Video: 2025 Buick Encore GX Avenir Review

Now, if you're keeping track at home, Avenir is to Buick what Denali is to GMC. We've got our hands on this SUV to see how it does and doesn't live up to its premium label. So, let's get into it. Now, this Encore GX Avenir certainly has a premium price, ringing in as tested at $37,085 for this subcompact SUV. That's significantly more than the 2024 Kia Seltos SX that won our last comparison of vehicles in this class. And just a hair under a fully loaded Mazda CX-30. You do get premium looks though as well. The refresh brings new front styling that brings to mind the Wildcat EV concept that Buick had a few years ago and makes me miss that dearly, and wish that Buick would just someday build one of its beautiful concepts. But let's get inside now and see where the rest of the premium content is. Inside the Avenir, you get a nice premium interior, especially for something in this class. You have comfortable front seats, with quality leather upholstery, some nice materials here on the dashboard. You also get lots of modern-looking tech for 2024. As part of the Encore GX's refresh, Buick added what they're calling the Buick Virtual Cockpit System, which really just means an eight-inch digital instrument panel and an 11-inch touchscreen display. You do get wireless CarPlay and wireless Android Auto, but that's really the extent of the super advanced tech here. This is more about materials and quality than luxury via features. I will say these screens are a little too vertically oriented for my taste. I find when I'm driving, I feel sort of like I'm peering over like that. But they look great, they work very intuitively. Overall, they're positive to me. You also get, thankfully, physical climate controls, and you just can't beat that. There is not a lot of small storage space in the front though. There's a little cubby here, some cup holders, wireless device charging, and a small little center console, but not a whole lot of family-friendly storage options. This is more of a empty nester kind of car. And because it is a subcompact SUV, materials do start to dip in certain areas. As you get below seat level, you get a lot of hard plastic. The door materials on the front are okay. They're a little bit soft, but not too fancy, not too premium. As you get into the back, it's just hard plastic on top. There's no padding up here for your arms. While the Avenir is nice inside, it's worth noting that the Kia Seltos in its top SX trim is just as nice, if not nicer, and several thousand dollars cheaper. So, really, you can get this level of quality without necessarily paying the premium that Buick is charging for the Avenir. Now, I keep bringing up alternatives like the Kia Seltos or Mazda CX-30, and there's a couple reasons for that. First, the Seltos won our last comparison test of vehicles of this size, and, well, that's our benchmark. Second, I feel like a lot of the Encore GX's appeal probably comes from its Buick badge and the appearance of domestic manufacturing. And that's fine. It's worth noting this is assembled in South Korea. And if you're really willing to look outside that domestic badge, I think you'll be able to find alternatives that are a little bit more cost-effective and give you better bang for your buck. The backseat in the Encore GX is a bit cramped. As you can see, I'm sitting behind my own seating position and my knees are into the back of the front seat, but it's soft at least. So, there's that. My knees are also up a little bit high. And this backseat isn't adjustable, so this is really what you're left with. I do have some decent headroom, I can see out okay. It doesn't feel claustrophobic, just small. But again, this is really about the front two occupants with the backseat useful when you need it. And, you know, you do get a decent cargo area as well, so that's a plus. Another nice feature on the Encore GX Avenir, and it is optional even at this top trim level, is an available hands-free power liftgate. So, give it a kick, it opens, you don't have to use your hands, very convenient. Under the hood of the Encore GX, you get a choice of two turbocharged three-cylinder engines. There's a 1.2 liter. That's only available with front-wheel drive and a CVT transmission. That makes 137 horsepower and 162 pounds feet of torque. And then you have this engine, the ever so slightly larger 1.3 liter turbocharged three-cylinder. That gets you 155 horsepower and 174 pounds feet of torque. And again, with front-wheel drive, that gets paired with A CVT. But as in this one, which has optional all-wheel drive, you get a traditional nine-speed automatic. I will say, when I got in and drove this, my first reaction was, "Wow, that's some really rubber bandy CVT behavior." And then my second thought was, "Don't all-wheel drive models get a nine-speed?" Indeed they do. So, if you can live with that, the driving experience is otherwise inoffensive. There's decent handling. The ride is comfortable even with the Avenir's optional 19-inch wheels. And I really feel vindicated because when I reviewed this when it was brand new as a 2020 model, I had a front-wheel drive model with the 1.3 turbo, and there was an appalling amount of torque steer, which is when the wheel tries to jerk outta your hands under hard acceleration. And I said, you should get the all all-wheel drive version just for that and it should eliminate that behavior. And I'm vindicated because that was my only real complaint with the last Encore GX I drove, and it's fixed in this configuration. So, if that's something that's gonna annoy you, really look for the all-wheel drive version. The horsepower and torque figures in the 1.3 turbo are class competitive, but still trail the Kia Seltos SX Turbo by a little bit, and the Mazda CX-30 Turbo by a lot. So, if you're looking for performance, you're not really gonna find it here. But if you're looking for a passable driving experience, this does just as well as almost anything else in the segment. Even with that relatively average power, the 1.3 turbo, especially with all-wheel drive, is fairly thirsty. It's EPA-rated at 27 miles per gallon combined. It doesn't provide enough driving fund to justify that relatively poor fuel economy. And it's also worth noting that when we did our comparison test, the Seltos Turbo came in last with 28 miles per gallon in our fuel economy testing. So, anything below 30 in this segment is really kind of disappointing. (gentle music) The 2025 Buick Encore GX is a solid subcompact SUV, and in this Avenir trim, it's a pretty decent premium subcompact SUV, but it's got the price to match. Now, I think there are some better alternatives out there, especially if you're willing to look for non-U.S. automakers, but I don't think the Buick Encore GX is going to disappoint. for my full review. head to cars.com/news. (gentle music continues)