2025 Buick Enclave First Drive Review: Made for Road Trips

Ah, Buick. General Motors’ inscrutable mid-range brand is in a strange spot, being a smash hit in China but an also-ran in its home country. In an era when so many makes are redefining themselves though, it’s only natural that Buick should too. Every model in its lineup is fresh and a radical departure from Buicks of yore. And the last tree in Buick’s grove to turn over a new leaf is the 2025 Buick Enclave.

As for whether it’s the missing piece to the puzzle of restoring Buick’s fortunes, that’s trickier to say. After hundreds of miles at the wheel, I can confidently say that the Enclave is a particularly strong road-tripper. Its cabin refinement is on par with far pricier luxury cars, which pairs wonderfully with GM’s industry-leading Super Cruise. The powertrain is punchy, the interior well-built, and cavernous to boot.

Yet I don’t think it’s very good-looking, and taller frames may not find its seats comfortable. The Enclave’s interior configuration can be disadvantageous, while some of its tech doesn’t impress me, and its pedal tuning can make it tricky to drive smoothly. Still, if I faced a long commute and needed a three-row crossover, I wouldn’t have any reservations about doing the job in the new Enclave.

The Basics

Buick has redesigned its entire lineup in rapid succession, finishing the job in less than 18 months with the 2025 Enclave. It joins the rest of the range with styling inspired by the Wildcat EV concept, starkly differentiating it from your grandpa’s Buick. As a three-row crossover that seats seven, it’s the largest, most expensive vehicle that Buick’s probably allowed to sell. Any bigger and it’d be a GMC; fancier would tread on the toes of Cadillac. And GM can’t have any of that.

The Enclave is pushed around by a turbocharged 2.5-liter all-aluminum four-cylinder engine making 328 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque. An eight-speed automatic transmission sends it all to either the front wheels or all four, with the body being suspended on MacPherson struts up front and a five-link setup out back. Its top Avenir trim also gets adaptive damping while the whole range gets access to GM’s hands-free highway driving assist, Super Cruise—it’s the first Buick to do so. Buick also included acoustic-laminated or extra-thick glass to reduce cabin noise, along with triple-layered door seals all around.

Stylistically, the Enclave photographs a bit better than it looks in person. Its sneering, Corvette-like upper fascia slopes into a slab-like front end that drops off vertically like the beards manfluencers use to hide their jaws. Blunt is the operative word here. Its side is equally vast, with unremarkable wheels looking lonely in gaping wheel wells, while the taillights resemble those of a Toyota RAV4. The D-pillar looks like a series of styling trends piled on top of one another, which sort of sums up the Enclave’s design as a whole. It seems like someone was following a briefing, ticking visual elements off of a checklist, rather than crafting a cohesive form.

The styling within isn’t much better, as it’s emphatically mid-range GM. There’s a smattering of upscale materials and premium finishes, but it doesn’t come together as something distinctive. Hide the Buick badge, and you’d struggle to pick it out of a lineup. That is, if it didn’t have that enormous, curved touchscreen jutting out from the dash. Buick boasts of its largest-in-class 30-inch uninterrupted diagonal span, but only the center infotainment is a touchscreen, and everything to the left is controlled by steering wheel buttons, just like it is in most other cars. Its tilt toward the driver makes it inconvenient for the passenger to use, too.

Still, it’s a pleasant place to sit. The perforated faux-leather seating feels soft and durable, and interior storage is generous. There’s plenty of headroom whether or not you opt for the airy panoramic sunroof, though it’s partially wasted by seats that aren’t comfortable for tall frames. While legroom is adequate for adults in all three rows, they won’t like the narrow three-wide wayback between the rear wheel wells. The front-row headrest is also canted uncomfortably forward, and there’s a mysterious lack of audio controls on the button-encrusted steering wheel. The music note-shaped button only pulled up radio presets, there was no song-skip button, and that chrome rocker switch surprisingly did not control volume. There’s a physical volume knob on the center console for that.

Driving Experience

From the driver’s seat, the Enclave’s hood feels far longer than it looks from outside. The sloped edges make its boundaries poorly defined, though the 360-degree camera and parking sensors fill in the gaps. Visibility to the front and side is otherwise reasonable, with passable three-quarter views and an adequate view out back through what feels like a porthole.

