I was in the middle of a long stroll in San Francisco this past December, during what was a brief visit to the city I had lived in twenty years prior. What better way to get reacquainted with the neighborhoods than to travel them by foot?
Despite the inevitable changes, the streets did manage to give my mind a good flood of memories. Nothing like physicality to create such feelings; in my head, it was the days of the turn of the century placed against the updated surroundings. And in keeping with the theme, what do I find? An early aughts Buick LeSabre, a true callback to those Y2K days (remember that?).
So there it was, a model launched for the year 2000, though not quite ready for the new millennia. Instead, closer to the end of an era than a new beginning.
As many may recall, the lines of the ’00-’05 LeSabre were largely evolutionary, still greatly derived from its larger Park Avenue sibling –renewed in ’97, though inspired by the ’91 Park Avenue. Understandable, since that ’91 C-body Buick was a rare styling success for GM. Perhaps the maker’s best-styled car of the era.
Looking back, one can see the ’91 Park Avenue’s intent had followed usual practice; launch a successful flagship and allow its cues to trickle down to the remaining lineup. An idea that didn’t quite come to be in those tumultuous GM years; with lineups stuffed with holdovers from a prior decade. Not the most convincing way to present yourself as trendy and up to date.
Even those flagship styling efforts would prove shortlived, however. So it was a new century, and everything in GM had taken an evolutionary approach; with the new LeSabre carrying a chunkier and more bulbous look in its updated design language. A competent and decent auto for its segment otherwise, but in many ways it felt anchored in the mid-’90s in an era that was heading to much turmoil and change.
But as some theorists have said, eras don’t go exactly by year count. The century mark, when it comes to actions, doesn’t really stop neatly in the ’00 mark. Hindsight lets us know that when it came to old GM, its century came to an end in ’08, and these cars spoke to that earlier era. But leaving that aside, when Buick’s full-sizers appeared in ’91 they brought a short-lived sense of hope for the maker and its divisions; at least among the brand’s faithful.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1991-1996 Buick Park Avenue – The C Gets An A+
Future Classic: 2005 Buick Park Avenue – The Last Real Buick
This last gen LeSabre was based off the G body shared with Aurora/Park Ave. Made for a great car beneath the questionable styling and Rubbermaid interior.
Buicks mistake was making the LeSabre too close to the Park Ave equipment wise. Why step up when you can get all the luxuries in a smaller package?
Just bought a 04 Park Ave, and even at 209k it is tight as a drum.
Used to see this gen LeSabre every where, but I guess the tin worm finally wiped them out.
Buick ended car production on a high note with these. I searched in earnest for one till I tripped over an ultra clean 04 Towncar. Our commercial truck dealer has Park Avenue that’s used as a free loaner. Truly a last legs beater, it too is extremely tight.
I still remember the first one I saw. I had really liked the prior generation, and I thought this car looked bigger but was otherwise less attractive. I have never seen figures, but these must have sold really well based on how common they were in my area.
We are almost certainly done seeing a full size sedan for the masses in North America a segment that was so popular for generations. I am currently daily driving a 2000 LeSabre , opting to leave my Cadillac mostly hibernating through what is proving to be a very icy and cold Michigan winter so fat. Bought last spring with just 64,000 miles and rust free, while is is something of a vanilla dullard, it’s proving to be a very gentlemanly and comfortable daily companion and what can one say about the legendary 3800 that hasn’t been said? It amusing to folks that one of the senior and higher paid people in our office drives a 25 year old car most days. There is something to be said for absolutely zero modern tech though I miss basic phone to car connectivity . I elected to fix the broke AC for $700. The cruise is inoperable and headliner is sagging and I’m debating between a professional vs. stopgap fix. This is shaking out to be one of the most reliable GM products of the last 30 years. It will go back to my 20 year old son this summer and I pray he doesn’t abuse it.
I see more of these still out on the road than possibly any other older sedan (except maybe late model Malibus and Impalas).
In fact, I personally know a very old lady who had one. It was having similar system failures but the last straw was when the engine began stopping for no discernable reason. It would fire up again after a few moments but she simply couldn’t live with the possibility of it happening in city traffic.
She now has an older, off-lease Altima which she is happy with.
Around here they are becoming rare. The tin worm usually gets them. But for years I would see them driven by young drivers because they were cheap on the car lots or they were a hand-me-down from an elderly relative. Either way maintenance is often neglected.
