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MM Retro-Ownership Review: 2012 Buick Verano
Most of you already know my respect and admiration for the Buick nameplate, which goes as far back as my teen-years (and that was a long time ago LOL), at a time when many of my schoolmates (except for my best friend, who also liked big luxury American cars) were into the late-60s muscle-car scene. I had a big (used) Buick Electra 225 in college, which I absolutely loved in spite of it being old and well-worn, and then a smaller Buick Skylark, which had belonged to the second wife of one of my late mother's cousins after his first wife passed away (he had previously sold my Dad a used Cadillac Sedan DeVille). But, because of a number of factors, too many to go into detail here about (not the least of which was the marked deterioration of GM's quality, engineering, and fit/finish) it was to be decades before I owned another Buick, although I owned two other GM products, brand-new, in the meantime...a Chevy Citation (which was a disaster) and a Saturn SL-2 (which was a far better experience....one of the most unique cars I ever owned). Then, after that, I saw (but did not own) a whole series of GM small-cars come and go, including the Cavalier, Sunfire, Cobalt, Ion, Catera, etc..... all of which had the quality, personality, or feel of overcooked pasta. The long-awaited Chevy Cruze finally did show some serious improvements, particularly in the interior and overall fit/finish, but I was still not quite convinced.
So, when I saw the first ads and images for Buick's' then-new Verano in late 2011, my first thought was "Well, that's all we need.....another poorly-built, over-hyped, Blah-Blah GM compact that, this time, insults even the Buick nameplate". I didn't even give it a second-thought....until I did some research and found that, despite claims from some sources that it was just a redone Chevy Cruze, I could see from the interior (which was almost identical) and other clues, that this was NOT a redone Cruze, but a rebadged German Opel Astra. Opels, at that time, had a reputation for solid, durable construction and good materials, at the cost of weight...they tended to be heavy. So, when they started arriving at dealerships late that winter or in the early spring of 2012, I went in to take a look.
And, Boy, was I surprised. The interior, was, in fact, almost 100% Opel, there was very little of the usual cheap GM plastic inside outside of a couple of the stalks, the doors shut with solid thunk-precision, and the whole interior, compared to most GM products (and even Buick's own flagships Encore and Lucerne), felt like it was carved out of a block of granite. The seats were extremely well-padded and over-stuffed, large enough to fit by big frame well, though the cloth-inserts were a little scratchy in feel, and there were some uneven lumps in the overstuffed padding. It was evident that this was, in fact, a small German sedan with a Buick/GM drivetrain, Buick logos on it, and the well-known Buick Quiet-Tuning sound-insulation process. A test-drive showed that, by the standards of most compact sedans, even in this upmarket/premium class, this car would make less road or wind noise than an Egyptian Mummy...it was library-quiet inside (comparable to my old Cadillac-based Electra) except for some faint revving-noise from the GM Ecotec non-turbo 2.4L four and the low-profile tires over bumps in cold weather....the tires would noticeably smooth out and be quieter in warm weather.
Then, Buick started running ads featuring NFL quarterback Peyton Manning behind the wheel of a Verano...Buick had done ads before with golf-pro Tiger Woods, but then had dropped Woods after the scandal. More ads came out with the theme....."THAT's a BUICK?"...trying to convince potential buyers that this was not Grandpa's car. And, perhaps, the crowning-accolade came when Donald Trump (who, at that time, was a well-known businessman before he went on to become President), made an ad for this car, used his own name, and remarked about the excellence it showed for a car of its modest class......Trump had a reputation for being picky, hard to please, and firing people left and right.
So, the time came to move on from my Subaru Outback (which I had kept for some six years, and, being retired, did not need its superb winter traction any more), and a local Chevy/Buick/GMC shop had a Crystal-Red-Pearl Verano in the showroom (an extra-cost color) with a darker/lighter-gray two-tone interior. They opened the front door of the showroom for me for a test-drive, and, that was it....sold. This car was even more of a bargain for what it cost.....only around 25-26K (don't remember exactly) out the door. It was more solidly-built than some other GM products costing twice as much.
