2013 Buick Verano Review

Despite its commuter-car roots, the 2012 Buick Verano drives and feels more like a luxury car, which makes its starting price all the more attractive.

Parent company GM sunk big cash into developing the smash-hit Chevrolet Cruze, but wringing a Buick from the same platform seemed dubious. A Toyota Corolla with leather, after all, does not a Lexus make. But here's the difference: To begin with, the Cruze is no Corolla; this Buick is no Chevy clone, and GM's latest whack at the below-$30,000 luxury piñata could pay off.

The front-drive Verano sedan comes in Base, Convenience and Leather trims, with the Base trim level's price overlapping Chevrolet's top-of-the-line Cruze LTZ. An automatic transmission and four-cylinder engine are standard. We tested a well-equipped Verano Leather.

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Securing a Child Restraint in the Center Rear Seat Position
Many child restraints are too wide to be correctly secured in the center rear seat, although some of them will fit there. If the center seat position is too narrow for your child restraint, secure ...

When Should an Airbag Inflate?
The driver’s and right front passenger’s frontal airbags are designed to inflate in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes. But they are designed to inflate only if the impact excee ...

Event Data Recorders
This vehicle has an Event Data Recorder (EDR). The main purpose of an EDR is to record, in certain crash or near crash-like situations, such as an airbag deployment or hitting a road obstacl ...