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Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
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Maxichamp
08/17/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
Same reason western Michigan is Oldsmobile country.
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quayzar
08/16/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
The best car I have ever had in the snow was my '86 Buick so I think they know what they are doing. Luckily I don't live in as a cold a climate so I can drive a manual (Buick was an automatic) and doesn't have a leaky windscreen (Buicks windscreen was basically a glass sieve. The gasket material was purely for show.)
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Edited by quayzar at 08/16/09 2:16 AM quayzar was starred quayzar was unstarred

msatlas
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
I work in Waunakee WI, "the only Waunakee in the world." That's the official town slogan. I'm pretty sure Buick is the official town vehicle. The only thing that outnumbers them is the manure spreader trucks when it's time for the farmers to fertilize their fields.

As far as I can tell the reason they do okay in the snow is that at the first sign of anything frozen falling from the sky, their drivers slow down to barely above idle. I prefer my Mazdaspeed 6 and Blizzaks but hey what do I know?
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ummagumma82
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
The (recently closed) GM plant in Janesville is probably a factor. I've also noticed a shitload of Impalas in WI, which is especially annoying since the cops drive them as well.

On a related note, you still see a surprising amount of Volkswagens in Pennsylvania, and their Westmoreland factory was shut down in the late 80s.
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DoctorNine's D9 Cat
08/15/09

@ummagumma82: Once these vehicular pushers get you on their special sauce, it's hard to get off, even when there are innumerable logical reasons to change.
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tonyola
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
I never liked bigger Buicks - I always considered them to be hopeless and thirsty cushmobiles. However, having owned a nice, low-mileage '94 LeSabre for the past year (thanks Mom) has changed my opinion. The 3800 is smooth, quiet, torquey, and gets remarkable highway mileage - 28 to 30 mpg. Cruising at 70 to 80 on the interstate is like piloting a velvet cloud. I've had apartments with less room than the passenger compartment and trunk. Although the suspension is set up for comfort, there is quite a bit of grip and the car will (begrudgingly) take being tossed around. The climate control would handle a rain forest, the Mojave Desert, or the Alaskan North Slope. The car has been quite reliable overall (although a couple of engine sensors required replacement) and insurance is cheap. I get a surprising number of positive comments from people when they see it, and not just oldsters either.

The H-body LeSabre might be a cushmobile, but a really good one. It's neither sporty nor particularly fun to drive, but it's extremely competent transport that now has my respect, and I see why they have appealed to so many. Is a current Camry really any better than this car?
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facelvega
08/15/09

@tonyola: Hear, hear. Driving a '92 LeSabre myself, also a family gift, and have come to the same conclusion. I actually prefer it to my old Volvo 240 and 164, and I swear to a Lexus ES300 I borrowed for a thousand miles just before getting the Buick. Up against a new Camry? It has 2.5 inches more legroom in the back. Oh, and the back seat is a huge blue velour sofa and not a dentist's chair as in the camry. But yes, those blasted sensors do tend to go once the old 3800 Buicks get long in the tooth.
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Impalamino mkIV
08/15/09

@tonyola: I'm glad your opinion changed. After working as a mechanic for three years at a small service station, I know what dependable workhorses these cars can be. Whenever someone of "limited means" asks for a recommendation on a used car, I push 10-15 year-old Buicks. They can be found for cheap money, and a fair amount of them have only seen light "grandma" duty. Sure, it's a "boat" by modern standards, but it's a stone-reliable boat that's cheap to fix and has the potential to go 200k before any major repairs. 3100 and 3800 are good all-around engines with basic maintenance.

I also recommend large Oldsmobiles of the same vintage.
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iantm
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
Since I started apprenticing as a mechanic, I've started to change my opinion on Buicks. Granted, many of our customers have the token W and G body models (a few A body cars still hang on), but I've found that they are pleasant, comfy, all around decent cars. Nicer equipped than the chevies, cushier seats, and a softer suspension.

