If you look back at automotive history, there was a time when Buick produced some of the most distinctive car designs in the industry (names like Riviera, Roadmaster, and Wildcat come to mind). Fast forward to the present day, and the average consumer would be hard-pressed to pick out most Buick models in a lineup of crossover SUVs with their badges removed.
The 2025 Enclave is Buick’s ultimate family vehicle, sitting atop the automaker’s four-SUV lineup. Possessing a spacious cabin with room for seven passengers, a smooth ride, a wealth of comfort and convenience features, and a nice selection of standard safety features, the 2025 Buick Enclave is an excellent choice for buyers seeking luxury-brand levels of quiet and driving refinement with family-friendly seating and cargo accommodations at a value-oriented price.
Photo: Jeff Youngs
The all-new, third-generation Enclave wears sharper exterior styling inspired by the Buick Wildcat EV concept car, including its hood-mounted badge, shark nose, trapezoidal grille, and slim-line headlights. The new Enclave is also longer, wider, and taller than its predecessor.
Inside, the redesigned Enclave has a more refined interior, a new 30-inch driver information/infotainment display, and a “floating” center console. Mirroring an industry trend, the previous-generation Enclave’s long-running V6 engine is history, replaced by a more fuel-efficient, turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. Also, Super Cruise hands-free driving technology is available for the first time on a Buick.
The three-row Buick Enclave midsize SUV has three trim levels: Preferred, Sport Touring (ST), and Avenir. Front-wheel drive (FWD) is standard, and all-wheel drive (AWD) is available on all trims. The 2025 Buick Enclave prices range from $46,495 for the base Preferred with FWD to $59,595 for the top-spec Avenir, including the destination charge.
For this review of the 2025 Enclave, Buick provided a test vehicle equipped with Avenir trim and the Super Cruise package, which comprises the following:
The test vehicle’s price was $63,325, including the $1,395 destination charge to ship the SUV to your local dealership from the Buick assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan.
Photo: Jeff Youngs
Although technically a mainstream brand, some Buicks are legit premium vehicles, offering elegant exterior styling, class-above interior materials, and, in the Enclave’s case, a 30-inch widescreen display and state-of-the-art available technology like Super Cruise. Even before setting foot in the Enclave Avenir, the SUV greets you with welcome lighting animation—yet another luxury touch. The same lighting also bids you farewell.
Embarking on any journey in the Buick Enclave is a breeze, no matter your seat assignment. Thanks to the inherent ride height of a midsize crossover SUV, there’s no plopping down or climbing up into the seats, as is the case with your typical sedan or full-size SUV. The hip points are just right with the Enclave, allowing easy slide-in/slide-out maneuvers. Access to the spacious third row is also easy, thanks to the one-touch, flat-folding and sliding second-row captain’s chairs.
Once everyone is aboard, finding a comfortable seating position is easy. The Avenir test vehicle has a standard eight-way power driver’s seat and a six-way power front passenger seat. Additionally, both front seats are heated and ventilated with a massaging feature and have power four-way lumbar adjustment. Heated second-row outboard seats are part of the Avenir treatment as well.
Those in the Avenir’s front row are treated to a first-class cabin experience, with quilted and perforated leather-appointed front seats, static and dynamic ambient lighting with selectable colors, and a high-contrast interior, including color-matched details on the seat sides. Additionally, front- and second-row seats feature “Avenir” script embroidered on their headrests.
Unlike some midsize crossovers, the Enclave’s third row isn’t a penalty box. While three full-size adults would be cramped, there is ample head, leg, hip, and shoulder room for three smaller adults or kids.
The test vehicle featured the optional Cool Gray seats with a Slate Blue interior. While it’s a unique, attractive color combination, I doubt how it would hold up with younger passengers. As someone who frequently has many kids in their vehicle, I would choose the Ebony seats to hide dirt and scuffs better.
