2014 Buick LaCrosse updated with new styling, tech

Buick might have one of the smallest lineups among major automakers, but by the time the 2014 model rolls around, it will definitely have one of the freshest. Debuting at the New York Auto Show this week, the 2014 Buick LaCrosse receives numerous styling changes inside and out, and it benefits from many of the same new features found on closely related models like the Cadillac XTS and the 2014 Chevrolet Impala.

Exterior changes are relatively minor, but they still help give the car a fresh, new look. The new face of the 2014 LaCrosse fits in with recently new or redesigned Buick models with its oversized waterfall grille, LED-trimmed headlights and the signature hood vents being moved to the side of the hood rather than the top. Similar changes have been made to the rear, like the reshaped LED taillights, the full-width chrome trim and a new fascia design; LaCrosse models equipped with the 3.6-liter V6 will still get the integrated exhaust finishers but they're executed in a more stylish manner than the current model. Finishing off the exterior, new wheel designs are also being introduced, which will include bringing 20-inch wheels to the sedan's option list.

Inside, Buick redesigned almost the entire cabin to create a more luxurious and upscale appearance. The instrument panel is essentially carried over, but pretty much everything else has been redesigned and updated with the biggest change being to the driver's area. Dual eight-inch configurable displays make up the center stack and gauge cluster, while the overall number of buttons have been reduced from 17 down to just seven. The 2014 LaCrosse will also be offered with the next-generation IntelliLink, which receives many of the same enhancements as Chevy's latest version of MyLink adding better customization, improved voice commands and more features including Pandora. Additionally, new door panels, seat and center console complete the LaCrosse's interior redesign.
Buick will offer four interior color combinations, and there is a new Ultra Luxury Interior Package available. Aptly named, this package will bring a high level of luxury to the 2014 LaCrosse with ash wood trim, semi-aniline leather seating and a synthetic suede material used on the headliner and door panels. New safety features will also be offered on the new LaCrosse, like forward collision alert, lane departure warning, land change alert, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and, similar to the Cadillac XTS, Safety Seat Alert that vibrates the lower seat cushion "indicating the direction of a potential crash threat." We're not sure if this works identically to the XTS' system, which can warn of oncoming cars from either side while backing up and buzz the seat in conjunction with the lane departure warning system.

Powertrains will continue to come from either the 3.6-liter V6 or the 2.4-liter four-cylinder used on the base eAssist model, and while fuel economy numbers have not been announced yet, all 2014 LaCrosse models will also benefit from improved aerodynamics with active grille shutters. V6 models equipped with the Touring Package will continue to bring real-time suspension damping to the sedan as well as Buick's HiPer front struts.


Courtesy of Auto Blog

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Pre-Owned Special: 2011 GMC Terrain

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Tips to Help Save Money as Gas Prices Rise

Consumers’ pain at the pump is back with gas prices rising for 33 consecutive days according to the Washington Post and the average price of gas moving closer to $4 per gallon. No need to worry, says the Car Care Council. A few simple and inexpensive vehicle maintenance tips can help alleviate the pain.
“You can’t control the price of gas, but you can control how much gas you burn by performing proper maintenance and how you drive. Performing simple and inexpensive maintenance can save as much as $1,200 per year in gas costs,” said Rich White, executive director, Car Care Council.
The Car Care Council offers these gas-saving maintenance tips:

• Keep your car properly tuned to improve gas mileage by an average of 4 percent.
• Keep tires properly inflated and improve gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent.
• Replace dirty or clogged air filters and improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent.
• Improve gas mileage by 1-2 percent by using the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil.

Driving behavior also impacts fuel efficiency. The council offers these gas saving driving tips:

• Observe the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly above 50 mph. Each 5 mph over 50 mph is like paying an additional $0.25 per gallon for gas, according to www.fueleconomy.gov.
• Avoid excessive idling. Idling gets zero miles per gallon. Warming up the vehicle for one or two minutes is sufficient.
• Avoid quick starts and stops. Aggressive driving can lower gas mileage by 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent in the city.
• Consolidate trips. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much gas as one longer multi-purpose trip.
• Don’t haul unneeded items in the trunk. An extra 100 pounds in the trunk reduces fuel economy up to 2 percent.

