2010 Buick LaCrosse
![Buick's 2010 LaCrosse -- a near-luxury, mid-size-to-large sedan -- was built to put the cross-hairs on a single bogie, the Lexus ES350, and I'll tell you right now, it blows the Lexus out of the sky. Pow. Parachute. Smoking crater. --Dan Neil](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5d18f18/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x320+0+0/resize/500x320!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff0%2F37%2F67fd6d3272323538019d9b9ee2b2%2Fla-hy-buick-lacrosse-profil.jpg)
Buick’s 2010 LaCrosse -- a near-luxury, mid-size-to-large sedan -- was built to put the cross-hairs on a single bogie, the Lexus ES350, and I’ll tell you right now, it blows the Lexus out of the sky. Pow. Parachute. Smoking crater. --Dan Neil (Jeff Amlotte / Los Angeles Times)
![2010 Buick LaCrosse](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1c95f1b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x320+0+0/resize/500x320!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa4%2F3d%2F23d14a3907cc598eec647c8ad433%2Fla-hy-buick-lacrosse-badge.jpg)
Born in a blizzard of pink slips and a tsunami of tears, the LaCrosse -- the first new car launched by GM since it emerged from bankruptcy -- has to be more than on par with some middling Lexus. It has to be fantastic. --Dan Neil (Jeff Amlotte / Los Angeles Times)
![2010 Buick LaCrosse](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ed58b4d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x360+0+0/resize/500x360!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F08%2Fae%2F9e833dee492bad10c9acce6c9230%2Fla-hy-buick-lacrosse-dash.jpg)
There are moments that the cabin, with its Aqua Velva-blue ambient lighting, thick chrome instrument bezels, luminous LCD screens and spread of glowing buttons, looks like the flight deck of some drug-addled dirigible. --Dan Neil (Jeff Amlotte / Los Angeles Times)
![2010 Buick LaCrosse](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ffeb4f4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/280x425+0+0/resize/280x425!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd3%2F52%2F9d54dd53fb55c88d358342c849ef%2Fla-hy-buick-lacrosse-interi.jpg)
The LaCrosse has an insanely fussed-over interior. Example: The dash material is synthetic leather but its French stitched with real thread. --Dan Neil (Jeff Amlotte / Los Angeles Times)
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![2010 Buick LaCrosse](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ded01bd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x320+0+0/resize/500x320!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe5%2F2f%2F1160adfdd577ebfbae2e5b9c6d65%2Fla-hy-buick-lacrosse-parkbr.jpg)
In the cabin, the two-tone materials are bisected by a lyric bow of ambient lighting and wood grain that plays into the doors, looks great, especially at night. --Dan Neil (Jeff Amlotte / Los Angeles Times)
![2010 Buick LaCrosse](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4999d0f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/500x320+0+0/resize/500x320!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F44%2F21%2F4ac6de81d39eb1225ccd81c4bf7c%2Fla-hy-buick-lacrosse-start.jpg)
No corners are gracelessly cut here -- no ugly cover plates, no exposed fastener buttons and the barest minimum of seams. --Dan Neil (Jeff Amlotte / Los Angeles Times)
![2010 Buick LaCrosse](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6b1cdfa/2147483647/strip/true/crop/280x425+0+0/resize/280x425!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fec%2Ffe%2F0519e22622bb1d53f1616e1592d7%2Fla-hy-buick-lacrosse-nose.jpg)
The exterior styling is really strong -- masculine, well planted, with a lovely roof arch -- in every direction but the front. I can’t quite fathom the headlight design, which looks like Dame Edna’s spectacles. --Dan Neil (Jeff Amlotte / Los Angeles Times)