular to the road, and you, shielded from road imperfections yet glued to your intended trajectory.

Discover Buick LaCrosse's fluid roadability

With up to 240 horsepower on tap, for LaCrosse it is critical that additional power does not expose limits of monocoque rigidity or drivetrain layout. A MacPherson configuration

underpins virtually all front ends in this class - yet, at its rear, Buick LaCrosse goes a step further with sophisticated, all-aluminum multi-link arms.

Toyota's Camry and Avalon cut costs in placing a cheaper, agricultural dual-link MacPherson at the rear end year in, year out, choosing to change instead the pieces you see.

Not Buick engineers, who spend their budget fitting LaCrosse with premium parts inside; out - and underneath, in search of sure-footed compliance. LaCrosse's rear suspension is a trailing-arm tri-link, compared to Camry/ Avalon's agricultural, cheaper dual-link system. In addition to superior fluidity, trailing arms have strong resistance to lift (the rising of rear end during braking), and resistance to squat (the settling of the rear end during hard acceleration).

For 2005 and the LaCrosse introduction, Buick took its premium tri-link and refurbished 80% of it with new pieces - pieces that improve suspension travel, recognition of the importance of defining suspension geometry three-dimensionally for best results. Jounce bumpers are longer, 85mm versus 65mm. On the wheel's rebound, damper bumpers are four times longer (40mm versus 10mm) for better cushioning.

Meanwhile, LaCrosse's significant wheelbase enables its constant-rate front and variable-rate rear springs to be 20 percent stiffer than perhaps we've been accustomed to from Buick. A new front strut mount doubles the damping compared with previous designs (and, as befits Buick's standing, is the first application of this design on a GM midsize car). Front and rear suspensions are aided and abetted by stabilizers, resisting roll and camber change on 225/60 (or, on the higher-powered LaCrosse CXS, 225/55) series tires.

LaCrosse places more importance on tire width over tire diameter, and the performance-minded director of Ford Team RS, Jost Capito, would agree. "You want grip, but you have to balance the torque steer and steering feel... that's the main task with a front-drive car," Capito muses, explaining his choice of 8-inch wide, 18-inch tall rims in the performance-minded 2006 Ford Focus ST over 19-inch wheels ('Refocusing,' evo, September 2005).

The sense of control is part of active safety - that which helps to avoid a collision - and it is as important at Buick as passive safety. In addition to suspension modifications, front and rear tracks were widened, and the center of gravity, lowered. Bringing the center of gravity down toward the front roll center has endowed the LaCrosse with superlative steering response -

- steering response, mind you, with significant on-center highway feel for this class of car, and managed through a tilt-and-telescoping steering column. It is a small touch, to be sure, but an important contribution to driver comfort (and thus control) - and it is surprising how many competitors overlook it. Expect nothing less from a brand for whom ergonomics is a core value.

Furthermore, LaCrosse CXS' unique magnetic variable-effort power steering

uses an electromagnetic controller that senses the amount of effort needed to turn the wheel and applies the correct amount of assistance based on vehicle speed. The technology first debuted at Buick on the 1996 LeSabre

and Park Avenue Ultra, and has since evolved to offer superlative handling and roadholding.

Magnetic variable-effort steering provides a variable torsional rate in the steering gear through the operation of a magnetic machine incorporated within. A coil within the machine electronically regulates the torsional rate of the device, subtracting torsional rate during parking maneuvers, and increasing in rate as vehicle speed increases. Depending on the polarity of the current in the coil, the resulting alignment force is either additive or subtractive to the existing torsion bar rate.

This is graduated power assist; steering that knows when to step in and help the driver - and when to step back. Exert a greater degree of turning force on the wheel, and the unit will feed in as much help as requested. Yet when the steering lightens - at cruising speed - it cuts back on the power assist, for tauter road feel. One feels the road through the hands; feels the amount of grip that the tires have on the road.

Magnetic variable-effort steering offers an extremely wide range of assist; uses noncontact mechanization for smooth power steering from one effort level to another, and features few moving parts to minimize friction; to provide exceptional reliability, and to ensure symmetrical loading.

Anti-lock

all-around disc brakes are (of course) standard on LaCrosse - because discs shed water and dissipate heat faster than the rear drum brakes of Honda's base Accord and Toyota's base Camry.

