Consumer Report 2011 Annual Car Reliability Survey: Most reliable American cars

Consumer Reports recently unveiled the results of its latest reliability survey, showing that Asian brands continue to occupy the top-tier, claiming nine of the top 10 spots in our rankings. However, the findings among the domestic brands are noteworthy, and there’s plenty of good news within each segment.

We’re often asked how the domestics’ reliability stacks up, especially with some people wanting to specifically buy American. (Of course, defining what is an “American” car can be a challenge.) The results show that there are some very reliable U.S.-branded models, but they also remind of potential risks with buying first-year models.

Below is a list of vehicles with the highest predicted reliability within their respective segments. (We have only listed models whose predicted reliability is average or better.)

Luxury SUVs
Buick Enclave (FWD) 

Read More: http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/10/most-reliable-american-cars.html

Buick Verano Hybrid Coming--But Not Until 2015

By John Voelcker

Remember The Purloined Letter, the classic Edgar Allen Poe story where a letter is hidden by storing it in plain sight?

General Motors may not have realized it, but the industry trade journal Automotive News seems to have published a previously unannounced piece of its future model plans--right out in the open.
The vehicle is a hybrid-electric version of the Buick Verano, the compact luxury sedan that's just now hitting dealerships.

The hybrid Verano won't arrive, mind you, until 2015.

At least, that's what it says on an Automotive News graphic spread, "Suppliers to the 2012 Buick Verano," that breaks out ... well, the major companies that supply components to the 2012 Verano program.

The data used comes from Supplier Business, which tracks supplier relationships across the entire industry.

The entry is for a "2.5-liter Hybrid (2015-2020)," which we suspect is the successor to the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine fitted with the mild-hybrid system known as eAssist (in the 2012 Buick Lacrosse and Regal) and also used in the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco.

Read More: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1067536_buick-verano-hybrid-coming--but-not-until-2015

REVIEWS: 2012 Buick Regal GS

General Motors now has a truly global product development organization, but it still seems somewhat flustered when it comes to marketing "foreign" cars in the United States. The Buick Regal GS is the latest vehicle -- the Saturn Astra, the Pontiac GTO and G8, and the Cadillac Catera also come to mind -- to land haphazardly on our shores without a well-defined mission.

To recap briefly, the Opel Insignia, which debuted in Europe to rave reviews in 2008, was supposed to come to the United States as part of a broad alliance between Opel and Saturn. Alas, Saturn went belly up and GM ran away from the idea of an "Opel USA," though the company's latest products, including the Chevrolet Cruze and the upcoming Malibu, ride on platforms developed largely in Europe. Cast about in this shuffle, the Insignia, by now a three-year-old car, arrived to fight in a bitterly competitive segment wearing an old muscle-car nameplate for a brand looking to steal Lexus buyers. As if that weren't enough to swallow, the official launch party for the GS, which I attended, was at a Buick-sponsored Plain White Tees concert in Miami Beach. Can you say, "Huh?" Compare this confusion with the focused campaign that accompanied the Ford Fiesta's U.S. launch, and you'll see the issue.

I bring all this up because I worry the marketing will sabotage a very good product. The GS treatment polishes over our complaints about the Regal 2.0T. The 2.0-liter four-cylinder seems to breathe more freely in this high-output configuration and suffers less from turbo lag, though the moment's hesitation off the line and a faint whistling keep it from quite matching the Audi A4's excellent four-cylinder. The GS has some of the sharpest steering I've experienced in a front-wheel-drive car, and despite the extra power, doesn't suffer from much torque steer. It dives into corners with almost unsettling quickness and exhibits very little body roll, especially when the dampers are in "GS" mode. The firm ride, progressive brake pedal, and slick manual shifter all further the impression that the Regal is a well thought out European sedan. And unlike the imported Holdens and Opels of yore, the Regal doesn't have a bland exterior or a confounding interior. The latter does suffer from having too many center-console buttons but this, again, reflects the car's age more than its origin. Some will continue to question the decision to forgo the Insignia OPC's turbo V-6 and all-wheel drive. I actually drove that car and find this setup much lighter and more responsive feeling.

Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/editors_notebook/1110_2012_buick_regal_gs/index.html#ixzz1ah9PgGsW

2012 Buick LaCrosse vs. La Crosse, Wisconsin - Feature Test

Who wouldn’t salivate at the prospect of spending a week or so prying into both the refreshed 2012 edition of Buick’s curvy two-year-old entry-luxury sedan and Wisconsin’s mostly rectilinear brick-and-mortar, 161-year-old, 12th-largest metropolis? No wonder this unlikely pair of name-alikes posed an in­triguing and irresistible challenge for C/D’s test team.

Let’s admit upfront that there are significant basic differences—the Buick LaCrosse’s 13 cubic feet of storage space, for instance, loses lopsidedly to the Wisconsin competitor’s estimated 34,000,000 cubic feet (not counting attics, cellars, or barns). Plus, the Badger-state candidate’s options extend to running water, Chinese takeout, and Swedish massage, while the far-from-spartan Buick can counter only with the usual extras like a sunroof and a rear-seat entertainment system. And the Wisconsin version offers an option unavailable to the Buick customer: You can call the movers and vamoose.

The proud product of Kansas City, Kansas, is big but is edged by its nomenclatural Wisconsin counterpart at 22.2 square miles. That’s big. Yet consider: Both are products of the same U.S. Midwestern ethic, both have plentiful doors and seating room, and no one on the coasts has ever heard of either of them. So LaCrosse versus La Crosse, here we come.

Performance is a clear Buick strong point in any meaningful comparison, hardly a shocking state of affairs when you glance at the specs: Even though the Buick LaCrosse is powered by a modest 2.4-liter, inline four-cylinder (with the mildest of  hybrid systems) pumping out 182 horsepower (the 303-hp, 3.6-liter V-6 costs extra), its roughly two-ton mass makes for a power-to-weight ratio for either version that leaves La Crosse—tipping the scales at an estimated 3.45 billion tons (and that’s not even including suburbs)—at something of a disadvantage. Even the mayor candidly admits, “It’s hard to get this place moving forward.”

The Buick LaCrosse should yield respectable, though less than neck-snapping, 0-to-60 times of 6.4 to 8.9 seconds, depending on the engine; meanwhile, the Wisconsin entity, geologists report, moves about 0.00001 inch per millennium. Sounds glacially slow, sure, but that turns out in fact to be about average for every city and town in its geographical category. And no disgrace for a heavyweight toting so many billions of tons of avoirdupois that it makes even the pudgy Buick seem like a flyweight. Happily, the wet-weather braking performance of the Buick is consistent and efficient. Our testers found that La Crosse comes to a screeching halt at midnight sharp every Saturday—rain or shine.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/11q3/2012_buick_lacrosse_vs._la_crosse_wisconsin-feature_test

Buick LaCrosse Chicago