However, as with any vehicle, ownership and miles did reveal some glitches in its design and assembly, although it never left me stranded or refused to start. The trunk-lid (which some other Buick owners also complained about at the time), once in a while, for the first couple of years, seemed to have a mind of its own, and would pop open sometimes for no reason at all, though it stopped doing that after about the second year. The drive-shafts and front-end harmonics, for some reason, would produce a very small but noticeable vibration while accelerating through the 10-20 MPH range in certain gears. There was a hesitation and then a noticeable bump in the transmission while downshift/accelerating and/or in right turns in some gears and speed-ranges....that was common to some of the GM 6-speed automatics. The electric power-steering, at times, had a noticeable burr/obstacle to it across dead-center...you had to click it across that burr. The car was later recalled for that, but, by that time, my car had pretty much cured itself and I didn't notice it any more. Back-seat legroom was more comparable to a small coupe than a sedan....but I never carried anyone in back. Perhaps, potentially the most serious glitch, however, was oil-consumption from prematurely-worn rings. I didn't really notice it until about the 20,000 mile mark, when the level on the dipstick started dropping after oil changes. I check my oil often enough that it never got low enough to damage the engine, but other owners of GM vehicles with this engine did have some serious issues, including a neighbor of mine (she was on our condo-board) with a GMC Terrain, who eventually traded it for a new Ford Explorer. I don't think these engines were ever officially recalled for those bad rings, but, as I write this, there is a class-action-suit on them for that oil-use issue, just as with some fairly recent Subaru engines.
I kept this car for five years, though, and got a lot of enjoyment out of it in spite of its oil-use and quirky transmission, and the car, inside and out, seemed as solid and well-built the last day I owned it as the day I picked it up.....not a single squeak/creak or rattle. It was a LONG wait from my Buick days in college to my recent Buick Ownership...but worth it. Still, if I had a choice in the Verano's design, I would have done some things differently....a V6 engine or a better-qualty four, better programming for the six-speed automatic, 55 or 60-series tires instead of the Bump-O-Matic 45s, and a soft, more Buick-like velour-cloth inside on the seats instead of the rougher-feeling fabric. I would have used REAL Buick tri-color logos (like they do now) instead of that cheap-looking chrome-outline tri-shield. And I would have probably brought back the classic Skylark nameplate for it instead of Verano...it was, in fact, the great-grandson and spiritual descendant of the old Skylark. Still, this car was money sell-spent, and I don't regret a single day of ownership.
And, as Always, Happy Owner-Memories.
MM
Most of you already know my respect and admiration for the Buick nameplate, which goes as far back as my teen-years (and that was a long time ago LOL), at a time when many of my schoolmates (except for my best friend, who also liked big luxury American cars) were into the late-60s muscle-car scene. I had a big (used) Buick Electra 225 in college, which I absolutely loved in spite of it being old and well-worn, and then a smaller Buick Skylark, which had belonged to the second wife of one of my late mother's cousins after his first wife passed away (he had previously sold my Dad a used Cadillac Sedan DeVille). But, because of a number of factors, too many to go into detail here about (not the least of which was the marked deterioration of GM's quality, engineering, and fit/finish) it was to be decades before I owned another Buick, although I owned two other GM products, brand-new, in the meantime...a Chevy Citation (which was a disaster) and a Saturn SL-2 (which was a far better experience....one of the most unique cars I ever owned). Then, after that, I saw (but did not own) a whole series of GM small-cars come and go, including the Cavalier, Sunfire, Cobalt, Ion, Catera, etc..... all of which had the quality, personality, or feel of overcooked pasta. The long-awaited Chevy Cruze finally did show some serious improvements, particularly in the interior and overall fit/finish, but I was still not quite convinced.
So, when I saw the first ads and images for Buick's' then-new Verano in late 2011, my first thought was "Well, that's all we need.....another poorly-built, over-hyped, Blah-Blah GM compact that, this time, insults even the Buick nameplate". I didn't even give it a second-thought....until I did some research and found that, despite claims from some sources that it was just a redone Chevy Cruze, I could see from the interior (which was almost identical) and other clues, that this was NOT a redone Cruze, but a rebadged German Opel Astra. Opels, at that time, had a reputation for solid, durable construction and good materials, at the cost of weight...they tended to be heavy. So, when they started arriving at dealerships late that winter or in the early spring of 2012, I went in to take a look.
