Is a 2015 buick encore a good car

Buick used to be known for big luxury boats and stodgy design, but the General Motors brand has successfully pivoted, and is now providing smaller, luxury-lite sedans. And with less being more since the recession—and small crossovers a hot-selling car segment—the 2015 Buick Encore Premium AWD fills a sweet spot in the brand's lineup, and a unique niche in the market. Even the base model comes with features found only on more expensive crossovers, like onboard 4G LTE connectivity. Thanks to details like these, along with a premium look and feel, the Encore is worthy of our Editors' Choice award.

Pricing and Design
Like all trim levels, the base Encore ($26,534.00 at Truecar)(Opens in a new window) , starting at $24,160, comes with a turbocharged 1.4-liter inline four-cylinder 138-horsepower engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission. Also standard are 18-inch painted alloy wheels, heated outside mirrors, roof rack side rails, cloth and synthetic leather upholstery, a six-way partial power driver seat (with manual recline and power lumbar), a flat-folding front passenger seat, cruise control, a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, a rearview camera, OnStar, Bluetooth for hands-free phone and wireless audio streaming, the IntelliLink Infotainment System with a 7-inch display, and a six-speaker sound system.

The Convenience trim level starts at $25,785 and adds rear cross-traffic and side blind-zone alerts, remote starting, dual-zone automatic climate control, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, fog lights, and a 120-volt power outlet. The aptly named Leather trim level starts at $27,485 and includes leather upholstery, as well as a six-way partial power front passenger seat, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, and driver-seat memory settings.

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The Premium trim that I tested starts at $28,965 and adds front and rear parking sensors, forward-collision and lane-departure warnings, rain-sensing wipers, a seven-speaker Bose sound system, and a rear cargo net and mat. Our test vehicle was also an all-wheel-drive model, which adds another $1,500 to the sticker of all trim levels.

Buick's signature waterfall grille, chiseled exterior sheet metal, and blue-accented projector-beam headlights make the Encore stand out from more cookie-cutter crossovers. The interior also has an upmarket look and feel, with soft-touch materials, visually appealing metal and simulated wood accents, and elegantly understated blue stitching on the leather seats in our tester.

The Encore's front seats are comfy and offer a high seating position for an expansive driver's view, while rear seats offer decent head- and legroom, although space is tighter than with larger rivals. The cargo room behind the rear seat also falls short comparted with competitors like the Ford Escape, although the Encore's unique fold-flat front passenger seat will allows items up to eight feet in length to fit with the rear liftgate shut.

Connectivity, Navigation, and Interface
The 2015 Buick Encore is the first model year to get GM's new 4G LTE connectivity, courtesy of AT&T. This provides a Wi-Fi hotspot in the vehicle and is free for the first three months after a new purchase, or until 3GB of data is used up, whichever comes first. After this, various subscriptions/data plans are available to keep the Wi-Fi flowing.

The 4G connectivity is part of the OnStar telematics system, and the service's Basic Plan is available free for five years from the delivery date on all new 2015 GM vehicles. The Basic Plan includes vehicle diagnostics, maintenance notification, and access to the OnStar RemoteLink services that let an owner start the engine, lock or unlock the doors, and flash the lights and honk using a smartphone app. Other Onstar telematics features, such as automatic crash notification and stolen vehicle assistance, require a subscription.

A connected smartphone is used to access Pandora and Slacker Internet radio apps built into the IntelliLink interface, while other cloud-based services are offered through SiriusXM Travel Link, including weather forecasts and alerts, movie listings, and fuel location and pricing. Like the basic satellite radio service, Travel Link is free for the first three months.

SiriusXM Travel Link somewhat makes up for the fact that the Encore's navigation system doesn't offer any form of connected search, and OnStar's Destination Download can also send an address to the vehicle. But both of these eventually come at a cost. While we now consider any navigation system without connectivity outdated, the system in the Encore does have useful features, such as speed-limit posting and a Travel Guide destination option that shows attractions in an area. It also works with the voice-recognition system's "one-shot" feature, so that you can say an address as one command rather than breaking it into parts such as state, city, street, and house number.

All of these features are accessed via the IntelliLink interface, which consists of a 7-inch display at the top of the dash and a series of center-stack controls I found somewhat challenging to use. 

Media and Phone Support
The Buick Encore has all the usual-suspect audio sources: CD, AM/FM and XM satellite radio, USB for portable devices and thumb drives, an aux-in jack, Bluetooth streaming, as well as Pandora and Slacker apps through a connected smartphone. The Internet radio apps worked flawlessly, and so did the Bluetooth hands-free phone system, with the voice-recognition usually recognizing a command on the first attempt. The system also allows hands-free, voice-activated text-messaging, although Apple doesn't support this Bluetooth profile.

Performance and Conclusions
The Encore's turbocharged 1.4-liter engine performs just fine for tooling around town, but we found it lackluster when called on to accelerate quickly while, say, merging into freeway traffic. Compared with other crossovers, the 2015 Encore's comfort-tuned suspension does an admirable job of smoothing out most road imperfections, while its active noise-cancelling system makes the interior much quieter overall than comparable rivals. Handling is also more poised than most competitors, and the Encore's compact size and accurate steering make it a particularly agile vehicle in an urban setting. The size can be a drawback when trying to fit more cargo and passengers inside, but it's a bonus when fitting into tight parking spaces or steering through city traffic.

All of this makes the 2015 Buick Encore Premium AWD perfect for young urbanites and suburban families who occasionally take trips out to the country or up to the ski resort, and are in need of extra ground clearance, all-wheel-drive, and a bit more space than a sedan, coupe, or hatchback can provide. For the price, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more elegant, tech-laden, and well-priced crossover than the Buick Encore, which makes it an Editors' Choice.

2015 Buick Encore Premium AWD

Pros

• Upscale design inside and out.

• 4G LTE connectivity.

• One-shot voice-recognition entry.

Cons

• Less cargo space than most competitors.

• Lackluster power while passing.

• No connected navigation.

The Bottom Line

The 2015 Buick Encore Premium AWD has a premium look and feel, along with unique features that are unmatched by other crossovers in this price range.

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