keyless entry remote starter

Rear Seat Entertainment in a Sedan

Steering Wheel Buttons Looks Like Audi's (Not as Versatile)

The bucket seats on my test car were pretty good, with lumbar support, and with seat heaters and seat coolers both. The center stack on navigation-equipped cars is a maze of buttons (above). It's this kind of center-stack complexity that iDrive reduces. The premium audio was fine.

The instrument panel suffers from glare in sunlight and if you're wearing sunglasses, you'll have trouble reading the speedometer. Lexus doesn't. Lots of cars have that problem. The leather-and-wood steering wheel also has heater elements at nine and three o'clock and a heated wheel is a true blessing in winter months.

"American Lexus" means great fit and finish, comfortable ride, decent styling, and if it doesn't handle like a German sports sedan, well, how many twisty back roads do people drive anyway? And on reliability, the previous generation Buick LaCrosse (2005-2009) was cited as the most reliable midsize car after three years by J.D. If you scrutinize closely, you'll see the LaCrosse is somewhere south of today's Lexus but well above the old GM with panel gaps useful for securing toll receipts and but-no-trees-died petrowood dashboards. The Buick LaCrosse nails it with one exception: ultimate fit and finish. Fortunately, this Buick is closer to Lexus than to Buicks of yore. Power & Associates.

Center Stack (Navigation Cars): Buttons, Buttons, Buttons

The back seat was reasonably roomy and you can even get rear seat entertainment (LCD panels in the backs of the front seats), something that's not common on sedans except for the world's $75,000 super-sedans. The ski jump shape takes up space but doesn't give it back in the way of useful storage. The trunk was not so roomy. Nor was the center console, especially since this is a front-drive car. And there's no need for such a big center hump for the driveshaft (except on one model).

Other competitors in the midsize segment include the Ford Fusion (see review ) and Mercury Milan (not as nice inside or out, less so the Mercury), Chevrolet Malibu (smaller, not as comfy), the Honda Accord (roomy, a bit ungainly outside until the 2011 model arrives), the Toyota Camry (a good deal now, with shell-shocked dealers offering 0%, five-year financing), and Nissan Altima (very good car, sportier). The Chrysler Sebring is midsized but not competitive.

If you can live with rear-wheel-drive or prefer it, then you also have to look at the Hyundai Genesis (see review ). The Genesis is the bang-for-the-buck leader among cars selling for $35,000-$45,000 and a threat to every car selling for less than $60,000. Actually, the Hyundai that's more comparable is the 2011 Hyundai Sonata (see review ), a breathtaking car that costs at most $28,000; it only has a four-cylinder, but a turbo four is coming that will equal Buick's V6. It's that good. And with things such as Bluetooth and the USB jack standard, it's easier to configure the car.

Buick sees the target car as the Lexus ES350. It's also a bit roomier in back than the Acura TL, our Digital Drive Car of the Year two years ago. Not necessarily that they'll draw every ES350 wannabe-buyer into a Buick showroom, but Buick has a reasonable chance of convincing its buyer demographic that the LaCrosse comes close. The Toyota Avalon is a legitimate competitor with no significant disadvantages other than lack of all-wheel-drive and the current stigma of the Toyota name. And the LaCrosse is bigger inside, not hard since at 197 inches it's six inches longer outside. The Ford Taurus (see review ) is an even bigger car outside (203 inches) but in many ways comparable.

The Lazy Guy's Navigation System: Destination Download The LaCrosse is about as good as it gets with American sedans. The CTS doesn't compete with Lexus because the CTS is seen as a driver's car, and performance is something Lexus isn't about except with the IS350, and the once-competitive STS and DTS are getting long in the tooth. The only other American car that matches up to the LaCrosse is the slightly larger Ford Taurus. (What about Cadillac? The Taurus has more technology standard or available and a bit less chrome. The LaCrosse is better looking; the Taurus in side view suggests it was separated at birth from the Berlin Wall. When they're refreshed Cadillac can take aim once again.)

The cockpit is attractive, a bit more chrome than I'd like, but nothing approaching the pimp my ride cockpit trappings of the Chinese Buick Regal, Buick being an honored and revered brand there of late. The steering wheel buttons are too small for comfort when wearing gloves. Two buttons look like the knurled rotating wheels (photo above) that Audi and now BMW use to such good effect for adjusting volume making selections; Buick's is actually a rocker switch camouflaged to look as if it spins but in fact requires three button presses to move three increments. 

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