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PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 4:38 pm 
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Location: Oregon WCBF'04, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11 Survivor
Year and Trim: .
93 SSEi
95 SLE (SC)
97 Buick LeSabre
Many many topics have been posted on this Forum, and it's time to clear the air. If you've ever wondered what the acronyms LE, SE, SLE, SSE, SSEi or GXP stand for, you stand to be surprisingly disappointed.

After the 1,405,305th time this was asked on the Forum, I actually called Pontiac directly. The person I spoke with set the wheels rolling for us, and called me back 3 days later after having help from 5 other employees to research it and find the original source for the model/trim level naming.

From the first big topic nearly 5 years ago:


willwren Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2002 7:18 am

''Ok, I'm gonna settle this today so I can fix the timeline, and SOMEBODY is gonna eat some crow. Don't know who, yet, but I will soon!''



''Ok, all you arguing bozos! I'm on the phone with Pontiac at this very moment....
and they're researching the mess for us.....yes RESEARCHING. The guy knows some of them off the top of his head from his own club affiliation, but he's going to make sure.........still on hold..................still holding..............nice piano music...........
......still going.......killing time by replying to a PM from Bonneville_blue.......
......I could really use a change in music. I could have contacted Pontiac Historical Services, but they are an independent company......gotta go straight to the source on this one. Still holding.........over 12 minutes on hold (that's US time, not Canadian).
.......still here. We have guitars now, not just a piano......so much for a change in music........he's got 3 people helping him now......info must be buried in a vault.....
.......they're didgging up a time capsule now............still on hold.........*dang*. They're gonna call back by wednesday. They're researching SE, SSE, SLE, SSEi, GTO, GT, and GLS.

BTW, the Series III 3800 is for real, and they don't know ANYTHING about the Bonneville being dropped for or AFTER 2004

I'll post again when I hear from them.''


The results? GM/Pontiac got back to me with an answer. The ONLY one that means anything is SLE, and it actually wasn't a badged model originally. Starting in 93, it was an option package with no SLE badging. The car was still considered an SE model, but had the 'Sport Luxury Edition' option package and RPO code H4U. NONE OF THE OTHER ACRONYMS or badged names mean ANYTHING. This is direct information from Pontiac.

jr's3800 Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2002 10:43 am


''
''Those claims may have been made in those publications, but they got the information in the same manner as many of us mis-led fans. Word of mouth. Assuming that just because another model meant this, than ours must be THIS.

I would tend to believe what Pontiac told me. And BTW, I wasn't the only person to contact them about this. 2 other members did so too, with the same results, and ONE of them WORKS for GM!

As far as the BONNEVILLE is concerned, SE, SSE, SLE, and SSEi are NOT ACRONYMS! Other car models may be different. I know it hurts, but it's something we're just gonna have to get over.''


Yes Willwren, You know you're right... I am one of the 2 that contacted pontiac and got the same answer.... The SE,SLE,SSE and SSEi have no meaning... They are simply Trim level or trim designations... The SE being the base model and the SSEi being the top of the line.. Kinda like the Grand Prix... SE,GT,GTP........ So even though I like to think SSE stands for Sports Sedan Edition, SSE really has no other meaning other then being a trim level designation....Nice huh?....... ''


In a nutshell:

LE: means nothing
SE: means nothing

SLE: means Sport Luxury Edition. Originally only an un-badged option package, but was badged in later years.

SSE: means nothing
SSEi: means nothing
GXP: Latin acronym for 'Gabavus, Xystus, Precipitous' (translated to English, it means 'your intermediate shaft will clunk'. Kidding. GXP means nothing also.

Sorry folks, but the good news is you can make up what suits you without pissing GM or Pontiac off!

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