Buick Enclave (US) review

The Buick Enclave comes in three trims, each coming in with front-wheel drive as standard, allowing for AWD as an optional extra. All versions are, for the most part, mechanically identical. Each Enclave is fitted with the same turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four engine and eight-speed automatic.

The base ‘Preferred’ trim brings in all the standard equipment like the ambient interior lighting kit, 20-inch alloy wheels, power liftgate, and Quiet Tuning for the cabin.

Sport Touring builds on this with a flat-bottom steering wheel, high gloss black inserts and highlights and ‘ST’ badging to tell everyone at your retirement complex that you’re not your regular Buick driver, you’re a cool Buick driver.

Avenir is the lux-forward model with 22-inch wheels, panoramic sunroof, rain-sensing wipers, head-up display, one-touch folding second-row seats and enhanced active dampers.

Prices for the Preferred, Sport Touring and Avenir start at $46,600, $50,100 and $63,300, respectively. Add $2,000 to any of those and you’ve got yourself all-wheel drive.

Which one should I get?

We prefer the… Preferred. Simply due to the fact that the Sport Touring can’t live up to its name and the Avenir, with all the genuinely nice features, is hard to justify. You can get its twin, the Chevrolet Traverse, fully loaded for the price of the mid-tier Enclave.

If you had to shop around, the Infiniti QX60 has much more playfulness to offer, even with less horsepower. It’s also more sharp in its styling and its interior seems more upscale. You will pay more for that, however. Consider also the Mazda CX-90 with its standard all-wheel drive and more attractive price tag.