Courtesy of Car Care Council

1965 Buick Riviera

Did you know that the Buick Riviera is the product of GM's 1960s assignment to combine Ferrari and Rolls Royce styling cues? Check out this 1965 Riviera, restored by eGarage!

Parts/Service Special: Brake Pads for $79.95

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GM: Environmentally Concerned

The 60s and 70s were a time of new challenges and great change. Environmental concerns, increased as prices and foreign competition led to an unprecedented downsizing of vehicles across all GM vehicle lines. It was the largest re-engineering program ever undertaken in the industry, ushering in an age of lighter, aerodynamic and more fuel-efficient vehicles.

In 1971, GM pioneered the use of engines that could run on low-lead or unleaded gasoline. Two years later, General Motors was the first to offer an air bag in a production car. In 1974, GM introduced the most important step in reducing emissions with the catalytic converter. This technology, shared by General Motors, is still used by the entire auto industry.

There were storm clouds on the horizon, however.  Germany and Japan, now recovered from the devastation of World War II, began exporting cars to the U.S. in larger numbers, and fuel price shocks sparked consumer interest in these new, more fuel-efficient vehicles.  GM rushed to develop smaller vehicles as well, but the company had been too large and too successful for too long to change direction easily, and GM’s undisputed dominance of the U.S. market began to erode.






Courtesy of Buick

2013 GMC Yukon XL

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Monday-Maintenance tip: Survive a Water Landing

Almost all cars have electronic windows that short out when they come in contact with water. So invest in a center punch, a device shaped like a screwdriver but with a sharp center point. It makes breaking a window a cinch. Store it in your center console or glove box—not your trunk.




Courtesy of Men's Health

Happy Pi Day! Here’s Some of the Wackiest Celebrations around the World

March 14 (3/14) is Pi Day, a celebration of the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter — one of the most beautiful and confounding numbers in mathematics. It’s technically written as 3.14159, or 3.14 for short, but Pi is an “irrational and transcendental number” whose decimals “continue infinitely without repetition or pattern,” according to PiDay.org, the holiday’s official website. But just like the hordes of young people who flocked to get married on 12/12/12, we can’t resist the opportunity to celebrate a fortuitous coincidence on our calendars. Here’s our favorite quirky celebrations for Pi Day 2013.

• In the past, MIT has posted its acceptance letters to high school seniors on Pi Day.

• Attention, Chicago residents: First Slice Pie Café will be giving out free slices of pizza today at 3:14 pm. For readers in the Southeast, pizzas cost $3.14 at Your Pie‘s 16 locations across Georgia, Tennessee and Florida.

• The Microsoft store is offering 3.14% off on Dell tablets.

• At Mission High School in California’s Bay Area, students are composing “piems” — poems that have “the same number of letters as the corresponding digit of pi.”

• Pi Day is also, amazingly, Albert Einstein’s birthday. At the San Francisco Exploratorium, math lovers can parade around a “Pi Shrine” 3.14 times while singing “Happy Birthday” to the German physicist, KQED reports. Retired physicist Larry Shaw leads a “Pi Procession”, in which “Pi partiers will get a yardstick mounted to a pie plate, each with a single digit of pi on it. Then all 500 of them will line up in pi-order” and trot around the “Pi Shrine.”

8 Notable Pi(e)s in History

• It’s OK if all of this talk about pi is making you crave pie. Last night, students at Cal Tech hosted a late-night pi-themed pie-eating party. The Pasadena Sun reports: students “dug into 130 pies laid out for them outside student housing. There were 26 each of five different pies. Follow that? So on 3/14 at 1:59 a.m. there were 26 each of five kinds of pie. None is by chance. The first digits of Pi are 3.14159265.”

