The LeSabre chassis is something like 23 years old, the 3800/3.8L/231 is about 40 years old, and GM is just *now* working most of the bugs out of it?
There’s a reason (actually, many reasons) why they’re so cheap.
Meanwhile, over at Toyota, the 3.5L engine in the Camry produces 268 horsepower and gets 28mpg highway. At Nissan, their 3.5L produces 270hp in the Altima and gets about the same mileage as you do.
220hp from a 3.8L is just weak these days.
Oh, my LeSabre isn't the most recent version, nor does it have the most powerful 3800 that GM makes. I will grant you that the current Altima and Camry are better cars than my LeSabre, but they're not at my price point either.
And that's important, because I can't afford the Altima or the Camry.