2022 Buick Enclave Gets Rough and Tough
It seems unlikely that 2022 Buick Enclave buyers asked for a more-aggressive/more-masculine face for its popular three-row crossover, but who knows what’s said in focus groups convened in windowless conference rooms — or, over the past year, over Zoom.
Whatever the case, Buick has bestowed the Enclave with rough-and-tumble looks that sharpen the rounded design — and seem meant to remove the label of “mom-mobile.”
The looks aren’t the only thing that’s changed, as the Buick Driver Confidence Plus Package is now standard. The suite of driver-aid tech includes automatic emergency braking, front-pedestrian braking, lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning, lane-change alert with side blind-zone alert, rear park assist, forward-collision alert, following distance indicator, rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high beams.
Standard or available features will include wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, front park assist, rear pedestrian alert, color head-up display, heated and cooled and massaging front seats, and rear-camera mirror.
Specific design cues will include a new center console with push-button shifter for the transmission, new front fascia, new headlamps, and new grille. The rear fascia is also different, and the wheel choices are changed.
The top-trim Avenir gets to stand out from the rest of the line via different front and rear fascias, a different grille, different interior trim, the heated/cooled/massaging front seats, available adaptive damping suspension, adaptive cruise control, and enhanced automatic emergency braking.
The changes really do seem minor, though the styling is different enough that it’s more than just a refresh — you’ll recognize this vehicle in traffic and know it’s different from the previous generation.
Meanwhile, I am back to the mystery of who asked for this — the previous Enclave was attractive, though a bit bland and boring. Perhaps the focus group was upper-middle-class suburban middle-aged dads who got tired of hearing jokes from their buddies who drive Yukons?
[Images: Buick]
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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I bought a 2018 Lacrosse premium 2 years ago with 14,000 miles for 57% of the MSRP, although I see comparable 2017 models for sale today for a few thousand more than I paid because of the crazy used car prices now...and with 3 times the mileage. It is the finest car I have owned. The 3.6 V-6 with the 9 speed automatic does 0-60 in 5.6 secs. according to Car and Driver. On a recent trip my best 25 mile MPG average was 43 and using regular gas. It is smooth, quiet and comfortable, has a ton of features and a beautiful interior in my opinion, especially in the neutral color. I have not had one issue with the car in two years. After upgrading the door speakers, and covering the A-Pillar tweeters the base sound system sounds better than my son's JBL system in his Toyota. It has much deeper bass thanks to the dual subwoofers in the rear deck which I kept. I don't get the Buick bashing here. The Enclave and the Lacrosse are/were assembled in Michigan. I am disppointed that the Lacrosse was discontinued. The refreshed Chinese version is beautiful.
I have a 2012 Buick Lacrosse eassist that I bought from my neighbors a year and a half ago with 45k miles. It is a beautiful car and it gets 36 mpgs highway. The Enclave is a nice vehicle and would be a good family vehicle but I don't need or want something that big. I like the Envision but not that crazy about it being made in China. As for the Encore my wife looked at one when it came out and she thought it was too small so we bought a loaded CRV instead for no more than what the same equipped Encore was in 2013. I am disappointed as well that the Lacrosse and Impala were both discontinued but this seems to be the direction of the auto industry more suvs, crossovers, and pickup trucks and less cars.