# Who can be surprised that Buicks are dying? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627 "2009-05-16T08:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/1 "2009-05-16T08:39:42Z")
I mean seriously. I can’t remember a point in my adult life when the name Buick has conjured anything but groans. Oldsmobiles are already gone, Pontiac has to be next. Even assuming the cars really were decent, the names are just burned. Does anyone younger than 60 think of these cards as something they want to own? (I’m not talking about classic cars, I’m talking the modern and recent productions.) It sucks in terms of the job losses, but talk about dead wood… ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/2 "2009-05-16T08:55:31Z")
quite popular here in China and make GM a lot of money… ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/3 "2009-05-16T09:06:37Z")
“Buick” is just an ugly name for a car company or any kind of company. I don’t know what the fuck they were thinking calling their company that. The name has an ungainly, harsh and unpleasant sound to it. Really bad move. They had some decent models. The second-generation 60s Riviera was pretty classy, and the Skylark was pretty slick. Everything they’ve designed within my lifetime has been lame-0. ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/4 "2009-05-16T11:07:28Z")
Wow. I had no idea they still made Buicks. Are they going to stop now? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/5 "2009-05-16T11:52:04Z")
Buick is one of those brands that I couldn’t even name one model in their line without difficulty. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/6 "2009-05-16T12:00:22Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > “Buick” is just an ugly name for a car company or any kind of company. I don’t know what the fuck they were thinking calling their company that. The name has an ungainly, harsh and unpleasant sound to it. Really bad move. [David Dunbar Buick](http://wiki.gmnext.com/wiki/index.php/Buick,_David_Dunbar), founder of the company, thought it was a pretty good name. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/7 "2009-05-16T12:25:35Z")
Ma owns one and people like her car. Many of our family have owned one. They are a good car. The only closing and bankruptcy that would surprise me are oil companies. Now Hyundai is a stupid name. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/8 "2009-05-16T12:43:43Z")
I seem to recall listening to Paul Harvey back in the… I guess it would have been the early 80s… and hearing him plug Buicks. So I guess Buick’s target market is the kind of people who listen(ed) to Paul Harvey. Good day. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/9 "2009-05-16T12:50:14Z")
GM announced Pontiac is going away. And they will sell or close Saturn, Hummer and Saab. They will be left with GMC, Caddy and Chevy. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/10 "2009-05-16T13:40:27Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > They will be left with GMC, Caddy and Chevy. And Buick. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/11 "2009-05-16T13:55:43Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > GM announced Pontiac is going away. And they will sell or close Saturn, Hummer and Saab. > > They will be left with GMC, Caddy and Chevy. And Buick. Unless I missed something, Buick isn’t dying. At least not officially. A friend of mine bought a Buick recently, and it’s a nice car, but I’ve looked for other new Buicks as I drive around and I don’t see many. GM wants to kill one of their divisions, so they do away with Pontiac. I see a lot of new Pontiacs everywhere I go. Seems like a bad move to me. I should say yet another bad move. Back in the early 90s, they did away with the Caprice. So they shut out most of the fleet market (police cars and taxicabs). The Impala’s gained a little acceptance in that market, but most cops don’t want a small front-wheel drive car. They did away with the Camaro/Trans Am/Firebird line for a while. So there wasn’t a reasonably priced sports car. That pretty much left pickup trucks and small family cars (IMHO, a family car should comfortably seat 6 people). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/12 "2009-05-16T14:11:17Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > Seems like a bad move to me. I should say yet another bad move. But Pontiac vehicles all share market space with similar Chevys. There are two major exceptions (Solstice and Vibe) and it would be a mistake to lose those cars but I imagine these will be rebadged. There’s a strong overlap between Pontiac and Chevy buyers - this brand seemed destined to die. > [@](#): > > That pretty much left pickup trucks and small family cars (IMHO, a family car should comfortably seat 6 people). That requires a front bench seat. Most cars (even larger cars) gave that up a long time ago. One of the few brands that still has it is Buick, which is exactly why my dad bought a Buick. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/13 "2009-05-16T17:44:16Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > “Buick” is just an ugly name for a car company or any kind of company. I don’t know what the fuck they were thinking calling their company that. The name has an ungainly, harsh and unpleasant sound to it. Really bad move. Back in the day, Buick’s were awesome. The name itself though, probably wasn’t so bad when it first came out (remember, it was 1903). That status probably stopped around 1980 (as a “good” brand), but it has lasted at least that long as something popular. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/14 "2009-05-16T17:52:45Z")
I had an old 1971 Buick Electra 225 back in college. Now that thing was a boat! But I loved it. I finally gave up on GM and Chrysler products for good back in 1995, after staying loyal to them for far too long, in memory of that Buick. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/15 "2009-05-16T17:54:45Z")
Buicks are extremely comfortable cars, for the most part; in terms of comfort-to-cost ratio you really cannot do any better. The styling, however, is decidely Old Fart and has been for a long time, and they’ve had recurring mechanical issues over the last couple of decades. In other words, it was a product line with a lot of strengths that GM got lazy about and never bothered to improve in a menaingful way. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/16 "2009-05-16T18:23:38Z")
I love my Grand Prix, and I love my friend’s Sunfire. I see them around wherever I go (makes for amusement when driving with others to spot a car just like ours and wonder how they drove all this way without you…). The reason given for Pontiac being shut down in the article I read was that though popular there wasn’t enough profit margin on them. Sucks cuz in the next 2-3 years I was hoping to buy a new one… I don’t think I’ve ever been in a Buick. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/17 "2009-05-17T06:00:41Z")
What I don’t get is retaining Cadillac. Who, under 80 billion years old, buys Cadillacs? Is there really a profit margin in that line? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/18 "2009-05-17T06:55:54Z")
Wasn’t there a Cadillac SUV that was all the rage a couple years back? Maybe they think the label has some value that they can build on. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/19 "2009-05-17T07:51:26Z")
Saturn is another popular company. They’re everywhere. Probably not very profitable though. Back in 1994 when I had mine, it was always a game to spot other Saturns when on the road. Today, it would be a game to spot the cars that _aren’t_ a Saturn. Cadillac is very popular around here. And I don’t think it’s an “old fart” car anymore either, since they don’t make any big giant barge cars anymore. They do have the big SUV, or at least they did. And they seem to be overpriced enough that GM probably makes money of them. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627/20 "2009-05-17T09:51:21Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Wasn’t there a Cadillac SUV that was all the rage a couple years back? Maybe they think the label has some value that they can build on. The Escalade. The problem is it’s popular with groups that can’t afford the $63,000 (Base) price tag. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-be-surprised-that-buicks-are-dying/496627.md?page=2)