I know understand why a Buicks and Mercury Sables are so commonly found on the interstate. A decent comfy long range cruiser that's inexpensive to run and buy - heck, I'd consider a Buick now.

Of course, it'd be in addition to my corner carver Ford Focus.
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ptschett
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
Beyond the certain comfort/style/competence/reliability factors that appeal to your typical upper Midwesterner, there's another factor: dealerships. Here in the Dakotas, GM and Ford will have stores in towns down to about 3,000 people while the import marques won't be found till the population is more like 15-20,000. Where I lived till last year I had something like 4 GM, 4 Ford, and 3 Chrysler dealerships within 50 miles, but would have had to go 85 miles or more to buy anything from an Asian brand.
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MushyHeirloom
08/15/09

@ptschett: That's true. Until the recent round of Chrysler closings, the next town over had a Chrysler (formerly Ford) dealership. It's twenty miles to anything else, but there's plenty of options now - however, a decade ago you were limited to Toyota, Volvo, and the domestics.
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MushyHeirloom
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
We've certainly got our share of Buicks, but it's not nearly to that extreme (Rainiers, I've seen a few, but then again, too few to mention). The rust eats the older ones, at least.
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spuy767
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
Because wisconsin with their corn fed beauties have a penchant for premium american motorcars?
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Flathead Smith
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
It's because everyone in Wisconsin is nearly, or has retired from massive cheese making profits.
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mercury_marine
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
My maternal grandparents (both WI natives) drove nothing but Buick their entire lives. They liked 'em because they were big, comfy, the AC was brutally cold, and they never broke down during multiple trips Up Nort. After their passing we sold their last Buick - a refrigerator white Century with lotsa rust - to our neighbors. I see that ugly box of a car almost everyday and it makes me smile.
-Matthew (in WI)
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FTGDWolverineEdition'09
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
Wisconsin makes Cheese which Buick puts in their suspension. Got it?
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Novaload
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
What did Lombardi drive?

But seriously, Buick had a unique niche--they brought you Skylarks and Rivieras, Electras/deuce and a quarters--always lots of muscle and cushion, upscale but not elitist--not a Caddy or a Lincoln or an Imperial.
A fine American choice--upper, right side of the bell curve, but you know, not an outlier, nothing extreme.
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John Krewson
08/15/09

@Novaload Wants the Jez 9 Back: He drove Fords, actually.
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John Krewson
08/15/09

@John Krewson: Whups! And Pontiacs, come to think. I'm really not sure he cared what he drove as long as it started in minus-30 weather.
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Mark Arnold
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?
Flint, MI area is by far the most Buick-saturated place in the country. There's a disgusting amount of LeSabres, Rendezvous, Park Avenues, Regals, and everything else. Flint has donked Buicks in the ghettos, ex-octogenarian Buicks for dirt cheap on the Dort Hwy dealership lots, shiny new Buicks for the snobby Grand Blanc trophy wives, and a surplus of late-model Regals and Centurys doing daily driver duty for the everyone else.
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joegibes
08/15/09

@Mark Arnold: I currently live in Flint and I've lived in Wisconsin. I have to say that both places are especially Buick-tastic.
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Impalamino mkIV
08/15/09

@Mark Arnold: I suspect there's some brand loyalty going back about, oh, 106 years? Buick and Billy Durant took Flint from a small, logging and carriage-building town to what was arguably an industrial colossus in it's day.

(With all due respect to Dallas Dort and various other titans of the automotive and related industries based in Flint)
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skaycog
08/15/09

In reply to Why Do They Love Buicks So Much In Wisconsin?

Put some cheese on it.
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Tossed Accord taco salad over Malibu face
08/15/09

@skaycog misses lost friends:

CHRIST
Ya going to have to put A LOT OF CHEESE on that POS.. to cover it up!

Imagine if ya had a PT Loser and how much damn cheese you'd need for that!

The bigger of a POS..
The more CHEESE!
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