It's time to start thinking about Buick again! | 2021 Buick Envision Reviewed

If you haven't thought about a Buick in the last decade or so, well, I wouldn't blame you

What was once a symbol of American luxury and comfort has unfortunately fallen to the wayside in most people's minds

If not for the Buick's brand's success in China, we unfortunately may not even have Buick's running on the road anymore here in the United States, but thankfully we do

And this particular version, the all-new 2021 Envision, is one of the ways that General Motors and Buick are working hard to bring this brand back to relevance in the United States

I'm Zane Merva from GM-Trucks.com, and today we're taking the all-new Buick Envision out for a spin and seeing if it will live up to that promise

For 2021, Buick, maybe you've heard, is an entire. cross over an SUV-focused brand

And as somebody who's long liked Buick vehicles and their cars, to hear that there's no longer a Buick car being made in the U.S. for 2021

it's kind of a bummer. In fact, I really like the way that the Regal was styled

So thankfully, the 2021 InVision carries a lot of those styling features

over to the SUV lineup. You've got these hidden headlights with the size

sweeping DRL and turn signal. You've got a more compressed grill opening with a little less

bright work so it's not quite as flashy and a big Buick logo here in the middle with red, white

and blue accents. Out here in the back we can see that the Envision has nice big LED-driven

tail lights that integrate a turn signal all the way across the back here

The look is swept back and the glass and hatch opening is really big

So no matter what kind of stuff you're going to bring with you, despite its smaller size, the Envision should be able to swallow it quite nicely

As good as the exterior of the Invision looks, the interior is even better

Buick really up their game when it comes to design and quality of materials Everything around you is soft touch and easily within reach You got a mostly digital gauge cluster in the front of you You have a

brand new 10.2 inch infotainment system that's Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible. We've got

heated seats, multiple drive modes, and a bevy of information and features that are all well

within your reach. I really like the cockpit style design of the Envision. It makes everything that you

want to interact with on your commute well within your reach, easy to touch, and always focused in your

direction. The interior of the Invision is its strongest suit. We've got this wonderful leather-like

stitching that wraps around the driver and has a soft touch feel. Plastard

We've got these wonderful designed air vents and sharp angled bevels around the infotainment center

The buttons have a wonderful feel about them and a wonderful push action that's maybe only rivaled by Cadillac

And everything you're going to find in this vehicle is definitely more upscale than its Chevy or GMC counterparts

And even better, I think, than the stuff you're going to find from Lexus

and Accura. The Envision also comes with an available high-definition surround view monitor and sonar parking

system that gives you multiple views when you're getting close to the curb or backing up

into a tight parking spot. We've also got blind spot awareness and automatic braking and lane centering

I've driven hundreds of vehicles in the last 20 years, and this Envision

has a feature that I've never seen until today. An interior air quality index meter

It tells you how many particulates and how good the air quality is inside the cabin

If you're on the highway in a smoggy atmosphere or stuck in stop and go traffic

you'll be able to know if you have any exhaust fumes or other harmful particulates in the cabin It a small tell that this vehicle is popular in China where air quality is a much bigger deal Also Buick included in air ionizer to help purify the air within the cabin

and allow you to keep tabs on how clean the air is, whether it's good, unhealthy, or very unhealthy

and allow you to adjust your AC and air recirculation appropriately to get to a better level

If you're looking at buying a crossover, it's undoubtedly because you're going to put stuff or people in the back seat

And despite its small compact size on the outside, the Invision actually offers a lot of usable room here in the second row

I mean, this seat in front of me is adjusted accordingly for someone to actually drive

And I've got a great amount of space between my knees and the seat

seat back and putting my young son in the seat next to me with his car seat was also no big deal

I had a lot of room to crawl in and get his seatbelt around him and maneuver the car seat through the door

The envision we're going to be driving today is the essence trim

It slots in between the lower preferred and the upper avenue trim levels and has a sticker starting price of 35,000

$1,800. So this Envision has the only power plant that you can get on it, a 2-liter direct-injected

turbocharged four-cylinder. It makes around 223 horsepower, which gets the job done quite nicely on a day-to-day basis

Fuel economy estimates for this vehicle range in anywhere from 18 to 26 miles per gallon, depending on

if you have the front wheel drive or all-wheel drive, which, by the way, if you're going to live in a cold-weather climate and pick up one of the

these things definitely opt for the all-wheel drive version. And steering is really good

except on center it floats a little bit. And I will say that in the Twisties, this vehicle

has a hint of body roll, which kind of surprised me considering that it's a light, compact

vehicle. But with all that mentioned, the InVision is extremely quiet and comfortable

This particular Envision is equipped with the technology package 1 for That includes HD surround vision a heads display a Bose premium 9 speaker audio system

Front Park Assist, navigation into this 10-inch touch display, and a universal home remote

Also is colored in dark moon-blue metallic for an optional $495. That brings this Envision's price, including destination, up to $39,990

So there you have it. This is the 2021 Buick Envision. I have to admit, I'm really impressed

Buick is up their game with a really nice interior that is cockpit focused and always attentive

to the driver and their needs. The look of this vehicle has been improved

greatly over the prior generation. And the brand is in the process of adapting this look to its other models

So I'm excited to see where things are going to go over the next few model years

You know, ever since Cadillac went super upscale, I've been wishing that GM would have a brand that was in between

little bit better than GMC, but not as expensive as Cadillac. Back to what Buick really was in the beginning

an affordable American comfortable luxury car. And you know what? This is it

And the whole lineup is it. And I wish people would go out and try and test drive these vehicles

because they would be just as impressed with them as I am

And a testament to that is just a few weeks ago, I bought my family a brand new Enclave Ave near

which we're over the moon about. It's so quiet and comfortable and spacious

can fit my son and my dog and my wife will drive it to work every day

We're truly impressed with the features and value that the Buick brand is offering

And I can't wait to see where things go over the next dozen years

as more people realize what kind of value and comfort you can get out of these vehicles

I'm Zane Merva and from GM-Trucks.com. I'll see you next time. Thank you