7th Gen Buick Lesabre Facelift (1997-1999)

This car has the reputation of being a grandpa car, which is an image buick unfortunately has had trouble escaping for possibly the last half decade. Hell, this car doesn't help with its grill styled like an old mans chevron mustache, and overall shape that is clearly molded off of the LeSabres of the 70's and 80s

Despite that the styling of a lot of Buicks around the time such as the LeSabre or the Reatta can still be exciting to look at if you are willing to keep an open mind. This car reminds me a lot of luxury sedans that people are still going crazy over like the Infiniti J30 or the Toyota Cressida. I like the facelifted 7th gen because it looks like a mixture between the early 7th gen LeSabre and the Park Avenue, which the LeSabre was based off of. It is neat to see the stylings blended together into such a sleek car!

One thing I really have to commend Buick on as well as most American auto manufacturers is just how good they are about paint colors. Although many of the LeSabres you will see on the U.S. motorways are in boring tones of white, silver or old man tan, the LeSabre was blessed with some interesting color options that really dazzle if you can find them with a good clear coat still.

look at that beauty shine!

The car has a lot of roundness in its features which makes the metallic and reflective paints look really stunning

I would be remissed though to talk about the looks of the car and not mention the absolutely staggering interior it has. The dashboard effortlessly swoops into the doors in a way that is almost modern-boxy, something like the FC Rx-7 where it is totally outdated in a way that I just cant help but love. One of my favorite touches is the words "Buick" and "LeSabre" are printed on the dashboard. Buick was proud of this, and I would be too if I had sculpted such beauty with my own hands. They even gave multiple options for the interior, such as leather seats or different color themes.

bonus points for a bench seat in 1999 :P

The LeSabre doesn't just boast a nice body though, this little sedan packs a punch under the hood. This puppy came with the new 3.8 L 3800 Series II V6 powerplant, which boasts a whopping 205 hp @ 5,200 rpm and 230 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm torque. Allow me to compare that to another luxury sedan of the time with a similar configuration, the Lexus ES 300, which came with the 1MZFE 3.0 V6, Which makes 200 hp @ 5,200 rpm and 214 lb-ft @ 4,400 rpm. The Buick successfully managed to squeeze out a bit of extra power over the Lexus, while keeping a similar MPG, which is pretty impressive. The LeSabre being a luxury car, of course doesn't rely solely on power to be a great whip but also many other features such as a really great suspension and braking system

Overall this is a really cool common car that is still on the roads everywhere in the United States. I enjoy seeing them on the road, which happens pretty much every single time I leave my house. Something about the commonness off these really speaks to me, it is truly the everymans car because it can fit a family, it can fit a single driver, it can go kinda fast, it can go kinda slow. The best thing about this car is the price of it, they ask the absolute bottom dollar and maintenance isn't costly either as these cars are relatively reliable. Take this marketplace listing that I found at the top of the page when I typed in "LeSabre", a mint Lesabre with relatively low mileage for $1,100. That is the perk of a car that has the reputation of being driven by old people, is that truthfully, yes! old people drive these things! they drive them slowly and safely and don't slam them to the ground or slap a billion stickers on them, which means that almost every LeSabre you come across has been pretty well babied and is ready to roll.