So I drive a 2000 buick lesabre, I personally like the comfort and decent acceleration while the handling is actually very light although maybe in my head not the most tight. The issues I've found for over a year of driving it (handed down from my grandparents) is actually kinda weird for problems, first (and probably the biggest issue) the body, for some reason on the driver side fender rusted out well before the passenger fender and just wiggles and hangs, it's not a actual issue but cosmetically annoying, and I thought well it's just how old it is, anyone can have a part rust out... But a couple of neighbors have the same fender rusted out in similar ways, way too close to the door so it gets bended on opening. Window regulators constantly failing. This probably is the single most annoying problem, if anything was to fail on that car, window regulators. Now I actually can get them changed but to take it to a mechanic I think it was at least 150 a window, alot as gm in their infinite wisdom never made a common problem easy to get to. The engine is one of the single best things Ive had about this car, I accidentally drove through a flood on the road, which It was dark couldn't see it was across I litterally flooded the engine (I did ford the water though) after a bit I was able to get it started, I actually ended up having misfirings and random shutdowns, my mechanic looked at it, replaced a air filter that was soaked, and after another week it drove just fine, that engine while leaking maybe a quart every 3-6 months drives like it's brand new or close to. Can't say the same for ac, which has a problem that the only way to find the issue is doing a full teardown to find the refrigerant leak. Now where I live we don't have too many hot days so not a big deal, but for how many problems gm has, I can say the basics are really taken seriously to the point where I enjoy it and constantly have family hammering me to buy a new car. The insurance I pay is as low as a quarter of what I'd pay for a newer car that meets what I'm looking at, reliability and traction. If you read this far feel free to grill my choice of favorite cheap used car. Most lesabres where I live can be found for around 2 grand with about 150k miles and in good condition, and as a fwd, you can safely drive it in snow without worrying about it getting stuck, and with a apx. 20 gal. Fuel tank, I get around 350 miles-450miles with city-highway driving. Also the trunk is so large to compensate for not being able to lower the seat due to the battery under it, that I can fit an extra full size tire and a large tote with no issues. I seriously would like to hear others thoughts.
You can get the same kind of feel if not better from a modern non cvt fwd car. The lesabres are built like boats, easy to drive and heavy enough to cut through snow. You likely wouldn't find something similar to that today though. The 6 body trunk is a thing of the past and you have to pretty much get a suv or minivan to get similar space. If you like driving it and its treating you well just drive it till it breaks for real and buy a newer car. Just make sure you get it inspected by a mechanic before you buy it.
@cjbman
Yeah that makes alot more sense then, I actually do enjoy sailing. And thanks for the helpful thoughts I figured when it eventually has a serious breakdown I honestly was just considering either getting another one, or going with a jeep liberty with the square headlights and a v6 engine, unless I can find a wrangler in good condition with a classic straight 6, it's not like I'm a jerk who tries street racing, a-b (10-15 mile) commutes is generally my use case.
Stay away from these buicks! there was a major CLASS action lawsuit involving 12000 plus people, and GM paid 1200 each to most of those people. What happend was GM was experimenting with 2 things, orange radiator fluid and Nylon head gaskets.
After a few years the Nylon head gaskets were failing and leaked oil into the radiator, plus the opposite, radiator fluid was getting into the pistons. This dual failure eventually caused many owners to have their engines rebuilt at a cost of 1200 to 2500+ dollars.
Now several things can go wrong with engine rebuilds and there is a short warranty.
Most engines should not be rebuilt before 8 to 10 years. The Buicks of the aforementioned time period had this problem!
Unfortunately if you owned one of these Buicks, you cannot collect the 1200 bucks because 2008 October was the last call of it.
WHAT REALLY ZUCKS is I had owned 2 of these and GM Buick never sent me a recall notice! It wasnt until 2012 that i was really stuck cause other things started happening too.
Found out that there were cracks in the Anti-sway bar, usually on the ends.
The fuel tank gauge had failed and was going to cost 2000 to fix that.
I'll never buy Buicks again!
Forget this forum....Do research on any vehicle for class action lawsuit and recalls.
@man_w_2003_66000_miles_van
But, here's the thing, one, I haven't had that issue yet, idk if it had that issue, and according to gm they already fixed all outstanding recalls that were on it, and second I personally was handed down it, the amount I paid was less than a hundred bucks and compared to the 4banging s10 I had that couldn't even do a daily commute to my college in the winter AND had the transmission slide going from second to third, I feel it was actually one of the few cars gm did a good job on.
I had the 1996 Chevy S10 and that pc of ****...the computer went out, and took two weeks to get back.
We are talking BUicks here not S10s.
Had a 2014 Chevy Impala...no problems at all!
@man_w_2003_66000_miles_van
Ah, I'll have to check that one out as well, my grandparents actually have one that I rode in, seems comfy enough and on par with mines, only thing that got me I guess was she seems to constantly have something wrong with it nowadays but idk how many miles or how old it is either, for all I know it could have near 300k miles and be the first year, or it could be one of the newer ones, at most 2018 and have 50k miles on it.