Front-wheel-drive, soft top, four-cylinder engine, hefty curb weight— the ideal car for the Enterprise Rent-A-Car lot at Miami International Airport?
Not so.
On sale since January, the Buick Cascada has attracted 6,154 individual U.S. buyers over the last ten months.
According to Buick, General Motors has only seen three Cascadas make their way into fleet use, for a total of 6,157 Cascada sales through the end of October.
Considered an apt successor to the defunct Chrysler 200 Convertible, the Buick Cascada — essentially a rebadged Opel Astra convertible — has not found extensive critical praise in the U.S. “Cowl shake and rattling are evident, as is significant noise, even when the top is up,” says TTAC’s review. “Ride quality is stiffer than you might expect or want from a Buick convertible, a feeling amplified by larger-than-necessary 20-inch wheels.”
Car And Driver called the Cascada sluggish, blaming a 3,962-pound curb weight hampering “every type of performance we measure.” Consumer Reports said the Cascada is “just a bit dated in some details.”
But while the natural assumption was that General Motors would push the Cascada toward daily rental fleets in southern climes — C/D suggested vacationers could enjoy “some fun under the sun” before considering a Buick “when shopping for a new car back home” — GM is presently attempting to minimize the company’s reliance on daily rental companies.
87 percent of Buick’s U.S. sales through the first ten months of 2016 occurred on the retail front. Company-wide, the percentage of GM sales produced by fleets fell from 23 percent in the first ten months of 2015 to 19 percent this year. Total GM sales are down 4 percent this year, but the company’s retail volume is up 1 percent.
Apparently, the Buick Cascada most ably exemplifies this trend. Only 0.05 percent of Cascada sales are linked to the dreaded “fleet” tag.
The Cascada is nevertheless featured in GM’s vast fleet guide for 2017, if you’re of a mind to purchase a few dozen Cascadas for your friends at Del Boca Vista, Phase III.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
…then how have I seen 4 or 5 of the things already?
Wow, I’ve only seen one. They look more chunky in person than in photos.
Yeah, they’ve got a “bathtub on wheels” vibe that rivals the PT Cruiser convertible…really awkward with the top up, top down, just in general.
Yeah, I’d say worse than a PT Cruiser. At least the PT had tall wannabe-crossover styling that sort of excused the high sills. I saw one cascada with the top down and couldn’t believe how awkwardly high the sides were. I actually did a double take, because I was under the impression it kinda looked ok from pictures I’d seen. The front styling of that thing might tell you it’s a sleek car, but it’s anything but from any other view.
Yeah but the PT’s picnic basket handle was hilarious. As though made for some giant to come along, pick it up, and set it back down going the opposite way for his amusement. Its like a life-size convertible Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.
The styling is very non-Buick in that the belt line is lower than the rest of the sedans. The Cascada has a very nice chiseled, muscular look on the road.
I’m not sure I’ve seen any. I thought it was still awaiting release.
Del Boca Vista Phase III was abandoned, half built, during the great recession.
Sounds like a great time to BUY BUY BUY! Okay, who knows some Chinese investors that won’t ask too many questions?
Wouldn’t Faraday Future (Past?) like to know?
Old folks like CUVs a lot more than they do convertibles, I suppose…
Your face would not like dodging that thick metallic intrusion into your headspace with every in & out. Seniors’, even less.
Those steeply raked windshields take away a lot of the allure of a convertible, along with the high belt line and rear headrests.
Looking at that photo makes me want Mr. Bubble and Rubber Ducky.
I have seen smaller rental locations which buy from local dealerships and keep those cars as local rentals. I wonder if such purchases/usage would count as “fleet” sales. (This was how I ended up with rental Honda Accords.)
I was just going to say, that is how Honda buries their fleet numbers (fleetail I think it is called). I use to go to Sacramento all the time and the Avis there was loaded with Honda Accords.
It’s a very interesting and valid question — although I believe the old GM would report fleetail and Honda simply didn’t. Can’t comment on what the new GM does.
