Bob Brown Buick-GMC is proud to be the Ankeny car dealers central Iowa turns to for quality cars at competitive prices. The Bob Brown team works diligently to ensure the satisfaction of every car buyer who visits our dealership, and we take great pride in our extraordinary customer return rate. Whereas some dealerships are primarily focused on selling a certain number of vehicles and meeting arbitrary quotas, our team emphasizes building long lasting relationships with central Iowans.
The current Buick lineup offers 2 crossover class vehicles. Currently in production are the Enclave and Encore. With the recent success of crossovers in general, the automaker is looking to possibly add a 3rd offering to that list.
In the past few weeks, sightings have been made of a midsize Buick crossover in testing around the Detroit area. This leads to speculation that something may be in the works, perhaps targeted for Buick's Chinese market where GM could use a model of that type. There has been no official word released from the company as of yet, so the details are unclear. If Buick is truly planning to push a 3rd crossover into its lineup, it would make most sense for the specs to fall somewhere in between the Enclave and Encore. The Enclave is currently Buick's top-volume nameplate.
There are many
things to keep in mind when trying to maximize the life-span of your new
car. This week we're focusing on the ignition with a simple trick that
will greatly extend its longevity. The ignition switch alone will cost
you upwards of $200 to replace, not including labor charges. Many failed
ignition switches can be avoided, or at least postponed significantly,
by simply lessening the load that the keychain places on the switch
itself.
A lot of people
like to load up on keys, keychains and other accessories that make
easier work of finding your set around the house or nestled deep within
your purse. It makes sense, but think about the stress that it's putting
on the cars mechanical parts while you're driving. The heavier your
keychain is, the quicker it will wear down the ignition switch. And if
you drive often along particularly bumpy routes, that will quickly
compound the effects. So remember this simple tip for getting the most out of your new car! A lighter keychain will save you money down the road.
In recent years, Buick has done a nice job subtly changing its image from The Official Car of Old People to a purveyor of high-quality, premium automobiles. The full-sized Enclave is one of the best crossovers out there, the Opel-derived Regal GS is an excellent, fun-to-drive sports sedan and the Lacrosse has proven to be a competent rival to the Lexus ES and Acura TL — all good things.
But the Encore is a wholly different beast, a compact utility vehicle based on the same platform as the humble Chevrolet Sonic subcompact sedan. The Encore is a foot shorter than a Toyota RAV-4 and half a foot shorter than a Volkswagen Tiguan, making it a very compact vehicle indeed.
Under the hood is GM’s 1.4-liter Ecotec turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which connects via a six-speed automatic transmission to your choice of either front- or all-wheel drive. Buick says that the Encore seats five, but it’s happier with four people, as are most small cars.
In terms of shortage, always critical in utility vehicles, the Encore has 18.8 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats or 48.4 cubic feet if you fold the back seats down. The bottom line is you can comfortably carry two people and a lot of stuff or four people and a more modest among of luggage or groceries.
One of the first questions that people ask when they see a car this small is: How safe is it? The answer is very safe. The Encore is an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2013 Top Safety pick, with the all-wheel drive variant earning a 5-star Overall Vehicle Score for safety from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. The front-wheel-drive model earned a 4-star rating.
There are four trim levels available in the Encore, with our tester being a top-of-the-line model with the premium package known as the 1SN group. For an as-tested price of $31,475, including a $750 destination charge, our test car was loaded with options.
Among the myriad features were 10 airbags, Stabilitrak-stability control, four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, forward collision alert, lane departure warning system, rain-sensing windshield wipers and a rear vision camera.
The Buick Encore is very safe. (Photo: General Motors) On the comfort and convenience side of the ledger, there were heated leather seats, with the driver’s-side seat part of a memory package that also remembers settings for the outside mirrors, audio system and air conditioning. The steering wheel was nicely wrapped in leather, there was a-120 volt power outlet, a Bose premium audio system, and a navigation system with 7-inch diagonal screen and USB port and input jack. In other words, everything any sane person would ever need to feel like he/she was driving a luxury car.
In the real word, a couple of things stood out about the Encore. First, and most critically if you have family, it truly seats four adults comfortably. I’m 6’4” and my 5’9” son and I both had plenty of room with me driving and him right behind me.
Secondly, the Encore felt a lot more like a Buick than it did the Chevrolet Sonic it shares so much of its basic architecture with. If you look carefully at the Encore’s interior, it’s exactly what you would expect in any Buick: High-quality materials with intelligent design and ergonomics and outstanding build quality. There are no corners cut because this is a smaller, less expensive Buick than, say, the bigger Enclave.
To that end, the Encore ranked highest in the Sub-Compact CUV segment in a recent J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.
After just a few miles on the road, I was pleasant surprised by how quiet and sure-footed the Encore was and how much like a Buick it truly felt. Granted, with 138 horsepower, acceleration is leisurely and gets more so as you load up with people and cargo. But that was one of the few complaints I had with the car. And for that, the tradeoff is 28 miles per gallon combined in city and highway driving, which is excellent.
The Buick Encore has 18.8 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats or 48.4 cubic feet if you fold the back seats down. (Photo: General Motors) On the highway, I was again surprised by the Encore. It didn’t blown all around in crosswinds and it didn’t feel like you were going 20 mph faster than you really were, a common complaint with very small cars. The Encore was impressively stable at highway speeds.
Certainly, not everyone wants or needs a car as small as the Buick Encore. And let’s be realistic, as practical as the Encore is, it won’t replace a family minivan or big SUV/crossover in many situations.
But if you were one of the people who do value compact, affordable vehicles, the Encore would be an excellent choice. It would be particularly appealing in an urban setting, where space is at a premium, and it would also be an excellent second car in the ‘burbs, or perhaps for a teen driver.
Buick officials said nearly half of the Encore’s early buyer came from brands outside of General Motors and it’s easy to see why: If you can keep an open-mind about what a subcompact is supposed to be and what a traditional Buick is supposed to be, you will be very impressed by the new Encore. I know I was.
