Does anyone drive a Buick Enclave?

[Birdie dog]

I'm test driving one today. One of my best friend's has one and loves it. She's actually on her second. Her first was totaled by a driver driving in the wrong lane. She credits her car for saving her life..

So that's a pretty strong recommendation.

Anyone else want to share anything about them with me?

 

[Klayfish]

I don't drive an Enclave (not an SUV fan), but cars are what I do for a living. Fantastic to hear that your friend came out OK in the accident, but I'd take the "saved her life" thing with a grain of salt. Most cars these days have very strong crash structures and perform very well in very serious accidents, so the Enclave wouldn't be the only one to get that kind of praise. The Enclave scored very well in crash testing, which is a wonderful thing, but it's not alone.

Other than that, the Enclave is a rebadged Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia. The Buick is higher priced of course, because it's trimmed out with a few more luxury touches than the Chevy. Overall, they're very competent vehicles, with the Buick really having a nice luxury side to it. Very quiet, comfy, good cargo space. Quality is going to be typical GM, which is to say not fantastic, but not horrid. I do like the interiors in the modern GM vehicles, and the Buick is quite nice specifically. They'll handle competently enough, though as with any SUV a high center of gravity is never a good thing. They're quite heavy and quite large, so be aware of that. Design is obviously subjective, but I think it's a nice looking vehicle. It uses the corporate GM 3.6L V6 engine, used in many other GM vehicles. It's been known for it's share of issues, so be aware of what your warranty coverage is. It doesn't mean you WILL have issues, you may go 150k trouble free miles, but the 3.6L history wouldn't suggest you will.

Overall, I'd say the Enclave is the best of the GM trio of Traverse/Acadia/Enclave products. Competent, quiet, nice overall.

 

[holden]

We have an Enclave. I never drive it but DH does. It has lots of room in the trunk with the 3rd row up. It rides nice too. I think he'd recommend it.

 

[JimMIA]

Other than that, the Enclave is a rebadged Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia.

Actually, the original model was the Saturn Outlook. When that was a big success, GM added the Buick and GMC. The Chevy was only added in the last few years.

I'm on my third. I had an Outlook first and loved it. With only 7,000 miles on the car, I took a hard offset head-on crash (crazy lady forcing her way between cars coming out of a strip mall, finding traffic on her side of the street, so she came into my lane and hit me) It was a hard hit, but my airbag was not deployed. Hers was deployed, and she was pregnant, so I called rescue who transported her to the hospital. I was fine - no injury at all. It basically felt like hitting a pothole, although her car (large 4 door sedan) was almost totaled

 

[camreesmom]

I don't drive an Enclave (not an SUV fan), but cars are what I do for a living. Fantastic to hear that your friend came out OK in the accident, but I'd take the "saved her life" thing with a grain of salt. Most cars these days have very strong crash structures and perform very well in very serious accidents, so the Enclave wouldn't be the only one to get that kind of praise. The Enclave scored very well in crash testing, which is a wonderful thing, but it's not alone.

Other than that, the Enclave is a rebadged Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia. The Buick is higher priced of course, because it's trimmed out with a few more luxury touches than the Chevy. Overall, they're very competent vehicles, with the Buick really having a nice luxury side to it. Very quiet, comfy, good cargo space. Quality is going to be typical GM, which is to say not fantastic, but not horrid. I do like the interiors in the modern GM vehicles, and the Buick is quite nice specifically. They'll handle competently enough, though as with any SUV a high center of gravity is never a good thing. They're quite heavy and quite large, so be aware of that. Design is obviously subjective, but I think it's a nice looking vehicle. It uses the corporate GM 3.6L V6 engine, used in many other GM vehicles. It's been known for it's share of issues, so be aware of what your warranty coverage is. It doesn't mean you WILL have issues, you may go 150k trouble free miles, but the 3.6L history wouldn't suggest you will.

Overall, I'd say the Enclave is the best of the GM trio of Traverse/Acadia/Enclave products. Competent, quiet, nice overall.

This is good info. I've been looking at the Enclave but haven't driven one yet. I like the way it and the Traverse look. I have driven an Acadia but the back seats were not very comfortable at all. They seemed very thin.

 

[bjscheel]

I have the GMC Acadia. It's fine. I like that it has All Wheel Drive, which was the main impetus for trading in the Dodge Caravan. I kind of don't like the console between the front seats as it makes no place to put a purse or coat between them but that's minor.

 

[JimMIA]

Tried to add to my post above, but the DIS is too glitchy right now. I'll try again later.

 

[JimMIA]

This is good info. I've been looking at the Enclave but haven't driven one yet. I like the way it and the Traverse look. I have driven an Acadia but the back seats were not very comfortable at all. They seemed very thin.

Was it cloth interior or leather? BIG difference in the seats with leather...at least in the Buick.

 

[camreesmom]

Was it cloth interior or leather? BIG difference in the seats with leather...at least in the Buick.

They were cloth.

 

[Klayfish]

Actually, the original model was the Saturn Outlook. When that was a big success, GM added the Buick and GMC. The Chevy was only added in the last few years.

