Buick has been undergoing a rebirth of sorts, with its lineup of SUVs finally all updated and caught up with the brand’s ambitions to shake the stigma of its past.
With its bold new design, high-tech features, and a road presence like never before, the 2025 Buick Enclave is not the stodgy SUV you might remember. The three-row Enclave is the flagship vehicle for Buick, which means it sits at the top of the lineup to showcase the very best of what the brand has to offer. As the biggest Buick, it competes in an important segment stacked with serious competition, but this overhaul gives it a fighting chance.
Wild Style
A defining part of Buick’s revival is infusing each vehicle in its lineup with a newfound style inspired by the stunning Wildcat EV Concept from 2022. The Enclave is the final SUV in Buick’s lineup to get this new look, and now each of them proudly wears the brand’s redefined design language, so they collectively look like a family.
The overhauled 2025 Buick Enclave looks nothing like the one that came before it, with this bumper-to-bumper redesign blessing this big SUV with a bold new look that’s about as dramatically different as it gets. With its massive grille, light animations, and blocky, imposing stance, the new Enclave no longer slides by unnoticed. While I’m not a huge fan of the squinty headlights, no one can look at this Buick and call it boring because it’s anything but. Each of the three trims offered has a unique look, but all of them project a blend of aggression with touches of luxury that stop the Enclave from looking too mean.
Inside, the cabin is quite chic and well laid out, with 126 colours of customizable ambient lighting available, fancy finishes, and pretty colours for the upholstery. Some hard plastic is used, but it’s not in high-contact areas, so it’s easier to overlook.
Problematic Powertrain
The overhauled Enclave has ditched the V6 in favour of a turbocharged 2.5L four-cylinder engine with 328 hp and 326 lb-ft of torque, both increases compared to the old engine. All-wheel drive is standard in Canada along with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
The four-cylinder engine is supposed to be more efficient, but its 11.2 L/100 km combined rating is not too far off from the V6’s rating (11.9). Thankfully, the Enclave can be driven in eco mode, which only drives the front wheels, and after a 165-km drive on mostly winding back roads and highways, the indicated average was a more impressive 8.9 L/100 km.
Driving around Oregon’s diverse coastal landscape and dense state parks, the four-cylinder powering this big Buick felt a bit strained and underpowered under heavy acceleration and when tasked with driving through elevation changes. The transmission also holds gears for too long, leaving drivers waiting for something to happen and making a bunch of noise in the process. The steering is also very light and provides little to no feeling or connection to the road, so the drive can come across as quite uninspired.
When properly equipped, the Enclave is rated to tow 2,268 kg (5,000 lb), but it’s hard to imagine this engine and transmission combination working wonders with a trailer hooked up.
On regular roads, the Enclave feels smoother, more cohesive, and even easy to navigate through tighter spaces despite its large size. The Preferred and ST trims feel more truck-like over rough roads, but the Avenir trim adds adaptive dampers that smooth out the ride. A standard surround-view camera system and great sightlines make it easy to park.
Poised and Practical
Though the engine can sound quite gruff at times, the cabin remains very quiet. Active noise cancellation is standard and, along with a handful of passive sound insulation features, does a great job keeping wind, traffic, and road noise low.
The new Enclave is larger all around, with its increased length, width, and height giving this three-row SUV more room for passengers and cargo. Like other entries in this class, the third row is best for small children, as there’s not a lot of legroom, but a recess in the ceiling helps provide a bit more headroom, plus there are amenities back there like climate vents, cupholders, and USB ports for charging.
Access to the third row is so easy that a kid could do it themselves, with the second row folding and sliding forward with one easy push of a button. The second- and third rows fold flat or back upright with buttons located conveniently in the trunk, but the Enclave requires an optional package to get this added convenience. The buttons must also be pressed and held until the seats are done folding, which is annoying if nothing else.
The trunk holds a massive 648 L of cargo and features a huge underfloor storage compartment. With the third row stowed, 1,462 L of space opens up, and there’s 2,761 L with the second row folded. The tailgate also features hands-free functionality
Cubbies and cup holders are everywhere, and a new floating centre console in the front opens up a huge spot underneath for holding something like a handbag. A huge volume knob and wireless phone charger sit on top of this console ahead of the cup holders.
Super Cruise and Other Tech
The new Enclave is the first Buick to be available with Super Cruise, the hands-free adaptive cruise control system that works on more than 600,000 km of pre-mapped highways in North America. Buick says Super Cruise will be available on more than twice that much roadway in 2025, and the brand has made it available on every trim. There is an initial cost to opting for Super Cruise, and after a few years it will require a paid subscription renewal.
Super Cruise is easily the best and most advanced adaptive cruise control system available, and it uses GPS data and an army of sensors and computing power so drivers can take their hands off the wheel on long highway drives or in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The system will keep a safe distance from other vehicles, slow down before steering through curves in the road, and even change lanes to pass slower traffic on its own when it’s safe.
In-vehicle cameras and sensors monitor the driver to ensure they’re paying attention to the road ahead and remain ready to intervene. The system works smoothly, feeling very natural and even smoother than some human drivers. The system is intuitive to use and does a great job of keeping the driver aware of what’s going on via animations on the screens and haptic feedback in the seat, which helps build trust for a more relaxing experience. Impressively, Super Cruise even changed lanes ahead of a merge lane during this test so other vehicles could enter more easily, just as a human driver should do.
Standard safety features include blind-spot monitoring with evasive steering assist, automatic emergency braking at intersections, traffic sign recognition, lane keep assist, and more.
A massive new 30-inch screen is the focal point of the cabin and connects the instrumentation and touchscreen under a single panel. The infotainment system is a Google-based system, but thankfully still offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (General Motors has kept smartphone mirroring out of its new electric vehicles).
Having a Google-based system has many benefits, including the use of Google Maps as the native navigation system, which is a major step forward in user-friendliness. It also enables the use of the voice-activated Google Assistant (subscription-based service bundled with OnStar after an initial trial period) to do anything from turning on the heated seats to adjusting the climate control to telling you the weather or a joke.
The infotainment system is intuitive to use for the most part and very customizable, so drivers can see Google Maps instructions on the instrument screen or drag and drop icons to a shortcut bar to easily access their most-used functions. Thankfully, there’s a row of physical toggles for the climate control, but the touchscreen is quick to respond and reasonably easy to navigate with a home button, clearly labelled icons, and a logical menu structure.
Having OnStar, the industry’s oldest — and most recognized — onboard telematics, navigation, driver assistance, and emergency response system, also enables a data connection, turning the Enclave into a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot that can connect up to seven devices, a godsend for family road trips. Once again, this is subscription-based after an initial eight-year trial period.
Increased Canadian Pricing
The 2025 Buick Enclave is available in three trims, starting with the Preferred trim at $57,999 before destination, an increase over last year but justified because of the generous number of standard features included. The $59,499 ST trim adds some visual upgrades to give this SUV a sportier look. The topline Avenir trim starts at $67,999 and adds features like a head-up display, ventilated front seats with massage, heated second-row seats, power-folding third row, and one-touch folding and sliding second row (available in other trims but standard in the Avenir), adaptive dampers, an upgraded audio system, 22-inch wheels, a panoramic sunroof, memory seats, and more. The 2025 Buick Enclave is available at dealerships now.
Final Thoughts
The 2025 Buick Enclave’s overhaul took a rather unremarkable SUV and turned it into one with real style and presence, packed with great features designed to make family life on the road more seamless and convenient. It’s evident that Buick put a lot of work into ensuring this upscale three-row SUV works well for families on the go, and its user-friendliness and practicality are highlights.