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Video: 2025 Buick Enclave Up Close: A Lot Nicer Than You Remember

04:33 min
By Cars.com Editors
April 9, 2024

About the video

Cars.com Detroit Bureau Chief Aaron Bragman got a first look at the new 2025 Enclave at GM’s Buick studio recently. Here he takes you through the brand’s final model in its recent showroom renewal, giving you the ins and outs of the new Enclave.

Transcript

General Motor's fastest growing brand in North America right now is Buick. And why is that? Well, that's because they've updated everything in the showroom. And the last one to get an update is this.
This is the 2025 Buick Enclave, full-sized crossover SUV. It's got new technology, it's got new styling, it's got a new powertrain. What else have they changed? Well, let's take a look. The biggest and most obvious change comes to the styling of the new '25 Enclave. It's inspired by the Wildcat show car, which has got this new face that's making its way onto everything in the Buick showroom to good effect, I think it looks pretty good here as well. You've got these LED daytime running lights up top, and it all is above this line, this horizontal line that forms a really pointed shark nose. Every version of the new Enclave has its own unique grill and there are three different trims that you can get. The base level is the preferred, then you have the more aggressive looking Sport Touring, and then you have this one. This is the top luxury version called the Avenir. Now on the base preferred and the ST, you get 20-inch wheels as standard. On the Avenir, you get these great, big, lovely 22s. Down the side of the Enclave, it's pretty much the same, but you do get new styling in the back as well with these edge-to-edge taillights and new bumper fascias as well. Overall, the new '25 Enclave is longer, taller and wider than the one it replaces, but it's still riding on the same chassis as before. Of course, the bigger changes actually have come on the inside, and the most notable change inside is that, it's a 30-inch continuous diagonal screen and it incorporates both the gauge cluster and the multimedia system, which is now Google-based as well. It is, frankly, fantastic. This interior looks absolutely dynamite. Now, of course, this is the top Avenir version which has a lighter colored interior. If you'd like a more somber, sporty, darker colored interior, the ST is probably the one you really want. It also has a flat bottom steering wheel to try and add to the sportiness of the idea, but the whole thing, I gotta say, this looks absolutely fantastic. It looks a damn sight better than the last Lexus I was in. One thing you might notice is the fact that there is an LED display in the top of the steering wheel here. That's because General Motors' Super Cruise, semi-autonomous driving system, the hands-free driving system that they have, is now going to be offered on all trim versions of the new Enclaves. The first time it's appeared in a Buick. The Super Cruise system is actually, I think one of the better ones out there. It does actually allow you to take your hands off the wheel, you still have to pay attention though. And it'll tell you when it's active because this LED strip across the top of the steering wheel will actually start glowing green when the thing is actually working. Overall though, I think it's an excellent upgrade for the new Enclave. Buick is also packaging a lot of the options into the various trim levels. So if you want everything in your new Enclave, you're gonna want this one, the Avenir. And it's got things like heated and ventilated, massaging front seats, that's unique to the Avenir. It's got heated outboard rear seats as well. No heated third row seats, that's still pretty much only the purview of the Hyundai Palisade. You've also got things like this panoramic moonroof that goes all the way from the front to the C-pillars. That comes with the Avenir as well. And you've also got continuous damping control shock absorbers, which is the first time that it's actually gonna be standard on the Avenir. It's really meant to help improve the ride quality of the vehicle, and now it's standard equipment as well. If a blingy Avenir really isn't your speed and you want something a bit more somber and sporty, there's this version. This is the mid-level ST, the Sport Touring trim. And unlike the Avenir, it's got blacked out trim up front, black grill, 20-inch machine-faced black wheels, black mirror caps as well, and a black interior. It doesn't necessarily have anything more sporty in terms of its equipment, but it certainly looks a lot sportier. Under the hood is a new powertrain as well. It's a turbocharged 2.5 liter four-cylinder making 328 horsepower and 326 pounds feet of torque. Made it up to an 8-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels. All wheel drive is optional across all trim levels. Now if that powertrain sounds a little familiar, that's because that's the exact same one that's in the new 2024 Chevrolet Traverse. One thing that General Motors has started doing is to not differentiate necessarily between their brands with the things that you can't see, powertrains being one of them. Now, 328 horsepower, I think that's probably gonna be plenty to motivate a vehicle like this with some kind of sportiness. The new face of the Enclave and the rest of the Enclave actually looks really quite good, and we're looking forward to getting behind the wheel and testing out the new powertrain as well. These are gonna be arriving in showrooms towards the end of summer of this year, 2024. And we don't have pricing just yet, but there's more standard equipment, which generally means that the price is probably gonna go up a little bit. Now when we do get pricing and when we do get a chance behind the wheel, you're gonna see it first at cars.com.

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