I’m thrilled to report, the water was delicious. The people were more Mercedes or BMW affluent types. And the car…the car surprised me. American cars, even post-bankruptcy fallout, featured novelty features and ergonomics improvements. The exterior and interior designs also showed signs of improvement, gradually edging ever so much closer to borderline extremely impressive. The Avenir, based upon the seven passenger Enclave crossover that Buick already sells, is loaded with actually appealing standard and optional treats.
A cabin air ionizing filter, a rear view mirror camera, and truly next level LED headlamps all caught me off guard. This is stuff I’d expect to see in a BMW 5-Series. Meaning, if I bought a 540i tomorrow, I’d expect this level of equipment.
The build quality? Holy moly. GM is really there! And, in a Buick! The colorway of the interior was modern, pleasing, and revealing (i.e. not just all black). The leather was smooth, the gaps were minuscule, and interior trim had that unique comforting feel like you’d expect in that 5-Series or Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
Buick, you’ve come a long way since straining to get Tiger Woods to sell your cars. You haven’t sold cloth bench seat grandpa-mobiles in a long time, but still, you’re generations ahead of where you were a few years ago. You’re on the map. The real map, not the “wow GM is doing really well, but not well enough for me” map. That leads us to the biggest question of all.
Would I buy one? No. But, only because it’s way more than an unmarried 30-something needs. If I had a wife and two kids? I’d test drive one ASAP – very impressive.
-Jack Wilson