Would happily receive correction/guidance.
Spiritual successor to the Toyota Solara.
Rubbish, the Solara had V6 as standard!
But most cougars don’t know the difference (or care).
The cougars you want are in the SC430 anyway.
These aren’t the cougars you’re looking for.
No, a 2002 XR V-6 5-speed is the Cougar I’m looking for. ;)
gotchya
Okay, I’d take a 94-7 4.6L.
I imagine a 4.6 Cougar with white stripes tires and luggage rack would make quite a sleeper.
I haven’t driven the Cascada yet, but it can’t be worse than the Solara convertible- tiny back glass and rear headrests hiding what rearview there is, no power V6 or not ,good riddance to Solara convertible.
“no power V6 or not ,good riddance to Solara convertible”
You, sir, might have unreasonably high standards for power and acceleration. Just a couple hits from google so take the numbers with a grain of salt, but:
“2004 Toyota Camry Solara Convertible SLE Compare Car 0-60 mph 7.0 | Quarter mile 15.1”
“2008 Toyota Camry Solara 0-60 times, all trims
Trim, HP, Engine, Transmission 0-60 times 1/4 mile
Sport 2dr Convertible,210 hp 7.4 sec 15.7 @ 91 mph
SLE 2dr Convertible,210 hp 7.4 sec 15.7 @ 91 mph
SE 2dr Convertible,210 hp 7.4 sec 15.7 @ 91 mph”
Not sure when 15 second quarter miles became “no power.”
(excuse the tables and formatting)
Buick is extremely unpopular out here in Silicon Valley, but I kind of like the looks of this new Buick and wish them well. It’s either a great way to break into the sunny California market. Or, if that doesn’t work, a terrible idea to create a product that won’t sell in California (because Buick) and won’t sell elsewhere (because no sun).
So what are the current rental convertibles then, Camaro and Mustang?
Yup.
When I was on Maui the Camaro Convertible RS seemed to be the official rental car of the island. There were Ford Mustang convertibles a plenty also, but the Camaro was everywhere.
Mustang and Camaro convertibles rule Key West.
Only seen one in the wild. Much bigger and much better looking in person. It was parked at the grocery store and impossible to miss. There was a small crowd around it gawking. It was a real life, “that’s a Buick?” situation.
It’s a beautiful car in person, I was surprised, and can’t stress enough how much bigger it is in real life.
Ugh, gawking plebs.
Lol – it does look much better in person. I was pleased, after hating the pictures on here.
Were they real people, not actors?
I’ll show myself out.
Ha
I had a “thats a Buick?” situation in real life. It was hilarious.
I don’t understand the hate on it in the press. It won’t smoke a Z06 in the quarter, but that’s not the point. It’s a comfy touring car you can drop the top on.
I don’t see it catching on in SoCal – no European badges – but it’ll be very popular in the Midwest.
The Midwest isn’t convertible country though.
“It’s a comfy touring car you can drop the top on”
20″ wheels doesn’t scream “comfy” to me, nor does a screaming 1.6L 4 cylinder.
It’s good looking car with the top up or down. My only quibble is that it looks like what it is – an Opel Astra convertible. Makes it look a little cheap.
Anyone else want to see if we could bend that windshield frame the rest of the way down?
You know… just to see….
It’s too frickin’ expensive to be a proper 200 replacement, and the back seat really isn’t much more usable than the Mustang’s.
On another note, my wife loves her Red ’06 Solara Convertible (Roxie) with a passion, and you’ll pry the keys out of her cold, dead, hands. V6, a backseat usable by adults, and a regular size trunk. She has absolutely no idea what she’ll replace it with when it’s used up.
Honest question: Have you sat in the back seat of one? I have yet to see one in the wild and am genuinely curious. Not that you’re necessarily wrong. There’s definitely a gulf between “Mustang rear seat room” and “acceptable rear seat room.
