STYLING | 7 out of 10
Expert Quotes:
a seriously high-class interior. Not faux classy. Not exaggerated or overdone, just nice materials, well arranged in eye-pleasing colors and textures
USA Today
About that interior: It's good-looking, if perhaps too austere in the black-on-black guise of our test car; fortunately, warmer, richer two-tone combinations are available, and the plastics themselves are pretty decent.
Automobile Magazine
The Buick's footprint falls between the shrink-wrapped Lexus IS 250 and larger Acura TSX, but its styling feels more anonymous than either.
Cars.com
Most glaring is the small start/stop ignition button, which seems awkwardly wedged into the upper left corner of the console as if it were an afterthought.
Edmunds
at least there aren't any dumb retro trios of portholes on the front fenders. That's because they're on top of the hood. Oh, Buick, really?
Automobile Magazine
Under the skin it's related to the Chevy Cruze, but all the Buick Verano's sheetmetal and cockpit pieces are its own--and it makes a distinct difference.
The Verano, to our eyes, looks like a larger, more luxurious vehicle than the Cruze, thanks to some well-conceived details that relate it to the rest of the Buick lineup. The roofline is long and arches in the same way as the LaCrosse full-size sedan, while the headlamps and small grille are more in line with the European-derived Regal. In all, the look is conservative, but flowing and clean, and we think, handsome enough to attract new buyers to Buick--especially since the other vehicles in its price and size class are so undistinguished.
The bright-metallic trim applied to the Verano walks a fine line for modern luxury. The chrome look is back to being cliche, after years of Germanic deletion from upwardly mobile brands. Here Buick has executed it tastefully, for the most part. We especially like the light veins of chrome that angle around the rear corners of the Verano, then angle downward toward the center in back. We do take issue with one detail, however. The Buick ventiports, which find their way again to the Verano's front fenders...we bet they're still going to be seen as a bit tacky by the younger, more affluent crowd the brand is trying to attract.
Spotting the new Verano Turbo will mean hunting down its dual exhausts and its small trunklid spoiler. No mesh grille inserts are applied, no faux carbon fiber is peeled or stuck to it. It's way against type--but so refreshing, if you've ever lost yourself in a parking lot of pimped-alike R or M or Q cars.
The Verano's look inside is quite swoopy and radical for a Buick, with beautiful two-tone themes and a high sill line that wraps around from the top of the doors all the way through the far front of the dash top. Door trim carries through the broad arcs of the dash, and matte-metallic trim looks classy, not garish, here. The small windows at the front of the front doors fit in stylistically, and help with visibility, too.
Conclusion
The 2013 Buick Verano has an understated appeal, and a very refined cabin.