LaCrosse has no limited-slip differential to help contain torque steer, and places more emphasis on having a good stability-control system, so that the car does not lose traction (traction itself being a Buick hallmark) or corner exit speed. One wants the feeling of the road, but without the distractions or intrusions.

It helps, then, that optionally available on all LaCrosse models is StabiliTrak, a sophisticated electronic stability-control system which subtly keeps LaCrosse securely pointed in the right direction on ice; snow; gravel; wet pavement, and uneven road surfaces.

The story of LaCrosse's StabiliTrak is one of a multitude of sensors, and of the harnessing of massive on-board computing power.

The measurements of an accelerator pedal position sensor; a brake master cylinder pressure sensor; a steering-wheel-angle sensor; a lateral accelerometer; a yaw rate sensor, and wheel-speed sensors are sent to a computer hundreds of times per second. If the driver is steering LaCrosse through a curve, the system predicts the path the driver intends to take, and continually compares this with the vehicle's path.

When the predicted paths and intended paths are the same, all is well.

On slick surfaces, however, the difference between the steering-wheel angle and the direction in which LaCrosse is actually turning is likely to be greater. The appropriate brake is precisely applied, and engine power is reduced to keep LaCrosse on course. StabiliTrak pulses the outside brake in an oversteer situation, and the inside brake in an understeer situation.

GM Vice Chairman Lutz emphasizes that StabiliTrak is programmed to be as unobtrusive as possible. "You just think you're one of the world's best drivers, and sadly the rest of the world doesn't recognize it," he muses.

"Our software guys will define a line all the way around the complex inside perimeter of the physical boundaries of the car so that you can go all the way to the limits in any direction before the system takes over. The system still intervenes to save you from yourself, but you really have to take it to the very edge before it kicks in" (Corvette C6, Phil Berg, MBI, 2004).

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that this type of stability control can reduce single-vehicle crashes involving cars by 35%. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has also found electronic stability control systems to be very effective in reducing single-vehicle crashes.

Approximately twenty square inches connect you and your car to the road. Your car's tires are among the most important aspects of your safety and its performance. That's why LaCrosse, like every 2006 Buick, features standard tire-pressure monitoring.

Additionally - 'tis a small thing, but LaCrosse features standard Daytime Running Lamps (DRLs). Buick parent company General Motors cites studies proving that DRLs have helped reduce daytime multi-vehicle crashes by 12.5%, and pedestrian-car accidents by 15%. At time of writing, GM figures that up to 85,000 crashes may have been prevented by DRLs, since 1995.

We've talked about active safety - that which helps to avoid a collision - being as important at Buick as passive safety. In the unhappy event of a collision, however, several factors go to work, protecting you and your passengers from harm.

An energy-absorbing full-perimeter aluminum engine cradle directs impact energy away from passengers (while quelling vibrations). Standard dual-stage frontal airbags deploy in a secondary stage, if the frontal collision is more severe. Standard side-curtain airbags cushion the head and upper torso (n.b: Buick parent company General Motors was the first to offer child-friendly side-impact airbags).

LaCrosse has received the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's (NHTSA) highest, 5-star rating in driver and passenger frontal collision safety.

LaCrosse has, additionally, received the Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) highest, Good rating for frontal-offset crashes.

Beyond active protection, rest assured that - like all 2006 Buicks - LaCrosse comes with OnStar

as standard equipment with a complimentary one-year Safe & Sound subscription. In the case of airbag deployment (or vehicle theft), that advisor works with police to assist in recovery.

Locked-out? Out of gas? Need a tow? Curious about a Check Engine alert? A live advisor can help.

It's the kind of reassurance for which Buick has long been known - the same philosophy that lends LaCrosse's platinum-tipped spark plugs a 100,000-mile service life, and its coolant, up to 150,000 miles of engine protection.

Add Hands-Free Calling to OnStar, and stay better connected on the road with a powerful three-watt digital/ analog system and external antenna for superior reception. It's a premium feature for a premium car - a premium car whose ambience and amenities befit its brand and stature.

Discover Buick LaCrosse's luxurious ambience and amenities

Inside LaCrosse CXL, premium Nuance leather meets gathered-stitch French seams.

Head restraints are infused with silk and, across the dashboard, crafted soft-touch materials couch intelligently-positioned controls.

Many a Toyota/ Lexus product has committed the error of overly short seat bottoms; not so the Buick. In an age when it seems that everything related to an automobile is done by computer simulation, the LaCrosse is the first GM vehicle in over a decade to have its interior designed the time-honored way: with the aid of an Interior Craftsmanship Buck, or ICB. At the earliest design stages, real people could sit in a real interior mock-up, and critique the position and usefulness of the instruments; controls, and console.

