Premium positioning? Only in a small measure.
The 2018 Buick Regal TourX, the wagon variant of the sixth-generation Regal, will be priced to compete more directly with the Subaru Outback than European wagons.
That’s not bad news for wagon enthusiasts who consider the Volkswagen Golf Alltrack too small, the Subaru Outback too obvious, and both the Volvo V60 Cross Country and Audi A4 Allroad too expensive.
CarsDirect has learned that the 2018 Buick Regal TourX, including delivery fees, will be priced just a tick under $30K at $29,995 in base 1SV trim.
That’s $3,475 more than the basic 2017 Subaru Outback; $2,225 more than the least expensive automatic-equipped 2017 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack.
But that $29,995 entry price places the Regal TourX – a sibling of the new Regal Sportback, as there’ll be no sedan — makes the Buick much less costly than upmarket contenders. At $42,695, the Volvo V60 Cross Country is 42-percent more costly. (Non-CC V60s start at $37,145.)
Audi A4 Allroad pricing begins at $45,475, a big leap even from the top-spec Regal Essence.
The BMW 3 Series Touring, not available in any hardcore, off-road, 4×4, mud-running, rock-crawling, Rubicon-ready guise, starts at $42,950.
Granted, not all Regals will be so distinctly affordable. CarsDirect suspects the $33,575 2018 Buick Regal TourX Preferred 1SB — auto-dimming rearview mirror, leather-wrapped wheel, power driver’s seat, additional color options — to be the more common Regal wagon. The Preferred can be optioned up to include driver assistance features and a panoramic roof, but there’s still no leather option at this price point.
At the top of the heap, the TourX Essence 1SL is $35,945. Standard leather, a larger touchscreen, and dual-zone auto climate control. With adaptive cruise and associated safety features, the Regal TourX Essence rises to $38,860.
All versions of the 2018 Buick Regal TourX will include the 2.0-liter turbo with 250 horsepower and an eight-speed automatic that transfers power to all four wheels.
If conventional premium alternatives are simply too costly and not sufficiently capacious, that standard 2.0T will also enable the Regal TourX to distinguish itself quite nicely from the Subaru Outback. Wagon buyers who don’t want to jump on the bandwagon — Subaru is selling nearly 15,000 Outbacks per month — will have an option in Q4 2017 that doesn’t require them to spend $40,000-plus.
This is a good thing.
Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.
I question this model’s long term viability considering GM’s recent divorce with Opel (not to mention the questionable demand of any significance for a station wagon in N.A.). It seems like a curious time to be bringing such a variant to market.
Development on this thing would date back 5-6 years or so, and the production and distribution arrangements were already set before the PSA deal was struck.
“So Maybe You’ll Buy One After All?”
I predict they’ll sell six, then after dropping it the B&B (none of whom bought one) will return to their mopery and lamentations about why people can’t understand why wagons are so awesome.
I predict the B&B will consider the Buick wagon, but find some excuse to never buy one “It’s a GM”, “No Manual”, “My Tercel has a nicer interior”, “It isn’t RWD”, “Eeeww German engineering!”.
I’m going to invoke excuses A, B, and C, and I also propose excuse F, “Ugly plastic cladding spoiling the original design for no reason!”
but muh percieved offroad capability /s
Oh yes F
I’m going to propose G myself, “The roof needlessly slopes down too much”.
G- no diesel option, and if they ever offered one, they want too much money for the diesel option.
As far as i can tell the volvo xc70 was the last available wagon in north america with a vertical (or close to it) rear window. What’s the point of a wagon if the rear window is as slanted as the sedan. Might as well just make it a sedan/hatch like the old mazda 6.
Very few wagons have ever appealed to me. If the Taurus I have now was a wagon, well, it wouldn’t be the Taurus I have now, haha.
That said, this one doesn’t look bad, and I’m sure it drives decent as well. Still not the car for me, but I hope it does well for them.
