19th Feb 2012, 12:43
You are very right. I had 2 Park Avenues with the Series II 3.8 before this Lucerne, and could get over 30 mpg on the highway.
My last Park Avenue was averaging about 22 mpg on my commute (mostly city driving) when I traded it in. My Lucerne is currently averaging 17.2.
I am very disappointed in this car in so many ways. Shame on Buick for replacing the Park Avenue with this model. I plan to sell it in a few months and get an Enclave. I hope I won't be so sorry with that purchase. If that is a disappointment, I probably won't be buying any more Buicks.
28th Mar 2012, 19:24
Well I traded the Lucerne tonight for a brand new Buick Enclave. I think I am going to be very happy with this decision, and don't regret it at all like I did when I traded my Park Avenue. I wish I had just went with the Enclave from the beginning. I will post a review after I have put some miles on it.
16th May 2014, 14:07
IMO the Lucerne is as good as the Park Avenue (I owned an Ultra), but the Lucerne is much more quiet. The ride, if not equal, is better, and the Lucerne is much more controlled on the road.
The Lucerne offered 99% of the options the PA; the Lucerne does offer rain sense.
One thing for sure is the Lucerne had a much more logical dash layout. Everything in this car is a lot better laid out and easy to use; everything appears a lot cleaner. Steering wheel controls and cruise are 100x better.
17th Feb 2012, 21:38
I've read all over that the 3900 engine doesn't get very good gas mileage, especially compared to the 3800 it supposedly replaced (particularly in this model (of which the 3800 was a Buick engine, while the 3900 was a Chevy engine!)). I don't care for the 3900 "modern" engine (which only lasted a few years' production), but dearly loved the 3800, which was in production for DECADES. Nothing beats the 3800.