The 2024 Buick Envista is striking and affordable

Published 10:55 am Monday, January 8, 2024

Looks are deceiving with the 2024 Buick Envista in a good way.

At first glance, the all-new model looks like a sporty compact SUV with sleek exterior styling, a refined interior, the kind of curved 11-inch touchscreen that is in vogue these days, and a surprisingly roomy back seat for such a small vehicle.

But in fact, Envista is a surprisingly inexpensive economy car. It starts at under $24,000, making it the lowest priced Buick on the market, costing even less than the compact Encore GX SUV that is a few years old now. As such, the Envista competes against vehicles that do not make such a strong first impression, including the Chevy Trax, Kia Niro, and Volkswagen Taos.

The 2024 Envista is the first vehicle to fully incorporate Buick’s new, modern design language, which was first shown to the world on the Wildcat EV concept last year. This includes a low-profile silhouette and forward leaning front end. If you park one in your driveway, your neighbors will never know you’re a bargain hunter unless they go online.

Buick accomplishes this because the Envista is not quite as sporty or off-road capable as it looks. The only powerplant is a turbocharged 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine that produces just 137 horsepower. It is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission programmed to drive well around town, however, although merging into and passing freeway traffic requires a little planning.

And, despite its SUV looks, the Envista is not available with all-wheel-drive. In my mind, that means it isn’t really an SUV. Instead, I consider it more of a sportback or fastback wagon, which is not a bad thing. Wagons are very practical and few look as good as the Envista.

Such quibbles aside, in a week of test driving, my Sport Touring model always looked good and drove well, with a soft ride that easily absorbed road imperfections. Although the interior included a lot of hard plastic, most of it was textured and well fitted, contributing to the Envista’s upscale feel. It included such additional niceties as 19-inch black painted wheels, heated front bucket leather seats, a power moonroof, an advanced safety package, wireless charging and more, but still came in just under $30,000, which is about the starting price of the top-of-the-line Avenir version.

It is important to note that, while the Envista’s engine is small, turbocharged three-cylinder engines are not that uncommon these. The same engine comes standard in the slightly larger Encore GX and Chevy Trailblazer, which also offer a more powerful 1.3-liter version. Both the Ford Escape and mechanically similar Ford Bronco Sport come with three-cylinder turbos. So does the Dodge Hornet and the Alfa Romeo Tonale it is based on. And so does Nissan Rogue.

The 2024 Envista is also a reminder that Buick made a lot of good cars before dropping them to focus on SUVs. They included the last generation of the Regal, which was available as a fastback sedan and sportback wagon.

There are several other low-priced vehicles on the market that look like SUVs but aren’t available with AWD either, including the Hyundai Venue, Kia Soul and Nissan Kicks. In my mind, none are as classy as the new Envista, which fulfills Buick’s current mission of offering affordable near-luxury vehicles. Anyone who wants to impress friends and neighbors on a budget should check it out.

2024 Buick Envista

Base price: $23,495 (Preferred)

Price as tested: $29,070 (Sport Touring)

Type: Compact crossover

Engine: 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder ()

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

EPA estimated mileage: 28/32

Overall length: 182.6 inches

Curb weight: 3124 pounds

Final assembly: Bupyeong NU, South Korea