mmarshall

I’m coming up on not-quite-6-months ownership of my 2021 Encore GX (took delivery of it on January 11 of this year)……so, I guess it’s about time for a write-up, especially since I’ve been lax, lately for several reasons), on my usual vehicle-write-ups.

First, as most of you in the forum know, I had not necessarily planned on getting a new vehicle for a couple of more years yet…and, since I purchase (and pay cash, not financing), I’m not bound by the usual two-to-four-year lease-contracts, and usually sell or trade-in whenever I feel like it or sense that I need a new vehicle.

And that’s what happened this time. For decades, I had wanted another big, full-size cushy soft-riding Buick, brand-new, to be a successor to the big Buick Electra 225 (they were nicknamed Deuce-and-a Quarter) I had in college…..used, of course, since I could not afford a new one back then, as I had not yet started my career, still lived at home, worked part-time, and didn’t have much cash. Well, Buick’s quality tanked, for decades, in the later 70s, after I was in college, and the 3rd-generation Lacrosse was the first full-size Buick sedan in decades that I could afford and that I was reasonably confident in build-quality, so I ordered one in 2017 (an early-production 2018). Yes, I enjoyed it, very much, but the world had obviously changed. Even though it was nowhere near the size of the enormous 225-inch long Electra (where the designation comes from) I had in college, it was clearly too large and bulky for the type of driving I do nowadays, in tight-maneuvering parking-lots, parking spaces generally designed for compact vehicles, and endless Northern Virginia D.C. bumper-to-bumper traffic. A parking-lot-incident which I would rather not discuss (no, it was not an accident per se) convinced me that it was time for something smaller, more maneuverable, more versatile, and higher-stance, so getting in and out did not require low stoops and stretches (I’m not a young, lithe person any more, particularly in back and knees).

So, since, after looking at many competing small SUVs and crossovers, although I came very close to ordering a new Lincoln Corsair, and was also impressed with the new Toyota Venza hybrid, I decided on an Encore GX. I decided I wanted to stay with the Buick nameplate (it has become part of my life)…..and the Encore GX was the exact size, height, design, and, particularly in the two-tone plush Buick interior, just what I was looking for, despite the turbo-three-cylinder under the hood being a less-than-ideal power plant. I ordered a mid-grade Select-Trim level, with a couple of options (the Hands-Free tailgate is one of the most useful ones), and, like with the Lacrosse, waited several months for delivery, although, unlike the Lacrosse, it had to come across the Pacific from a GM-of-Korea plant that builds both the Encore GX and the mechanically-similar Chevy Trailblazer. The delivery process itself was less than foolproof…besides the usual endless forms to sign, the AWD system would not engage on the test-drive…so, into the shop (under warranty) for a new actuator before I could pick it up the next day.

The six months I have owned it has not resulted in any other mechanical failures….but nature and bad luck conspired to make ownership less than totally-pleasant. First, I took delivery at a very bad time….a couple of weeks before a series of endless winter storms in our area last February (seven of them in two weeks…..I’m not kidding) screwed up the roads with salt….but, of course that’s why ordered AWD. Still, I did my best to keep my new vehicle from picking up much salt…I suspect that Steve was in the same boat with his new Mercedes S560, as he was impacted by the same storms I was. Then came a two-day windstorm in the spring with gusts to 60 MPH, and, despite my careful attempts to park in reasonably safe outdoor spaces, got some minor damage to a rubber window-moulding and one or two small scratches from a tree-limb down. I replaced the relatively cheap moulding (wasn’t expensive enough, IMO, for an insurance-claim, even though I have $0 deductible on Comprehensive, which covers storm damage). Then, when it was in the shop getting re-fitted with the new moulding, I noticed, when I left, a clicking sound on the road…..a front tire had picked up a large bolt, close enough to the tread-sidewall to require its replacement. I’m absolutely certain (100%) that the tire picked it up in or close to the shop, on dealer-property, although I couldn’t prove it. And, because there was no road-hazard warranty, I had to eat the new tire…though it wasn’t that bad, just a couple of hundred $$$$$ mounted and balanced. Perhaps I should have sprung for the warranty (I didn’t notice one in the Bill of Sale)….but it would have cost money either way. My previous Service Technician with the Lacrosse and Verano, who I liked very much and had superb reviews in surveys, would probably have given me a new tire free of charge (or maybe 50/50 at most)…but he had to retire to take car of his wife, who has M.S. (I still pray for her)……and the people who run the Service Department now, although not vultures by any means, are clearly not in his league when it comes to customer-interaction.

