The 2024 Buick Envision starts at $37,295 in the United States and at $44,799 in Canada, freight and delivery charges included.
Quiet cabin, good fit and finish, very well-equipped for the asking price.
Fuel economy could be better, not the most spacious compact crossover out there, unexciting powertrain.
With a lineup of only four models in the North American market, including the 2024 Buick Envision compact crossover, GM’s Tri-Shield brand may seem irrelevant, but it actually isn’t for several reasons.
First of all, sales are increasing, though one could say that they had nowhere to go but up. Through the first nine months of 2024, Buick vehicle deliveries rose 10% in the United States, 55% in Canada and 62% in Mexico. That performance is largely driven by the Buick Envista that’s gaining traction as an elegant and nicely furnished entry in the urban crossover segment.
The 2024 Buick Envision was rather late to the party, arriving on our market this summer, but consumers seem to be pleased with the model’s mid-cycle refresh so far. In the third quarter of 2024 alone, Envision sales jumped 73% in the U.S., 251% in Canada and 22% in Mexico.
The Envision’s refresh includes a facelift, bringing the crossover in line with the rest of the brand’s lineup, inspired by the design of the Buick Wildcat Concept introduced in 2022. The front end now features a two-tier lightning arrangement, with LED daytime running lights and turn signals mounted around the edge of the hood and headlights flanking the massive grille. There are new alloy wheel designs and a couple of new paint colors, while the Sport Touring appearance package has become a standalone trim level, replacing the previous mid-grade Essence.
Inside, the Envision benefits from a 30-inch curved display panel, seamlessly housing both the fully digital driver instrument cluster and the infotainment system touchscreen. Most of the dashboard components were redesigned, there’s a new steering wheel behind which hangs the right-side stalk acting as the transmission gear selector, while the interior seat trim and color palette has been revised as well.
Nothing changed underhood. The 2024 Buick Envision is equipped with GM’s turbocharged 2.0L inline-four that develops 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, managed by a nine-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is now standard across the board.
Fuel economy has worsened slightly, at least on paper. City/highway/combined ratings are now pegged at 22/28/24 mpg or 10.8/8.3/9.7 L/100 km, representing a 1 mpg or 0.2 L/100 km decrease on the combined cycle compared to the 2023 model. During our drive of the Envision Sport Touring, we managed 25 mpg or 9.5 L/100 km, and the engine runs fine on regular unleaded.
The 2024 Buick Envision lineup now consists of the base Preferred, the Sport Touring and the luxurious Avenir. The base trim gets 18-inch wheels while the ST and Avenir upgrade to 20-inch rollers. Standard features include head-up display, adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera system, ambient interior lighting, an intelligent key, a power driver’s seat with lumbar support, a Bose nine-speaker stereo, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration as well as wireless phone charging. The usual battalion of active safety features, and we mean all of them in this case, are also fitted as standard.
A power sunroof is optional on Preferred and Sport Touring, standard on Avenir, which also benefits from a power front passenger seat, a rear camera mirror, ventilated front seats, a massaging driver’s seat and the brand’s Continuous Damping Control suspension. The U.S.-market Envision Preferred and ST offer a Comfort and Convenience Package adding a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, remote engine start, dual-zone climate control, automatic air recirculation, a garage door opener and a hands-free power liftgate, but all these features are standard in Canada. The Canadian-market Sport Touring also includes heated rear outboard seats that are reserved the Avenir in the U.S.
Pricing for the 2024 Buick Envision ranges from $37,295 to $48,995 in the United States and from $44,799 to $53,599 in Canada, freight and delivery charges included. A $699 dealer fee is also mentioned on Buick’s Canadian website.
Who does the Envision compete with? Well, the Buick brand is on the fence between mass-market and luxury marques, filling in a space between Chevrolet and Cadillac in GM’s portfolio. We can call it a premium brand, where Mazda is heading with its more upscale products, and where MINI stands as well. That said, the Envision rivals the most-equipped variants of compact crossovers such as the Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, GMC Terrain, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Compass, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5 and Mazda CX-50, Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan Rogue, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4 and Volkswagen Tiguan.
Another possibility, though arguably, is that the Envision attracts shoppers who can’t quite swing the monthly payments on lux crossovers like the Acura RDX, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, the Audi Q5, the BMW X3, the Genesis GV70, the Infiniti QX50 and Infiniti QX55, the Land Rover Discovery Sport, the Lexus NX, the Mercedes-Benz GLB and Mercedes-Benz GLC as well as the Volvo XC60.
Why You Should Buy a 2024 Buick Envision
- Call it premium, near-luxury or upscale, the Envision is pricier than mass-market compact crossovers, but more affordable than luxury compact crossovers. It’s also very well-equipped even in base trim and maintenance costs are among the lowest in the industry according to recent surveys from Consumer Reports. In short, we get a luxury-oriented vehicle for only a few dollars more a month than a mainstream product.
- As usual with Buick products, cabin noise is slightly lower than in mainstream compact crossovers. The difference may only be a couple of decibels, but that’s enough to be noticeable.
- The Envision’s infotainment system is very easy to use, as in most recent GM vehicles. The touchscreen is responsive, graphics are crystal clear, and the screen size is most appreciable. While most manufacturers are moving all centre stack controls to the touchscreen, it’s nice to see intuitive user-friendly climate controls on the dashboard and a volume dial on the centre console. The Envision is technologically up to date, but not too gimmicky, so older generations of drivers will still feel at home.
- Aside from the glossy black trim that will quickly gather dust, overall cabin fit and finish is quite good. Buick’s choice of materials spruces up the overall appearance nicely, and the cheaper-looking plastics are generally out of sight. There are five interior colour schemes available across the trim levels, and they all look good in our humble opinion.
Why You Shouldn’t Buy a 2024 Buick Envision
- It’s a premium product, but it’s still a Buick. If we’re seeking to impress our neighbours and trigger vehicular envy, the Tri-Shield badge can’t compete with a BMW propeller, four Audi rings or a Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star.
- The Envision’s turbo 2.0L engine is a decent powerplant for the daily drive, sufficiently refined and not too noisy under wide-open throttle. However, it isn’t thrilling in any way, and fuel economy isn’t its greatest virtue. To put it simply, the Envision doesn’t amaze or utterly disappoint.
- There’s sufficient room for four or five adults, and the occupant in the middle rear seat has enough headroom. That said, the rear seatback angle isn’t adjustable to enhance comfort on longer drives. The cargo area offers a volume of 25.2 cubic feet or 714 litres with the rear seatbacks up, 52.7 cubic feet or 1,493 litres with the seats folded down. Not bad, but many compact crossovers are more accommodating.
- Politically speaking, or patriotically speaking, the Envision is the product of an American brand, but it’s built in China. While that may turn off potential customers who would prefer a locally built vehicle, it’s worth pointing out that the Envision has no assembly quality issues, despite what people may think about Chinese-made products.
Final Word
The 2024 Buick Envision looks good, drives well and is a compact crossover that’s easy to live with. It also boasts an upscale look and feel, with a design elegance that seems to agree with women. In fact, Buick is the brand with the highest proportion of female buyers, and that’s a significant achievement.
Overall, the Envision is both an emotional and rational purchase, undercutting luxury-brand crossovers on price and long-term maintenance costs, while not looking like an appliance. It’s worth a look for consumers in the market for a compact crossover, but would like something a little more exclusive than a RAV4, a CR-V or a Tucson.
What does the future hold for the Envision in the North American market, with political tensions between the U.S. and China? That’s unclear at the moment, but for now, it’s a solid product, no matter in which country it was manufactured.
