ArcaMax

Buicks aren't usually associated with affordability. Not that there's anything wrong with affordable brands. The point is that Buick is generally considered at least an almost-luxury-car brand, in the same general class as Audi, Acura and Volvo -- if not quite Lexus and Mercedes.

None of the latter sell anything that starts under $30,000.

But you can get a new Buick for about $25,000.

What It Is

The Encore GX is a small crossover from Buick that costs about the same -- or less -- as small crossovers sold by Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia.

It stickers for $25,900 to start -- for the Preferred trim -- and for that you get a digital instrument cluster, LED headlights and a six-speaker audio system. A 1.2-liter, three-cylinder engine paired with a continuously variable transmission is standard, as is front-wheel drive; you can add all-wheel drive as a standalone option -- which also includes a nine-speed automatic transmission in lieu of the CVT.

This brings the price up to $27,900.

The Sport Touring starts at $27,100, and that gets you a larger, stronger 1.3-liter engine plus upgraded synthetic leather upholstery and special black exterior/interior trim. You can go FWD or (optionally) AWD with this engine too.

A wireless phone charger and adaptive cruise control can be added to both these trims in a bundled Technology Package ($1,095).

The top-of-the-line Avenir -- $31,400 -- comes with the 1.3-liter engine, heated seats and steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, real leather upholstery and 19-inch wheels. The Avenir can also be ordered with an upgraded seven-speaker Bose stereo and hands-free power liftgate. Once again, you can pick either FWD (standard) or AWD (optional).

What's New for 2026

The Encore GX carries over into 2026 unchanged. It hasn't been updated since 2020, so it is likely this will be the last year for the current model. Expect a major update for the 2027 model year.

What's Good

-- Stacks up favorably in many ways to small luxury-brand crossovers from Lexus and Audi -- but costs non-luxury-brand money.

-- Plush, Buick ride.

-- Doesn't have hybrid augmentation -- and you can choose not to go with a CVT.

What's Not So Good

-- Standard (and optional) three-cylinder engines are the smallest and least powerful engines in the class.

-- To avoid the CVT (many people dislike CVTs), you have to buy AWD.

-- Annoying "assistance" technology such as Lane Keep Assist is standard (ditto all the others in the class, as well as the others in the luxury class).

Under the Hood

Buick is a brand that was once famous for its big cars -- models like the Electra 225, which was 225 inches long (longer than a new Cadillac Escalade, which is a mere 211.9 inches long) and had among the biggest engines you could get in a car, such as the 7.5-liter 455 V8 that came standard in the Electra.

Now Buick sells crossovers exclusively, and some of them -- like the Encore GX -- have the smallest engines you'll find in a vehicle shy of a motorcycle.

The Buick's standard 1.2-liter turbocharged three makes 137 horsepower; the optional (slightly larger) 1.3-liter turbocharged three offers 155 horsepower. Equipped with this engine, the Encore GX can get to 60 mph in about 8.8 seconds, which is on par with the 0-60 mph times of non-luxury-badged small crossovers such as the Honda HR-V. Interestingly, the Honda's larger, 2.0-liter four makes about the same power (158 horsepower) as the Buick's much smaller turbocharged three -- and the only transmission available with the Honda is CVT.

The Encore GX is one of not many under-$30,000 crossovers that still offers a conventional automatic that shifts through gears -- as opposed to varying the ranges, as CVTs do.

Also interestingly, the Buick's touted mileage with the 1.3-liter engine -- 29 mpg city, 31 mpg highway -- is better than the mileage touted by the Honda (26 mpg city, 32 mpg highway).

Another interesting thing is that Buick says this small crossover can pull a small trailer weighing up to 1,000 pounds. Most of the others in this class are not rated to pull anything.

On the Road

This is a very different kind of Buick -- relative to what Buicks were once like. But it is also pleasantly similar. Though much smaller -- and FWD/AWD rather than rear-wheel drive and V8-powered, as the great land yacht Buicks of once-upon-a-time were -- this Buick offers similar serenity. It is not designed to roar to accelerate like a sports car; it is designed to gently and comfortably get you where you want to go. The seats are cushiony, and so is the ride quality.