For Buick, ergonomics is vital.

Acoustics play a critical role in defining the character of an automobile. "Apart from the look of a vehicle, its acoustic behavior is the aspect most directly observable to the user," notes BMW Director of Acoustics and Vibration Dr. Peter Zeller. For Buick, quiet is an important ergonomic quality. Buick's QuietTuning process is designed to reduce or tune out unwanted noise and harshness throughout every area of the vehicle. Attention to areas such as exterior aerodynamics; component isolation, and fine-tuning of all related elements achieve the quietest ride and most desirable frequency ranges for every Buick. Gearbox noise; load reversal; auxiliaries; road noise; resonance effects; mechanical squeaks and rattles; idle noise, and pass-by noise must be minimized, while actuation (windows and other devices, for instance) and engines are to be tuned.

LaCrosse's QuietTuning is exemplary. "We've never done an application that has been this quiet before," confirmed LaCrosse noise and vibration performance manager Dan Nolley (Ward's Auto World, April 1^st, 2005).

First, the exhaust system was tuned for minimal noise; vibration, and harshness. Next, acoustic laminate was used on the windshield and front side glass; expanded baffles feature in the roof pillars, and melt-on sound deadeners have been used throughout the entire lower body structure. For good measure, Buick added additional sound-absorbing material throughout LaCrosse's engine; passenger, and cargo compartments.

In addition, steel laminate was installed in the front-of-dash body area. Laminated steel is a type of sandwiched sheet metal that uses two layers of steel bonded together by a polymer core. With viscoelastic properties, the core reduces vibration transferred through the panel. By reducing vibration, noise is also reduced. Laminated steel is also 100% recyclable.

QuietTuning is carefully designed and applied within every LaCrosse model, and is by far the most painstaking process of refinement from noise; vibration, and harshness in this segment (and, in some cases, well beyond it). Toyota, for instance, does not attempt an acoustic, noise-reducing windshield unless one opts for the niche Camry Hybrid. Moreover, while LaCrosse's front side glass is also laminated, the substantively more expensive Jaguar XJ has only just - for 2007 - received this feature.

On all LaCrosse models, a graphic equalizer and automatic headlights are standard. All Buick LaCrosse models come with standard remote keyless entry; standard power driver's seat; power windows with express-down driver's window; six-speaker CD player, and full interior illumination with delayed entry/ exit lighting and theater-style dimming.

Optionally, Buick will upgrade the stereo to 9-speaker Concert Sound III. The Buick Concert Sound system has been progressively refined since its introduction for 1980. At your request, Buick will also equip the CD unit with a six-disc changer; add steering-wheel-mounted audio and climate controls; add a power-sliding sunroof; power the passenger seat and heat both front seats; heat the outside mirrors; give each front passenger their own climate zone (with a 28ºF/ 16ºC difference between zones), and equip LaCrosse with a 492-foot (150-meter) remote starter.

Also available on LaCrosse is XM Satellite radio. The service beams over 150 channels of clear, digital-quality sound across 800 terrestrial repeaters to the LaCrosse, sixty-seven of these channels being commercial-free music and news; sports; talk; comedy, and instant traffic and weather updates. Consumers can subscribe to the basic service for $12.99 a month. In addition, Buick customers with GMAC financing can choose to include the XM subscription in their car payments. Select XM with LaCrosse, and receive three trial months of service.

The LaCrosse's capacious 16 cubic foot trunk

is cavernous, no doubt. Yet if space is a luxury, the correct packaging and utilization of it is intelligent luxury. For the trunk, this means a low liftover height, with nonintrusive lid hinges within. Rear seats fold to provide pass-through access.

From the Wildcat to the Grand National, Buick power is legendary - not solely for its numbers, but for the smoothness of its delivery. It would not do, then, to equip LaCrosse with a loss-leader four-cylinder; Buick has long distanced itself from such engines. Instead, two V6 engines are available.

One is the overhead-valve Buick 3800, renowned for its torque and robustness, and the benchmark for overhead-valve V6 engines in packaging; efficiency; smoothness, and reliability.

The other, in LaCrosse CXS, is a dual-overhead-cam unit of Cadillac breeding, and among the most advanced V6 engines in the world.

