2009 Buick Lucerne Review and Prices

by Chuck Giametta

2009 Buick Lucerne buying advice
Insist on efficient use of passenger space or demand confidence-inspiring handling in anything traffic or the road can throw at you and the Buick Lucerne disappoints.

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If you don’t hold cars to those standards, the CXL model is the best 2009 Buick Lucerne value. It’s thoroughly equipped for a sticker price under $30,000, and you’ll pay even less once the frequent dealer discounts and factory incentives kick in. It’s got the big-car feel and play- it-safe design that should please any American-car loyalist who’s developed affection for front-wheel drive. Of course, loyalists with those values are really better served by the Toyota Avalon, the Buick that Buick should be building.

Move into the mid-$30,000 price range, the driving satisfaction provided by Lucerne’s V-8 CXS model pales compared that furnished for similar money by the Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C. And for just a couple of thousand more than the top-line Lucerne Super, consider the Cadillac DTS, a far better execution of an old-school, front-wheel-drive domestic luxury car.

What you’ve got to know about the 2009 Buick Lucerne
The golf deity may feign otherwise, but a Tiger Woods drive down the fairway is a lot more exciting than a Buick Lucerne drive down the freeway. Probably straighter, too, given the big Buick’s tendency to wander a bit at higher speeds.

Driving thrills, however, aren’t the primary concern of the 2009 Buick Lucerne. Its goal is large-car comfort and quite, ample power, grown-up styling, and a feeling of value for the money. Judged by modest expectations, it delivers.

The 2009 Buick Lucerne release date is autumn 2008.

What’s changed about the 2009 Buick Lucerne
No changes of significance are anticipated for the 2009 Buick Lucerne. Lucerne was released for model-year 2006 as Buick’s flagship car. It replaced both the Buick LeSabre and Park Avenue.

No change to the 2009 Buick Lucerne will significantly alter its performance or passenger accommodations from those of the 2008 model. Statements in this review about performance and accommodations are based on detailed test drives of the 2008 Buick Lucerne.

What you can expect from the 2009 Buick Lucerne
The 2009 Buick Lucerne range will continue with four models: CX and CXL, both with a 197-horsepower V-6 engine, CXS with a 275-horsepower V-8, and the top-line Lucerne Super with a 292-horsepower version of the V-8.

Buick’s plans are not final, but it’s likely the styling and basic mechanical layout of the 2009 Buick Lucerne will be unaltered until at least model-year 2011. That’s when some reports had Lucerne being replaced by an all-new model with a rear-wheel-drive layout instead of the current front-wheel-drive engineering. That scenario now appears less than certain as General Motors assess its model plans.

2009 Buick Lucerne competition
The 2009 Buick Lucerne appeals to the same older, conservative buyers drawn to the Toyota Avalon and the Ford Taurus and similar Mercury Sable. As a full-size American sedan, Lucerne also competes with the Chrysler 300.

Like Lucerne, Avalon is front-wheel drive but it comes only with a V-6 engine. The Ford and Mercury also come only with a V-6, but offer a choice of front- or all-wheel-drive. The Chrysler is the athlete of the bunch, with a choice of V-6 or Hemi V-8 power and rear-wheel drive or all-wheel-drive.

Avalon is Lucerne’s most refined rival, with levels of comfort and quality that would be at home in a car from Toyota’s upscale Lexus brand. Avalon’s base price range is about $28,000-$35,000, depending on trim level. Toyota’s largest car was last redesigned for the 2005 model year and will next be redesigned for 2011 or 2012.

Taurus was introduced for 2005 as the Ford Five Hundred and renamed for 2008. Like its Sable sibling, it’s the biggest and roomiest sedan in this bunch, but also feels the least polished in terms of interior appointments, engine smoothness, and handling. Base price range is around $23,500-$29,200. The next major Taurus redo is probably for 2010.

The Chrysler 300 is Lucerne’s most flamboyant adversary, with brave styling, bold engine choices, and rear-wheel-drive suited to sporty dry-road handling. Prices start around $25,000 and rise to $42,000 for the 425-horsepower SRT8 model. The 300 bowed for 2005 and hasn’t changed much since. Timing of its next major alteration is uncertain.

Driving the Buick Lucerne
With no changes of note planned for the engines, even V-8 versions of the Lucerne will seem sedate, unable to really pin you back in your seat even in full-throttle acceleration. V-6 models take longer to build up speed, but move well enough to render the curiously unsatisfying V-8s nonessential.

No Lucerne changes direction with aplomb, succumbing to lots of body lean and some nose plow. Worse is steering feel: light and vague enough to require constant corrections, especially at highway speeds. V-8 versions have variable-assist steering designed to firm up as vehicle speed increases, but it doesn’t entirely mitigate the car’s troublingly inability to feel confidently connected to the road. A huge turning radius makes this car a pain to maneuver in tight spaces.

The 2009 Buick Lucerne’s front-wheel drive layout puts the weight of the engine over the driven wheels for good traction in snow. But front-wheel drive has gone out of fashion in cars with upscale intentions. It can’t provide the handling balance drivers who can afford them have come to demand. That’s why BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, even Cadillac embrace rear-wheel-drive, and why some Buick fans hope the next-generation Lucerne will have it, too.

