There is no mistaking the Lucerne for anything but a Buick. The Lucerne has a handsome appearance with a good stance thanks to its long wheelbase and wide track. The classic, Buick waterfall grille blends in well with the large integrated headlamps. The side profile, with its steeply raked windshield, is reminiscent of several recently introduced European sedans such as the VW Passat and Audi A6. The rear of the Lucerne features a high trunk line with nicely integrated tail lamps.

Chrome trim is kept to a minimum. In addition to the grille, the only stylistic link to Buicks of old is the row of small portholes on each of the front fenders. They are also the only clue to what's under the hood: The V6-powered CX and CXL get three portholes on each side and the V8-powered Super gets four on each side. Flashback to the Fifties, when more-powerful Buicks had more holes. They didn't serve any real function then and do not today, but we still like them.

The Lucerne Super is distinguished by a larger grille that cuts deeper into the front bumper and features fewer, thicker vertical bars. The grille bars turn sharply inward at the top, giving more definition to the waterfall effect. Below the grille, the look is more familiar, with twin lower air intakes accentuated by chrome slashes that seem to point to the outboard foglights.

The smaller main grille of the CX and CXL is finer in texture and is chrome. The twin lower air intakes on these models hide behind horizontal grillwork cut into the lower bumper.

The Buick Lucerne is built on the same platform as the Cadillac DTS and benefits from modern build techniques for a quiet luxury car. These include hydroformed frame rails for a stiffer body and the use of laminated steel with plenty of sound-deadening material placed in strategic locations. The results of these quiet-tuning efforts were evident in our test drives.

Interior

The Lucerne's cabin is cleanly designed with just enough touches of wood and chrome trim to make it luxurious without being opulent. The dashboard is fairly traditional in design with a smallish instrument pod containing three round gauges in front of the steering wheel.

The center stack is located high for easy access, and contains large knobs for operating the climate control and audio system.

Individual front seats are standard, but buyers who want seating for six can order a traditional front bench seat. The individual front seats provide a good level of comfort and come with an armrest in the center console.

Rear-seat passengers are well taken care of with good headroom and excellent leg room. The Lucerne's long wheelbase allows for a wide-opening rear door with almost no intrusion from the wheel well, making it easy to get in and out of the car.

OnStar with Turn-by-Turn service is standard and allows customers to talk to a live advisor who downloads complete step-by-step directions to the vehicle through the OnStar system. Audio directions are then automatically played through the vehicle's stereo as they are needed, triggered by the OnStar system's GPS capabilities. Drivers can be directed to their destinations without having to take their hands from the wheel or eyes from the road. New OnStar eNav allows a subscriber to find and save destinations on MapQuest.com, and have those destinations sent to the vehicle's OnStar system.

A touch-screen navigation system is also available, giving the Lucerne driver the best of both worlds. New OnStar Destination Download enables OnStar subscribers with screen-based navigation to quickly input their destinations via the press of a button; while new XM NavTraffic (available in 80 major North American markets) delivers real-time information about accidents, traffic backups, and road construction directly to the navigation screen. With or without navigation, all Lucernes come with an enhanced XM display that delivers more channel and artist information.

Bluetooth comes standard on all models and enables true hands-free calling. It uses OnStar's voice recognition to dial phone numbers, and conversations are played through the Lucerne's audio system.