If you happen to fall into my age bracket (25-35), you probably think of Buick as the vehicle your grandparents drove when you were growing up. To be completely honest, I used to as well until I got a chance to have an extended test drive experience for two weeks in the 2014 Buick LaCrosse. I’ve only ever owned Japanese and German vehicles so I was intrigued to see what the Buick brand had to offer in regards to performance, design and craftsmanship. I drove the LaCrosse all over the city determined to see if the vehicle had what it takes to really be considered a luxury car and whether or not it fit my lifestyle. I was completely blown away by the tech features, which believe me were greatly appreciated during this horrendous winter weather. On those cold and early 6 am drives to my Nike Training Club classes at Academy of Lions Crossfit, my drive was far more pleasant having the benefit of a heated steering wheel. Trust me when I say that this feature is a little piece of heaven and made the transition back to my car after the test drive extremely difficult. The amazing 8 inch display integrated audio system, “Intellilink”, with capacitive touch controls made it unbelievably easy to pair all my wireless/bluetooth devices, use navigation and enjoy  Beyonce’s album through the phenomenal Bose speakers (…and yes I still have her album on repeat!)

From attending events,  meetings and a private fashion dinner at Cafe Boulud at the Four Seasons Hotel – where 12 of us noshed on a feast of Whole Roasted Chicken with Pomme Aligot, Fall Root Veggies, Roasted Cote de Boeuf, Spinach a la Creme and the restos famous Baked Alaska dessert – these wheels were both comfy and roomy enough for me to play designated driver for my fellow blogger buddies and was definitely sleek enough to hold it’s own amongst other luxe cars in the valet of some of Toronto’s hottest spots. Believe me, if I had a dollar for every time someone said, “No way…this is a Buick?!”, I would never have to work another day in my life.

During the winter safety features become even more important to me. I log a ton of kilometers on the road each week going to events and meetings so the probabilities of a potential accident are increased with all my windshield time. I have yet to see a safety portfolio in a car like the one in the LaCrosse. Buick has introduced the latest advances in safety technology…the car can alert you of a potential hazard by a vibration in the driver’s seat, lane change alerts to warn you of vehicles in the next lane approaching fast from behind and a unique collision preparation system which not only warns you of a potential collision ahead but can also automatically apply the brakes if it detects you may not be reacting quickly enough to the threat. Hate getting into a cold car? Well there’s an app for that too. With the OnStar RemoteLink Mobile App you can lock, unlock and even start the LaCrosse remotely from your phone or tablet.

There are seriously too many amazing features to list about this car. I could go on and on but if I did you would probably be convinced that this is a sponsored post (which it is absolutely not). For a frequent driver like me, gas consumption is something I pay close attention to and this car is available with a fuel saving technology called eAssist. I discovered this feature on my second day of the test drive when I noticed they engine turned off when I was stopped at a red light and turned back on when I went to press the gas pedal.  Turns out that this is not only for fuel consumption but eAssist also captures and stores energy in the battery which is used to run accessories when the car is stopped and engine is turned off. So…does Buick still sound like your grandparents car now?

For more information on pricing, features or to schedule a test drive head to the Buick website.