2019 Buick Enclave

Overview

A crossover in more ways than one, the 2019 Buick Enclave is part car, part SUV, part luxury, part mainstream—and part Chevrolet. Essentially a Chevy Traverse in a snazzier package, it's the more elegantly styled of these two size-large three-row offerings. The Enclave is a cargo-hauling champ, and both its powertrain and its on-road demeanor are smooth and agreeable. Infotainment and driver-assistance technologies are broad, although the latter requires upgrading to costly versions. Buick's overly ambitious pricing pits the Enclave not against mainstream crossovers but rather luxury-class leaders, and in that arena its imperfections are magnified.

What's New for 2019?

The 2019 Enclave is largely unchanged except for the addition of a base front-wheel-drive Preferred model and a heated steering wheel that now comes standard on Premium and Avenir models.

Pricing and Which One to Buy

Engine, Transmission, Performance, and Towing

Likes: Adequate power, quick-acting automatic transmission, serene ride.
Dislikes: Not a soul-stirring powertrain, bland handling.

Under the hood of every Enclave is a 3.6-liter V-6 making 310 horsepower driving either the front or all four wheels via a smooth-shifting nine-speed automatic transmission. It's not the quickest crossover, but the Enclave is fast enough that there's never any cause for anxiety when driving around town or merging onto the highway, and the engine goes about its business while leaving the passenger cabin undisturbed. For those who need brawny towing capacity, Buick offers a Trailering package that ups the Enclave's capacity to 5000 pounds.

A well-damped suspension helps the Enclave hide its mass, but it never feels as athletic as the Audi Q7. Instead, it trades on comfort with a smooth, luxurious ride, gliding over pockmarked asphalt and barely registering harsher impacts. The steering provides an appropriate amount of feedback for a crossover, responds relatively crisply, and is nicely weighted.

Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG

It's unfair to expect economy-car fuel efficiency from a hulking three-row such as the Enclave, but rivals such as the Volvo XC90 and the Acura MDX simply outshine it in this category. But the EPA's ratings have these people haulers in a close heat with each other, and on our real-world highway fuel-economy test route our all-wheel-drive Enclave Avenir delivered exactly what it promised: 25 mpg on the highway.

Interior, Infotainment, and Cargo

Likes: Space for seven, crisp infotainment display, practicality is the Enclave's number-one feature.
Dislikes: Interior trimmings not up to luxury-brand expectations, navigation not standard, unsupportive seats.

The Enclave's cabin is as roomy inside as you'd expect from a vehicle this size, and Buick has integrated many comfort and convenience features. Altogether, the interior's design is handsome and practical, but material quality and attention to detail are what holds the Enclave back from being competitive with its luxury-branded rivals. The wood trim looks and feels chintzy, the sunshades for the optional panoramic roof aren't power operated, and only the passenger-side second-row seat slides forward to allow third-row passengers in and out—a clear cost-cutting move that compromises convenience.

Nestled into the dash between two asymmetrical air vents is the Enclave's standard 8.0-inch IntelliLink touchscreen infotainment system. The interface is user-friendly and rendered in a lovely arrangement with crisp graphics and an abundance of features. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both standard, and users can connect their devices to the internet via an onboard Wi-Fi hotspot powered by a 4G LTE data connection. Navigation with real-time traffic and weather updates is optional, as is a wireless charging pad for smartphones. All three rows of seats have two USB ports for charging devices, too.

If cargo space is your main concern, the Enclave is the best choice in this segment, as it offers the most cubic feet of storage space in each of its configurations. In our testing, it swallowed a whopping 38 carry-on boxes with all of its seats down and provided space for an impressive five carry-ons behind its power-operated third row of seats.

Safety and Driver-Assistance Features

Plenty of space for child seats and a five-star crash-test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sound appealing but adding almost all of the Enclave's driver-assistance features requires upgrading to a more expensive version—something that may discourage some buyers. Key safety features include:

• Available automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection
• Available lane-keeping assist with lane-departure warning
• Available adaptive cruise control and automatic high-beam headlamps

Warranty and Maintenance Coverage

Buick offers the most powertrain-warranty coverage among its key rivals and even sweetens the deal with a free maintenance visit within the first year of ownership. The XC90's powertrain-warranty term isn't as long as the Buick's, but the XC90 offers a lot of extra maintenance and six more years of corrosion protection.

• Limited warranty covers 4 years or 50,000 miles
• Powertrain warranty covers 6 years or 70,000 miles
• Complimentary maintenance is covered for the first visit