1986 Buick Regal Grand National Coupe 2-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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Why Mazda did so well and Volvo so poorly in Consumer Reports survey

The poor performances of Tesla and all three domestic automakers got the headlines in Consumer Reports magazine's latest reliability survey, but there were other results that caught our interest. Tiny Mazda notched the biggest gain among the 29 brands included in this year's list, leap-frogging nine spots to No. 3. Buick, which was in the top 10 last year, fell 11 spots to No. 19, the biggest decline of any brand. And then there's Volvo, a brand often vaunted for its quality and reliability, dropping six spots to dead last. What gives? For starters, all three brands benefited or suffered in large part due to their relatively small portfolio of vehicles. So when raves or complaints rolled in for even one particular model, as was often the case, it weighed heavily on the entire brand. That's especially true when it involves a relatively high-volume, hot-selling model such as the Buick Enclave (more on that in a moment). Mazda fared as well as it did despite the CX-3 losing Consumer Reports' influential "recommended" status due to problems with its climate system, including leaks from the condenser and refrigerant unit that triggered a service bulletin from the automaker in late 2016. Deputy auto editor Jon Linkov said that scratch didn't hurt the overall brand, since the CX-9 crossover and MX-5 Miata both jumped up to replace it on CR's list of newly recommended vehicles, thanks to several back fixes Mazda made to both models. For Buick, the redesigned Enclave SUV earned a "Much Worse Than Average" rating after owners reported problems with the new nine-speed automatic transmission it shares with the Chevrolet Traverse as well as some issues with the climate system. There were issues with rough shifting, plus complaints about the torque converter that necessitated fixes to the computer or outright replacement. "Again, similar stuff that we saw with the Traverse: both first-year vehicles, similar powertrains," LInkov said. He said all-new vehicles or redesigns typically fare poorly in CR's reliability survey due to issues that are hard to suss out before vehicles go into everyday use by consumers. The top-selling Encore and Envision fared well, Linkov said, but were outdone by the Enclave's problematic transmission components. The Enclave was Buick's second best-selling model through September at 35,227 units. Then there is Volvo, about which there is one word to sum up its woes: infotainment.

Question of the Day: Best recipient for supercharged GM V6?

The good old Buick V6 engine was built from 1961 through 2008 (including a decade of production by Kaiser-Jeep) and went into way too many General Motors vehicles to list here. In 1991, the supercharged version of the 3800 was introduced, with a Roots-style Eaton blower on top, and now you can find these engines in just about every junkyard in North America. The 3800 shares a bellhousing pattern with the also-made-by-the-zillions GM 60° V6 engine, which means that it will install (with varying levels of sledgehammer clearancing and/or axle mix-and-matching) into plenty of GM vehicles that never received the 3800 from the factory. That means one thing: engine swaps! An excellent example of this is the 1992 Chevrolet Lumina APV "Dustbuster" minivan, which is a fully caged high-performance road-racing machine that features a supercharged 3800 and 5-speed manual transmission under its long, vacuum-cleaner-snout-like hood. The RaceVan, in Springfield Monorail livery, will compete this weekend at the Michigan 24 Hours of LeMons race with Autobloggers Mike Austin, David Gluckman, and Alex Kierstein at the wheel. My personal choice for supercharged 3800 power, though, has to be the Cadillac Cimarron, preferably the not-so-sought-after Cimarron d'Oro Edition. Some bashing and welding and cutting and pasting and this lightweight Cavalier sibling could have well over double its original horsepower. So, what's your blown 3800 engine-swap choice? Related Video: Auto News Buick GM v6 question of the day questions engine swap

2018 Buick Regal's base price is almost $2,500 cheaper than last year's

Along with the launch of the Buick Regal GS, Buick released official pricing for all three versions of the Regal, and they're very competitively priced, especially the Sportback. The part-sedan, part-hatch Regal Sportback starts at just $25,915. That's more than $2,000 cheaper than the previous generation 2017 Buick Regal sedan, which started at $28,385. Along with the savings in cost comes a standard turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 250 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque - 295 pound-feet with optional all-wheel drive. That's a significant step up from the standard naturally aspirated engine in the previous-generation Regal that makes just 182 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque. The new Regal's hatch also provides more flexibility for loading cargo, and the cargo space expands from 14.2 cubic feet in the old model to 31.5. View 12 Photos The TourX wagon, or crossover depending on your opinion, comes with a $4,000 premium over the Sportback, with a base price of $29,995, matching what was revealed last month. It gains only about an extra cubic foot behind the rear seats, but with the seats folded, it has 73.5 cubic feet to play with. It also comes with standard all-wheel drive and the engine with 295 pound-feet of torque. Plus, it has the added ride height and plastic body cladding that gives it the same trendy look shared with the Subaru Outback, Volvo V60 Cross Country, and Audi A4 Allroad. It is a few thousand more than the Outback, but it undercuts the Volvo by roughly $10,000 and the Audi by almost $15,000. Then, for performance, there's the Regal GS. It starts at $39,990 and has a 310-horsepower V6 and standard all-wheel drive. It also features all of the versatility of the regular Regal Sportback. All-in-all, the Buick Regal line seems to pack a lot of value, at least on paper. Related Video: