It was all the way back in 1903 that David Dunbar Buick opened up a car manufacturing facility in Detroit, Michigan. The original name for the company was Buick Auto-Vim, but that quickly evolved to Buick Motor Company. Five years later it became part of General Motors and remains part of that auto conglomerate today, alongside Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac. Buick's been growing sales fueled almost entirely by the Encore GX, a model introduced in 2020.
When the company offered me a chance to spend a week driving the 2025 Buick Encore GX Avenir AWD, I was most curious to learn about this standout SUV from what I consider a relatively sleepy brand. It turns out that the hype is justified and the Encore GX offers comfort and luxury that sets it apart from its many competitors in the compact SUV market. They dropped off a vehicle in Cinnabar Metallic ("red" for those of us not hip to the nuances of Detroit color naming) with Ebony interior:
As you can see, it's a solid, modern sport utility vehicle with a bold front grill design (the Avenir has a different front grill to the standard Encore GX) and very modern "eyebrow" lights. Somewhat surprisingly, the spaces under the square lights are actual air scoops that channel air into the engine compartment, rather than just blank plastic spaces. The roof rack side rails also add a nice sense of symmetry to the chrome/Cinnabar balance aesthetically. Does it look a lot like every other SUV on the road? Yes. But as a category, these vehicles seem to be more alike than most other types of vehicles.
The Encore GX Avenir package adds quite a bit to the Encore GX, actually, including 19-inch aluminum wheels, clear LED taillights, and a ton of interior upgrades including power-adjust drivers and passenger seats, heated front seats and steering wheel, dual zone climate control, universal garage door opener, cabin humidity sensor and a big, bright 11-inch infotainment screen. Oh, and the Avenir logo embroidered onto the head restraints.
The dashboard design is fairly traditional, but I always appreciate a standard gearshift (even if it's a 9-speed automatic transmission) and layout that lets me fire up the engine and start driving immediately. It even has the same awkward feature of many vehicles, with the start button hidden behind the steering wheel because that's where the keyhole used to be when you inserted a key and rotated it to start a car. (hint to Buick: Move the start button onto the center console or at least make it visible to simplify the experience).
I appreciate that the bold wing design on the infotainment screen neatly echoes the forward wing on the front of the vehicle, a nice bit of design consistency that's not always obvious in other vehicle designs. Another thing worth a shout-out in the above photo is the small dial on the lower portion of the driver's door: It's the rear hatch open button and you can specify if you want the hatch to open 3/4 height or full height. Simple, but incredibly useful, especially if you park in a low-clearance garage or it's inclement weather.
Speaking of the center console, it's pretty rudimentary, but entirely functional, and that big storage spot proved very useful as a way to avoid too much mess and clutter in daily use. Notice also the placement of the USB-A, USB-C, and 12V power ports in that forward Qi wireless charging well. There's also a 120V outlet located at the back of the center console, easily accessible for rear passengers.
The buttons behind the gearshift are related to the many safety features in the Encore GX, including auto-stop at red lights, AWD, lane keep assist and traction control. There are two unused buttons on that row too, which always makes me curious what other features could have been included but were not. Too bad they aren't user-configurable: It'd be a good place to move the start button!
You have to upgrade to the Avenir to get what I consider a must-have for modern technology, adaptive cruise control. Overall, though, I appreciated the (relative) simplicity of the steering wheel crossbar controls: Some manufacturers try to jam so many controls in this spot that it becomes cognitive overload. Buick has a straightforward design in this regard, with the cruise control on the left and the infotainment system controls on the right. Well, other than the misplaced steering wheel heater button, which is commonly stuck in an illogical location away from the rest of the climate and seat heater controls.
Fun trivia: The Buick logo is known as the "tri-shield" and is based on the Scottish coat of arms of founder David Dunbar Buick. The shields represent strength, quality, and tradition.
The main gauge display, however, is quite modern:
Solid fuel efficiency with its EcoTec 1.3L Turbo Engine at an average of 29.0 mpg for my drive. EPA numbers are 26/28 so I'm doing well with my eco-friendly driving, as shown. There are a variety of different displays you can try out if you prefer something a bit more traditional, but I like having the most important data front-and-center: Speed. Worth noting is the car icon and "-.-s" shown on the top right. That's follow distance and while it's utilized for auto-emergency braking and adaptive cruise control, it's fun to see it displayed too. Most vehicles keep that information hidden, but most GM vehicles opt to tuck it into the driver's display.
I also found the drive experience quite good. It's not a Tesla Plaid in full beast mode by any means, but it had plenty of oomph to smoothly accelerate from a stop and easily get me up to speed on the highway. Other reviewers have mentioned what they felt was a lackluster drive experience, but the Avenir, at least, offered a drive experience that was comparable to the best of other vehicles in its class. You can also tow up to 1,000 pounds, though as that number suggests, this isn't really designed for that task.
Before we leave the driver's seat, I appreciated the design of the infotainment screen with the space reserved on the very top and left side for the Buick system, while the vast majority of the screen was dedicated to wireless Apple CarPlay (it also supports wireless Android Auto). Some manufacturers offer up the entire infotainment screen to CarPlay/Auto, but then it's difficult to get to the actual vehicle controls, so this sort of layout is optimal in my opinion. Interestingly, the Buick doesn't seem to have any lockout safety feature for vehicle setting adjustments while in motion. Most cars require you to be stopped to make changes to vehicle settings, but I was able to customize as desired even while the car was in motion. Don't worry, I was still driving attentively!
Stepping outside of the vehicle, I found rear legroom to be middling, at best:
For adults to be at all comfortable in the back seat, you would inevitably need to move the driver's and passenger's seats forward at least a few inches. As a family car, this might work fine, however, particularly if the baby's still rear-facing, which sidesteps all of the legroom considerations!
The rear cargo space - with included compartment cover - was plenty enough for even an enthusiastic visit to Costco, and as can be seen, the rear seats are a typical 60/40 design with up to three baby seat attachment spots.
There's really quite a lot to like about the Encore GX Avenir, from its well designed interior to its classy exterior design. The drive experience was quite good, it's quiet, comfortable, and perfect for a growing family. With its AWD capabilities, it's also going to handle rougher terrain and poor weather, and the fuel efficiency means you can manage quite a distance between fill-ups. It would certainly be a lovely upgrade for someone who's been driving "American" cars for decades (turns out that the Encore GX is manufactured in Korea, with a transmission from Mexico, so it's > 75% non-American, as are most vehicles nowadays).
The biggest limitation with the Encore GX is that it's from Buick. It's the least exciting and least appealing brand from General Motors, and its brand advertising has not established Buick as a modern manufacturer that's producing vehicles that appeal to Gen X and Millennials. Which is entirely too bad, because it's a solid option for anyone looking for a smaller SUV at an affordable price.
2025 Buick Encore GX Avenir AWD, powered by an EcoTec 1.3L Turbo Engine and 9-Speed Automatic. BASE PRICE: $33,100. Options Included: Avenir Technology Package, Avenir Convenience Package. AS DRIVEN: $37,085.00.
Disclosure: Buick loaned me the 2025 Encore GX Avenir AWD for a week in return for this write-up. This article originally appeared on PlanetDave.com with the title https://planetdave.com/2024/10/surprising-2025-buick-encore-gx-avenir-awd-suv/.