They are all on the GM Lamda platform. I don't recall off the top of my head which model was introduced first, you could be right it was the Outlook. I didn't mention it because Saturn is long gone from the market place. The platform was designed with the intention of introducing the GMC, Buick and Chevy from the start, it had nothing to do with the success of the Outlook. In fact, the truth is Saturn sold very few of them, as they did the rest of the Saturn line in the later years. They were all designed to be corporate twins, just like much of GMs lineup (and many other manufacturers too). There are/were basically only badging and trim differences between the Outlook, Acadia, Traverse and Enclave. Otherwise, they're identical.

camreesmom, if you didn't like the seats in the Acadia, you probably won't like the Enclave. They're the same. Yes, you can get leather, as you can in the Traverse and Acadia, but the seat structures are the same.

 

[JimMIA]

They are all on the GM Lamda platform. I don't recall off the top of my head which model was introduced first, you could be right it was the Outlook. I didn't mention it because Saturn is long gone from the market place. The platform was designed with the intention of introducing the GMC, Buick and Chevy from the start, it had nothing to do with the success of the Outlook. In fact, the truth is Saturn sold very few of them, as they did the rest of the Saturn line in the later years. They were all designed to be corporate twins, just like much of GMs lineup (and many other manufacturers too). There are/were basically only badging and trim differences between the Outlook, Acadia, Traverse and Enclave. Otherwise, they're identical.

camreesmom, if you didn't like the seats in the Acadia, you probably won't like the Enclave. They're the same. Yes, you can get leather, as you can in the Traverse and Acadia, but the seat structures are the same.

Outlook in 2006, Traverse in 2009 - although I remember the Traverse looking different from the Enclave and Acadia until just a couple of years ago. The Traverse replaced the Outlook when Saturn was discontinued.

 

[Disneychix]

I have an Enclave that I LOVE! I love the 3rd row with decent space in the 'trunk', I love the bells and whistles that I got.

What I don't love, it's a heavy car, it eats up gas, and I live in WNY-it's not a very great winter car, slides a lot even with good tires.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Outlook, then Acadia, then Enclave, then Traverse.

We have an Acadia. We've had a couple minor issues (fuel pump, tire pressure sensors), and one big one - transmission went out at 92,000 miles. About $3,000 in total repairs (plus maintenance items - tires, and struts), of which ~$2,250 was the transmission. Oddly enough, the GM dealer was cheaper than any of the transmission shops we checked & 20,000 miles later, the new one is still working great. Had it 9 years & it's the only car DW has ever owned that she said she'd consider buying the same thing next time around. It just really suits us well. The only thing I really dislike is the HVAC controls. All buttons, no knobs.

 

[Cheetie]

A friend of mine had one and loved it, but recently traded it in for a new Explorer. She has a moderately steep driveway, and had trouble getting into her garage with even a little snow/ice on the ground. Her husband finally told her either we get a new car or we move.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My parents had an Enclave and we all loved it. They only got rid of it because my dad had a hard time parking it. (He's old, it has nothing to do with the vehicle.)

The 2017 Acadia is no longer identical to the Enclave. It is more like a Terrain with 2 seats in the trunk. Terrible redesign.

 

[Sabeking]

I have leased two over a period of I think six years and have loved them. I recently just finished my last lease. I went to something else just for a change of pace. I loved the room, seats folding down. The luxury feel inside and we had DVD players in the seats which the kids enjoyed when ey were younger. In the six years I never did anything outside of routine maintenance.

 

[RAD]

I have a 2015 Enclave with the premium package and love it. Down side is that it likes to drink gas, see 17/18MPG around town (which here goes from 65MPH burns to stop and go in town), on the road going 75/80 close to 20.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My parents had an Enclave and we all loved it. They only got rid of it because my dad had a hard time parking it. (He's old, it has nothing to do with the vehicle.)

The 2017 Acadia is no longer identical to the Enclave. It is more like a Terrain with 2 seats in the trunk. Terrible redesign.

The 2017 Acadia is available in 2 versions - a 2016 carry over sold as a 2017, and the new design. The smaller version is still much larger than the Terrain, but yes smaller than the old style. It's now comparable in size to a Highlander or CX9.

 

[skuttle]

I had a 2009 Traverse and really liked it. I had lots of bells and whistles in mine. It fit my family of 5 nicely. We drove it to WDW several times. However, our 09 Traverse had TONS of recalls and needed a lot of additional repairs. Because of that, after it was paid off, we got rid of it and vowed to never by Chevy again. It was a bummer because I really did like my Traverse.

 

[georgina]

DH has a 2008 Enclave and has been very happy with it overall. It rides very nicely on the highway, he has the leather heated seats and they are very comfortable. I don't like the visibility of the driver position, I always feel like I can't see what is around me. It is bad for gas mileage, and the air conditioning drain plug tends to clog, which dumps water on the front passengers feet until it is unclogged. Annoying on a long trip. Other than that, it has been quite reliable, he drives less miles than I do, so it is under 80,000 miles so far.