Auto Review Column: 2014 Buick Verano From Northgate Chevrolet

buick side

by Stephen Dafoe

buick outsideExcellent comfort and ride in small car class

The Buick Verano is a five passenger, four-door luxury sedan that falls into the small car classification. Built on the same platform as General Motors highly successful, Chevrolet Cruze, the Verano carries plenty of room over its 105.7-inch wheel base and beyond.

Though the vehicle lost some marks for its curb appeal (it simply looks like many vehicles on the market) Buick’s distinctive waterfall grill and colour options (particularly the Crystal Red) make this car stand out on second glance.

But what the car may lack in initial “wow” factor is more than made up for under the hood and in the cabin.

The vehicle we drove was the standard 2.4 L engine rated at 180 horsepower, which was plenty peppy in its own right. But a 2.0 L turbo engine, rated at 250 horsepower, is also available.

Regardless of the engine size, you will hear little because of the Verano’s use of QuietTuning technology, which blocks and absorbs noise like noise-cancelling headphones do. Add to this the interior comfort level and you have a vehicle that truly is a driver’s car.

Plenty of safety

Much of what is attractive about this vehicle is what cannot be seen or felt initially. The Verano has 10 air bags, including dual front, head curtain side, front and outboard rear-seat-mounted side impact and driver and front passenger knee-bags. The vehicle also features a collapsible pedal system that detached the pedals in a collision to prevent ankle and leg injuries.

Though there is much in the vehicle to keep you safe in the event of a collision, there are also a number of avoidance features available as well. A Rear Vision Camera allows you to monitor what is behind you when backing up. Side Blind Zone alerts offer audio and visual cues of vehicles passing in your blind spot. Additionally, available Lane Departure Warnings and Forward Collision Alert offer drivers additional cues of potential danger.

buick inside

Rolling mobile device

The Buick’s premium sound system is married to the available Buick IntelliLink infotainment system, allowing hands free access to your own music library as well as hands-free calling. Available Bluetooth technology mates your smart phone to the car’s seven-inch LED-backlit touchscreen.

Though similar options can be found in many vehicles today, we liked the simplicity of the placement in the Buick and how everything could be accessed while keeping the eyes on the road.

The 2015 Verano will come with available 4G LTE WiFi hotspot, allowing passengers to access the Internet on the road.

Overall impression

After driving the 2014 Buick Verano 1SL for four days, we gave the car a 4.5 out of 5. Though considered a small car, the Verano provided ample room and a level of luxury one would probably not expect in a small car.

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5 Comments

  1. Seriously?! Our officials preach buy local and then run a column like this. I dont think i have seen a Buick dealer in town. Go test drive a Honda Crosstour at our towns LOCAL business and you’ll forget all about that Buick!

  2. Northgate Chevrolet is one of Morinville News’ advertisers and the sales manager is a Morinville resident. They asked if we would do an honest review of a couple of their vehicles and pitched the concept of a periodic auto review feature. We liked the idea and did two reviews, this one and one that will run at another time. We’ll likely be doing something in the coming weeks with Legal Motors, also an advertising client of this publication. We’d be more than happy to do the same with the local Honda store even though they are not an advertiser.

    If you look back though our business section or even this publication you will see how many stories on new local businesses this publication has done as a matter of standard operating procedure. We have another coming for the next print edition that is in the works by one of our freelancers right now. The first time a new business meets us is our coming to do a story on their new business or at the very least take a photo and caption, and not us coming to sell them advertising.

    We also do a monthly photo contest where the winner gets to spend $100 at any of our advertisers, the vast majority of whom are Morinville businesses.

    So I think we have more than done our part to support and promote local businesses.

  3. So Donnie, you like Hondas. Will you still like Hondas when the dealership in Morinville moves to St Albert? Or will you only buy vehicles which are sold in Morinville? Good luck.

  4. I’ll still buy the Hondas because its the same owner as RV City and the money will still find it’s way back to Morinville kinda like the new bleachers at MCHS!

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