So, of course, those two tire/moulding-replacements were not the car’s fault….and, aside from the AWD actuator crapping out on the day of delivery, the car has had no further mechanical problems, though it is still quite new, with just a few thousand miles on it, and, according to the computer, not even down to the first-oil-change flag yet (like most turbos today, it uses pure-synthetic oil).

A nice surprise has also been low depreciation so far…..KBB (Kelley Bluebook) doesn’t have any figures yet on a used 2021 Encore GX, but a 2020 with low-mileage like mine, with similar equipment-options, Sticker-price (although I didn’t pay full-price was $30,950…just short of 31K). KBB, as of today, shows about 25-26K on trade-in value and 28K on a Private-Party sale…so it is worth almost as much today as it was the day I picked it up in January. Of course, that is a mixed-blessing…in Virginia, in the County I live in, you pay an annual Property Tax on the assessed-value of a used car, so we’ll see where Big Brother taxes it later this year.

Now that I’ve gotten all the extraneous stuff out of the way, the real question…..am I pleased, and satisfied with it? Ha…..You bet. It fulfills the reason I bought it almost perfectly, is a cinch to maneuver/park in tight quarters, is versatile and useful inside (although I have only needed to use the fold-down right-front seat once for long cargo), and I rarely need the NAV functions. Being a Buick product, with the well-known Quiet-Tuning, even with the short wheelbase, ride quality and noise-levels, though not as silky or as comfortable as the larger Lacrosse on extended-trips, is MUCH better than the norm for this class (B-class subcompact crossover)….almost to the level of the slightly larger, compact C-class Lincoln Corsair which I had seriously considered. By the standards of its class, it is a pleasure to drive….and, IMO, was well-worth what I paid. I’d buy another one in a heartbeat. Perhaps the best money I spent on it was the optional ($600) hands-free Liftgate feature….a feature that Ford really gets credit for, since they first marketed that feature on the Escape’s top-line Titanium version. Buick’s version, unlike Ford’s where you sweep your foot sideways under the rear bumper, shines a Buick emblem on the ground under the bumper (which you can’t see on a bright sunlit pavement), and you kick your legs fore/aft over the emblem to unlock and lift the gate. The fact that you can’t see it on a sunny day is not a problem…once you know where the emblem is shown, your leg instinctively simply does the rest. VERY handy for when you come out with your arms full of packages. Thanks, Ford. I also especially like the incredibly clear multi-adjustable 360-camera/overhead view for help in parking (GM’s 360-camera is one of the best in the industry), Blind-Spot monitoring for lane-changes, and Rear-Cross-Traffic Alert for backing out of blind spots. The AWD switch on the console for engaging/disengaging the system is also useful for saving fuel and drag on the engine most of the time, although I occasionally use the AWD even on dry roads to keep the hardware and components un use, lubed, and to prevent deterioration from lack of use.

And, as far as fuel mileage goes, in my type of driving, I’m averaging mid-high 20s (I can do up to 35 or so on the highway), which is not a huge amount for a three-cylinder, but is not bad considering it is a small turbo engine with some bulk to carry. I drive quite conservatively, of course, but this area still has a LOT of stop-and-go driving…in a less-congested area, with fewer stoplights/stop-signs/speed-bumps, I’d probably be averaging 30 or so.

And, over and above everything else, I get a LOT of compliments on the car’s color-theme…the somewhat cinnamon-tone Bronze-color metallic paint and two-tone white/black cloth interior.…particularly when the paint is in the sunlight…it looks like a duller brown/bronze in the shade. GM marketing decided to drop that color on the Encore GX (along wth four other colors) and replace them later this year with four more-or-less-similiar colors. The Burnished-Bronze on my car is replaced with a more reddish/russet Cinnabar, named after the element Cinnabar, which is mined.

