Great car for a road trip!

When the terrorists attacked the WTC and Pentagon, I was stuck in Nashville, 1,300 miles away from my home in San Antonio. What to do when you want to be home with family, but the planes are grounded? Rent a new Buick LeSabre from Budget and hit the road!

That's right--this car brought me home when Delta couldn't. I spent two days and 1,300 miles behind the wheel of a brand new (120 miles on the odometer) 2002 Buick LeSabre Custom.

Room: Fantastic trunk and interior room. Had to bring back several large cases holding my trade show display, and they fit in the trunk and the back seat of the Lesabre. The front seats were unbelievably comfortable after 9+ hours of driving. Buick claims they are redesigned for comfort, and I can tell you that the new design works well. The huge drop-down center armrest holds several items like CDs, coins, etc., yet also folds out a generous dual cup holder. The armrest was the perfect height. When using the cupholder, the drinks were positioned so they didn't block any of the dash controls. There were several power ports located close enough to keep my cell phone charged and yet be able to use ith while hooked to the charger. If room for family or cargo is a necessity, this car would be a better choice than a lot of small minivans or SUVs.

Ride, steering: Very well controlled, especially for a large car. The quality of freeways between Nashville and San Antonio varies from primitive to velvet-smooth, yet the ride was comfortable and controllable while keeping the car very stable at all times. This was the best handling large car I think I have ever driven, period!

Engine, transmission: The 3.8 V-6 is Lexus-smooth and quiet, yet powerful. If you don't know anything about engines, you'll think there is a 1960's-era V-8 under the hood. Gas mileage ranged between 26-29 MPG. This was all freeway driving at 70+ MPH in a fully loaded car with the A/C on at all times. I've rented cars and vans with bigger engines and smaller engines. This car had the best combination of gas mileage and power than any other car I've rented in the last four years.

Gauges, dash, and climate system controls: Fairly well instrumented, including speedometer, tachometer, fuel and temperature gauges. Very easy to read day or night. I would have preferred having an oil and battery gauge as well, but that is only a personal preference. Great idea of putting the radio and cruise controls on the steering wheel. It allows you to change stations, adjust the volume or set the cruise control without taking your eyes off of the road. The air conditioner is top-notch; after initially cooling down the car, I rarely needed more than the lowest settings in order to stay cool, even in hot, muggy southern September weather.

Seats: Seat controls were logical and easy to find. This is important when the last person in the car was much shorter or taller than you and you are driving an unfamiliar car for the first time. The seat upper and lower sections adjust seperately, so this made finding a good setting much easier. The seats were cloth. I normally prefer leather, but the quality of the cloth was top notch.

Stereo: The stereo pleasantly surprised me; I expected a low-end unit in a rental car. The reception was great on both AM and FM, which was very important while travelling and wanting to keep up with the latest news. Most AM stations were easily picked up as much as 150 miles away from their location, and most FM stations were picked up as far away as 75 miles.

Quality, reliability: This car was very quiet and well put together. It never developed a single glitch in two days of hard driving. Many new cars will show problems when new if they were not put together right at the factory. Buick seems to have its act together with the LeSabre. The interior was wood trimmed, all controls such as door handles, locks, visors, switches and latches worked perfectly.