Riding in the Buick Lucerne
Lucerne easily soaks up ruts and sharp pavement joints, but the trade-off is a sloppy ride with lots of bobbing and weaving on uneven surfaces. CXS and Super models have General Motors’ Magnetic Ride Control designed to “read” the road surface and instantly adjust suspension firmness to maintain comfort while quelling unwanted body motions. But even Magnetic Ride Control can’t seem to strike an acceptable balance of absorption and poise.

Buick Optional heating and cooling is available for Lucerne’s roomy front seats.
Judging from Lucerne’s generous size, you’d expect an expansive passenger compartment. That’s true for front-seaters, who get plenty of room on comfy bucket seats, seats that can be not only optionally heated, but cooled – a nice feature for a car not solidly in the luxury price range. Rear passengers aren’t cramped, but can’t help but feel shortchanged by a seat cushion shy on thigh support and by foot wells tight for toe space. Even the fold-down center armrest seems undersized.

Lucerne’s designers were stingy with space for small-items storage in the passenger compartment, and while the trunk is large, cargo versatility is hampered by the absence of folding rear seatbacks and the intrusive presence of large U-shaped trunk-lid hinges.

Lucerne does deliver on the Buick oath of a quiet ride, with little wind, road, or engine noise finding its way into the cabin.

Buick Lucerne dashboard and controls
Here’s where a conservative approach to design pays off. Lucerne drivers enjoy in a refreshingly simple layout of gauges and a sensible number of large, plainly marked audio- and climate-system buttons and dials. Even the steering wheel comes with user-friendly auxiliary audio controls. A navigation system is optional, and it, too, is an example of intuitive design.

Lucerne’s dashboard is refreshingly simple, with large gauges and simple controls.
Unlike some cars these days, Lucerne’s dashboard has no “airplane cockpit” pretensions, so its centrally located controls for entertainment, climate, and navigation systems are as accessible to the front passenger as to the driver.

Buick Lucerne fuel economy
The V-6 engine has to work harder than the V-8s to move the weighty Lucerne, so it doesn’t provide much advantage in fuel economy. Expect the V-6 CX and CXL models to average around 16 mpg and the V-8s about 15 over the long-term in mixed city and highway driving. The V-6 does however save money by using regular-grade fuel. Buick recommends more-expensive premium-grade gas for the V-8 engines.

Buick Lucerne safety
Lucerne rates highly in crash tests. In government evaluations for protection of the driver and front passenger in a frontal impact, the Lucerne scores five stars out of a possible five. In government tests for driver and rear-passenger protection in a side impact, Lucerne earns four of five stars.

Lucerne’s uplevel CXS and Super models come standard with two significant safety features: an antiskid system, which activates individual brakes to keep the car on course in fast turns; and brake assist, which automatically applies full stopping power in emergency stops. These features are optionally available on the CX and CXL models in a Driver’s Confidence Package. The package brings the CX and CXL apace with the uplevel models by also including useful rear-obstacle detection, remote engine start, rain-sensing wipers, and a heated washer-fluid system.

The Driver’s Confidence Package is reasonably priced at around $1,000, and cars equipped with it are eligible for the optional lane-departure-warning system ($295), which sounds an alarm if the Lucerne strays unintentionally from its lane of traffic. It’s teamed with a blind-spot-alert warning system. These are perhaps wise add-ons, given Lucerne’s laissez faire approach to directional stability.

Buick Lucerne price and features
The 2009 Buick Lucerne will continue as a poster child for the good-old American tradition of lots of sheet metal for not a lot of money. The entry-level CX model starts at a palatable $27,000 or so. Power window, locks, and driver’s seat, automatic headlights, load-leveling suspension and 16-inch alloy wheels are part of the bargain.

For around $30,000, the CXL model is the best value in a Buick Lucerne.
Another $2,000 or so moves you into the CXL with its standard leather upholstery, automatic climate controls, power passenger seat, heated mirrors, 17-inch alloys, and other amenities. At more around $36,000 to start, the CXS pushes Lucerne into premium-price territory; it builds on the CXL equipment and adds the 275-horsepower V-8 and the safety and convenience features mentioned elsewhere in this report.

Spend around $40,000 for the Super model and you get the 292-horsepower V-8 and a Lucerne loaded with most every option save the navigation system and the driver-confidence hardware. The Super is distinguished by its own special exterior trim and wheels, leather upholstery with French-stitched seams and suede inserts, and a heated walnut wood steering wheel and wood shifter. Tellingly, the Super also gets what Buick calls special calibration for the steering and Magnetic Ride Control.

Buick Lucerne quality and reliability
One area Buick plays with the big boys is in dependability, scoring among the top brands in surveys by J.D. Power and Associates, the leading customer-satisfaction ratings firm. Buick buyers tend to rate their sales experience above average, and believe they got a good deal on price. Lucerne buyers aren’t quite as satisfied with their car’s overall initial quality, however, rating it mostly average, and finding fault with how some of the accessories perform.

In our view, judging Lucerne’s feeling of quality construction and materials by the standards of its sub-$30,000 CX and CXL models paints the car in a favorable light. But move into the $36,000-$40,000 realm of its CXS and Super models, and the cabin’s hard, thin plastic panels seem a little too plentiful, the wobbly action of the gear shift lever a bit too obvious, and the cut-rate rear-seat accommodations hard to overlook.