Lol at other commenters, its not SUVish enough, its too SUVish! Its too low to compete with Outback, its too high to be a wagon! Only if it had a Lexus badge, then it would be the perfect combination of everything.
You could stick the Lexus badge on a Chevy Vega and suddenly it’d become “The most plush compact ever”.
Where’s it made?
Rüsselsheim.
Least expensive German made wagon?
The Golf SportWagen is cheaper- damn, that’s Mexican now.
Best looking wagon since the Mazda 6.
That will draw me into my local Buick dealer to buy, if for no other reason than…IT’S A WAGON.
Yes, I know. It’s GM.
Still…
I have always had an affinity for wagons, even had one in my youth…I miss the days of driving up and down the coast highway from Long Beach to Malibu, with stops in Huntington Beach, with a surfboard sticking out the roll down rear window in my 56 Plymouth, stick on the column, flat six with all 105 hp…of course, this was in the early to mid 60s, and times were much different. But, I still like the idea of a good wagon to replace a gaggle of SUVs I’ve owned over the years, and I think my spouse would go for it. The Titanium edition Escape just might be on the bloc, or subject to trade for one of these…
I still have a 2004 9-5 Arc wagon. The last SportCombi is within a few feet in passenger volume. Similar priced as the last 9-5 Aero Wagon but with better fuel economy and AWD.
Compete with the Outback? Please. This is 8 inches lower than an Outback, which is to say it’s 100% exempt from the buying public’s desire for crossovers and will sell six copies per week just as the rest of that list of European wagons does.
Spot on. It doesn’t look enough like an SUV.
And yet, it also won’t appeal to true wagon fans either because of the pseudo-SUV cladding and raised ground clearance. This one will fall through the cracks entirely.
If the one in the photo is indeed the actual model we will get, the cladding looks like only a couple inches wide at most. A 1990s Pontiac this is not. And how hard would it be to have that bit painted body color if it was that offensive and the only reason one wouldn’t buy it?
The raised ground clearance amounts to all of one inch higher than the regular Regal. The cladding will be invisible on the real world color mix of grey, darker grey, and black.
Again, an Outback it’s not.
I’m thrilled to see this level of pricing. Wonder if this means the Sportback will be positioned as a more premium model.
Wonder what the additional cost will be for the GS version. Maybe $42k to start?
So I can get a German designed and built AWD wagon from Buick for under $30k with a turbo motor, OR a Chinese designed and built FWD CUV from Buick for $35k with a base non turbo motor. Hmm…
Almost as good of package deal as the Envision Premium l at $43K. Of course those are almost $10,000 off MSRP new on occasion. It is allot smaller than the new Regal.
The Envision’s tri-zone climate control, vented front seats, or HUD may make it more luxury than the wagon works over non-luxury players like the Subaru.
I was just looking these up today. This may legitimately be my next vehicle.
How is the MKS doing any?
Agree a 100 percent.
I have waited for the Mazda6 with some power.
This is a better buy than the Volvo v90 raised I was looking at (although it did look really nice).
The volvo even had a nice brown color!!!!
And my 2010 MKS EB with 83K is running beautifully…even with the occasional trans tip in clunk that I’ve grown used to.
The 1SV won’t have a leather wheel, power seat or even an auto day night mirror!
Those are entry level items that should be included at these prices on a near luxury Buick. Typical GM they make you pay 3,580 more just to get those items and some extra color options. That is ridiculous! The base 1SV should have those items and the 1SB should be the car with leather seats, dual zone auto climate control and a larger touch screen. The rest should be option packages for each model to option up and tailor the vehicle the way the customer wants it. And let me guess there will probably be only one god forsaken interior color! Great way to make a car sit on dealer lots for long periods.
Geez, so buy the $34k one. Absolutely no one expected this to start at $30k. There will probably be two in that trim available in each state.
And the $34k one will be $4k off 6 months in anyways.
ponchoman49, Buick simply isn’t a near luxury brand. It’s the car brand sold at GMC truck dealerships.
