2012 Buick LaCrosse: Size Matters

The other weekend Tam and I decided to take Ev out to the driving range. He loves hitting golf balls with his little set of mini clubs and about every 3rd or fourth shot is really good. He's almost 5 and I'm seeing potential for a retirement supplement when I see him swinging that miniature iron. So off we went.

Because I was on call we took 2 cars. Tam and Ev took off ahead of me and I was going to meet them at the range. I almost didn't make it. Of all the cars I've ever owned I've never had one that more clearly says "middle-aged golfer dude" than my new Buick. It's a four door Buick sedan, for godssakes. It's snazzy enough but vanilla at the core. It's not for tennis. It's not for soccer. It's a golfer dude car.  Until you open the trunk. (I should have seen it coming: The weekend before when we went to the airport and I struggled to get one big suitcase, a mini bag and a back-pack stowed in that same small space.)

It took a few tries but I was finally able to get my set of clubs in the trunk. The result was awkward and looked about as functional as a fat guy in a Speedo. That's why I took the picture. I finally got the clubs wedged in there on diagonal but I wouldn't want to do it more than once a month.

Now I'm not terribly upset about this because I'm not a golfer. I had a go at it a few years ago and gave it up in the name of public safety. When I hit a golf ball the opportunity for personal injury is real, very real. Nonetheless, I believe it's reasonably safe to go to the driving range with my son and I'd like to be able to take his clubs and mine. What upsets me is seeing the Buick Division of General Motors, a Michigan company that sponsors the annual Buick Open-- a major PGA tournament -- manufacture their contemporary version of the proverbial big fat Buick and have it ill-equipped to carry a set of clubs in the trunk. God forbid you should want to drive by and pick up your buddy for a round. You can fold down the back seats and let your clubs protrude into the passenger compartment (if the seats are not obstructed by a center-mounted child seat) but, please, where's the cool in that?

On pretty much everything else the car is not half bad. As the saying goes, it's a nice ride. But, when it comes to the damn trunk, well, you'd better just carry your own bag.