For decades the Buick brand has been seen as slated for the retired audience, a reputation which probably scared many younger people away from even test-driving one. Now that Buick has focused its lineup to become a dedicated SUV brand, it may seem confusing to buyers to understand what Buick is doing. They are clearly hoping to gain more interest from young buyers with SUVs like the 2022 Buick Envision; an SUV slotted perfectly between the larger Enclave and the smaller Encore. But not all SUVs are built for the type of sporting activities that were the original purpose of a sport utility vehicle.
Leave that idea of bounding along off-road trails at the door because that is not a Buick. An Envision is not an SUV you take to the woods and romp around. An SUV like the Envision is made for pavement, and it makes for one of the most comfortable driving vehicles you can find for its price point. It may not tout the kind of features you expect from other brands, which are either focused on off-road performance or can be agile road runners, but Buick makes itself into a comfortable ride loaded with features for an affordable price. Who doesn’t want seats that feel like you’re driving a couch down the highway?
Luxury Features for Lower Prices
When you want to live the easy life, you want technology. With tech to serve as your assistant, you can automate a lot of the small stuff so that you don’t even have to think about it. Buick may not seem like a high-tech brand, but it has always focused on giving buyers luxury accessories and conveniences to make driving easier. Even the most basic 2022 Envision has powered seats, WiFi, and wireless smartphone pairing, but it’s not so much the technology for smartphones that’s impressive. Buick focuses on making things easier for you, which is what luxury does. When you want to operate the hands-free liftgate, you know where to wave your foot under the rear bumper because a logo lights up for you and shows you where to gesture. Easy.
An infotainment system is in every new vehicle, but is it intuitive to use? Buick does a good job of making the system simple enough for just about any buyer to interact with the screen in a way that makes sense, especially if you are comfortable with a smartphone. Having extra conveniences like the Marketplace that you can access through the infotainment apps can almost make life too easy. While you travel, you can find parking, reserve seats at a restaurant, and even pay for gas prior to your arrival for some of the most convenient travel arrangements anywhere. Then again, if you go whole hog and buy the Avenir trim, you can have massaging front seats with heating and cooling so that you get the ultimate convenience while you order dinner to be delivered curbside.
Ride Quality Tuned for Comfort
One thing Buick has always done well is ride quality. If you’re into that lovely sense of isolation from the jarringly feel of roads in need of work, you are likely to enjoy driving a Buick like the 2022 Envision. The ride quality isn’t just about the suspension, though that certainly plays a part. It’s also about the comfort of the seats, the insulation of the cabin, and the overall build quality of a Buick. Some drivers aren’t concerned about being bounced all over the cabin while you knock around town running errands, but those are the buyers who are willing to sacrifice comfort for off-road performance with truck-based SUVs like Wranglers and Broncos.
When it comes to the kind of experience you get in any Buick, it boils down to delivering a quiet interior environment that wraps you like a blanket and spoils you with automated comforts so that you don’t have to work hard. Apparently, that isn’t for everyone, but why everyone doesn’t want a comfy automated vehicle is a mystery yet to be solved. Critics often point to handling and performance as a weakness for a vehicle like the Envision, and yet a Buick has never been about taking fast corners or doing donuts in a parking lot. Instead, your 2022 Envision will float over the potholes in the city with its available continuous damping suspension, and anytime you want to tackle an uphill trek, the engine will certainly handle that with power to spare. Going from zero to 60 in about seven seconds is fairly fast, too.
You get comfort combined with the capability to pull ahead of traffic on the highway, and you have lots of room in the back seat for actual adults. What is it with car manufacturers and making tiny back seats? Most people with vehicles intend to have passengers sometimes, or else we would all drive two-seater coupes. Buick is one of the few brands making vehicles with large enough seats to fit tall adults comfortably and still have lots of room in the trunk for cargo. This sort of convenience isn’t just for families; it’s for anyone who wants to drive with passengers who might have bags with them. Why such civilized comforts are considered less than worthy of a buyer’s interest is part of why the critics need to be ignored sometimes.
Upscale Standard Safety Tech
Newer safety features are getting fine-tuned after years of experimenting through careful introduction into vehicles. The safety features that you find across all 2022 Envision trims provide you with convenience and the certainty that your vehicle can protect you from the worst of a potential accident. It also helps to have a crisp image from the rearview camera, and Buick provides an HD camera that improves your ability to see what’s behind you. Springing for the Surround Vision option can also be worth it if you live in a city where parking spaces are often tight, or you commonly find yourself driving in busy areas. Having four cameras that blend together images from angles all around the Envision makes getting out of parking garages or pulling out into traffic a much calmer affair.
Standard safety features like lane-keep assist and forward collision warning are expected from a vehicle boasting luxury and convenience, and the 2022 Envision comes with a well-rounded set of safety features in the Driver Confidence package that covers the bases for all trims. Features that really make life simpler are those little things like adaptive cruise control or the enhanced automatic parking assist. When your vehicle can automate any mundane aspect of driving, that only improves your quality of life. Not having to hit the brakes on the highway every time someone slows down in front of you is wonderful, and not having to risk scraping against other cars when you wedge your SUV into a parking space is amazing. Convenience and comfort have advantages, and that kind of advantage is what you buy with a Buick.
Premium Features at an Affordable Price
Luxury is a nice thing to have in your life. Convenience makes your busy day go better. If you own a device that acts as a digital assistant, you know how nice it is to be able to ask anything. There’s a certain satisfaction in knowing you can tell your vehicle where you want to drive, letting it set you up with directions and even offering you several routes according to your interest. Being able to snag yourself a convenient parking space in a garage ahead of your arrival just makes your travels simpler so you can calmly glide into the event unruffled and at peace. The 2022 Envision provides you with comfortable space, enough power to drive through traffic confidently, and the ease of automated features to make your drive as simple as it should be. This is what you get with a Buick, and it’s more than just the flashy new LED headlights or the fancy grille. It’s the whole experience.