I know I recently trashed the Solara convertible, mostly for rearward visibility issues, so only fair that I’ve come across my share of owners who are so enamoured by their current car that they won’t part with it under any circumstances, my mom with her Ford Elite, a friends wife’s Continental Mark VIII, my former boss’s wife and her trouble-prone Land Rover Discovery(even though her husband could afford to put her in a new Navigator in an nanosecond.
Does it have any optional power upgrades? It doesn’t need to smoke an EcoBoost Mustang, but it should be able to have some optional engine for those who actually want something like this.
I wonder how many buyers were previous owners of Saab and Volvo convertibles since those were Turbo-4 FWD. Or they just went for Audi A3,A4 or BMW 2-Series.
Except for a diesel that didn’t make it to the States, both gens of Volvo C70 had I5’s. Yes, I’m That Guy.
As I mention every time the C70 gets invoked, I have one friend with a first-gen and another with a second-gen. Both have been very happy with them. They’re good cars that were unfairly maligned by the automotive press under its axiom of “I don’t like this vehicle segment; therefore, those is a bad vehicle.” Ingress to the back is a pain (unless the top is down and you Bo & Luke it), but once you’re there the rear seat of the first-gen is a batter place to be than the majority of four-doors on today’s market.
I forgot the C70 came only the I5 here in the states. I must have been thinking of the C40/V50 which were turbo-4.
I see 1st generation models fairly reasonably priced. Though they have some reliability issues they’d probably make a decent weekend cruiser.
On the surface,I like it simply because it’s a convertible. On the other hand, give me a Camaro convertible. Standard basic ragtop trim, no extras, please.
Thank you.
Drove one. Perfectly fine car. Agreed on the 20″ wheels.
And the dealer was begging me to make a smoking hot deal. Clearly, they are incented.
But I told him: no way in 2016 am I going to buy a car that requires me to take the key out of my pocket, use the remote to unlock the door, and then stick the metal key into the ignition switch and turn it to make the car run.
(Especially a GM.)
I’ve been spoiled by how Acura does it better than most. Just grab the handle and the door opens. Push the power button, car turns on/off. Get out, close the door, push the little button on the handle and door locks. Easy. Simple. Why Buick didn’t do this, I’ll never know.
That is on all the “new” Buicks.
The Verano is old, same with the Enclave as well as this. Even thou it’s a new car to us, the Cascada dates back to 2012 and it probably only will have a two year shelf life. So of course GM will be cheap with us.
“…no way in 2016 am I going to buy a car that requires me to take the key out of my pocket, use the remote to unlock the door, and then stick the metal key into the ignition switch and turn it to make the car run.”
O, the humanity!
Spoiled kid… your local college will offer you a comfort pet, group hug or crying towel, but not me!
Funny comment, but somehow, somewhere, buried deep down, I kind of agree with you!
They have crying towels now?
I saw one of these at the local Chevrolet/GMC/Buick dealer when getting the oil changed in my Traverse. It does look larger in person. I thought it was the new Mitsubishi Eclipse.
I can’t believe that it comes with such a comparatively small displacement engine, especially given that it weighs so much. I noticed the sticker claimed the engine came from Mexico, the transmission from Estonia, and the car was assembled in Poland.
The Polish Buick.
Welcome to the new world. Where we have a British Infiniti, Hungarian Mercede Benz’s, a Mexican Fiat,an American NSX and Italian Jeeps.
Buick is the new Geo; retailing Chinese, Korean, and Polish cars to an indifferent public.
It isn’t badged as an Astra convertible though.
In Europe it is a distinct model, Opel / Vauxhall Cascada, it is positioned in a strange place between the Astra and the Insignia (Buick Regal) though it sits on the Astra Delta 2 platform.
The rumour / urban myth is that it is something of a strange entry in the GM Europe lineup (otherwise made up mostly of hatchbacks and crossovers) and size wise between the Astra and Insignia models because it was originally intended to be a new Saab 93 cabrio, and was hurriedly rebadged when that marque was spun off…..
Of course it is also the successor to the folding roof Astra convertible, now that hinged metal convertibles seem to be out of fashion with their aircraft carrier rear decks.