Cmicasa the Great Presents: Just Purchased 2016 Buick Encore AWD Leather

[Cmicasa the Great]

Well GM.. U really need to send my a thanks. I kno U do everytime I buy a Vette or a Cadillac.. but this is my second CUV purchase in 2 months.. Purchased a certified Equinox in Oct.. and now.. Well here's the story

Ex-Wifey decided she loved Buick, but was ready to get rid of her '14 Verano Turbo. So.. She came down from NJ and had me take her to look for CUVs at the Buick Dealership. The Enclave proved to be too large.. and wold U believe the salesman actually told her that if she waited just a few months they would be getting in a new mid-size CUV called "Envision." She told him that she was in the mood to buy now.. saw a pearl white Encore AWD, Black/Titanium leather interior... on the lot and had to have it...  We are extremely cool, and she has my kids.She asked for it... I bought it. For extreme weather she still has access to my Denali, which is now 6 years old, but only has about 50K on the odo.

 

So.. Wink Wink.. Nudge Nudge.. and she got her Christmas present from me early...   to the tune of about $29K  before the trade of $16K on the Verano Turbo with 42K on the ODO. Handed over the keys.. gave them a check of approx $13K.. (I actually tried to put it on my CC, for the points, but they said the CC limit was $3000)

 

 

[G. David Felt]

Very sweet ride, Way to go and being classy Cmicasa.

 

FYI, I have tried to purchase the whole car on credit card and was only able to do $7500 and then finance the rest. Did find out that if you buy through Costco, you can use your costco card to purchase the whole car at the agreed upon pricing. Have to think about this for the next auto.

[Drew Dowdell]

Nice purchase!  I approve!   

[El Kabong]

Well-bought, man. Good stuff.

[Cmicasa the Great]

Very sweet ride, Way to go and being classy Cmicasa.

 

FYI, I have tried to purchase the whole car on credit card and was only able to do $7500 and then finance the rest. Did find out that if you buy through Costco, you can use your costco card to purchase the whole car at the agreed upon pricing. Have to think about this for the next auto.

 

 

Getting GM Supplier discount on next purchase thru a friend at Allison Tran. CTS-V.. probably gonna go lease tho. 

[El Kabong]

Saw a '16 CTS-V in the showroom two weeks ago. Crazy wheels.

[Cmicasa the Great]

Nice purchase!  I approve!   

 

 

I kno U do. Thanks for the advice

Saw a '16 CTS-V in the showroom two weeks ago. Crazy wheels.

 

 

 

The closest one to me is in Virginia.. I am waiting for Spring.. so not an issue for me to test one out yet. I'm cool with buying the first year.. as I had great luck with my first year '09 VSeries Sedan before I saw the Coupe and fell in love.

[oldshurst442]

Wow!

 

Wow all over the place!

 

Wow at yet another vehicle purchase made by you!  And Im envious that you can do that.

 

Wow at staying true to GM no matter what circumstance life throws at you or what needs and wants you may have.

 

Wow that you could be that cool to your ex-wife...

Especially this last part...

Yeah...she is the momma to your children, but and she may be coolt to you and she continues to be a model mom...but your Financial ties have been severed legally to her...so this gesture is just saintly of you. On both accounts...on you continuing to be good to her with lavish gifts and her having access to your vehicles...

 

I approve...not that it makes a diff to you whether I approve or not....but I approve of your kind human gestures.

[Cmicasa the Great]

Wow!

 

Wow all over the place!

 

Wow at yet another vehicle purchase made by you!  And Im envious that you can do that.

 

Wow at staying true to GM no matter what circumstance life throws at you or what needs and wants you may have.

 

Wow that you could be that cool to your ex-wife...

Especially this last part...

Yeah...she is the momma to your children, but and she may be coolt to you and she continues to be a model mom...but your Financial ties have been severed legally to her...so this gesture is just saintly of you. On both accounts...on you continuing to be good to her with lavish gifts and her having access to your vehicles...

 

I approve...not that it makes a diff to you whether I approve or not....but I approve of your kind human gestures.

 

 

She has access to the Denali. I look out for her because we are family... and family is.. well FAMILY always

Edited December 14, 2015 by Cmicasa the Great

[oldshurst442]

Well said Casa.

 

FAMILY! FAMILY ALWAYS!

[Thed]

Hey Casa, HMU if you decide to go to Virginia to test drive that V. I might be able to drive up there

[ccap41]

Congrats on the purchase!

 

Heck, I would have bought the '14 Verano turbo for 16k. That's probably one fun little car. 

[ocnblu]

The Encore is a sweet means of transport.  Good choice sir.

[Cmicasa the Great]

The Encore is a sweet means of transport.  Good choice sir.

