Used 2012 Buick LaCrosse Consumer Reviews
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Having Second Thoughts
onedognight, 04/22/2012
2012 Buick LaCrosse Premium I Group 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid 6A)
57 of 59 people found this review helpful
I purchased the 2012 LaCrosse four months ago. The car is so low to the ground that I can't get in and out of my driveway without scraping the front end. The front and side posts plus the high trunk make visability a real issue when driving in heavy traffic. Other features that I don't like is the lock/unlock buttons being on the middle console instead of on the door and the only trunk unlock is on the key fob. The car performs well enough for a 4 cyl. but I wish I had known about the lack of visability and the drag issues before purchasing. Also, be aware that no spare tire comes with this car. You get a can of Fix-A-Flat. There is a space for it, but no tire.
2.0 Stars!
Sam, 08/26/2015
updated 03/01/2016
2012 Buick LaCrosse Premium II Group 4dr Sedan (3.6L 6cyl 6A)
62 of 65 people found this review helpful
So updating this after almost 15000 miles on the car. Performance: Acceleration in this is excellent, watch out for the torque steering in this. If you hammer it while even turning slightly like to pass someone it will yank the steering wheel back straight. Fastest stock V6 I have owned bar none. There are a lot of reports on transmission issues with the 2012 and surrounding years. The way this is geared it's going to shift high especially that 2nd to 3rd shift. When you go from 2nd to 3rd it will literally drop only about 500 rpm. When I bought this it was shifting 4000-5000 RPM on that shift. 3rd to 4th was only slightly lower. This was unacceptable to me. So after fighting with Buick for months (While under factory warranty.) I finally got a significant answer as to how to fix this. These are adaptive transmissions. They learn how you drive. If you take off fast it's going to learn to shift at a higher RPM, which over the long term is not healthy for the engine or the transmission. Eventually I got them to flash the Transmission Control and wipe the memory clean. It took about 2 months for the car to 'learn' my driving style but now it rarely shifts over 3000 rpm. If it does it is because I have it in Manual mode or I've got it floored. Anyone out there having "Transmission problems with their Buick Lacrosse" don't let the dealer tell you this is normal. It takes them about an hour to fix it... In regard to comfort... If you are tall or a big guy/woman getting in and out will be uncomfortable. The way the seat sits even back as far as it goes still puts a significant amount of your legs beyond the front of the door, thus making you pull your legs back and spin in the seat before being able to put your legs on the ground. I cannot count how many times I have smacked my knees on the steering wheel "even with it adjusted as high and far into the dash as possible." The advertisement they do of Shaquille O'Neal sitting comfortably in one of these is so much BS. That said, it has a comfortable sporty ride once you are actually "IN" the car. The interior is decent. I have noticed that some of the chrome 'coating' on some of the accents starts peeling off. I did like the LED highlights in the car, and the leather is supple, soft, and comfortable. As others have posted, the car has some visibility safety issues. Blind spots are a HUGE issue. If you are backing out of a angled parking space, best of luck you're not going to be able to see a vehicle or person approaching. Backing up is difficult in the car period, lane changing requires a full head/body turn to see if someone is near the normal blind spot. A simple though not a thorough fix is to buy 2 stick on blind spot mirrors, and put them up in the top outside corner of your normal mirrors. This helps tremendously in traffic. If you live in the North. THIS IS NOT THE CAR FOR YOU! The traction control on this has to be the worst traction control on any vehicle I have EVER driven. Works wonders on dry pavement. Get in an inch of snow you're not moving. The traction control has a rev-limiter on it. If you can't get traction you are literally dead in the water! Reliability is good overall. I've only had one other significant issue that so far is unresolved in this vehicle. If you read Buick forums they are famous especially during the winter for having the evaporator drain get plugged up. If it's not dealt with immediately it has the potential to get moldy. Evidently mine wasn't dealt with immediately. I've had more problems with a moldy acrid scent when running the heat, it is especially bad when run on recirculate. Once this happens there really is very little you can do. My next step will be replacing the pan itself to see if that will help. Value is about par for the course for a mid sized sedan. The cost is a little above what I think it should have been just based on safety alone. But overall it is pretty economical. The car is E85 capable. Running E85 I average about 22mpg on a 70 mile round trip mixed city/highway driving. On Unleaded with 10% Ethanol I average betwen 24.5 and 25 on the same trip. If you keep this car at 65mph with relatively few stops over long distance it will push out high 20's low 30's mpg.
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Love at first sight, and so far it's been all joy.
Hector Lahera, 04/02/2016
updated 10/04/2018
2012 Buick LaCrosse Premium II Group 4dr Sedan (3.6L 6cyl 6A)
20 of 20 people found this review helpful
I bought the car used with 24400 miles. It rides comfortably and drives as if it were on tracks. The 6 cyl engine delivers power on demand; and it is easy to find oneself speeding without meaning to do so. If you buy the car used, and don't like the shift points, and I didn't, reset the transmission to the factory settings. The cargo space is only adequate. Rear vision would be next to zero without the rear view camera. Another year on, no problems of any kind. It is a fine, well made car. The reason for the four stars on Safety, is that the roof posts, plus the headrest on the right, create large and dangerous blind spots to the rear of the driver.
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Horns honks
k5qm, 03/25/2012
2012 Buick LaCrosse Premium II Group 4dr Sedan (3.6L 6cyl 6A)
23 of 24 people found this review helpful
Love the car in all areas except one problem. When i unlock and get in the car and close the door sometimes the horn will honk 4 times rapidly. Dealer can't find it. I suspect it is a malfunction in thee electrical feed back circuit. Very agrivating, never know when it will honk.
Great Value Compared to Mercedes Anything
RF, 09/03/2015
updated 09/06/2016
2012 Buick LaCrosse Touring Group 4dr Sedan (3.6L 6cyl 6A)
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
It is really is "sleeper" surprised quite a few other cars and trucks that thought it was just another Granddad's Buick. It has the touring suspension and handles comparable to my Merc CLK - once you get used to a bigger car. I have owned this car for over a year- added over 17000 miles Mix between Highway (i95 to Fla) and city. Averages 23 MPG overall. NO problems or complains - I have learned to use the features which is still more than I need, the AC/heated seats are really nice especially in South Carolina Summer. AC cools the car quickly, Bluetooth very easy to set up and use. Plenty of power not a race car but it was not designed as such either. Very quiet on the road, people complain about the engine noise - drive a Honda or Toyota and compare for yourself. Brakes are great - emergency stop in traffic when a car pulled out in front of us and stopped. Wing mirrors are the only down fall on this car huge blind spots difficult to get adjusted to avoid the blind spots
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