Quite often, providing a spacious third row comes at the expense of cargo space. Not so with the Enclave, as it allows for 22.9 cubic feet of space behind the third-row seat. This compares favorably with competitive midsize three-row SUVs such as the Acura MDX, which has 16.3 cu. ft., Lincoln Aviator (18.3), and Mazda CX-90 (14.9). Accessing the Avenir’s 97.5-cu.-ft. cargo area is also convenient, thanks to an auto-sensing power liftgate and a 60/40 split power-folding third-row seat.
Lastly, while I rarely mention this often-overlooked feature, the whole family marveled at the panoramic sunroof in the Enclave. The extra-long sunroof provides an unobstructed view of the sky from any seating position. Even at night, with the power sunshade retracted to the open position and the glass closed, you get an awe-inspiring panoramic view of the cosmos.
Photo: Jeff Youngs
The redesigned 2025 Enclave features a 30-inch diagonal screen incorporating driver information and infotainment into a single digital display. The Google-based system includes Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Play Store, among others. Other features include:
The Enclave’s wide screen provides plenty of real estate for app icons, which you can rearrange with the swipe of a finger, just as you would on your smartphone. You can also control various vehicle functions and settings via the apps on the large screen, including audio, phone, vehicle status, camera views, ambient lighting, parking assistance, and climate controls.
I found the infotainment system in the Enclave very intuitive and easy to use. Everything from pairing an iPhone to choosing a radio station to texting or making a phone call via Apple CarPlay was a cinch. When I asked for a specific song, the system offered to play it via Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio. Keep in mind, however, that you must sign into your Google account to take advantage of this audio playback capability.
The infotainment system could also handle more complex operations, such as using voice commands to navigate to a specific restaurant or address, tuning the audio system to a particular radio station, or adjusting the climate and seat settings. I had to repeat myself a couple of times, but the infotainment system in the Buick proved surprisingly capable—on par with systems in vehicles costing tens of thousands of dollars more.
The Enclave Preferred and ST have a 12-speaker Bose premium audio system, and the Avenir comes with an upgraded 16-speaker Bose Performance Series system. While I don’t claim to be an audiophile, to my ear, the sound emanating from the 16-speaker Bose system was rich, clear, and powerful no matter the music genre (I sampled classical, reggae, country, and, my personal favorite, ‘80s hair metal).
Photo: Jeff Youngs
Buick pivoted to a smaller, turbocharged, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine when it redesigned the 2025 Enclave, replacing the prior model’s standard V6. Despite the smaller engine, horsepower increases to 328 (from 310), and torque is up significantly, to 326 pound-feet from 266. An eight-speed automatic transmission now handles gear changes, whereas the 2024 Enclave employed a nine-speed unit.
The Enclave’s new four-cylinder engine delivers more power than last year’s model, but it doesn’t sound quite as good doing it. While it’s peppy, the four-cylinder sounds like it’s working hard at higher rpms. Still, acceleration is strong, off the line and from a rolling start. The slight reduction in the number of gears doesn’t negatively affect the transmission’s performance.
In town, the Enclave delivers a smooth ride, the suspension soaking up potholes and road imperfections. While the ride and handling are not what I’d consider sporty, it’s appropriate for the Enclave. After all, this is a comfort-focused family hauler, not a sporty SUV or off-road warrior. It does exhibit some body lean in tight turning maneuvers, but it’s not excessive or particularly bothersome.
On highways and the Interstate, the Avenir’s adaptive damping suspension shines, adjusting the damping forces at each wheel, helping the Enclave deliver the ride quality you’d expect from a full-on luxury crossover SUV.
Buick has long touted its QuietTuning technology, which aims to quash excess noise, vibration, and harshness from entering the vehicle’s cabin by leveraging technology and specialized materials and manufacturing techniques. Combined with the SUV’s standard active noise-cancellation technology, the Enclave’s cabin is hushed no matter the vehicle’s speed, further adding to its premium vibe.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the 2025 Buick Enclave with FWD gets 23 mpg in combined driving, while the AWD version returns 21 mpg. According to the trip computer, my FWD test vehicle averaged 21.8 mpg during my evaluation—slightly less than the EPA’s combined estimate.