And, Boy, was I surprised. The interior, was, in fact, almost 100% Opel, there was very little of the usual cheap GM plastic inside outside of a couple of the stalks, the doors shut with solid thunk-precision, and the whole interior, compared to most GM products (and even Buick's own flagships Encore and Lucerne), felt like it was carved out of a block of granite. The seats were extremely well-padded and over-stuffed, large enough to fit by big frame well, though the cloth-inserts were a little scratchy in feel, and there were some uneven lumps in the overstuffed padding. It was evident that this was, in fact, a small German sedan with a Buick/GM drivetrain, Buick logos on it, and the well-known Buick Quiet-Tuning sound-insulation process. A test-drive showed that, by the standards of most compact sedans, even in this upmarket/premium class, this car would make less road or wind noise than an Egyptian Mummy...it was library-quiet inside (comparable to my old Cadillac-based Electra) except for some faint revving-noise from the GM Ecotec non-turbo 2.4L four and the low-profile tires over bumps in cold weather....the tires would noticeably smooth out and be quieter in warm weather.
Then, Buick started running ads featuring NFL quarterback Peyton Manning behind the wheel of a Verano...Buick had done ads before with golf-pro Tiger Woods, but then had dropped Woods after the scandal. More ads came out with the theme....."THAT's a BUICK?"...trying to convince potential buyers that this was not Grandpa's car. And, perhaps, the crowning-accolade came when Donald Trump (who, at that time, was a well-known businessman before he went on to become President), made an ad for this car, used his own name, and remarked about the excellence it showed for a car of its modest class......Trump had a reputation for being picky, hard to please, and firing people left and right.
So, the time came to move on from my Subaru Outback (which I had kept for some six years, and, being retired, did not need its superb winter traction any more), and a local Chevy/Buick/GMC shop had a Crystal-Red-Pearl Verano in the showroom (an extra-cost color) with a darker/lighter-gray two-tone interior. They opened the front door of the showroom for me for a test-drive, and, that was it....sold. This car was even more of a bargain for what it cost.....only around 25-26K (don't remember exactly) out the door. It was more solidly-built than some other GM products costing twice as much.
However, as with any vehicle, ownership and miles did reveal some glitches in its design and assembly, although it never left me stranded or refused to start. The trunk-lid (which some other Buick owners also complained about at the time), once in a while, for the first couple of years, seemed to have a mind of its own, and would pop open sometimes for no reason at all, though it stopped doing that after about the second year. The drive-shafts and front-end harmonics, for some reason, would produce a very small but noticeable vibration while accelerating through the 10-20 MPH range in certain gears. There was a hesitation and then a noticeable bump in the transmission while downshift/accelerating and/or in right turns in some gears and speed-ranges....that was common to some of the GM 6-speed automatics. The electric power-steering, at times, had a noticeable burr/obstacle to it across dead-center...you had to click it across that burr. The car was later recalled for that, but, by that time, my car had pretty much cured itself and I didn't notice it any more. Back-seat legroom was more comparable to a small coupe than a sedan....but I never carried anyone in back. Perhaps, potentially the most serious glitch, however, was oil-consumption from prematurely-worn rings. I didn't really notice it until about the 20,000 mile mark, when the level on the dipstick started dropping after oil changes. I check my oil often enough that it never got low enough to damage the engine, but other owners of GM vehicles with this engine did have some serious issues, including a neighbor of mine (she was on our condo-board) with a GMC Terrain, who eventually traded it for a new Ford Explorer. I don't think these engines were ever officially recalled for those bad rings, but, as I write this, there is a class-action-suit on them for that oil-use issue, just as with some fairly recent Subaru engines.
I kept this car for five years, though, and got a lot of enjoyment out of it in spite of its oil-use and quirky transmission, and the car, inside and out, seemed as solid and well-built the last day I owned it as the day I picked it up.....not a single squeak/creak or rattle. It was a LONG wait from my Buick days in college to my recent Buick Ownership...but worth it. Still, if I had a choice in the Verano's design, I would have done some things differently....a V6 engine or a better-qualty four, better programming for the six-speed automatic, 55 or 60-series tires instead of the Bump-O-Matic 45s, and a soft, more Buick-like velour-cloth inside on the seats instead of the rougher-feeling fabric. I would have used REAL Buick tri-color logos (like they do now) instead of that cheap-looking chrome-outline tri-shield. And I would have probably brought back the classic Skylark nameplate for it instead of Verano...it was, in fact, the great-grandson and spiritual descendant of the old Skylark. Still, this car was money sell-spent, and I don't regret a single day of ownership.
And, as Always, Happy Owner-Memories.
MM