 

 

Thanks... took it out for a quick run to the store.. I had test drove it with her, but had not gotten behind the wheel myself. Nice lil Whip. 1.4LTurbo actually moves this baby quite nice.. and thus far.. since Saturday at least.. when I hit the Average FE button it read 25.6 in mixed

Edited December 15, 2015 by Cmicasa the Great

[Drew Dowdell]

 

The Encore is a sweet means of transport.  Good choice sir.

 

 

Thanks... took it out for a quick run to the store.. I had test drove it with her, but had not gotten behind the wheel myself. Nice lil Whip. 1.4LTurbo actually moves this baby quite nice.. and thus far.. since Saturday at least.. when I hit the Average FE button it read 25.6 in mixed

 

 

That's about the same for us in mixed driving too.  Road trips we can tickle 33mpg.

[ccap41]

What are they rated at?

[daves87rs]

Very nice!!!

[regfootball]

congrats on another exellent choice.

[Cmicasa the Great]

What are they rated at?

 

 

about the same.. Drew do U have AWD or FWD?

[Drew Dowdell]

 

What are they rated at?

 

 

about the same.. Drew do U have AWD or FWD?

 

 

AWD.  We got the top trim and every option except chrome wheels. 

[ccap41]

 

 

What are they rated at?

 

 

about the same.. Drew do U have AWD or FWD?

 

 

AWD.  We got the top trim and every option except chrome wheels. 

 

What is about the same? 30+highway(rating) still with AWD? 

[Drew Dowdell]

The AWD is rated for 23/30/26. I've never seen it drop below 25 in our combined driving.

The FWD is rated for 25/33/28.  As I get 33 highway in my AWD sometimes, I'd probably get at least 35 in a FWD. 

 

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=35644&id=35642

[regfootball]

It was quite coincidental when you posted this thread the other day.  I had just done my Aldi stop to pick up fuel for the house, and when i got out, there was a new Encore parked right next to my pathetic Cobalt, in the lot.  As i walked toward them, it struck me how positively hulking the Encore looked in comparison to my Cobalt.  I paid particular attention because I have pestering my wife for us to get me into a new ride soon, and the Encore is one of the better deals at least as far as leasing goes right now.

 

I've had a couple separate Chevy Cruze rentals recently, and one was for a 700 mile round trip.  The 1.4 is surprisingly peppy (But frenetic) in the Cruze.  I would imagine at least for the FWD it would be similarly peppy.  I can of course take Drew's drivership experience to get a great idea of what an AWD would be like.  I didn't get great mpg out of my Cruze but i was pushing a lot of wind that weekend too.

 

When i sold cars, of course it was lowly Suzukis, but the SX4 was their bread and butter.  The small crossover I could tell was a segment people wanted.  When GM joined with the Encore and now Trax I knew they could become the class standard.  

 

The other thing I found out with the SX4's were with the AWD, it killed the gas mileage.  SX4's crossover AWD got about 25-27, sometimes not even that if you stood on it.  The FWD SX4 sportbacks with 6 speed manual, though, you could get mid thirties.  Just like the diff between automatic Cruzes, and the Eco manual.

 

My Cobalt at this time of year and now mostly city, I average 27.  An Encore FWD would probably get close to 30 in routine driving I bet.

 

It's actually very few vehicles these days that get real world mpg over 30.  Regardless of the physical size of the vehicle.  So I think Encore does well in the mpg department.  I wonder if real world mpg will take any big hit with the new motor option.

ARGH now i am going to want to go test drive an Encore this weekend and refresh my memory.  Encore is perfect size for my mom's condo parking garage, but she wants something bigger (like a Chinese made Envision)

Edited December 18, 2015 by regfootball

[Drew Dowdell]

The new 1.4T is expected to beat the current 1.4T in EPA ratings.  Adding Direct Injection and Start/Stop will do that.

[Drew Dowdell]

The 1.4 is surprisingly peppy (But frenetic) in the Cruze.  I would imagine at least for the FWD it would be similarly peppy.  I can of course take Drew's drivership experience to get a great idea of what an AWD would be like.  

 

The 1.4 in the Encore is tamed somewhat by the active noise cancellation that comes standard in all Encores. There is a big difference in noise compared to the Trax.

 

 

Yes, the AWD in the Encore is pretty efficient, but on the other side of the coin is how well the Encore's AWD system performs in the bad stuff. In that regard, it has one of the best AWD systems outside of a Subaru as it always starts in 50/50 front/rear 4-Wheel Drive and then dials back to FWD once the car decides the coast is clear.  I can get up my steep driveway in unshoveled snow. 

 

But you don't need to take just my word for it.  Over at Cars.com, the Encore got out of snow better than a Jeep Cherokee.

[G. David Felt]

That rocks about the Encore, Thanks for posting Drew!

[regfootball]

i checked out the buick gmc store today and was going to take out an Encore, but I remembered how tight it may be for a guy like me.  Took a FWD Terrain out instead.  I love how nice the design and interior are on the Encore.