Photo: Jeff Youngs
The 2025 Buick Enclave comes standard with the Buick Driver Confidence advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) suite. The base Preferred trim includes:
While not part of Buick Driver Confidence, the Enclave also comes standard with these additional ADAS:
Optional ADAS include a driver monitoring system and active parking assistance.
I didn’t experience any false alarms during my time with the Enclave, as the SUV’s ADAS performed as they should. The adaptive cruise control was easy to set, Safety Alert Seat vibrations warned me of potential hazards in my driver’s-side blind spot, and the rear-seat reminder prompted me to check the back seat each time I parked and opened the driver’s door to exit the SUV.
Regarding crashworthiness, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 2025 Buick Enclave received the highest possible five-star overall safety rating. While the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave the 2025 Enclave “Good” ratings in all three crashworthiness categories, the Institute did not name the SUV a Top Safety Pick for the 2025 calendar year, possibly due to some middling ratings in the crash avoidance and mitigation category.
Photo: Jeff Youngs
Perhaps the most noteworthy available technology on the 2025 Enclave is Super Cruise, a Level 2 hands-free driver-assistance system similar to Ford’s BlueCruise in capability and function. Like Ford’s system, Super Cruise works only on approved roads (General Motors estimates there will be 750,000 miles of them in the United States and Canada by the end of 2025).
As it was my first time driving a vehicle equipped with Super Cruise, I hopped on Interstate 40 east of Nashville, Tennessee, to test the self-driving technology. I set the adaptive cruise control, activated Super Cruise by pressing the button on the steering wheel, and took my hands off the wheel. Just like that, the car started driving itself. Not fully trusting the technology, I kept my hands near the steering wheel and my foot over the brake, ready to act if needed.
After about 10 miles of smooth sailing, Super Cruise suddenly prompted me to take control due to “No Road Information.” This was a bit puzzling, as the stretch of Interstate I was traveling on had been there for decades and wasn’t under construction.
Within moments, however, I was able to reengage Super Cruise. This same interruption happened several times during my 60-mile round trip and reinforced why it’s so important for the driver to remain vigilant due to the system’s limitations.
Despite its limitations, overall, I was impressed with Super Cruise. It was very easy to activate and deactivate, did an admirable job keeping the Enclave in its travel lane, and performed smooth, fully automatic lane changes. You can also choose to initiate lane changes yourself with a flick of the turn signal. To set your lane-change preference, adjust the setting via the Super Cruise settings menu before hitting the road.
In the JD Power 2024 Initial Quality Study (IQS), the Chevrolet Traverse ranks highest in the Upper Midsize SUV segment. The Ford Explorer and the Kia Telluride are the next highest-ranked models.
In the JD Power 2024 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, the Kia EV9 ranks highest in the Upper Midsize SUV segment. The Kia Telluride and the Hyundai Palisade are the next highest-ranked models.
Other 2025 Enclave competitors include the Acura MDX, Infiniti QX60, Lincoln Aviator, and Mazda CX-90.
Delivering good looks, a premium interior, a silky-smooth ride, and class-above safety and technology at a value price, the Buick Enclave—particularly in top Avenir trim—is a luxury SUV hiding behind a mainstream brand logo. It’s every bit as good as its primary competitors. While some near-luxury midsize crossover SUV buyers might write it off simply because it wears a Buick badge, they’d be missing out on a hidden gem.
Jeff Youngs has 30 years of experience in the auto industry, including 19 years with JD Power in marketing and editorial management roles. He also spent five years with General Motors as a media relations professional. More recently, as a freelance automotive journalist, his work has appeared on Autotrader, Autolist, Capital One Auto Navigator, CarGurus, iSeeCars, JDPower.com, and Kelley Blue Book.
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