1967 Buick Riviera 26" Forgiato Wheels Custom Paint & Interior on 2040-cars

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Kia leads J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study for 2022

For the first year ever, Kia leads J.D. Power's annual Vehicle Dependability Study with a score of 145 problems per 100 vehicles. Buick (147) and Hyundai (148) round out the top three. The highest premium brand on the list is Genesis, with a score of 148. It's common for so-called "mass market" brands to lead this particular study, according to J.D. Power, as "premium" brands "typically incorporate more technology in their vehicles, which increases the likelihood for problems to occur" and aren't necessarily built to a higher standard that less-expensive brands. The highest-rated single nameplate is the Porsche 911. It's the third time out of the past four years and the second year in a row that Porsche's quintessential sports car has taken top honors. Porsche as a brand sits in seventh place (162) just behind Lexus (159) and ahead of Dodge (166). At the very bottom of the list is Land Rover with a dismal score of 284; the SUV specialist held the same unfortunate distinction on last year's list. Ram (266), Volvo (256), Alfa Romeo (245) and Acura (244) also performed poorly. The overall industry average score sits at 192 — mass market brands average a score of 190 while premium brands sit 14 points lower at 204. While Tesla is unofficially included in some of J.D. Power's results, the agency says the sample size it has access to for this study is too small to include. As has been the case for the past several years, infotainment systems dominate the list of problems reported by owners. Popular (or unpopular, depending on your point of view) complaints include built-in voice recognition (8.3 PP100), Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity (5.4 PP100), built-in Bluetooth system (4.5 PP100), not enough power plugs/USB ports (4.2 PP100), navigation systems difficult to understand/use (3.7 PP100), touchscreen/display screen (3.6 PP100), and navigation system inaccurate/outdated map (3.6 PP100). While problems with the car's infotainment and technology packages are indeed bothersome, it's important to remember that such issues aren't usually leaving owners stranded with an immovable vehicle like a broken transmission or blown engine would. Culling infotainment complaints from the results would reduce the average problem-per-100-vehicle score by a staggering 51.9 points. The vehicles included in this study are from the 2019 model year. That means owners have had three years to get to know their cars and trucks. It's the 33rd year that J.D.

Junkyard Gem: 1988 Buick LeSabre Custom Sedan

The General's Buick Division began selling LeSabres for the 1959 model year, when it greeted the world with a cat-eyed face and razor-sharp tailfins, and the LeSabre rolled on the full-sized, rear-wheel-drive B Platform (best-known for underpinning the Chevrolet Impala and Caprice) all the way through 1985. For 1986, the LeSabre went to the front-wheel-drive H Platform, shedding a few hundred pounds and a half-foot of wheelbase, yet gaining interior room in the process. After that, every LeSabre ever made had a V6 engine driving the front wheels, all the way to the end in 2005. Here's one of those early H-Body LeSabres, found in a Denver-area self-service yard in incredibly clean condition. Some Buicks and Oldsmobiles of the mid-to-late 1980s (the ones on brand-new platforms) had six-digit odometers, which is the reason I was able to see that a discarded '86 Olds Calais with crazy customizing touches had better than 360,000 miles on the clock. This car just barely squeezed past 100,000 miles … and that's a higher number than I expected to see after glancing at the body and interior. Just look at that upholstery! There are no rips, and the only stains appear to have occurred after arrival in the junkyard ecosystem. I think we're looking at a one-owner car that was given meticulous care and was driven only to (a nearby) church on Sundays. Though the HRC sticker and Autobot badge seem out of place on an original-owner Buick that rolled out of the showroom 34 years ago. Perhaps the car was handed down from Owner #1 to a grandchild. This is the most high-zoot radio Buick would sell you in a 1988 LeSabre, complete with Dolby, auto-reverse cassette player, and scan/seek modes on the radio. The price tag on this? 282 bucks, or about 720 inflation-shrunk frogskins today; not cheap, but necessary to do justice to the hit songs of the day. If you wanted a factory CD player in a new LeSabre, you had to wait another year or two. Pollard Brothers Motors is still around, on the other side of the Continental Divide from the Denver region. Power came from an EFI-equipped Buick 3.8-liter V6, rated at 150 horsepower. The only transmission available was a four-speed automatic. Except for some dents that almost certainly happened at the junkyard, the paint and body look gorgeous. Problem is, H-Body LeSabres don't have an enthusiast following, and car shoppers looking for daily drivers tend to shy away from sedans this old.

Buick Envision arrives in US next year

In a detailed piece on what General Motors has planned for the Buick brand stateside, Automotive News reports that the Envision will finally come to the US a little more than a year from now, in the latter half of 2016. The size gap between the small Encore and the large Enclave is a perfect fit for the Chevrolet Equinox-sized Envision. Assuming this actually happens, it should excite both customers and Buick dealers. In China, the Envision uses a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 256 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, mated to a six-speed transmission. Before then, dealers sales forces will be preparing for the Cascada convertible, expected in Q1 next year. Later in 2016, around the same time as the Envision gets here, we can expect a redesigned Verano sedan. AN says it "should grow in length and interior roominess, similar to the Chevy Cruze," but the Verano already roughly matches or exceeds many Cruze dimensions. The Chinese-market Verano that premiered at the Shanghai Motor Show earlier this year probably holds some clues to what we'll see, but our version might not be an exact copy. A redesigned, lighter, and slightly larger LaCrosse will be right there with it. In 2017 the redesigned Regal appears. Following the trend, it also gets larger, but that's required because it needs to be more distinct from that larger Verano. AN suggests a new base engine will go in the Regal, perhaps something as small as the 1.5-liter turbo being lined up for the 2016 Chevy Malibu. At the other end, executives are said to be considering importing the diesel Opel Insignia wagon for the Regal lineup. If they bring the manual over, auto scribes will probably take the day off when the first one arrives, and make it an industry holiday.