Complaints so far? Yes, a couple…there never was a perfect vehicle, and never will be. The turbo-three engine tends to vibrate some right around its torque-peak, from 1500-2000 RPM, and accelerating in the lower gears, although, in general, the Buick Quiet-tuning does its stuff pretty well. Driven with a light foot, it is as smooth and quiet as most fours except around 1800 RPM or so, and in most settings befits the Buick nameplate. Still, I’d recommend that the designers use a least an in-line four next time….I suspect that this engine was designed for the Chinese market, not really to American tastes. But it is powerful for a three, since the torque peak (and vibration) is at very low RPM. The 9-speed (9T40) automatic shifts like butter no matter what the temperaure, and doesn’t have some of the cold-weather and 4-6 hiccups that plagued the early-production 9T60 9-speed automatic in my Lacrosse. The simple, traditional PRNDL fore-aft console shift-lever (a major reason I chose this vehicle) is a gem…I’ve never liked the electronic joysticks, stubs, and push/pull buttons that pass as shifters in so many of today’s vehicles. Unless the engine is fully warm, though, the computer idles it a little high (1500 RPM), so you often have to wait a few seconds before shifting out of Park to get a smoother engagement at lower RPM without a jerk.

GM, unlike with the earlier Lacrosse, did the right thing on this vehicle by providing a console-switch for disabling the annoying Idle-stop/start system for the engine….I don’t use that system, which is probably another reason I’m not getting 30 MPG in city driving. But I don’t like the fact that you can’t push the button one and for all and have the system STAY disengaged
…..it reverts back every time you shut the engine off, so you have to use the button every time you start up if you don’t want that system on. (Supposedly) one can blame the EPA for that, since they do their testing with the system turned on, don't allow for MPG and emissions-testing with the system off, and frown on drivers having the ability to do so. Buick is not the only manufacturer that is stuck with having to push the button every time you start up if you want it off.....many others also do so.

You also, every time you start up, have to push an SD-card-confirm icon for the NAV system on the video screen to clear a SD-box on the dash, between the speedometer and tach, so you can get it out of the way to see the Driver-Information-Display under it. At the oil change, the dealer is going to see if that can be programmed to not come on, or be by-passed.

One other thing I dislike on the 2021s is that Buick, probably to save costs, did away with the 6/70 and 4/50 warranties (the same luxury-grade warranties that Cadillac, Lincoln, Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura give you) for a mainstream 5/60 and 3/36 warranty like GMC and Chevy. A needless cheapening, IMO, that is an insult to Buick customers, although, also IMO, I’d rather have a reliable vehicle with a shorter warranty than a lemon with a longer one.

So there you have it….my first 6 months. One of the nicest things recently is that after numerous winter storms, spring tree-shedding, bird-droppings (a couple of them left finish-robbing splotches in the clearcoat that I had to REALLY work VERY hard with SCRATCH-OUT and Carnauba-wax-cleaner to address and get the paint shiny again), and storms assaulting it, I can now FINALLY take REAL care of it without nature fighting against me every day, and I’m giving it my finest MM-detail, panel by panel, and section by section, each day. Seems to be bearing fruit.

And, as Always……Happy-Car-Shopping.

MM

mmarshall

Sorry for some of the typos and misspelled words....I go back and correct them as I find them. The Apple/Safari spell-checker is very good in some things, but sometimes scrambles or rearranges something it THINKS you want say that might not be the case.

Toys4RJill

Thanks for the write up. MM. always enjoy reading them.

what’s the user interface like? Same as the Lacrosse

mmarshall

Glad you liked it. Buick, at the factory-level, gave me a generally very nice ownership experience....at the service-level, questionable, and nature, well................


No, it's better. Part of the info (adjustable and programmable) can be put in the heads-up display in front of the windshield (which, thanks, for asking.....I forgot to mention the heads-up display in the write-up), and parts of the rest of the info on the video-screen. Unlike with the Lacrosse, I don't have to have any of the climate-info on the screen, because there are buttons for everything in the climate-system on the lower-dash, although it can also displayed on the screen if desired. The ultra-clear camera-displays have to be seen to be believed.....GM, IMO, has arguably the best electronics for that in the industry.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Glad you like it. It's a pretty ideal vehicle for your situation.
What's the furthest distance you've driven it on one trip?
how many miles does it have on it now?
1500rpm for idle speed seems quite high.

