2024 Buick Envista Makes an Enticing Base

A new vehicle’s perceived value often is muddied by the tech and features it incorporates. Sure, manufacturers are quick to tout their competitive pricing strategies, but usually only after showing you how cool their new creation is with all its pricey options included. That’s not the case with the new 2024 Envista, which, as the new entry point into the Buick brand, combines handsome design with straightforward packaging at a surprisingly reasonable price.

Costing a mere $23,495 to start, the Envista is mechanically related to the redesigned 2024 Chevrolet Trax, but you wouldn’t guess it by the former’s sloping fastback roofline. Within Buick’s lineup, it slots below the boxier and $3400 dearer Encore GX, even though the Envista’s sculpted lines and grander curb presence lend it a more expensive vibe. In practical terms, the Envista has an additional 4.1 inches between its axles compared to the Encore GX and is 11.2 inches longer overall, and that translates to a slightly larger rear passenger compartment (46 cubic feet to the Encore GX’s 42) but with a 21-cubic-foot cargo hold behind the rear seats that’s 3 cubes smaller.

Competent Performance

Perhaps more important, particularly for shoppers in the Snowbelt, the Envista is front-wheel-drive only—one of several concessions Buick made to keep its price low—whereas the Encore GX can be had with all-wheel drive. A front-drive layout also helps keep the Envista’s curb weight in check. We estimate it will tip the scales at around 3200 pounds, making for a relatively modest burden on its 136-hp turbocharged 1.2-liter inline-three. Backed by a six-speed automatic transmission, the Envista is rated by the EPA at a respectable 30 mpg combined. That’s the same estimate levied on a front-drive GX powered by either a similar 1.2-liter base engine or an optional 155-hp 1.3-liter turbo-three (a CVT transmission is standard on both setups, though all-wheel-drive GXs come only with the larger engine and a nine-speed automatic).

With an estimated 60-mph time around nine seconds, the Envista won’t win any awards for its performance. Ample low-end torque (162 pound-feet at 2500 rpm) from its muffled three-banger helps it motor around town comfortably and reach highway speeds by the end of most entrance ramps, but there’s not much left in its well beyond that. A transmission that settles into top gear at the earliest opportunity—and can be somewhat reluctant to downshift with prods of the accelerator—reinforces its easygoing nature.

Should you feel the urge to toss the Envista down a twisty road, it behaves in a nicely controlled manner. Its structure is adequately solid, its brake pedal reassuringly firm and easy to modulate, and what little feel comes through the steering wheel is precise enough. Perhaps its greatest dynamic enabler is the sense of agility brought on by its lower center of gravity compared to the Encore GX, which stands nearly three inches taller. Wheel size also is worth noting, as the standard 17- and optional 18-inchers provide a slightly more compliant ride over bumps at the expense of body roll in corners. Conversely, the available 19-inch wheels (optional on the midrange Sport Touring model, standard on the top-spec Avenir) ride more firmly, yet they bring a Watt’s link to the Envista’s torsion-beam rear axle, which helps discipline the lateral forces acting on the chassis. The more sophisticated setup does make for a slightly more planted and responsive attitude around turns, but it’s not a game-changing upgrade.

Rational Refinement

We imagine the Envista’s styling will be its greatest draw in showrooms. While the latest Encore GX and the larger Envision feature faces inspired by Buick’s Wildcat concept car, the Envista is the first model to incorporate that concept’s design language from nose to tail. Upscale yet unpretentious, it has soft forms, good proportions, and thoughtful surface details that help the Envista look far richer than expected for a car that tops out around $32,000 in fully loaded Avenir trim. Given our aversion to bling, we’d settle for the Sport Touring model, which trades chrome exterior trim for stealthier black accents.

The Envista’s aura mostly carries over to its interior, with nice applications of brightwork, textures, and contrast stitching helping you mostly forget you’re in an economy car. The woven-like material atop the dash, for example, is obviously molded, but it’s effective in drawing your eyes away from the uninspired hard plastics that dot the rest of the cabin. General comfort levels are high, and the centerpiece is an information display that integrates an 8.0-inch digital readout for the driver and an 11.0-inch center touchscreen under a single pane of glass. The accommodations are more rudimentary in back, with the Envista’s aft quarters featuring fewer adornments on their door panels and no climate-control vents in the back of the center console. This five-foot-11 author had plenty of space when sitting behind his own driving position, but taller riders who sit higher in the saddle may feel confined by the encroaching roofline.

Though far from sporty and not as polished as Buick’s grander models, the Envista’s shortcomings are largely attenuated by its stylishness and compelling pricing. A heated steering wheel and front seats can be had on all trims, and auto high-beams, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection are all standard. As the Buick brand moves to modernize its image with a newly redesigned logo, the Envista makes for a pleasantly affordable foundation.