Overhead-valve or dual-overhead-cam - the choice is yours.

Why the choice? The better to fit your driving style.

Overhead-valve engines, which have one intake and exhaust valve per cylinder, are generally described as torquers, touting strong low-end performance.

Meanwhile, dual overhead-cam engines have two intake and two exhaust valves per cylinder, allowing more air to flow into the combustion chamber and more exhaust gas to flow out of it; their strength is better performance at high rpms.

LaCrosse's is a choice between two of the best engines of their type - and a choice no other premium manufacturer offers.

Discover Buick LaCrosse's powerful V6 engines

Motivated by the legendary Buick 3800 OHV V6, producing 200 horsepower @ 5,200rpm and 230 foot-pounds @ 4,000rpm, LaCrosse CX and CXL attain an EPA-rated cruising range of 525 miles. Now in Series III (L26) form, with aluminum intake manifold; aluminum oil pan, and a transmission brace, this is an evolution of the same engine that occupied Ward Auto World's 10 Best Engines list for a decade: one of the 10 Best Engines of the 20th Century, as they called it.

Now, it is thirty percent quieter than its predecessor - and, as we've seen, quiet is an important ergonomic attribute at Buick. Moreover, it is designated a Super Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) engine.

For more on the continuous development of the legendary 3800, you might enjoy The Life and Times of the 90-degree Buick V6.

Upgrade to LaCrosse CXS, and gain an all-aluminum 3.6-liter DOHC V6 (LY7) of Cadillac breeding. With it, LaCrosse musters 242 horsepower @ 6,000rpm. Most impressively, 90% of peak 232 foot-pounds of torque is available between 1,500 and 6,000rpm, courtesy a Variable Valve Timing (VVT) system with variable-length intake manifold, which adjusts the timing of both intake and exhaust valves, enhancing the existing balance of power; efficiency, and low emissions. "It's a very tractable engine," muses premium V6 engineer Bob Jacques (Automotive Industries, March 2004).

Whichever engine you choose, depress the throttle, and your instruction is transmitted without wires; rather, Electronic Throttle Control uses a sensor at the pedal to measure its angle, and seamlessly opens the throttle to the precise desired rate. The technology permits LaCrosse CXS to offer traction control, the better to manage the power.

With both engines, LaCrosse's 4T65 4-speed automatic is smooth and responsive, with no reliability blemishes in its history - certainly, nothing like the transmission durability problems that have plagued Honda/ Acura and Toyota/ Lexus.

Durability is vital at Buick - a vital aspect of Buick reassurance that has been recognized in more independent studies than the competition has years of automaking.

Discover Buick LaCrosse's superlative quality

J.D. Power and Associates' 2006 Assembly Plant Quality study gave the Oshawa #2 plant, home of Buick LaCrosse, its Gold award.

J.D. Power and Associates' 2005 Assembly Plant Quality study found Buick parent company General Motors to have swept the top three positions of eighty-four manufacturing plants in North and South America. The Silver award in Assembly Plant Quality belonged to Oshawa #2.

Moreover, in results released June 1^st, 2006, the 2006 Harbour Report has found Oshawa #2 to be the second-most productive plant in North America. Ron Harbour, president of Harbour Consulting, noted that GM's steady improvement in the annual Harbour Report results over the years "has been driven by its plant quality improvements, reducing repair and overtime and thereby labor content in every car and truck." Buick's excellent performance is further proof that continuous improvement is part of its culture.

Oshawa #2 has been in operation since 1953.

Meanwhile, among Toyota/ Lexus' competitors to the LaCrosse, the Avalon, has suffered from bad U-joint welds; faulty catalytic converters; a leak in the oil-supply line for the variable valve timing; vehicle drifting; rattling; abrupt shifting, and engine knocks (per this article from Automotive News).

This, atop Toyota recalls in 2006 of more than one million vehicles globally for items such as flanges (whose lack of durability could cause wheels to fall off); for faulty intermediate steering shafts, and for sliding yokes. U.S. recalls of Toyota cars and trucks rose more than tenfold from 2003 to 2005, to more than 2.2 million vehicles - including a recall for a steering relay rod which could crack under extreme steering maneuvers.

Toyota Avalon owner Kevin Clingenpeel writes, "I pulled up next to a Ford F-350, and I could hear my valvetrain clicking louder than his valvetrain." Clingenpeel adds that neither Toyota nor its dealers have been forthcoming about the problems.

