Thoughts on a '06 Buick Lucerne

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Found a '06 Lucerne CXL with the 4.6 V8 for sale at a small roadside dealer near my home. They have it listed for $5,000, which is on the low side of retail, and it appears to be in good shape. The low retail has me concerned there may be something mechanical going on. CARFAX does not show a whole lot of service records on the car.

I'm not very familiar with the Northstar LD8 that is in this thing, same goes for the GM 4T80. What kind of track record do these have?
 
Its a 11 year old car, 5g for iron is bucks. Should be a nice cruiser but I don't like how the northstar is lacking low end grunt - unless thet got fixed with some VVTi, intake and cam tuning for more grunt. My first big car was a 65 Buick electra convertible with the 401 nailhead and a carter afb 4 bbl. Super Turbine 400 3 spd auto with switch-pitch converter like a powerglide. Nice tranny.
 
Originally Posted By: double vanos
How many miles on the odo?


125,000.

And I forgot to mention the carfax shows no indication the belts, plugs, and tranny fluid have been serviced. Those obviously would need to be addressed if they haven't been.
 
I've heard stories about the head bolts ripping completely out of the engine. Apparently the engine block is made out of some strange ceramic/aluminum mix.
 
I hope those miles were not in-town miles. That Northstar engine was meant to be driven hard. If it wasn't given an Italian tune-up regularly, run away. Puttering around town to church on Sunday led to valve coking. The older ones also suffered from the head bolts pulling out when they were finally driven hard. IIRC that got fixed by 2006. The 4T80 is relatively bulletproof by then.

If you're serious, ask the dealer where they got it from. If it's an auction car with an unknown history, pass. If they got it locally and can tell you some about it, I'd maybe take a gamble. Those can be sweet-running engines if the issues aren't there or get addressed.
 
The 06 LD8 was a good engine, no head gasket issues like the earlier ones where the head bolt threads pulled out of the block. They do tend to weep oil a bit but nothing horrible, a good runner will easily out perform any stock 3800 and get similar or even better mileage on the highway, I had an LH2 deliver almost 30 mpg.
The 4T80 is a much better unit than the 4T65e used with the 3800. I have owned both and would take a later model (after 02) N* any day over a 3800.

The 3800 is a good engine and the early N* was scary but they got it worked out in the later years, its just a better engine. The 4T80 doesn't like to sit around, they like to start leaking especially at the front seal but with 125K on it this shouldn't be a problem, if it had 30K it would probably be leaking like a sieve.
Have it looked at by a Cadillac dealer (they have a lot more experience with the N*), make sure the transmission fluid is reasonably clean and shifting properly and no fluids are leaking any more than a little weepage and it should be a great car.

Edit: 2002 was the new block and an end to HG issues.
 
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Spoke with the dealer and he didn't have too much to offer. He actually had very short responses. Just said it was clean, no warning lights and drove nice. He didn't know the vehicle's history.

I mentioned about stopping by to look at it and he said I'd have to wait till the end of the week. His wife is currently driving it while her car is in the shop.

Thanks for the responses so far. Merv mentioned getting a 3800 and I would have no problem buying one. Problem is, all the decent ones around here carry a premium price tag. Same goes for the previous generation Escapes and any Fusions with the 2.5L.The used car market around here is somewhat ridiculous compared to those in Indy and Cincy.
 
For $1500 more you can get something really nice - 2010 Lucerne V6 garage kept - just have to drive. GM cars are cheap in N VA - all the snobs around here drive Lexus, BMW, Audi or Mercedes. Not to mention the Tesla crowd which is here in droves. If you're not driving at least a Honda or Toyota, you are shunned socially.

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/6007626824.html
 
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Shame you don't live in the Phoenix area...

2006 Lucerne CXL 117k miles - $4500

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It's not mine, just saw it on CL.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
If it had the 3800 I'd say jump on it.


Same here!



Me three.
 
Well I have been on the forum for a while, so I guess its time for my first post. I have a 2006 Lucerne with the Northstar and every option except the turn signal indicators in the mirror. The Northstar for 2006 was somewhat redesigned and does not have the issues that the earlier versions had. The Northstar is a 2 piece engine block that is glued together and the earlier units did have problems there and other oiling issues. Like the one post said it does seep a little oil. Mine seeps at the rear valve cover and at the middle oil pan bolt. Only leaves about 3-4 pinky nail size drops on my garage floor in a month. To fix I have to either tilt the engine by removing the rear engine mounts which I will not due cause its not that much of a leak. I have 140k miles on it. I change the oil every 3-4k and did tune it up at 80k.

Another thing, if you do not have owners manual--it states to use regular 5/30 not synthetic like the earlier Northstars.

Only 2 issues I had was that I had to have the gas gauge sending unit replaced and I had a squeak in the dash(both fixed under warranty) To access the fuel pump to get to the sending unit there is an access in the trunk floor. I was told by the dealer that most 3.8s(even though same tank) do not have this feature.

I get 21mpg around town and about 28-30 on the hihway. Neighbor down the street has an 06 with the V6 and only gets 17 town and about 26 highway, so I can't complain plus I have the V8 and it has a lot of guts. I live in the mountains and sometimes when it snows I have have to "feather the pedal" because of the power.

Only other minor issue is the 06 is the last yr that it had an analog/digital Onstar unit. So I am not able to get the latest updates unless I wanted to get the updated version from dealer at a cost of $600 so I dropped the Onstar feature about 2 yrs ago.

Very nice ride and a very quiet vehicle.

HTH, just my experience with this vehicle.

bill g
 
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
Run far, far away from that engine. I wouldn't take that car for free. Ticking time bomb under that hood.


Why? whats wrong with the later versions specifically 2002 and up? Lots of hate for the N* is largely based on the early versions, its true they were bad enough to irreparably damage the N* reputation but in the later ones the serious problems had been properly addressed with a new block design.
Personally I have owned a few of them and worked on plenty and never had an internal problem with the later engines in fact less problems than the 3800.
I would run away fast from a pre 2002 version also.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Why?

They hear/learn/experience something at one point in time; things change though, and they never bother doing any research to see if their position still holds merit. Consequently, you get a lot of outdated input that isn't relevant, nor accurate.
Originally Posted By: grisby
just my experience with this vehicle.

Thank you, Bill!
 
Originally Posted By: grisby
Well I have been on the forum for a while, so I guess its time for my first post


Thanks for the first hand opinion.

And before I forget.......

welcome2.gif
 
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