regfootball

DRIVEN 2013 Buick Encore FWD Leather 1.4t MSRP about 31 geezles HIGHS Snazzy looking, great styling job on a very challenging package Nice interior, nice leather and plastics, nice dash, nice design Lots of interesting detail inside, snazzy displays and gauges Dashtop screen is surprisingly effective Popular crossover friendly seat height and step in Very good view all around (surprisingly open cabin for a current crossover) Extremely parkable A very good amount of room inside in the passenger compartment, GM does not typically package interior space real effectively For the most part, pretty quiet inside in most driving Good steering feel and an oh so I wanna hold you small steering wheel with leather wrap Vehicle has a nice substantial feel and good ride Once up and running, the 1.4 cruises alright at higher speeds (2500 rpm at 70 mph) Driving position is easy to get where you want and seems able to adapt to a large variety of drivers Manual mode is useful, otherwise tranny shifts decently for moderate driving Really a nice daily shuttle kind of vehicle for most people Vehicle really feels much more useful than it's Sonic cousin due to it's extra usable volume Hatchback utility Ground clearance mpg on the fwd version is not bad Would be a great vehicle for seniors and empty nesters Feels like a 90% version of the Captiva / Vue Makes you want to ignore cars like the Sonic. LOWS 1.4 is not the right engine....it's adequate for a bare minimum at best and sounds and feels a bit rough when even driving moderately Slow to get moving off the line, and slow to kick down for hard acceleration in aggressive driving on the fly Powertrain lacks some smoothness and lets a little too much noise and vibration through for this price of a vehicle Extra girth in cabin width and the seats would be nice (yes I know this is a small car class) Driver's right leg bangs the console Passenger gets screwed out of an armrest (I don't care actually, the driver's is ok) Inherently tall vehicle can feel a bit tippy on the cloverleafs and switching lanes (just part of the package) Vehicle feels quite sedate and somewhat geriatric overall, needs an injection of some pizazz Trunk is useful but could stand to be a little more spacious (the spare tire chews up too much room) Despite it's surprising amount of space, it is a little small inside for a lot of those who may be interested in a Buick crossover (an Equinox sized and packaged Encore would be HUGE in the market) Sorry, it's ambitiously priced. Seriously. Why can't we have a Chevy equivalent? This would sell 100k units a year easy. At this price, the lower end Escapes look really good. SUMMARY I have to compliment GM, the ATS i drove last week and this Encore, both very good vehicles through and through. Both a bit shy on grunt but still despite that very satisfying and well focused vehicles. The Encore is tapping basically a new segment, one that has huge potential. In my short sales experience, I found out how many people wanted a small crossover type vehicle. They wanted something smaller, easy to drive and park, something they could see out of easily and sit up high and see the road....but not something so huge they felt out of control or intimidated. Something that was easy to get in and out of, and something that they could occasionally fold the seat down in the back and carry a big box or two. No one's really tried too hard at doing that yet in this size. But the market is there and this really is about as close to hitting the bullseye as you can get. This is sort of the template for this kind of vehicle in my mind. The only thing GM has missed the boat on initially with this vehicle is lack of engine spunk, and some lack of driving feel and excitement. My only other reservation is the price. As good as the Encore is at a basic level, it's just pricey IMO. 31 grand and still no AWD....2-3 grand too high I think. Until they up the power and make it a little more interesting to drive. Despite marketing this vehicle to younger folks, I think this vehicle might acquire the rep of a geriatric's ride. Maybe that's ok....but I do see more than a handful of old timers driving Veranos too. Maybe that means Buick is attracting new fans in addition to keeping some of it's old ones. Functionally everyday, the lack of power is probably the only thing most of the buyers of this vehicle will have remorse about after a purchase. A bit of finessing of some NVH and powertrain and keeping an eye on the price / value relationship, and managing sales volume and market pricing will be key for this vehicle. I'd be rushing a 1.6t or 1.8t to this thing pronto. Even a diesel might do the trick in this thing. I am pretty tempted to give it an A for what they did do on this thing. But when i consider the slightly ambitious pricing and all the alternatives out there I stick on a B+. The higher price will limit the volume of sales to those who really are looking for a premium crossover in a smaller package. Me, I'd try to stick to a more basic Escape or Outlander Sport and save a bunch of dough. The Buick does feel more premium though, that is for sure. The underlying issue is why the Trax is not hitting the market. GM really should not be excused of that question.

