2025 Buick Envista Sport Touring - Review by Bruce Hotchkiss +VIDEO

A Nice, Smallish SUV at a Very Good Price

Bruce Hotchkiss

By Bruce Hotchkiss
Special Correspondent- Western Bureau
THE AUTO CHANNEL

I really, really wanted to like the Envista. I did like it, I just didn't fall in love with it. Two things, one easily remedied, the other not so much kept it from being a home run. More later.

I thought the Envista was a good-looking car. Not my cup of tea (I'm not a fan of 4-door slant-backs), but nice. I do have to admit that the huge liftback makes for easy cargo loading and unloading. Look at it!

There is no ducking your head to load stuff back there. There is 20.7 cubic feet of storage behind the rear seat, and 42 cubic feet with the seats folded down.

Up front are two comfortable seats in "Ebony with Santorini Blue" accents. Yes the interior is kind of monochromatic but I'm not one for a flashy interior.

Buick, like almost everyone else, says the rear seat will fit three. I remember a time when the rear seat (and some fronts) were not sculpted for two. Can we get back to that?

Given some of Buicks advertisements about the electronic connectivity of their models, the Envista was almost old school. By that I mean I wasn't overwhelmed by the technology; things were easy to use! And no fancy gearshift mechanism. That's not to say there isn't any tech, there is, it just isn't in your face and I didn't need the owner's manual to operate anything.

At first glance I thought the Envista sat up too high but you know what? It sure was easy to get in or out of. For some reason my wife didn't like the Envista; I found it to be a nice driving car.

Now comes one of the items I didn't like - the engine. I just can't cotton to a 3-cyliner engine. In theory the 1.2-liter, turbocharged 3-cylinder should return excellent fuel economy. Except it is rated no better than many 4-cylinder engines. The Envista is rated 28-mpg city and 32 highway. For comparison a 4-cylinder Honda Accord weighs around 220 lbs more than the 3,060 lb Envista and is rated at 29 city and 37 highway. The 3-cylinder makes 137 hp. I looked under the hood, there is more than enough room for a bigger engine. To top it off, every 3-cylinder I've driven has felt coarse. Ditch the three!

The power is delivered through a 6-speed automatic to the front wheels.

What was the other negative? A minor issue but it bothered me. I hate squeaks and rattles in a new car. The hard cargo cover rattled on rough roads. It should be an easy fix.

Now comes the good part - the price. The base price of a 2025 Envista Sport Touring is $26,195, the test version had an additional $2,025 in options. A base '25 Envista Preferred starts at $24,795. These are very affordable cars, and they are not bare bones versions. Prices are from buick.com.

If the 3-cylinder doesn't bother you (and I have no doubts about its reliability) visit a Buick dealer and try one. It looks like a good deal to me.