Buick Verano Turbo
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Coming soon with 250hp. And a 6 speed manual will be available (If you can ever find one one).
It seems that Buick has decided to really push the Verano, instead of the better Regal.
The larger Regal Turbo has “only” 220hp. (Although it may also use the 250hp engine next year.)
The Verano is fine, but nothing special.
I enjoyed driving the Regal much more.
And the larger car’s design is much more modern.
Plus, I don’t see much difference with the regular Verano. Except for a small added spoiler in the back.
To make this car sportier looking, perhaps they should be using the Astra's front and rear fascias for the Turbo model to visually separate the vanilla from the cherry versions. The benefit would be nearly zero in design costs and a much better looking car. Oh, and perhaps change the name to… keeping with the resurrecting of names, perhaps "Skyhawk"….
i think thats kinda the point.
us old ppl typically dont really care for turbo-4's. the fuel economy doesn't outweigh the potential maintenece cost, and well, quite frankly, the fuel economy is of little manner (contrary to belief, a cars fuel economy does not eqeate to "green" emissions).
so to get younger folks into the brand, use the smaller verano (ilo the bigger regal). heck, who wants a turbo-4 larger car anyways (saab5 and volvo6,7,8&9 held this thin niche, see where they are?)
It still looks like a five year old design.
Am currently trying to buy a Regal GS with a manual. Performance-wise it's not an M3 but it is still cool, fast enough, comfortable, and different. Problem is even though the car is not selling well this year and still these dealers will barely budge on price (maybe 2.5% off MSRP) plus GM's incentives are just 3% more, which makes the car too pricey for what it is. Am not paying BMW or Audi money for a Buick. The total has to come to about 4k off MSRP to make it worthwhile, but no one outside a dealer in Maryland is willing to do so.
And this Verano is not going to be an alternative. The Verano is pretty lame and looks cheap inside.
Have you tried Carsdirect.com?
Vince, yes, I have tried Carsdirect and called them too. Their pricing even with the incentives is worse than the first offer the dealer put in front of me. I have found carsdirect pricing to be the upper limit and I shoot for lower which I usually get right out of the gate. In the 32k range the Regal GS (base) is a good value, but at around 34k it's just too high (and 36k msrp is a joke). Just because I can swing the extra money without an issue doesn't mean I'll hand it over – am way more value oriented than that, but once you get in the mid 30s and above for a mid-size sedan you are paying for the badge, and Buick doesn't have that cache yet. Buick is above the Camcords and below the Bimmers and needs to be priced there. Anyhow, time is on my side and the dealers can enjoy watching their metal rust while I keep mine in the bank.
You are absolutely right about the money.
Even in Europe, Opel doesn't compete with BMW.
More like VW.
Hope you find your car though…
"It still looks like a five year old design."
Certain looks more modern than the barely newish-looking BMW 3-series, the (same old, same old) Audi A4, not to mention the bottom-of-the-bargain-bin VW Jetta/Passat – So your point is moot.
Would have been new in 2005. They should have just kept everything the same as the Astra and only swapped the buick opel astra for the Buick one.