No, it's not. GM would have had to pay to certify that version of the car. Plus, they have to gear up the dealer network to sell another version of the car that likely would not justify each Chevy dealer that is sizable to carry an example of note books in inventory. For a dealer to have 40 grand tied up on a car that may not ever sell for 18-24 months if at all when they could stock 2 cruzes.... RWD plus manual has to have one hell of a business case to justify gearing the dealers up to stock and sell and provide service instruction and parts and training......all I am saying is they need to justify it with a business case. Have you ever thought that maybe it just might be 6 months to a year and maybe we get the 450hp plus stick SS? no idea WTF is up with the screwed up formatting.

That is an absurd statement, Reg. The manual is already in production at Holden, they just have to offer it here.

so you'd rather see GM not be in this segment for 3 more years and deprive those that want a rear drive chevy sedan and a v8.

i read something that said they might consider bringing the SS wagon here, but likely not the Ute.

Get the car here first, add the special versions over time is what they will do. Regal GS showed up as stick only first and now you still see a ton of them unsold or lightly used. I love sticks but honestly the car will launch better with automatic because then the dealer can take them as inventory with the confidence that they can actually end up selling it to a more broad swath of customers. The average redneck that will be interested in this car through a chevy dealer is likely going to want an automatic.

reading the autoblog comments.....so many idiots.......all the people with the stupid comments, and 99% of those commenting can't even afford the gas on their 15 year old beater their parents gave them or they are people who will never buy a brand new car because nothing will never be good enough.

oh that dash is so not sexy.

Verano has a nicer feel but the Cruze is not bad. I would say Verano but I think the base engine in the Verano should get an update.

really people should be happy this car exists at all. some of the other stuff may come later. Get a CTS v is you want all the other stuff. What I am missing, white leather that the commodore has...

the whole point is that it is a niche model. the impala is the volume car.

maybe there would be a market for a company to do their own testing just to publish real world numbers and slander the epa numbers.....i bet that website would get a ton of hits and advertising.

Here in MN e-10 is mandated in the mix, and they are trying to up that to E-15. All it means is for E-10, you get 10% less mpg. You basically are paying a 10% tax to fund the ethanol industry. I would not mind having an E-85 car, i would occasionally buy E-85, but then it would be my choice. You can buy 'small engine gas' here in like 3% of the pumps, whenever I run that in my car, I get 10-15% better mpg instantaneously.

if consumer reports designed a car....

but this car is radically different body, and quite honestly even though the camo is on it, it sort of looks like a turd. Current cruze is a sexy car. Maybe this will be Beretta II, the gun control chevy.

Drew's right. Brilliant move by Dodge. Er, RAM. 30 mpg highway?

might as well just go here then

this could end up another chevy disaster. the current cruze really great styling, the laid back and flowing greenhouse. this does not have the same greenhouse! this is more cab forward instead of cab laid back.

some of the stance is similar but there are more differences than one would think.

the 13 accord accelerated well. the 13 altima did alright too. The Kizashis I sold had good CVT's but I would not call them A+, still I enjoyed their behavior on the freeway. Subaru's CVT is barely passable. Honda and Nissan's problem were lack of sound damping. It is true though, once Honda latches on to it, the sheeple agree. Funny on the Nissan ones, they were problematic for awhile, but customers make note of it but seem to give them a pass.

seems like the split grille here is disguise, also seems similar as far as headlights to the 14 malibu makeover spyphotos.

2004 Malibu had the short epsilon wheelbase, but did not have the same rear seat room issues. 2004 Malibu rear seat and trunk were both pretty decent.

Love the car but not a fan of pushbutton trans

Sonata and Fusion have it mostly right. a 2.5 for the base and high volume / value car. a hybrid, real hybrid. a 2.0t for performance. Chevy should get a real hybrid, that would help. An 8 speed auto might help with FE on the others.