2008 Buick Lacrosse - Styling Review

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Shopping for a 2008 Buick Lacrosse? MSRP: $24,250 - $32,380

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For Buick, 2008 is a carryover year; regarding the LaCrosse, that means not much has changed since 2007. Detroit News says that the Buick LaCrosse 2008 "looks more nondescript than anything else," acknowledging "there's some personality in its front end...the pair of headlights on each side is nicely cut out along the front, [and] the stretched oval grille was lowered, leaving the LaCrosse with a surprised expression over its new fascia." Edmunds says the Buick soldiers on with an “aged platform…and a staid design and image,” though Automedia approves of the “Jaguar-like sculpting over the quad lamps flanking its upscale oval grille, its stance, and its rear appearance.”

The Super is a new V-8 version of the LaCrosse; 2008 editions get Buick's famous hood portholes as well as a new waterfall grille, hood, and front fascia. Autoblog notes this year's Buick LaCrosse sports the signature portholes: "four on each flank signifying the eight cylinders pumping on the other side of the sheetmetal." ForbesAutos reports "visual differences between Super Buicks and their base-model equivalents include more aggressive bumpers, bolder grilles, and more chrome."

Moving on to the Buick LaCrosse 2008 interior, Car and Driver says that "unique plastic wood looks classier, and the center stack gets a matte silver finish to look more like a Chrysler." Still unimpressed with this year's Buick LaCrosse styling, Detroit News is critical in its assessment: "inside, the LaCrosse felt comfortable but remained boring." Edmunds has the opposite opinion, reporting this Buick LaCrosse 2008 dash design as "clean and elegant, with a long expanse of faux wood trim sweeping across its length, interrupted only by a simple gauge cluster directly in front of the driver," as well as "tasteful chrome accents along the dash and around the gear selector add a splash of style." LaCrosse Super editions get new seats, along with wood-grain-appearance accents on the instrument panel, center console, door, and gear shift knob.