• After pigging out on pies, you can go on a 3.14 mile bicycle ride in Milwaukee.

• And by the way, if you think all this pie-eating on Pi Day is merely an exercise in bad puns, prepare to have your mind blown.

• In France, British writer Daniel Tammet has kicked off “France’s first Pi Day celebration” at the Palace of Discovery, Paris’s science museum, CNN reports. In 2004, the then-25-year-old recited “22,514 digits of pi from memory” — breaking the European record.

• A student and aspiring math teacher at the University of New Mexico honored Pi Day 2010 by solving a Rubik’s Cube while simultaneously reciting the numbers of pi and hula hooping — putting all multi-taskers to shame. Rachel Maddow featured a video clip of the feat on her Mar. 16 show:

Courtesy of Time

Pre-Owned Special: 2013 GMC Sierra 1500

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Maintenance Tip: Maintain your car’s battery

Maybe the manufacturer says your battery is maintenance-free, but don’t you believe it! Check your battery regularly to extend its life and avoid the hassle of being stranded with a dead battery.

• Begin with the simple: keeping your battery clean. A dirty case can actually cause current to drain. Wipe with a damp rag. Use a mild detergent if necessary.
• Next, clean the battery posts or terminals. Loosen and remove the negative cable (black or minus sign) first, then the red positive cable. Use a brass wire battery brush dipped in a paste made from a few tablespoons of baking soda and a little water.
• Inspect the battery case for damage, such as cracks or bulges — signs that a battery needs to be replaced.
• Reinstall the cables, positive first, and coat the terminals and clamps with a thin coating of grease to prevent new corrosion.

Courtesy of Reader's Digest

GM to make most cars LTE hotspots for 2015

General Motors isn't the first automaker to deliver in-car Internet access, but a proposed plan announced today could make the technology more widespread than any of its competitors have offered. By the 2015 model year, most Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC products in the US and Canada will offer 4G LTE mobile broadband access. Initially, GM will just be pairing with AT&T to deliver this service, but additional carriers will be revealed in the future.

Current in-car Wi-Fi hot spots are limited to 3G, but GM says that 4G LTE is 10 times faster than 3G service and will allow for full Internet access, including streaming video for entertainment as well as services like real-time traffic updates and navigation driving directions. There is also no need for a paired smartphone with this new system, which should make it easier to use, and GM and AT&T will also be working together to develop new apps for customers.

Buyers can expect to start seeing 4G LTE in their cars starting next year, and GM is already planning to expand the service to other global markets as well. All of the information from GM's announcement is posted in a press release below. 

Courtesy of Auto Blog

Get OnStar ... Lower Your Insurance Costs

Did you know OnStar can lower your insurance costs? In addition to saving you money by simplifying maintenance and offering 24/7 roadside assistance, OnStar has partnered with select auto insurance companies to provide exclusive discounts for OnStar subscribers. Visit Courtesy Buick GMC for more information AND to sign up today: http://bit.ly/Vul6Fe

2013 GMC Sierra Denali 1500 AWD 0-60 MPH Mile High Performance Test

Automatic Locking Rear Differential: an amenity that no other competitor in its class offers

    -Delivers added traction in driving and wheel-slip situations
    -Senses a difference in speed between left and right rear wheels
    -Locks to turn both wheels in unison

Check out what the rear differential does for the 2013 GMC Sierrea Denali in this video!

Pre-Owned Special: 2012 GMC Acadia

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Positive Testimonial: Thank you, Thomas!

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Monday Maintenance: Get Unstuck

 

If your tires have sunk into snow, mud, or sand, driver Cameron Steele, a Baja 1000 winner, says to lower the tire pressure way down—as low as 5 or 6—and dig out space in front of the tires to give yourself a run. “If you still don't get traction, put down some pieces of carpet, he says. “But always put a leash on what you use for traction—say 50 feet long—and tie it to your bumper so you don't have to run back into the mud or gunk to pick up the pieces.” 

Courtesy of Men's Health