My new 2005 Prius Vs my (typical GM) 1998 Buick Regal

Hey, I'm also on long island, in bay shore. I have the 2004 prius and same package also. Where are you located?

 

First, I love my Prius... it is the most fun and "best" overall car I've ever owned.

Second, (and the GM bashers on here don't like to here any positives about U.S. automobiles) there were some things on my ex-car, a 1997 Pontaic Grand Prix GT that were simply "better."

The GM bucket seats were more comfortable, electric, adjustable on all axis, and heated leather.

The tilt steering wheel in the GP was far more useful than the Prius'.

The JBL "premium" sound system is a premium joke compared to the Delco.

Except for the usual suspect brakes and tires, my GP had 150,000 basically maintenance-free miles. It was, until the Prius, the "best" overall car I'd ever owned. IT even had a stainless steel exhaust which never needed a muffler.

Still, given a choice between the two, I'd take my Pri.

http://www.w8kc.com/priusmileage.htm

 

There is *nothing* wrong with a Buick car. First of all, they appear to be the most reliable Domestic car. My folks have bought Buick their entire lives and have always had good luck.

Second, the two companies target completely different buyers. Especially with the LeSabre Celebration Edition my folks bought new in 2003 "It's our last car!"

Well, they said that around 10 years and 3 cars ago. Whatever ...

Despite getting less than half the average fuel economy of my Prius, especially in city driving, I really *like* driving their LeSabre. Here is why:

1. That soft floaty ride is really nice over frost heaves and potholes.
2. Way better highway tracking stability. You can drive with one finger
3. Big comfy seats.
4. More adjustments for seat and steering wheel.
5. Enormous trunk
6. When I drive it by myself, I feel like I'm in a Pimpmobile "Hey baby, wanna date?"

The 3.8 litre V6 appears to be durable too. One thing that impresses me is that if the oil pressure relief spring ever hangs up, it's fairly easy to take off the oil filter adapter housing and put in an oil pump rebuild kit. All external.

Don't get me wrong, I really like my Prius too. But you do have to admit that Buick does a pretty good job for their target buyer.

 

I junked a 90 Century for my Prius.

It had bench seats that leaned way too far back, aggravating my already injured spine. I replaced the alternator 3 times in 6 years. Replaced the battery once, rack and pinion, tie rods, tie rod ends, and other assorted steering components that wore out... and had it repainted due to the faulty clear coat they used that model year.

When the Prius finally came, it was really bad: had 2 dead cylinders (V6 engine) and a dead mass airflow sensor. I refused to replace anything else. I had it for 6 years and it only had 140K on it when I junked it.

Forget Buick. Glad to be rid of that thing!

 

I traded in a '94 Regal, so I'll chime in.

The Buick had the following good points:
1) No backtalk acceleration. I was the king of onramps and lane merges. No one expects a Buick sedan to kick nice person, so that extra unsuspecting delay on their part means the mid-range accel put them in my rear-view mirror in no time, every time.
2) Ride comfort, with exception below.
3) Freeway tracking-- arrow straight, no wander, insensitive to bump steer.
4) Trunk space, but would have been FAR better if the back seats folded.

On the down side:
1) Crappy Delco stereo. No bass, no volume, no clarity at all. All proprietary, of course, with unique dash outline, so no aftermarket improvements possible without trashing the dash.
2) Ride on cupped freeway lanes means a violent shaking of the driver's head and neck. Very tiring at any speed over about 50mph. The 405/5 from LA to San Diego was brutal.
3) Dependability problems. Brakes were fixed under warrantee, but three alternators and a power steering pump later, it still whistled and ran batteries dead often. Some mechanics said it was bad grounds, but they never found them. Serpentine belt tensioner gave out once, took the alternator with it, and was about to fail again. Mechanics said rear exhaust manifold cracks were a regular problem on the 3.8, but mine never did (it never overheated, probably a precipitating cause for many).
4) Seat comfort-- my back would ache after each hourlong commute. The seat cannot be adjusted for comfort, despite 6-way power. Far too reclined, so your arms and neck ache from craning forward. No leg room, even when seat was all the way back, and no dead pedal, just an angled wheel well that prevented ankle comfort.
5) Lack of rear seat legroom despite length of car.
6) Shitty mileage (usually under 20).

The Prius took car of most of the faults, thoug introduced one problem:
1) Much more comfortable seat, though wheel tilt is useless--a telescoping column would have done wonders.
2) Better back seat legroom.
3) More useful trunk, since the seats fold.
4) Mildly better stereo.
5) Poor freeway/wind stability
6) Great mileage, of course.
7) So far, so good on reliability

Options make the car satisfying (air bags, HID, Nav, VSC), but are secondary the the basics above.

 

Way back in the day I used to have a '77 Olds Cutlass Supreme V6 (The "Gutless") which was replaced by an '81 Olds Delta 88 Royale Brougham which came with seats that must have been designed by the Marquis de Sade himself. There is absolutely nothing about either car that is better than the Prius, and that includes rear seat legroom in spite of the outlandish length of the cars. Once I got sick and tired of the horrendous reliability and high repair and operating costs of these cars I bought two Acura Integras in succession. Although the Integras accelerated and handled better than the Prius I don't really find myself missing that. The ony thing that I truly miss from the Integras are the seats, which were VERY comfortable compared to the driver's seat in the Prius. And I sometimes somewhat miss the sunroofs too.

- Bill

 

I'm sure that GM has significantly improved their product since I owned some of their cars, but I was so thoroughly disgusted with their products and so very pleased with the Japanese cars that I don't see myself buying another GM product anytime soon. I have rented a couple of GM products recently, most recently a 2004 Cavalier for one day just prior to picking up my Prius, and even though I cannot comment on its long-term reliability, its comfort, handling, interior space, ergonoics were simply awful and I asked myself why anybody besides a rental agency would ever want to buy one of these in light of the alternatives that are available. I also rented a Buick LeSabre ('03 or '04; not sure) for an evening last year, and it was not nearly as bad as the Cavalier. I found it to be very spacious and for the most part very comfortable, but it too was something I could not see myself wanting to own.

- Bill

 

So what did GM do with the highly JD Power-ranked Regal this year?

Discontinued it.