2009 Buick Enclave
by Jim Prueter -06/2009

Enclave aims for full-size luxury SUV market

With news about all the recent woes of General Motors, it came as a surprise to most that Pontiac — who sells twice the number of vehicles that sibling Buick does here in the U.S. — was given the boot along with Saturn, Saab and Hummer.

What Buick has been able to do in China that it hasn’t been able to accomplish here is to sell vehicles. Considered a grandpa’s car in the U.S., Buick is a status symbol and a big name in China, ranking right up there with brands like Audi.  Buick has been in China for decades and in 1997 GM established a partnership with Shanghai Automotive Industry.

Buick only offers three vehicles in its entire lineup: Lucerne, LaCrosse and the subject of this week’s test, Enclave. Enclave replaces three Buicks nobody ever heard of: Ranier, Terraza and Rendezvous. Enclave is a full-size near luxury crossover that joins siblings GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Traverse and Saturn Outlook.

Enclave is targeted to compete with upscale vehicles like the Volvo XC90, Acura MDX and Audi Q7 while Acadia, Traverse and Outlook match up better with Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot and Jeep Commander.

Though all four vehicles use the same platform, engine, transmission and are built by the same people on the same Lansing, Mich., assembly line, Enclave appears and feels different.

With gobs of exterior chrome, swooping sculptured body panels, bubbly windshield, ovaled rear window, and a massive waterfall grille, the design is decidedly polarizing. It’s a look I initially liked but with time, have grown to find overdone and unattractive. But I appreciate that many will love it.

Enclave’s swoopy lines carry over to the interior, with an arching dashboard that is overdone with unconvincing faux wood accents. Interestingly, the leather-wrapped steering wheel has real wood which actually looks good and expensive.

Enclave is a front-wheel drive crossover offered as a base CX ($35,845) or upscale CXL ($38,155). Either can be had with all-wheel drive for about $1200 more. We tested the CX with front-wheel drive. Both trim levels are powered by a 3.6-liter 288 horsepower V-6 matched with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Fuel economy is rated at 17 miles per gallon in the city, 24 on the highway, but the best we were able to achieve during our mix of city and highway driving during the test drive was 18 mpg combined.

Given its positioning in the lineup, we expected the Enclave to be the most luxury-like of the GM offerings and it did prove to be the quietest and smoothest riding of the bunch. Buick loads the Enclave with sound deadening materials, triple laminates the glass, and credits the streamlined body sculpturing for reducing wind noise. Buick calls it QuietTuning.

Enclave can carry seven or eight passengers, depending upon whether you choose second-row captain’s chairs or a full bench seat. GM makes access to the third-row the easiest of any manufacturer. Just a simple lift of a lever on the second-row captain’s chair and the seat flips forward with the seat bottom cushion folding against the back of the front seat, creating a large area that a passenger can step through and into the third-row. No one does it better or easier.

For large storage and hauling needs, both the second and third rows fold flat, creating 115 cubic feet of space.

Standard safety features include anti-lock brakes, stability control with traction control, dual front, side-impact, and head-curtain airbags. Enclave earned the highest possible five-star rating from the U.S. government in front, side and rear side crash tests. Chance of rollover as a result of a crash is rated at 15 percent. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded Enclave its highest possible “Good” in frontal offset crash tests and in side impacts.

As with its GM siblings, Enclave is ideal for transporting people and cargo and is actually larger inside than a Chevy Tahoe. It’s easy to drive and park, but rear visibility is compromised by the shape of the rear window.

Enclave has proven to be the most popular vehicle in the Buick lineup, but the brand still isn’t attracting younger buyers and its long-term success here in the U.S. remains undecided.