There seem to be a surprising number of these still on the road. Not unlike the Mercury Grand Marquis they are a “grandma” and “grandpa” car and there are lots of low mileage used ones on the market as their owners age out of driving. Almost as reliable as a Grand Marquis and with very good performance (in a straight line) and good gas mileage. True, a lot of them are becoming beaters, but they’re excellent transportation at a reasonable cost. Too bad GM lost the thread with the Lucerne.
The Marquis/LeSabre Florida retiree ‘geezer-mobile’ goes a long way to not only explaining why many are still out on the road as their next to last owners died off, but the demise of the Mercury brand, too.
When these two cars were discontinued, vehicles like the PT Cruiser and Chevy HHR took up the slack. Then, when those two were gone, seems like the Kia Soul became the de facto old person’s car.
I’d go so far as to suggest the latest golden age vehicle is now gravitating to the Buick version of the Chevy Trax, i.e., the Envista.
Good to see you visit The City and walk around rather than listening to all that crap about how dangerous it is from non-locals. I am over there twice a month since 1999 after living there from 88-98. Wouldn’t give it up. Oh, and it just so happens I drove my 2004 LeSabre yesterday down to the Hornet since the 626 starter decided to give up the ghost. Being replaced in 30 minutes.
I am still driving what was my parents last car, a 99 Lesabre which now has 137,000 miles and still looks and drives like new. They bought it in 2012, and this is the best car l ve ever driven! The a/c died about 4 years ago, and recently the horn quit working, but l couldn t care less. I would not trade this car for a brand new anything! GM had a true winner with these.
I cannot hide my love for these cars. 10 years ago I bought a 97 LeSabre for $1,000. The only catch was I also had to buy his 03 Regal with 200,000 miles and a flashing ses light for $500. A donated fuel injector fixed the ses light. Drove both vehicles, the Regal was sportier and it had leather so I sold the LeSabre for $2,000 and kept the Regal till a backhoe smashed it with 365,000 miles. Insurance paid $4,000 for it. Replaced it with a 01 Regal GS Supercharged.
Here in the Chicago area these are at a minimum equally as common as any Buick model made since, they’re so common they’re basically invisible. Mind you I think the styling is somewhere between old man car and straight up Aztek ugly but I give them respect as I know that legendary 3800 powertrain has kept them viable into the modern era. To me these were the last real Buicks, so if they were lingering products of the last century GOOD! Because the Buicks of the current century are complete irrelevant jokes.
We had a 2001 LeSabre that was purchased with about 100,000 miles in 2008. The 3800 didn’t give us the intake gasket problem that was so common, and the transmission worked well, but about everything else had nickel and dime problems constantly, despite the fact that the car had been well maintained by its previous owner. The standard rear air suspension was a pain until I superceded it with coil-overs, everything underneath including brake and fuel lines rusted badly, and the last straw was the extreme rust that overtook both the rear subframe and the front subframe body mounts. Overall, it was more trouble than it was worth here in the rust belt and the constant, nagging problems overrode any potential pleasure with the superior quality ride and the quiet, comfortable interior. It’s successor was an ’04 Vibe with legendary Toyota quality, and none of the LeSabre ownership drama.
This 2005 arrived in California in April 2017 from another state. First smogged 4/26/2017.
My fully loaded 2004 is approaching 250k of which I have done the last 100k. The trick in my case was getting it from outside the rust belt in 2019. Literally the cleanest 15 year old car I had seen.
In the previous generation I preferred the Olds 88/98 styling to the Buicks. I find this generation of LeSabre somewhere between inoffensive and attractive especially if painted an actual color like my red one. On the other hand, the 2nd generation Aurora is striking, but much less common and you get to deal with the Northstar or its V6 offshoot.
I actually didn’t know they came in colors other than the one in the article!
@Carlsberg66. I largely agree. I like the modern features of my car most of the time but they can be flakey and annoying at times. And it’s in those moments my idea of the perfect car becomes a well preserved older car.
There was no way a giant boat of a sedan with that kind of styling and a name like “LeSabre” or “Park Avenue” was going to survive GenX. Lucky it received any Baby Boomer sales. Same with the panthers. “Crown Victoria”? “Grand Marquis”? Wouldn’t matter what the vehicle was, a nameplate like that would mark it for death.