[Drew Dowdell]

You should have taken it out. It wiuldt nt hurt. They're bigger on the inside.

[oldshurst442]

When we were lookin' to get the wife a car and before we settled on the Fusion, we looked at the Verano and the Encore...

 

My wife and I were amazed how much room there is in the Encore, and how  much upscale it feels.

Far more upscale than the Fusion and the Terrain. But it aint fair to criticize the Terrain as its an older vehicle.

 

She just did not like the looks of the Encore. She preferred the Fusion.

She liked the Verano, but since we kinda gave away the Mazda 3 to her brother, she felt that she wanted a bigger car than what she had before. The interior space both back and front  of the Verano  mimicked our  2009 Mazda 3...so we went with the bigger Fusion. If it werent for the exterior  looks of the Encore, I think she might have chosen the Encore as she was more comfortable  with the interior of the Encore rather than the Fusion's. 

 

 

I however think the Encore looks so much like a premium vehicle. I think the blue ring on the headlight bezels along with the waterfall grill give it that classic Buick luxury look. I like the Encore, a lot. But between the Fusion and the Encore, I do prefer the Fusion myself. Not a fair thing though for the Encore, I dont do SUVs, even less  for small CUVs.

Edited December 19, 2015 by oldshurst442

[Cmicasa the Great]

It was quite coincidental when you posted this thread the other day.  I had just done my Aldi stop to pick up fuel for the house, and when i got out, there was a new Encore parked right next to my pathetic Cobalt, in the lot.  As i walked toward them, it struck me how positively hulking the Encore looked in comparison to my Cobalt.  I paid particular attention because I have pestering my wife for us to get me into a new ride soon, and the Encore is one of the better deals at least as far as leasing goes right now.

 

I've had a couple separate Chevy Cruze rentals recently, and one was for a 700 mile round trip.  The 1.4 is surprisingly peppy (But frenetic) in the Cruze.  I would imagine at least for the FWD it would be similarly peppy.  I can of course take Drew's drivership experience to get a great idea of what an AWD would be like.  I didn't get great mpg out of my Cruze but i was pushing a lot of wind that weekend too.

 

When i sold cars, of course it was lowly Suzukis, but the SX4 was their bread and butter.  The small crossover I could tell was a segment people wanted.  When GM joined with the Encore and now Trax I knew they could become the class standard.  

 

The other thing I found out with the SX4's were with the AWD, it killed the gas mileage.  SX4's crossover AWD got about 25-27, sometimes not even that if you stood on it.  The FWD SX4 sportbacks with 6 speed manual, though, you could get mid thirties.  Just like the diff between automatic Cruzes, and the Eco manual.

 

My Cobalt at this time of year and now mostly city, I average 27.  An Encore FWD would probably get close to 30 in routine driving I bet.

 

It's actually very few vehicles these days that get real world mpg over 30.  Regardless of the physical size of the vehicle.  So I think Encore does well in the mpg department.  I wonder if real world mpg will take any big hit with the new motor option.

ARGH now i am going to want to go test drive an Encore this weekend and refresh my memory.  Encore is perfect size for my mom's condo parking garage, but she wants something bigger (like a Chinese made Envision)

 

 

The Envision is probably only temporarily gonna come from China... 

 

The Encore is surprisingly "large" for what it is.. LOL.. I'm 6'3 and went to wash it still having to stand on my tippy-toes to get to the top... Inside it is nicely spacious. Drop the seats and the cargo room seriously opens up. She like the "Shelf" cargo shade system too. OH and mad props to Buick Mylink. 

Edited December 20, 2015 by Cmicasa the Great

[regfootball]

the width / girth is the main thing for me.  My Cobalt is narrow, and the shoulder room in the Encore seems even less so.

 

My two vehicles are of the extreme, small Cobalt, and WIDE chrysler van.  Someday I will find the ideal.  The envision looks about it, but I won't be able to swing that when it comes out.  

[Drew Dowdell]

Well, I just dipped below 25mpg for the first time.... this awful Christmas traffic... stop and go and stop and wait and 3 light cycles just to get through an intersection....

 

I dropped to 24.8 yesterday.

[Suaviloquent]

Yes, a very precise and slicing through crowds gesture.

 

I'll take all the learnings from this as notes so when I am in the same position, I can be guided by virtue and an uncompromising approach to living life.

[ccap41]

Well, I just dipped below 25mpg for the first time.... this awful Christmas traffic... stop and go and stop and wait and 3 light cycles just to get through an intersection....

 

I dropped to 24.8 yesterday.

Yeah I got stuck in some of tat as well. That is the kind of situation that Start-Stop would really be worth it. I'm pretty sure my current tank average dropped 1.1mpg in the half hour-45 minutes I was in that traffic. Granted, I had a 3/4 tank so it fluctuates a lot with less miles on the Trip.