Indeed, for its part, Toyota appears overwhelmed by the complexity of the luxury car category. "The Avalon is the most complex vehicle Toyota Division sells, so just by definition it's a problematic vehicle," says Toyota spokesman John Hanson ('Avalon shows dent in Toyota quality; fixes sought for problematic vehicles,' Automotive News, May 1^st, 2006).

Avalon owner Alan Seider, a Toyota driver since 1982, is quoted in the article as saying, "Toyota's build quality has declined in recent years, and there seems to be nothing the dealer can do." Seider indicates that his 2006 Avalon will likely be his last Toyota.

"Seider is far from alone," qualifies Automotive News, explaining that "Internet chat rooms such as Edmunds.com Town Hall are littered with complaints from Toyota loyalists about the redesigned Avalon..." ('Avalon shows dent in Toyota quality; fixes sought for problematic vehicles,' Automotive News, May 1^st, 2006)

Mind you, Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press noticed problems with the Avalon as far back as March 24^th, 2005. "Pieces are not supposed to fall off new cars. Particularly not new Toyotas. That's the reason people buy Toyotas. The company's mission statement is practically the pieces stay where we put them," Phelan started out.

"Mission not accomplished," he concluded of the $34,629 Avalon XLS he was testing, finding "several quality defects - including a dial that fell out and left a hole in the dashboard - leaving it trailing the competition.

"The dial to adjust the brightness of the instrument panel lights fell out of the dashboard the first time I touched it. The result was a hole the size of your index finger and the certainty of a visit to the service department.

"The ceiling-mounted buttons for the front dome lights squeaked, and they were made of what felt like the thinnest, cheapest plastic I can ever recall in a Toyota.

"The spring-loaded drawer that holds the controls for the navigation system never came all the way open on its own, and several pieces of colored trim on the dash and doors did not quite align."

Product is king, except when it is not, and it is stereotyped for other reasons (see our FAQ section for information on the perception gap). Test-drive a Buick LaCrosse, and we predict you might be still further convinced that this is not a good time for a Toyota Avalon's dashboard to be coming off in its driver's hands.

As we write this, Toyota is recalling the 2007 Toyota Camry - less than a month after its launch - for its transmission's tendency to lose two gears during operation, thanks to a fastener within the transmission potentially coming loose in the first 500 miles of operation.

Moreover - Toyota appears to have recalled just 150 of the 5,800 Camrys equipped with the fastener, generally treating the problem with a technical-service bulletin sent to dealers. In this way, the company stays under the recall radar.

What of Camry owners? "As a result, owners must wait for the transmission to fail before it can be repaired under warranty," writes Automotive News ('Bad transmission fastener can lead to limping '07 Toyota Camry,' Automotive News, May 1^st, 2006 - read article).

As for Honda and its premium Acura brand? Says Satisfaction: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Customer coauthor Chris Denove, "Honda recently had transmission problems, but it got a pass because people expect Hondas to have good quality" (Detroit Free Press, April 10^th, 2006).

That's a perception gap. As defined at some length in our FAQ section, it helps neither the consumer, nor the industry - an industry which Buick has repeatedly led in quality, in J.D. Power independent studies, since 1989.

LaCrosse is available in seven exterior and four interior finishes.

What does the color of your Buick say about you?

General Motors color trend manager Christopher Webb spends up to two years studying and testing every Buick color, for durability in both senses of the word.

It is important work. Webb estimates that 34% of customers would walk out of the dealership if they could not get the color they wanted, up from 27% ten years ago.

In a recent copy of Buick's The Style Review in-house magazine, Webb cites studies that color influences mood and behavior.

Blue, for example, is known to be calming, while fiery oranges and yellows stimulate. White suggests purity; green is associated with nature and money, and purple is thought to represent royalty.

Indeed, if Webb and his team have their way, a purple-toned LaCrosse may debut soon.

While such cultural associations tend to endure, trends in taste and preference change over time, reflecting the fluctuating moods and priorities of a society. Metallic car colors, for instance, soared in popularity during the recent tech revolution.

Today, Webb notes that "brown is an ascending luxury color and is making a big comeback... especially in interiors."

Yet Webb admits that color trends are currently in a state of flux. "It's a generation change," he told The Style Review. "Formerly, the more mature, luxury market wanted conservative colors - silvers; grays; blacks - while the youth market wanted high impact. That's been reversed somewhat."