Over the last few years, General Motors has gone about the widespread slaughter of several of the company’s storied brands. Oldsmobile – the father of the legendary Rocket 88 V8 engine – turned out to be a canary in the corporate coal mine. The mark went defunct in 2004, and last year the muscular Pontiac, quirky Saturn and Swedish Saab names followed suit. With all the death and decay, it was with some surprise that Buick survived the fallout of GM bankruptcy. Unless you’re within arm’s reach of retirement age, odds are the Tri-Crest represents the poster child GM malaise. While it’s true Buick once produced some of the meanest and most stylish cars on the block, it was a very long time ago. But The General is keen on proving Buick has earned its spot among the survivors, and the 2010 Lacrosse is the first product to attempt to cement its place in the halls of GM lore. Check out the gallery of the 2010 Buick Lacrosse for a closer look, and hop the jump for our thoughts.

First things first: compared to the lumbering Buicks of old, the 2010 Lacrosse is a miracle. Let’s start outside. With its proud grille, darting shoulder line and chrome exhaust bezels, there’s no arguing that the Lacrosse is quietly stylish. I could simultaneously praise the look as effortlessly attractive and, at the same time, not nearly bold enough to shirk the company’s octogenarian reputation. The Lacrosse is a sharp looking car, but it doesn’t catch your eye in the same way that the flashy Cadillac CTS does. It won’t reach out and grab you. Even with those hefty 18 inch chrome-dipped wheels, you have to stare at the car for a few seconds before realizing how much you like the design.

Even if the 2010 Buick Lacrosse isn’t instantly striking, the design does a great job of hiding how large this car is. With a 111.7 inch wheelbase and 197 inch total length, there’s more than enough leg room front and back for full grown adults. Part of that illusion is due to a fairly small green house. At its highest point, the side glass barely ever reaches above 14 inches in height, giving the illusion of a much shorter car over all. Somehow, Buick’s engineers managed to avoid tank-slit syndrome inside – visibility is excellent all around.

Speaking of the interior, GM focused a lot of attention on getting the cabin up to speed with the rest of the motoring world. Cheap-feeling plastics have all but evaporated from the cabin, replaced with plenty of leather and soft-touch material with wood and metal accents. What’s probably most surprising is how well everything fits together. Door panels line up perfectly with the dash, even with multiple layers of trim material. Buttons have lost most of the cheap feel we’re used to from GM’s retirement division, and the gauges are gorgeous, if not next to impossible to read. Fortunately, a helpful LCD screen located between the speedometer and tachometer can display all kinds of useful information, including vehicle speed.

That’s not to say everything’s all roses inside. There are still a few areas where the old Buick rears its head. In our tester, operating either the left or right stalk on the steering column caused the other to move by at least a quarter of an inch. Even worse, the whole column cover wiggled as well. Even though the rest of the cabin looks like it could tango with the best Japan or Germany has to offer, we couldn’t get over how cheap that one detail made else everything feel.

Fortunately, the Lacrosse – especially in CXS trim – comes with enough amenities to help put the problem out of your head. Heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel, auto climate control, keyless ignition and excellent Bluetooth pairing make the Lacrosse feel much more expensive than its $27,835 base price would suggest. Even the trick LED lighting tucked all over the cabin helps give the impression you’re driving something special. Our top of the line cruiser will hit your wallet starting at $33,015, but by the time you add in the nav/stereo/back up camera and destination, the final price tag sat closer to $35,760.

What’s under the hood? GM offers a total of three direct-injection engines in the Lacrosse – a 2.4-liter four-cylinder with 182 horsepower, a 3.0-liter V6 with 255 horsepower or the 3.6-liter V6 with 280 horsepower in our tester. The engine provides plenty of grunt for getting down the road in quiet style and the fuel-saving six-speed transmission handles shift duties without breaking a sweat. GM has managed to squeeze 17 mpg city and 27 mpg highway out of the combination, which is pretty respectable given this car hits the scales at over two tons. Since GM’s all-wheel drive option is only available on the mid-level CXL, there’s a considerable amount of torque steer on hand if you really go digging in the throttle, so be warned.

Driving the 2010 Buick Lacrosse, you can’t help but realize GM has done its best to meet the rising tide of capable sedans head on. Power is ample and smooth, the cabin is beautifully quiet and the suspension deserves a Nobel prize for handling the car’s substantial heft with such aplomb. Even the brakes do a very capable job of scrubbing speed without any theatrics. The total package is an all-around good car. Before you start thinking that’s lackluster praise for a car that’s intended to prove the Buick name in the eyes of American buyers, think again. A mere 15 years ago, “good” would have been the absolute last adjective to describe anything in the Buick stable.

Oh, and if you’re thinking $33k is a lot of money to pay for a quasi-luxury sedan, here’s some food for thought. An equivalently equipped Honda Accord will put you back $31,105, coma not included. The same could be said for metal from Toyota or Nissan, and for the first time, Buick has earned its spot on the comparison table with those mainstays of four-door transportation. Will the Tri-Crest lure in younger buyers with its new fighter? Probably not just yet, but the Lacrosse is a step in the right direction.