   2013 Buick Enclave. Click image to enlarge |
The materials in the cabin are lovely, and you’re surrounded by soft-touch fabrics and plastics, stitching and a stellar level of fit and finish. The entire vehicle seemed to be built well, with nary a squeak or rattle to be heard – even over some terrible rutted alleys and some light off-roading.
Buick’s Intellilink touchscreen system, which handles the audio, phone, app and navigation functions is, well, okay. I found the screen to be less responsive than I wanted it to be, but the user interface is relatively straightforward. We were unable to input a destination address, and after failing at doing it on screen as well as through voice recognition, I wanted to punch the system in the neck. We resorted to our iPhones.
Being a rear seat passenger on a road trip in the Enclave is not a bad thing. The seating is great, there is a rear-seat entertainment system with DVD player and screen, and there are controls for a separate stream of media back there. That’s all lovely, but I still recommend against the rear-seat entertainment system, regardless of the vehicle it’s in. They’re expensive and the screen flips down to block your view out the back in your rearview mirror. Get the kids their own iPads – which is what we did – and they can take it with them and do more with it. And you’ll save some money.
Speaking of the view, visibility out of the Enclave is nice, except for shoulder-checking, which is greatly hampered by the rear flanks that sweep upward and into your line of sight.
The powered liftgate is nice, and can be activated from the dash, the key fob or a button on the liftgate itself. Yes, I said key fob – firing this thing up is a real throwback, and you’ll use a key to do it.
All in all, the Buick Enclave is a very nice vehicle. It’s pretty expensive, and at this price, I would have liked to have seen a few more things in the tech and convenience department – such as heated rear seats, lane departure warning and front collision warning systems. But it comes well equipped and dang, if it isn’t comfortable!
It’s a well made, well thought out SUV that offers a lot of space, a ton of comfort, a solid set of goodies and handsome styling. And it did a bang-up job moving my family and myself during our road trip. Was it fun to drive? Heck no! But it sure coddled us in luxury and we were always comfortable. If this is what you’re looking for, and you need this much space, the Enclave might be the ride for you.
Pricing: 2013 Buick Enclave AWD
Base price: $53,370
Options: 20-inch machined wheels – $350, audio/navigation/rear-seat entertainment system upgrade – $3,250, dual sunroof – $1,685
A/C tax: $100
Destination: $2,050
Price as tested: $60,805