These cars had their time and I respect them for what they are, but they didn’t evolve with the buying public.
I always thought these were frumpy and a little odd-looking compared to the sensible if boring prior generation. There’s no denying their durability, though. These things are a dime-a-dozen in OH and they just don’t seem to age. Come to think of it, I’ve never even seen these things rust. I know this era of 3800 had intake gasket problems but it didn’t seem to kill many of them.
I’ve never rode in one, but my buddy had a Park Ave and it was a really, really nice car. Arguably nicer than the Panthers I’ve had. GM really had these sorted out. Floaty, buttery soft ride but not excessively so. Not fast but never underpowered. The most comfortable seats this side of Europe (and I’m picky about seats). The only thing that let them down were classic GM issues. Terrible interior quality, electrical bugs, the occasional trans failure and, of course, intake gasket leaks.
The 91-96 Park Ave, particularly in Ultra guise, is definitely one of the top American designs from this period, The ’97 wasn’t bad either I assume they made it slightly larger with the discontinuation of the Roadmaster.
I think these Lesabres were a year or two late which can sometimes make all the difference. There was still plenty of an older cohort still buying these at the beginning of their run but by the end a lot of their Greatest Gen/Early Silent base had passed on or had bought their last car. GM may have done the worst of both worlds with the Lucerne successor, a new name but still an older style car. Clearly SUVs were already taking over by 2005 but I think at this point they probably should have done the LaCrosse/a RWD Holden/G8 like flagship.
Plenty of these still around here, but both owners that I know are now past 80 years old. No Grand Marquis Panthers to be seen anymore, only hipsters driving beat up Crown Vics.
When our son bought a whit 2003 LeSabre in college I immediately dubbed it Moby Dick. Styling and interior plastics aside these very durable and very comfortable, since our daughter is still driving Moby Dick after almost 8 years in the family. There area few LeSabres and several Park Avenues in my are, some with the original elderly owners and some handed down to grandchildren or sold off. Our LeSabre was purchased from the grandchild of the first owner. It’s not a car I would buy myself, but the 3800 V6 is unkillable
After four decades of driving GM or Ford, I’m now driving Japanese! I loved the legendary 3800 motor ( 25.million sold according to the General) But not the Dex-cool coolant that came with it.! Prior to 95′, the 3800 was as reliable as anything from Asia, I guess GM thought people were keeping the cars to long! Just like Mopar ‘s slant six. If they don’t buy a new car every five years, the company is loosing $$$$!
I absolutely loved these LeSabres from the moment they came out. I was 28 years old in 2000 and it took me until 2016 to finally get one. Found a low milage 2005 limited with the pearl white paint job ( I think they called it Diamond White) and a tan leather interior. What a ride. So smooth and easy to drive.
I always liked large American sedans and am sorry to see they are a thing of the past for new cars.
I just lost the tranny last August and quickly realized the rebuild was more than the car was worth at that point. Had to let it go. Probably never own another like it.
Stepmom had one of these LeSabres when I was in high school, (Class of ’05) a 2001 Limited Model. Beautiful reddish brown metallic color, beige interior. All the bells and whistles. Was a very nice car to drive. Reading this article made me realize that yes, this is an old style we just don’t see anymore, yet, once so ubiquitous. The heated seats in that LeSabre were very good. One of my favorite features.
Some lady rear ended my Stepmom in downtown Denver during the autumn of 2006 when she was on her way to work. Luckily she wasnt seriously hurt, but that was it for the LeSabre and the other party’s new at the time Honda Ridgeline as well.
These LeSabre models were some very well appointed and high luxury cars. The quality was pretty good in my opinion as well. Definitely one of the better cars to come out of GM during this era.
My 2004 Toyota Avalon has a bench seat hahaha. Last year of that feature in an Avalon.
Bench seats and the like have definitely become a thing of the past. Somehow though, I really love the bench in the Avalon. It adds a little more space which I like. I like being able to slide across from the other side if I have to as well.
A guy who lives up my block has one of these early 2000’s LeSabre Sedans. Nice blue color. It looks like his rear windshield cracked. The window tint is holding it in place, but I noticed that he hasnt driven it since that happened, been parked for a little over a year or so. The cost to fix it may be more than the car is worth at this point, given all the defrost workings and such of that rear window.