Buick Enclave Avenir test drive

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The Buick Enclave is really a very nice looking SUV. It is quite large, but doesn’t look “heavy”,
and has plenty of nice flowing lines.
In my opinion, this is one of the best looking large SUV you can get. (It looks like a fashion model next to the Audi Q7…)

Same thing inside. Everything looks great and feels very solid. There are plenty of soft touch materials everywhere. The wood looks good. So does the satin metal finish.

The seats are very comfortable. The Bose stereo sounds great.
The only thing I didn’t like was the electronic shifter. It is very similar to what BMW uses.
And it is just stupidly confusing. And never gets really intuitive . ( Although I would guess it does after a while…)

 Seating is great everywhere. And even the 3rd row is quite roomy.

 There is still plenty of space left even with the 3rd row up. And there is a nice, and quite roomy, hidden compartment under the trunk floor.

 One of the first things you notice is how smooth and quiet the ride is. It is really a big part of what makes the Enclave feel so luxurious.
But it never feels lumpy like the Nissan Pathfinder.

It is also one of the quietest car I have driven. The engine is almost never heard.
Even when you push it, there is just a tiny bit of a sporty exhaust noise that actually sounds great.

 The 9 speed transmission always seems in the right gear. And is always willing to downshift when you want to.
The steering is also much nicer than the previous Enclave.
It actually does have some feel to it. And firms up very nicely on the freeway.

 The Enclave 3.6 Liter is rated at 18/26 MPG.
I almost got 18 in the city, but not quite.
Which is not unusual. After all, this is a big SUV powered by a large 3.6 Liter V6 with 310HP.
So about 16/17 in the city isn’t bad at all considering.

But I did get 30MPG on the freeway, with 4 people on board. Which is really good.

My week with the Enclave was great. 
It was the perfect traveling companion through the beautiful California desert. And a true luxury SUV.
Quiet, solid, smooth and full of luxury features. 
As you can see bellow, my loaded Avenir FWD was a bit above $57 000. Not cheap at all.
But a base Audi Q7 is about $53 000. (AWD with a smaller 2.0 Liter engine)
The Enclave Avenir’s main competition might actually be the “non-Avenir” versions.
You can get a loaded premium with the Dual sunroof (and almost everything else the Avenir offers) for under $53 000.
Which is a much better deal. I am not sure the few Avenir cosmetic bits are actually worth the $4000 extra.
Whatever model you get, the Buick Enclave will pamper you in a luxury cocoon atmosphere. 

Here are all the pricing details of the Buck Enclave Avenir I was driving (Just click on the picture)

Conversation 2 comments

  1. Did you find it weird, the last row middle seat has no head rest? I guess GM decided that in the event of a rear end, the last middle passenger is expandable, and should suffer a whiplash.

    For all that money, how much more for a head rest? Every other 3 row suv has it, but not GM, that includes the new chevy traverse.

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