The Encore doesn't try to be something other than a Buick -- which is nice, if you're not interested in a Buick that's trying to be a Lexus, Audi or BMW.

Don't be turned off by the size of its engine -- unless you are interested in something "sporty." The Encore's engine may be small, but the turbo enables it to produce its peak torque (174 foot-pounds for the 1.3-liter three) at just 1,600 rpm -- which is almost literally idle speed. The point being that this engine's maximum torque is almost always available whenever the engine is running; i.e., you do not have to rev it much to get a response. In this respect, it is very much like the great land yacht Buicks of the past, which were esteemed because of the right-now torque generated by their big V8s.

And -- this is interesting -- if you go back to that era and have a gander at 0-60 mph times, you will discover that those great land yachts with those huge V8 engines accelerated to 60 mph in about the same eight-ish seconds it takes for this three-cylinder-powered latter-day Buick to get to the same speed.

But who's in a hurry? What matters in the real world is whether the vehicle's engine responds adequately when called on to move the vehicle, as when accelerating from a dead stop when the light goes green -- as opposed to when the Christmas tree at a race track goes green. Whether you can get going quickly enough to match speed/merge with highway traffic, pass -- and so on. The Buick's torquey little three handles those jobs better than some of the larger engines in other small crossovers that you have to work harder to get a response out of.

At the Curb

The Encore GX is about the same length (171.2 inches) as other subcompact crossovers such as the Honda HR-V -- and luxury-brand subcompact crossovers, such as the Audi Q3 and the Lexus UX300. Where it differs from both, chiefly, is that it looks like it could be a luxury-brand crossover but costs about the same as the non-luxury-brand crossovers.

This is true both inside and out. Especially inside. It looks and feels more upscale than its $25,000-ish to start base price would lead you to expect. It is not that bread-and-butter-brand small crossovers such as the HR-V look cheap; it is that the Encore looks nicer than its price.

Also -- again -- it feels in tune with what Buick is supposed to be. While there is a big LCD main instrument panel, there are also still easy-to-operate toggles for important functions such as making adjustment to the climate controls, turning on (and off) the heated seats -- and so on. The LCD screen icons are also large -- and so easier to tap accurately while you're driving. Another pleasant control is the gear selector lever -- which isn't an array of buttons or a wheel you spin. The selector has intuitive feel. Park is all the way forward -- as it has been for generations. Reverse is one notch down from Park. Then Neutral and Drive.

It's natural, and that always feels right.

Though this Buick can be compared with much more expensive small crossovers, it also compares very favorably -- on practical grounds -- with the utilitarian crossovers like the Honda HR-V.

The Encore has 23.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind its second row and with the second folded down, the space opens up to 50.2 cubic feet. This is about the same amount of space as you'd find inside the HR-V, which has 24.4 cubic feet of space behind its third row and 55.1 cubic feet of total available space. It is also more space than you get in the Lexus UX300 -- which has only 17.1 cubic feet of space available behind its second row (and less usable total space due to the lower/more rakish roofline).

The Buick's front passenger seat also folds flat -- an unusual feature -- and that makes it feasible to carry unusually long items with the rear liftgate closed.

The Rest

You can use E85 fuel if you buy an Encore GX equipped with the standard 1.2-liter engine. GM has tuned the engine (and designed the fuel system) to handle this fuel, which has 15% ethanol alcohol rather than just the 10% that E10 regular unleaded has. The main advantage to using E85 is that it is typically about 20 cents cheaper per gallon than E10. However, E85 contains less energy per gallon, so you'll probably see a mileage-per-gallon drop using E85 rather than E10.

The Bottom Line

This little Buick is an interesting alternative to the Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus and Hyundais it's priced to compete with -- and an even more interesting budget-friendly alternative to the luxury-brand small crossovers it compares favorably with.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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