2027 Buick Enclave Avenir AWD Review: 2027 Buick Enclave Avenir Review: So Close to being Great
2027 Buick Enclave Avenir AWD Review: A Lexus-Level Interior Undone by a Lawnmower Engine
Quick Specs — 2027 Buick Enclave Avenir AWD
Price: Starting at $67,295
Engine Specs: 2.5L turbocharged inline-4 (DOHC, SIDI, VVT) paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission
Horsepower & Torque: 328 hp @ 5,500 rpm / 326 lb-ft @ 3,500 rpm
Fuel Efficiency: EPA-estimated 20 city / 24 highway / 21 combined mpg
Welp, I'll be damned.
Those are the words I muttered nearly every single time I climbed into the 2027 Buick Enclave. Maybe I'm just conditioned by GM's notorious "parts bin" era of the 2000s, when everything the company built shared the exact same hard-plastic interior regardless of whether it wore a Corvette badge or a Cobalt badge — the C6 Corvette infamously used the same steering wheel as a plebeian compact car. General Motors' "luxury" brands were certainly no exception to this rule. Buick suffered the worst of it, with interiors lifted straight from a mainline GMC or Chevrolet, the differences so minor that the brand might as well have kept the exact same logo on the steering wheel boss.
No longer. The 2027 Buick Enclave is exquisite to the point of feeling borderline bespoke. Every square inch you can comfortably reach feels premium enough that you would honestly swear you were sitting inside a Lexus — it even manages to smell like one. GM didn't stop at surface materials, either; the Enclave's actual ergonomics and layout usability are fantastic. Yes, there's a massive, gorgeous 30-inch, Google-powered infotainment display dominating the dash, but it has probably the best ergonomics of any vehicle in its class. It sits a mere few-inch reach from the steering wheel to adjust a control, which serves as a stark contrast to rivals that demand such an awkward stretch you'd pull a lat muscle before you even figure out how to exit out of Google Maps.
Furthermore, the Enclave is blessed with beautiful physical controls. Unlike others in its contemporary segment that hide everything behind nested capacitive submenus, it gives you real, tactile physical controls for practically everything you touch frequently while driving: HVAC temperature, heated and cooled seats, and audio volume. It genuinely feels like someone at Buick actually drove a car in the real world before designing one.
When you step back to look at the vehicle's footprint, the Enclave may look slightly smaller than some of its massive competitors, but do not let that optical illusion fool you. You get generous second-row legroom—41.5 inches—and, even more impressively, genuinely usable cargo space with the third row still up: 22.9 cubic feet, expanding to 57.1 with the third row folded, and a cavernous 97.5 cubic feet with both rear rows down.
What does that mean for everyday family hauling? You have class-leading space that dwarfs nearly all of its competitors! Only the Lexus TX has a bit more third-row legroom, but that comes at the direct expense of cargo room, making it pretty much a wash. The Enclave feels so vast and airy inside that it nearly negates that tired old argument of "you should've just bought a minivan." Heck, it's a remarkably better value proposition compared to full-size body-on-frame behemoths like the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon, while offering almost as much functional passenger and cargo room.
In GM's past, second- and third-row passengers watched material quality decline exponentially the further back you sat in the cabin. Not here. The second row's trim and finishing are just as nice as up front, and the third row is not lacking either.
| Vehicle | Starting Price (MSRP) | Engine Specs | 2nd Row Legroom | 3rd Row Legroom | Cargo (3rd Row Up) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 Buick Enclave Avenir | $67,295 (As-tested) | 2.5L Turbo I4 (328 hp, 326 lb-ft) | 41.5 inches | 32.0 inches | 22.9 cubic feet |
| 2027 Acura MDX | $50,000 - $75,000 (Est.) | 3.5L V6 (290 hp) or Turbo V6 (355 hp) | 38.5 inches | 29.1 inches | 18.1 cubic feet |
| 2027 Infiniti QX60 | $50,000 - $68,000 (Est.) | 2.0L Turbo I4 (268 hp) | 37.7 inches | 28.0 inches | 14.5 cubic feet |
| 2027 Lexus TX | $55,000 - $78,000 (Est.) | 2.4L Turbo I4 (275 hp) or Hybrid | 39.5 inches | 33.5 inches | 20.2 cubic feet |
It isn't all rainbows and unicorns, though. The drivetrain is the polar opposite of that lovely interior. The engine is a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four making 328 horsepower and 326 lb-ft of torque, routed through an 8-speed automatic transmission. Which is all well and good with the minor exception that this is one of the most harsh and unrefined engines I have ever reviewed.
The Enclave idles like it's missing an engine mount — and that's not hyperbole, it's truly horrendous for a sixty-thousand-dollar luxury cruiser. That harshness isn't confined to idling, either. It follows you like a persistent demon trying to possess your soul, ever-present the moment you graze the gas pedal, with a harsh, lawnmower-like note surrounding the cabin as the revs climb. It's not good, folks. And if you're hoping the turbo-four at least buys you fuel-economy redemption at the pump, you'd be wrong there too: an EPA-estimated 21 mpg combined (20 city/24 highway) on the AWD model is decidedly mid-pack.
So close, just to trip over themselves at the finish line, tends to be the standard operating procedure over at GM. They get so many elements right and then when they’re within striking distance of making something great, they’ll shoot themselves in the foot. That’s the tale of the 2026 Buick Enclave, it does nearly everything so good but the things that it does ‘not so good’ is glaring.