Though my drive route from Portland to Seattle had some of the most cobbled, worn pavement the northwest has to offer, it teed up the Enclave to show off one of its best traits. The noise-canceling-equipped Enclave has one of the quietest, smoothest rides I’ve experienced outside of six-figure luxury SUVs, and that’s without the Avenir’s adaptive damping. It’s no stretch to compare it to a Mercedes-Maybach. Buick’s talk of aiming for the quietest cabins in the industry isn’t bluster, and it also gets more out of the 12-speaker Bose sound system. It’s solid enough to make layered instrumentals audible, though not so much at lower volumes.

The steering is light and quick, and the handling and traction are confident. While the engine delivers significant acceleration, I wish the throttle was tuned better for occupant comfort. Something about the transmission response can make it jerky off the line. There’s also a small dead zone at the top of the brake pedal, which makes it tricky to come to a smooth stop.

The Enclave’s standard tech suite is also respectable, though there are some caveats. Super Cruise made the three-hour trip each way the easiest and most relaxing it’s ever been, except for when I encountered dense traffic. The tech’s limits are clear; it doesn’t have as good a read on the situation as the human driver does and can get overwhelmed. It sometimes made ill-advised lane changes and had an erroneous deactivation when it thought we were in an exit lane (when we weren’t). Worn road markings also could’ve resulted in a sideswipe, had I not seen the possibility coming. It was reliable on the open road though, and I’d turn off the automatic lane changes for more usability in traffic.

Other tech troubles surfaced, too. The forward collision warning is more anxious than my mother, and I had a couple issues with Apple CarPlay being unresponsive. The lack of physical audio controls forced me to use the touchscreen—a known distraction hazard—and while it’s not an on-road feature, the key fob proximity-activated tailgate proved more an annoyance than a convenience.

Buick Enclave Features, Options, and Competition

Starting at $46,395, the 2025 Buick Enclave’s standard equipment list is lengthy, with 20-inch alloy wheels and a proximity power liftgate. It opens onto an interior with active noise canceling, that 12-speaker Bose sound system, 126-color ambient lighting, tri-zone climate control, and heated, powered front seats. The infotainment has 360-degree camera views, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and eight years of Google integration. There’s also a plethora of active and passive safety technologies.

Optional extras include quilted, perforated leather seats, power-folding second and third rows, seat memory settings, a head-up display, panoramic sunroof, and power folding mirrors. Super Cruise is a $3,255 option on all trims, and comes with a Wi-Fi hotspot with unlimited data—though Super Cruise and the data are only for three years, and require a subscription afterward.

Some of these options are standard on the top, $59,395 Avenir trim, whose headline upgrades include adaptive damping, ventilated massaging front seats, and heated second-row seats. It also upgrades the Bose audio to 16 speakers and adds rain-sensing wipers, animated exterior lighting, and 22-inch wheels. All-wheel drive is a $2,000 extra regardless of trim.

There are plenty of three-row premium SUVs out there to choose from, but the Enclave is most readily cross-shopped against others with comparable hands-free driving tech. They include the Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator, and some specific trims of the Cadillac XT6. Cadillac however locks many features behind options, so you’re better off in the Buick at overlapping price points.

As for the Ford, standard BlueCruise makes it cheaper to go hands-free than a comparable equipped Enclave. Its three-wide second row also makes it more comfortable when all seats are filled, and it’s a touch more fuel-efficient. But BlueCruise works on less than a fifth as many U.S. roads as Super Cruise, which also dings the fancier Lincoln along with poorer gas mileage. Though all have equivalent tow ratings (5,000 pounds), the Buick’s rivals may do the job better with their available 400-hp turbo V6s. Buick only offers a turbo four-cylinder. It won’t a need a trailer as often though, as Buick has a fair advantage in interior cargo space.

The Early Verdict

The 2025 Buick Enclave isn’t revolutionary, though it’s still a decent vehicle with a clear-cut use case. It’s quiet, spacious, rides well, and has the best hands-free cruise tech in the industry. Buick has built a thoroughbred road-tripper, one that’ll deliver you and your dearest to any faraway destination without wearing you out.

Provided, of course, that the seats suit you. Some of its tech isn’t particularly well-designed, it’s not the most stylish car on the road, and I’m not a fan of its third-row setup. But if you’re out to see America the Beautiful, it’s good to have the attention to spare that a car like the Enclave affords.

Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: james@thedrive.com