George B, Buick sells more than Acura, Audi, Infiniti, Jaguar, Volvo…
Ponchoman, those discounts will easily cover $3,000 surcharge for extra options.
By that logic, Lincoln sold more MKS’s than Rolls did Phantoms, so obviously the MKS was the better luxury car.
LOL
Mr. Spock would have a field day with your sense of logic.
I would definitely consider one during GM’s next 20% off sale, but unfortunately it isn’t sold in Canada. (And it doesn’t have a manual. Does it have a brown paint option?)
It’s very appealing to me, but I’m odd. Dice roll on whether this survives the first generation because it isn’t going to be selling in Subaru numbers.
On one hand, $30K for a semi-premium AWD wagon with a punchy engine isn’t bad and the GM nameplate suggests pricing is negotiable. On the other hand, a leather wheel and power driver seat shouldn’t be absent in any car at this price and the niche wagon body form suggests pricing may not be as negotiable.
Here goes GM pissing me off again. Why not just offer a v6 or hell shoot for the moon with v8.
V6 will only be available in the Regal GS.
Is that just the SportBack, though?
The V6 Regal is on my long-shot list if Honda screws the pooch with the next Accord, and the Camry, even keeping ITS V6, isn’t an acceptable substitute. (Lack of a memory position for the driver seat is deal-breaker #1 there, except if the aftermarket can provide a retrofit.)
From the teaser stuff on the Bruick Web site, it appears that the wagon is only going to have the turbo; that being the case, I’d just stick with the Accord, given alternatives.
Man, really appealing on paper, and I was trying to hold out on replacing a ’00 E Wagon. New E is just too much, I just don’t like the Subaru “wagon”. But necessity dictated pulling the trigger before this came out and went with a midsize SUV(against my better judgement). Alas, hope it sticks around, maybe next car…
I hope they sell a lot of these. And i hope they are reliable. Subaru is getting over confidant.
$38K for the one that I’d probably want, so that means if I wait 6 months to 2 years I could either get one heavily discounted new, or heavily discounted used.
Very nice looking, but I worry about them and the Opel separation.
^ This!
Since the source of this car is in limbo at this point, I wonder if the Opel sale terms allow Bruick to yank this off the market altogether if it doesn’t make book by a certain point?
I could see this going no more than a couple model years, at most, before Buick’d kill it for lack of interest. I hope people consider this car, because the concept looks pretty good for some types of buyers, but per usual, especially with GM, the devil will be in the details, and their execution.
I was right with the Encore and I feel I’ll be right about the moderate success of this TourX with the retired snowbird set. Its a spacious and interstate-worthy alternative to an Encore.
Curious how Envision sales are doing, given the vehicle’s final-assembly point! (Don’t recall seeing any numbers from Tim Cain about it.)
The biggest reason I wouldn’t buy this is the stupid body cladding and BS raised suspension. Give me a proper wagon.
This is the biggest thing that bothers me about it. It’s not an SUV. And now it doesn’t look like a sleek wagon (unlike the original European version).
On the other hand, it does sort of seem to match up as a more expensive Subaru CrossTrek. I despise the looks of that vehicle and don’t think it looks very useful either, but people are buying lots of those. There’s a grandma right next door to me who drives one. So maybe GM is onto something here, as much as I hate to admit it.
Old “proper station wagon” Volvos had their share of cladding and ride height, how’s this Buick any worse?
I wouldn’t buy something like an XC70 for that same reason.
I was referring to 240s, later in their life they had their share of plastic cladding and their ground clearance iss a tad higher than even recent CUVs.
I figure to get at least 10 more years out of my TSX Sportwagon. I’d consider the Buick, but I’m guessing GM will pull the plug before then.
Yes, the Opel DNA will be gone by then, and replaced by crossovers from China.
Otherwise known as the Envasio..ENVISION force!
Along with a compact from that company in Dearborn..truly lost Focus with the optics of that decision!
The optics actually look great to the actual customers they’re targeting, who happen to not live anywhere near Dearborn.
