The Buick brand has had its challenges in America and has hopefully set off on the right foot to capture new buyers with the introduction of vehicles like the compact Envista crossover. The new sleek look of the Envista, a vehicle built off the same platform as the Chevrolet Trax, is endowed with a rather appeasing look to the eye. The from its coupe-like silhouette slope to the unique front facia and my test vehicle’s Copper Ice Metallic exterior paint, the Envista is a good-looking vehicle.
In having an entry-level compact crossover that looks premium and near luxurious from the outside is a good look for Buick. However, the exterior is where the premium aspects stop as the interior doesn’t do much to move the traditional premium needle for Buick. Still, the new Envista begs to be a standout as onlookers naturally do a double take in wondering what type of new luxury vehicle it is, and that’s a good thing. The Envista also comes out of a Chinese General Motors factory as one of the few vehicles in America that’s made in China.
Also, don’t forget that you can get discounted new car pricing with a free quote through qualified local dealer partners.
The one unfortunate side of the design is Buick’s choice to have halogen brake lights that double as signal indicators placed low in the bumper, whereas otherwise, on most other vehicles, you find bumper reflectors. Such a design element is also found on other GM vehicles, mostly EVs (electric vehicles), as here, Buick confuses most as the upper lighting elements for the park lights would otherwise look like the right place for brake lights. You can see how most are caught off guard behind the vehicle, and they seem to react slowly to the brake lights or signals. Buick and GM, you can do better here. Such a choice to put the braking lights that low is just bad, and no one has asked for such, even if it still passes government safety guidelines.
The new Buick Envista doesn’t necessarily fit its stunning exterior design for having a powertrain to match the good looks. We get one engine choice through the three trim levels (Preferred, ST – Sport Touring, and Avenir), a 1.2-liter turbocharged 3-cylinder engine good for 137 horsepower and 162 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission that has a small rocker switch for ‘lackadaisical’ manual shifting when you put the shifter into the L (low) position. Overall, the engine and transmission work well together to extract everything that the small turbo 3-cylinder can muster. In that mustered power, the Buick Envista scoots along well in its midrange, taking advantage of the torque that it produces. However, the Envista could use more power as it takes about 9.3 seconds to hit 60 mph from a stop.
Out on the road, the Envista does well to keep up with traffic when you keep your foot down – it’s more of an intentional vehicle that requires some planning at times. There’s a slight second of turbo lag to contend with out of the hole, but overall, there’s an appreciation for the way the Envista rides and handles itself. Fundamentally, the Envista’s chassis feels overengineered for the low power output of its powertrain, which only comes in front-wheel-drive, potentially holding it back from being a choice in northern snowy states. On my Envista ST (Sport Touring) trimmed test vehicle I have 19-inch wheels and a decent ride quality that may be a bit too stiff for some and suffers from some transmitted impacts through the cabin on rough roads. Nevertheless, I have an appreciation for how well the Envista rides for its class and having the optional larger 19-inch wheels over the base trim’s 17-inch or the Envista ST’s standard 18-inch wheels. The larger wheels don’t seem to make the ride quality terribly bad with a lower-profile all-season tire. That’s partly thanks to its McPherson Struts up front and Watts Link rear suspension setup, which proved to keep things somewhat smooth and in control over road imperfections.
As the Buick Envista could use more power, it remains reserved in many ways, but the fuel economy seems like it could be better considering the power numbers, in my opinion. I saw an average of around 32 mpg in mixed highway and city driving, which easily surpasses the EPA combined estimate of 30 mpg and the city figure of 28 mpg. On the highway, the EPA estimate of 32 mpg was also conservative, where sometimes I saw 33 mpg but seemed to fall well below as I passed 75 mph, and the transmission then started downshifting into 5thgear to keep pace at times. The small 13.2-gallon fuel tank filled with regular unleaded is good for giving the Envista a decent cruising range on the highway of about 422 miles or more.
There’s a welcoming characteristic about having a vehicle that’s minimalistic in its interior approach, and the new Envista pulls off such in a way that doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s on purpose. What I am getting at is that Envista has a rather plain interior where I would expect something a bit more premium for the Buick brand.
There’s an abundance of hard plastics, only forgiven by some accented stitching run through the soft-touch plastic-injected moldings of the upper dashboard surfaces. Moreover, there’s a simplistic theme with the operation of its 11-inch infotainment touchscreen. There’s the welcomed integration of wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, in addition to having a digital gauge cluster that’s also just as simple in its display. The screens are nothing to get excited about, but the core functionality of what you ‘need’ in a modern vehicle is there, but nothing outside of such is offered, which is more of the cost-cutting measures to keep the bottom line reasonable. The single-zone automatic climate controls are also simple in their design and easy to reach.
The front seating areas have a surprisingly large amount of space through ample adjustability. However, the front heated seats proved to be on the harder side and aren’t very inviting on longer trips. Out back, the 60/40-split seatbacks and bench prove to be accommodating, but you must be mindful of the headspace that’s cut into by the slopping roof line.
Buick bundles up the typical active safety features in the new Envista, which include lane keeping assistance and forward collision warning with automatic braking. However, you must move to the mid-level Envista ST trim to get blind-spot warning with rear cross-traffic warning and adaptive cruise control. The backup camera provides a wide angle though a bit low on the resolution which may be a characteristic of the lower quality touchscreen LCD.
In a perfect world, the Envista would appeal to a wider audience if more people knew about such a vehicle. I feel that there’s still some work to be done to get the word out, but do so in a clever way to overcome the couple’s shortcomings, as the good looks only do so much for the new Envista. Buick keeps things affordable in such a vehicle where you have a respected starting price of just $23,495 before any fees or options for the base Envista Preferred trim. Moving to the midlevel Envista ST trim starting at $25,195 and adding on a couple of option packages, the pricing remains just below $30K at my test vehicle’s price of $29,070. Overall, there’s something to be said about the sleek style of the new Envista that attempts to punch above its class in some ways, all at an affordable price, which you may get even lower through our local dealer network on a new Buick Envista.
