Buick: Auto Editor Helps Parents Buy A Car

My parents just bought a new car. It’s a 2007 Buick Lucerne. (Note to Buick: Sorry, you’ll never be a young person’s brand, and you’ll probably have trouble being a middle-aged person’s lucernegrillecar. Note to Mom and Dad: You’re still young in my eyes.)

I helped them, mainly because they don’t have a computer. They looked at a dealership in Charlotte, N.C., where they live, and then gave me a call. I was able to tell them the car’s invoice price and what other real people were paying for it, thanks to the Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds Web sites.

We talked over some features, and option packages. I also shared with them the ratings of the Lucerne from Consumer Reports and J.D. Power.

They hadn’t written down the precise numbers from the car’s window sticker, but I was able to go directly to their dealership’s Web site via Buick’s Web site and I found the actual sticker for their actual car. I thought that was pretty neat.

BTW, my folks love the car. My Mom loves the XM radio, and already has told Dad that they’ll need to renew their subscription. They have OnStar, too, but I guess they’ll keep AAA as they’ll need it for their other car.