So, on the 2018 Regal Sportback you can get Carragreen Metallic. Personally, I think it’s one of the best greens I’ve ever seen. However, you can’t get “green” on your outdoors, adventurous wagon? Also, the wagon has two reds, Rioja Red Metallic(dark) and Sport Red(bright), but the Sportback only has the dark red option?
GM should’ve called it “Algae Green.”
In other news, I just noticed I can buy a brand new VW Golf Wagon 4Motion with manual transmission for only $18k street price!
Think any of the B&B will snatch it up?
BIG mistake not offering the V-6. And it had better be considerably lighter than the current sedan because the 2.0T cannot get out of its`own way.
While this is great news and I’ll test drive one I’d prefer a GS. The Regal liftback will have it and I’d pay for it. If not I may end up with a Stinger GT.
I’d forgotten all about the Regal Lift-back! Can’t wait to see it IRL.
The same B&B that predicted, doom, gloom and failure for the Buick Encore are beating the same drum.
The Encore created a new category and remains highly competitive despite a long list of B-segment CUV entries and hatred from the B&B.
I’m not as sure that this will be a success as I was with the Encore, but I see where GM is going here. If their bet is right, you’ll see others jumping in.
I kinda suspect this will sell fairly well.
I would have to see ground clearance, but with enough it could be a nice alternative to the Outback, Alltrak etc.
Certainly looks good, seems well priced.
Another thing I like concerns the steering wheel controls: unlike newer Chevvies, it looks like the controls are REAL BUTTONS instead of the membrane switches that’ll bust through the top of the plastic just as happened with the joysticks on the Atari 5200 console back in the day!
Small victories..!
I’m not sold yet, but this gets a test drive. Closest spiritual successor to my eponymous whip. No clutch, cladding marring a sweet profile, … that’s not a lot of downside. Reasonably priced capable (graded roads required and that’s ok) all arounder that looks better than cars half again as expensive even with the arch enhancers … very good on my mental spreadsheet. Test drive, ratings, reviews… you know; details are TBD.
Great. Something for the dealers to get rid of for $199 a month lease deals.
It is a Buick. Sticker prices are meaningless. Not one will ever sell for anything near sticker. Most will go for those absurdly low lease deal. Then pop up on used car lots around the country in 2-3 years by the truck load.
Compete with Subaru, eh?
So, I’ll get in that Buick, load my kayak on the roof, my drivefishing rods and paddling gear piled in the back, drive onto the soft sand beach, unload, … return with a big fish, sand and salt all over everything, wet bathing suit, drive home, unload, my dog hops in and we go to the hills, return, brush out the sand and dirt in the cargo tray, and repeat. Tomorrow load up mountain bikes, return clumped with mud and sweat, chain oil, get some brews,… then a hiking trip to yosemite with snow with a sweet girl, then out to dinner, then out to the desert down miles of dusty washboard… for 150,000 miles and still the materials look good.
Yeah I’ll buy a Buick for that. Not.
Yeah, I’ll do that with this Buick.
No 3.6L V6 option? That’s a mistake for the market that would buy this.
The market is the Outback customer.
How many 3.6R Outbacks do they sell?
The last true Opel. It’s going to be all Chinese from here on out with Buick, save for the Enclave.
I always liked the Opel influence on GM’s car lineup (and I’ve bought Opel engineered GM products brand new), but now it’s all Daewoo or GM Shanghai and I’ll never buy another GM vehicle that doesn’t have a V8.
Buick is essentially the American MG now, and sooner or later people will catch on (as they have in the UK) and Buick will become a very small and niche player in the US, sustained only for the purpose of Chinese consumers in China knowing that the brand is still sold in the US, and the related marketing caché. They could sell 10 Buicks a year in the US and it will still be worth it to keep the brand alive here.
In my opinion, this car looks better in pictures than in person. I’ll give it a test drive though.
Short-listed. This may very well be my wife’s next car.