Overview & Reviews

Owned by General Motors, Buick is one of this country's oldest brands, with a rich tradition of innovation that dates back more than a century. Though long known for catering to retirement-age customers with its full-size sedans, the automaker's lineup now includes SUVs and sport sedans designed to bring younger buyers into the showrooms of Buick dealers.

The company was founded in 1903 by David Dunbar Buick, a Scottish industrialist. He built his first car in 1904; called the Model B, it had a two-cylinder engine with an advanced-for-its-time overhead-valve cylinder head design. In 1907, Buick unveiled its first four-cylinder production car, dubbed the Model D. The following year, the Flint, Michigan-based Buick Motor Company was bought by William C. Durant as part of a new company called General Motors. By 1914, all Buicks were built with six-cylinder engines and purchased primarily by upper-class professionals, thus earning the nickname "doctor's cars."

The manufacturer proved itself a trailblazer in the early 1920s when it introduced four-wheel brakes. This technology had been seen before on custom-built cars, but Buick was the first to figure out how to successfully apply it to mass-produced vehicles. Eight-cylinder Buick cars emerged in the 1930s and became immensely popular; these advanced engines received steady improvements for several years. The '30s also saw Buick's introduction of the industry's first rear turn signal to use a flasher.

Models such as the Estate Wagon and the ever-popular Roadmaster kept Buicks happily ensconced in driveways all across the nation in the 1940s. In 1948, Buick introduced Dynaflow, the first torque converter-type automatic transmission offered in U.S. passenger cars. The 1950s and 1960s witnessed Buick continuing to zoom ahead of the curve; it was among the first to offer vehicles with power brakes and steering, and 12-volt electrical systems. The marque was also behind the introduction of the first American V6 passenger car engine and introduced the Riviera personal luxury coupe in the early '60s.

On the whole, though, Buick had made its name as a manufacturer of stately land yachts such as the Electra 225. To meet the changing times, the automaker downsized its full- and midsize models during the 1970s and began offering compact and midsize sedans for the 1980s. During the latter period and into the '90s, Buick changed things up by introducing the Regal Grand National muscle car and Reatta luxury coupe and convertible. But its core product continued to be luxury sedans aimed at an older audience.

Today, Buick specializes in sedans and crossover SUVs and is modifying its philosophy in the hopes of attracting younger buyers. Luxury and class are still common themes, but newer models have European influences in their handling and ride dynamics. As such, many modern Buicks, such as the compact Verano sedan provide a more entertaining drive and more contemporary styling than people might expect from this "old" nameplate.

User Reviews:

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  Park Avenue - 2005 Buick Park Avenue
  By Paisley - March 21 - 10:00 am

  Buick has provided a most comfortable ride and a fair element of prestige and operational economy. The only real negative is the rapid depreciation and this will continue to plague the Park Avenue as well as most other domestic vehicles. Our service experience with the dealership has been excellent and we will probably continue to drive Park Avenues because for traveling and for storage capacity it has been a marvelous vehicle.

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  fun car - 2005 Buick Rendezvous
  By golf nut - March 21 - 10:00 am

  I have had many new cars, this is the most fun to drive of any of them.It handles and rides very well. I have the Ultra and would like more Ultra features in it, I sold a 03 park ave when I bought this. So far I love the car.

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  Fine car - 1997 Buick LeSabre
  By SamIAm - March 21 - 2:00 am

  I bought the LeSabre based on good reviews and they were right. Very reliable with only scheduled maint. Also plenty of room for a family of six without sitting in each others laps or holding your breath.

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  My Baby Buick - 1997 Buick Skylark
  By Chia Pet - March 18 - 1:06 pm

  This is a decent car. It hasnt given me many problems and it is a great road car. I have hade many upgrades to the car like wheels, suspension, stereo and etc. Once you replace these, the car is great! If you buy this car (1996-1998), prepare to spend about $2500 extra to make it right!!

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  Regal a good car for me - 1993 Buick Regal
  By DrOliviaThomas - March 14 - 2:46 pm

  This has been a very good car. Only draw back has been the brakes have had to be replaced several times due to design issues.

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  Quality&Power - 2002 Buick Regal
  By reggie - March 12 - 5:51 pm

  Went back to an old friend(Buick,RegalGS) from `94 and liked the same things today as before....and more! It handles, has really nice looks(navy blue)and the power/performance is there when you want or need it. Add to this some nice interior leather, moonroof and a fine am/fm"monsoon" cassette/CD playing unit. To sum it up, I was able to buy this dealer demo for a good price and feel this is a tremendous value in todays autoworld.

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  ouner - 1992 Buick LeSabre
  By r.l.braun - March 6 - 10:31 pm

  the car was great

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  2001 Buick Lesabre Custom - 2002 Buick LeSabre
  By RR - March 3 - 3:32 pm

  I have a very long commute, almost 200 miles round trip daily. This car is powerful, quiet, very smooth, comfortable, economical and roomy. All for a very reasonable price. Surprisingly good handling for a car built for long distance comfort is a plus. If more people driving Accords and Camrys would think to test drive this car, they would be surprised and I think impressed.

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  Surprised Return Buyer - 2001 Buick LeSabre
  By mpfarney - March 3 - 5:35 am

  In the market for a car to replace a 93 Buick Skylark, with which we werent very happy (small size, poor comfort, and a glove compartment door constantly rattled), we were surprised at how comfortable and roomy the LeSabre proved, and after over one year of ownership weve had no problems. Were relatively happy with the gas mileage--over 27 mpg (city)

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  1997 Buick Lesabre limited - 1998 Buick LeSabre
  By Chuck Tryon - March 1 - 10:42 am

  Fun to drive, great fuel economy, great climatic controls both air conditioning and heating. nice appearance, smallest looks, replace front struts at 80,000, has wind noise around front winds sometimes bad in a cross wind