My new Buick Insignia... euhhhh... Regal turbo

[sicnarf_1978]

My 2015 Ford Focus EcoBoost was approaching the end of the warranty and the list of mechanical problem was bigger and bigger. In the last month, they changed the turbo and the head gasket... That would have cost me more than 7000 $ if I had to pay... so it was time to do something. I had 2 options. The first one was to create a Go Fund Me page to pay the car to the bank and send it to the scrapyard or to sell it and minimize my lost. I explored the second choice first. I shopped for new and used cars and I found a very hot deal at my local GM dealer... a 2017 Buick Regal Highline 1 with the Buick Experience package (sunroof, nav and chromed wheels), a 6000 km demo. For people in Europe, it is an Opel Insignia (previous gen) with a Buick logo on it. The window sticker asked 38 900 $ CAD... but there was a lot of rebate. Cash rebate of 7000 $, Holliday rebate of 1250 $, 2000 $ for a partner rebate, 1000 $ of internet rebate and 5250 $ because it is a demo that should be out of the lot before the end of the year. That means 22 300 $ CAD for a car that had a sticker price of 38 900 $. That was the price of my ex Focus. I added to the car 4 Nokian Hakka 8 studded winter tyres.

Photos in the showroom...

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/jCwCBb\/Regal_001.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/en5Tjw\/Regal_002.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/ckBerb\/Regal_003.jpg"}[/IMG2]

Proof of ownership...

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/e183HG\/Regal_017.jpg"}[/IMG2]

Sadly, the weather is not very good to take photos... -25 celcius when I left the dealer, so I do it fast...

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/fbnkWb\/Regal_004.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/nDLTjw\/Regal_005.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/dUQHcG\/Regal_006.jpg"}[/IMG2]

The next morning, it was much warmer... -18 ! XD So I started the car for 10 minutes before going to take photos inside...

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/ic6OHG\/Regal_007.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/bC4XBb\/Regal_008.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/cNHVxG\/Regal_009.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"2000","width":"1125","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/g7qiHG\/Regal_010.jpg"}[/IMG2]

I took all my courage and go out of the car to take some photos, with a little bit of snow.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/b8Jg4w\/Regal_013.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/cTmCBb\/Regal_016.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"1125","width":"2000","src":"https:\/\/image.ibb.co\/ig2VxG\/Regal_012.jpg"}[/IMG2]

I didn't had the chance to test the car like I wanted because of the bad weather. The tyres are fantastic (I had the same on the Focus) and they do a better job because of the weight of the car. It has the 260 hp 2 liter turbo 4. It is fast (compared to the 123 hp of the Focus), but smooth, very smooth. The 6 speed automatic gearbox do a perfect job as we don't notice gear changes. Heated seats are very hot and very fast, like the heated steering wheel. I installed MyBuick app on my phone so I can manage the car wherever I am. This is very practical as i can start the car even if I am not near it. Or I can lock it if I am not sure if I did it.

 

[rickhamilton620]

Congrats! Sounds like a bullet dodged. Shame the Focus wasn't more reliable, I'm sure it's nice to be in something with, hopefully, fewer worries.

 

[93Flareside]

Congrats sir!

 

[CraigB]

Good looking Buick! Congratulations!

 

[Perc]

Congrats! It all looks very, very familiar. They moved the button for the heated steering wheel and put a different skin on the display in the gauge cluster, but other than that it seems to be the same car. I too came from a Focus-sized car, a Skoda Octavia. This just floats with zero fucks given where the Skoda got knocked around by crosswinds and bad road surfaces.

It would be interesting to try a Buick version some time to see if they made it any more floaty than the European original.

 

[sicnarf_1978]

Congrats! It all looks very, very familiar. They moved the button for the heated steering wheel and put a different skin on the display in the gauge cluster, but other than that it seems to be the same car. I too came from a Focus-sized car, a Skoda Octavia. This just floats with zero fucks given where the Skoda got knocked around by crosswinds and bad road surfaces.

It would be interesting to try a Buick version some time to see if they made it any more floaty than the European original.

It is very similar to the Insignia. In the first production months (mid to late 2010), they imported the car from Germany. Since then it is made in Canada. So assembly is not as good as the German cars. I never drove an Insignia, so I cannot compare the two cars. I had my car 2 days ago and the weather is not very good here with an historic cold period. Roads are icy and yesterday we had a little bit of snow. So I didn't really push the car. When I did the roadtest before I bought the car, it was after a 20 cm snowfall with summer tyres. So again, not the best conditions. I can only say that my Nokian Hakka 8 studded tyres are very good. I had the same on the Focus, but they seem to work better with this car. Probably that the weight help the studs to work. But I suspect the Buick to be a little bit americanized.

Here we have only one engine on that car... the 2,0 turbo 260 hp with 6 speed auto gearbox. Front wheel drive or AWD. In 2016, they were offering a mild hybrid version and a manual gearbox on the sporty GS version.

 

[Perc]

I wonder why they felt like they needed to move the button for the heated steering wheel. On mine it's on the center stack next to the button that turns the entire climate control system off. It's split like the SYNC and AUTO buttons on the other side. The "six o'clock" button on the steering wheel is for the speed limiter, which lets you set a speed limit which the car won't go over, until you floor it in which case the limiter gets overridden. Mercedes has had an identical feature for decades and I don't see the point of it, personally.

The "12 o'clock" button that doesn't do anything is reserved for the active cruise control, btw. I don't have it either.

 

[sicnarf_1978]

I wonder why they felt like they needed to move the button for the heated steering wheel. On mine it's on the center stack next to the button that turns the entire climate control system off. It's split like the SYNC and AUTO buttons on the other side. The "six o'clock" button on the steering wheel is for the speed limiter, which lets you set a speed limit which the car won't go over, until you floor it in which case the limiter gets overridden. Mercedes has had an identical feature for decades and I don't see the point of it, personally.

The "12 o'clock" button that doesn't do anything is reserved for the active cruise control, btw. I don't have it either.

I was looking in the Opel Insignia's brochure to see the differences and I was wondering what was that limiter button. I tried the active cruise control on a replacement car I had when the Focus was in the garage for a defect main fuse... it was a Dodge Durango Hemi. That feature is cool, as the active high beams. The active safety gadgets are optional on the Highline 2 and GS models.