2002 Buick LeSabre: An All Around Quality Automobile

My father is a creature of habit. The last four cars he has purchased have all been Buicks. All four of the cars were purchased from the same Buick dealer. That dealer is Hardin Buick-Pontiac-GMC located in Anaheim at 1321 Auto Center Drive. He has been buying Buicks because they have proven to be quality cars. He has bought from the same dealership because they have provided him with exceptional service.

My father came home with a new car this weekend. It's a 2002 Buick LeSabre Limited. He bought it at Hardin Buick-Pontiac-GMC. When a thing works for you, you don't change it. (This, by the way, is the third LeSabre.)

My father is a big driver. He and my mother often drive from Anaheim to San Francisco to visit my sister. They occasionally drive cross country to visit relatives in Kansas City, Dallas, or Dayton. Besides these occasional trips, my father drives into Los Angeles on a regular basis. In the course of year, he logs about 20-25,000 miles on the road.

Because he does a lot of driving and a lot of long-distance driving, the comfort of the car he is in is paramount. The Buick LeSabre is an incredibly comfortable car. The seats are a dream. The front seats have ten different power adjusters on both the driver and passenger side. They also have a manual lumbar support which makes long drives much more comfortable. The driver's seat also has a heater which heats both the back and lower cushion. It has an off, low and high settings. As it is summer in California as I write this, I really appreciate the off setting. I also like the fact that the seats are soft and cushy. If they weren't in the car, I wouldn't mind a seat like this in the family room.

Besides the comfy seats, the steering wheel also tilts. This makes it possible to set up the car in the most comfortable fashion possible for driving. It also makes it easier to get in and out of the front seat.

As the baby of the family (even at the age of 39), I often get to sit in the back seat when the family goes on outings. I can tell you from personal experience that the back seat is very comfortable. Even when I need to sit in the middle, the back seat is comfortable. There is plenty of leg room.

The air conditioning system in the car allows the passenger in the front to have a different temperature from the driver. The difference can be up to five degrees. Vents leading directly to the backseat also mean that passengers there don't have to wait for air from the front to cool them down.

The LeSabre has cruise control which is a great thing when making long rides as we often do. The cruise control controller is located on the steering wheel which makes it possible to set it without having to take one's hands off the wheel or one's eyes off the road. Also on the steering wheel are adjusters for radio and temperature control.

All of this, of course, is nice. Where the rubber really meets the road, however, is in the way the car drives. The first thing I notice when I get into this car is the sound. It sounds solidly put together. This has been just a matter of fact with all my Dad's Buicks. They have been well built machines.

The other thing I notice is the size. I'm not a fan of big cars. Though this car is listed as a midsize car. It doesn't feel as big as some other cars, but it drives as wonderfully smoothly as any full size car I've ever been in. It feels solid and stable. If I had to get a bigger a car, I would certainly be looking at this one.

The engine (according to the brochure) is a 3800 Series II V6 engine which produces up to 205 horsepower. I don't understand all the technical stuff, but I do know that when I took this car to Los Angeles today, I had no problem getting up to speed to merge onto the freeway. I went up and down hills without either myself or the car breaking a sweat. When I had to pass some slower vehicles on the freeway, I had the power to do it with ease and grace.

The LeSabre has an 18.5 gallon gas tank and gets about 20 mpg in the city and about 29 mpg on the highway according to the brochure. Though dad just brought back the car, we've noted a slightly lower mpg - about 18/25. Still, all things considered, that's not bad for a car this size.

Other items that are standard on the LeSabre include an anti-theft system, ABS brakes, daytime running lights, rain sensing wipers, rear door child-security locks, automatic transmission, alloy wheels, power windows, power locks, leather seats, and a host of other bits and bobs.

The basic warranty and the power train warranty on the car are both good for 3 years or 36,000 miles. Since my father does the kind of driving he does, we figure it's good for a year and a half. As my father pointed out, by the time you get all the standard features on this car, there is little extra to put on it. (Although I wish he had gotten a sunroof.)

Because we're getting close to the end of the year, my father was able to buy the car for $3,000 off by paying cash. The result was that for under $30,000, my father had the car he wanted right off the lot.

Just an extra bit of info- the Buick LeSabre was awarded J.D. Power's "Best Full-Size Car in Initial Quality" for 2002 Initial Quality Study. The Initial Quality Study counts the number of problems buyers have during their first 90 days of owning the car. In other words, the LeSabre gave owners less problems than any other car in the same class. This means, that it's not only my dad who is happy with his new toy.

Although I don't usually like bigger cars, I really enjoy driving my father's new baby. It is smooth and powerful and feels incredibly good on those long haul trips. I'm going to stick with my new Kia for now. My budget makes a car like this out of the question, but this is the kind of car I aspire to have someday.