LexFinally

Before you even mentioned the color scheme, I thought to myself, "Really nice exterior and interior color scheme."

Glad you're having a (mostly) positive experience with the car.

mmarshall

At one time, a sub-compact crossover would have been one of the last vehicles I would have considered...the closest thing to it that I ever owned was a Subaru Outback.

I have often been criticized on Car Chat for being stubborn, stuck in the past, unwilling to change my mind, or adapt to newer vehicles design. This shows that, if the conditions warrant or justify it, I can change my mind.

About 2000 miles on the clock....the engine-computer shows about 50% left on the original oil-life interval (I get the first change free). The pandemic, like with many other people, lowered my mileage-accumulation totals. And my usual driving style and needs dictate mostly local stop-and-go stuff. The farthest on individual trips, so far, has been down into the next county, to see my cardiologist a couple of times.....about 40 miles or so one-way. I also go to a different church now that is not as far away as my former one. But that may change if and when I start doing more reviews and write-ups again, as did in the past.

Well, of course, as you know, it's not like in the old days, with the 3-stage mechanical fast-idle-cams and linkages on the carburetors which can malfunction or wear out. Today's computers, as they have since the 1980s, compute the best idle-speed for the ambient conditions and engine-temperature, adjust the fuel-injection accordingly, and do it far more reliably than any carb. And carb-problems were not limited to just the post-1970 period with the onset of emission controls. During warm-up, I had carb and lean-mixture/icing problems up the Wazoo with the 2-barrel carburetors on the 60s-vintage Chrysler products I owned.....a Plymouth and a Chrysler. Once warm, fine.

Fast-idle speeds also are not programmed just to keep the engine from stalling, but to get oil pressure up as fast as possible without overspeeding the engine when cold. The faster the oil-pump spins (up to a point), the quicker it can circulate the oil after a cold start. That's another reason why today's oils are thinner and freer-flowing than the oils of yesterday....they sacrifice some hot-weather protection for quicker oil-pressure when cold, as research shows that most engine wear occurs during warm-up on cold stats.

Also, 1500 is not that high for a fast-idle speed, especially if the engine is not particularly cold. Many of today's larger engines are so smooth and quiet (I suspect the big V8 in your G90 was that way) that, unless you are looking directly at the tach, the fast idle-speed sounds and feels slower than it actually is. My Lacrosse's V6, to a large extent, was that way, as is probably the V8 in Steve's S560.

mmarshall

Thanks. The dark purplish-red (Black Currant Metallic) would have been my second-choice, even though it's a little dark for my tastes.






Thanks. I still like GM products (particularly Buicks), and my usual salesperson at the dealership. But the service department may not be quite what is was before the best people there retired or moved on....and Buick's warranty is now simply mainstream. But nature is now co-operating more, too, after months of harsh conditions and a cicada-outbreak swarm, which kept large insects buzzing around day and night.

mmarshall

Just out of curiosity, does anybody else on Car Chat have either an Encore GX or a Chevy Trailblazer, which is done on the same platform/mechanicals but with a less-plush interior and less sound-insulation? Would appreciate your input.

Toys4RJill

What do you mean best electronics, like screen resolution, or like ease-of-use?

mmarshall

Screen resolution......particularly for the camera.

Though I still so for safety reasons, technically, I don't even have to look outside the vehicle when I park......just steer according to the overhead camera picture. It's that good. It lets me know exactly where I am in between the white lines, and/or the front and back of the parking-space.

Toys4RJill

‘I’ve always like the screens on GM products. Never used the birds camera. Happy you like it.

SW17LS

Glad you're enjoying it!

mmarshall

Thanks. Finally able to take decent care of it after a number of assaults by nature and bad luck.

mmarshall

Well, I just got a survey in the mail from J.D. Power. I guess it's time to sit down and write some more bull-****.

(Just Kidding)


......also just got some more E-Mail surveys from other organizations. I don't fill them out unless I know they are (or are reasonably sure of them being) safe organizations....some surveys are carefully designed scams.