Buick News: $24,950 For A 2013 Buick Encore

[Drew Dowdell]

I wonder how long before people say enough is enough I am tired of being shoved into a sardine can.

I do not see compact/sub compact taking over the world from the mid size. I do sadly see the full size reducing to a niche market.

At 5'10" 170lbs, I am the statistical median American male. I don't at all feel the Encore or Escape are sardine cans. I really enjoyed my time in the Escape (as you will read in my review).

[David]

I wonder how long before people say enough is enough I am tired of being shoved into a sardine can.

I do not see compact/sub compact taking over the world from the mid size. I do sadly see the full size reducing to a niche market.

At 5'10" 170lbs, I am the statistical median American male. I don't at all feel the Encore or Escape are sardine cans. I really enjoyed my time in the Escape (as you will read in my review).

Looking forward to it.

[hyperv6]

This vehicle will offer what the others don't. The level of luxury will be a cut above even the Titainum Ford.

[smk4565]

It isn't so much the exterior size, but the interior room that matters. People will buy small cars, especially as big cars get more and more expensive and gas goes up. But I think the Encore doesn't have enough to justify the price. Do people really want this over a Mini or VW product that have a bit more cool factor than a Buick? Or a CR-V or Escape that have more room and power for the same price. Tough sell for Buick here I think

[A Horse With No Name]

.

NeonLX, that is a WICKED Gremlin!

Agreed, I grew up in Wisconsin and always had a soft spot for AMC products...WICKED gremlin indeed!

[Drew Dowdell]

You should wait till you sit in it and drive it I think.

[A Horse With No Name]

This vehicle will offer what the others don't. The level of luxury will be a cut above even the Titainum Ford.

If the Verano I drove was any indication, methinks your right!

You should wait till you sit in it and drive it I think.

the Gremlin?

Encore is perfect for the times, but the price is too high.

Size is just right, one class size below the likes of the CRV etc....some folks think those are too big.

The SX4's I USED to sell, just a practical partial size larger.......think of the Encore as Vibe sized. But taller perhaps. Or maybe a bit smaller than the Vibe.....The Vibe that is gone, the same size as the Suzuki SX4 companion / replacement next year, the S-Cross.

Did you stop selling Suzuki's?

[Drew Dowdell]

This vehicle will offer what the others don't. The level of luxury will be a cut above even the Titainum Ford.

If the Verano I drove was any indication, methinks your right!

You should wait till you sit in it and drive it I think.

the Gremlin?

that was directed to SMK commenting about the Encore.

[David]

Over all, I think Buick is perfectly set for selling allot of these Encores to the baby boom crowd and the 40-50's age crowd that wants a Small American built CUV with AWD. I see lots of these being sold as I do not see any other provider in this segment.

[hyperv6]

Over all, I think Buick is perfectly set for selling allot of these Encores to the baby boom crowd and the 40-50's age crowd that wants a Small American built CUV with AWD. I see lots of these being sold as I do not see any other provider in this segment.

I think you are correct. This is not a car for many here but if you look at the market it is fresh for a vehicle like this.

I do not see it for just 40-50's but even younger women who are tired of paying $80 or more to fill up their larger SUV's,

This vehicle also give those who do not want to pay $40K or more a chance to own a car that presents many luxury features.

I bet many in California right now with $5+ gas would love to have one right now.

[David]

Over all, I think Buick is perfectly set for selling allot of these Encores to the baby boom crowd and the 40-50's age crowd that wants a Small American built CUV with AWD. I see lots of these being sold as I do not see any other provider in this segment.

I think you are correct. This is not a car for many here but if you look at the market it is fresh for a vehicle like this.

I do not see it for just 40-50's but even younger women who are tired of paying $80 or more to fill up their larger SUV's,

This vehicle also give those who do not want to pay $40K or more a chance to own a car that presents many luxury features.

I bet many in California right now with $5+ gas would love to have one right now.

For California right now, people would buy this by the thousands if it was CNG and included a Fuelmaker Phill or FMQ 2-36 unit for home fueling as Natural gas on the average of $1 is awesome compared to the current $5+ price right now.

[regfootball]

This vehicle will offer what the others don't. The level of luxury will be a cut above even the Titainum Ford.

If the Verano I drove was any indication, methinks your right!

You should wait till you sit in it and drive it I think.

the Gremlin?

Encore is perfect for the times, but the price is too high.

Size is just right, one class size below the likes of the CRV etc....some folks think those are too big.

The SX4's I USED to sell, just a practical partial size larger.......think of the Encore as Vibe sized. But taller perhaps. Or maybe a bit smaller than the Vibe.....The Vibe that is gone, the same size as the Suzuki SX4 companion / replacement next year, the S-Cross.

Did you stop selling Suzuki's?

no longer selling cars.......did that for 18 months....finally after nearly 4 years i am back to doing what i used to do...(albeit still at a lot less dough than precrash)

[ocnblu]

Cheapest 6 cylinder AWD Terrain is $31,410 for an SLE-2.

reg, congrats, I hope. If you're doing what you want to do, hopefully the money will come.

[hyperv6]

I see the V6 Terrains advertised for in the high 20's at the dealers and I am sure you can come off that some more.

The Terrain we have is a SLT2 with everything but video and AWD and it stickered right at $35,000 and we got it around $32,000 out the door if I can recall with out looking it up. With them selling well you do have to shop around buy can do better at some dealers than others. I had others that would not budge on price much as they knew they would sell it if you did not buy it.

We shopped Nox's for several years and few dealers would come off much on a LTZ V6. At first they would not come off anything when they were hard to come by.

These vehicles were a good test for GM to manage inventory and keep prices and profits up for them and the dealers.

[ocnblu]

For me, the Terrain is the better looking sibling v. the Equinox. I also like the Trax and wish it were coming here to the USA.

The Encore, as has been stated and which is the proper topic in this thread, is somewhat of a pioneer in that there is nothing else like it on the market. That will allow it to build stremf pretty quickly, as the Verano has done over the last several munts. I do believe it will sell well.

EDIT: I've been crying over colors for no reason. The Build & Price site is up, complete with visualizations of all the available color combinations. Mine is going to be Brilliant Blue with the 5-spoke rims... not too girly in that color, with those rims. Sweet little monkey in a suit!

I wish I could figure out how to post "my" Encore here in the thread. Any helpers? I've put it as my desktop background.

Edited October 14, 2012 by ocnblu

[ocnblu]

http://cgi.buick.com...true&country=US

Cool, a link works!

Edited October 14, 2012 by ocnblu

[A Horse With No Name]

Congrats, REG!

[ocnblu]

Apparently, GM thought they'd have about 1500 Encores ordered by dealers at this point, but the actual number is more like 9000. So Buick dealers are excited. Hopefully they'll be a quick turnaround for them.

[A Horse With No Name]

Buick is rocking!

[hyperv6]

This was one of those vehicles where GM catched hell for making it a Buick but if they had made it a Chevy would have caught hell for being too expensive for a Chevy.

It is where it needs to be and will do well.

Edited October 31, 2012 by hyperv6

[ocnblu]

Ruess (sp?) basically said the Trax did not come here because it has the "old" Chevy face. Gives me immense hope for the US Colorado.

[hyperv6]

Ruess (sp?) basically said the Trax did not come here because it has the "old" Chevy face. Gives me immense hope for the US Colorado.

I really don't think that was totally honest. Lets face it if they thought it was a really good idea they could have redone the nose if needed. But that is just my feeling,.

I tend to thing the Nox moving to the Delta II is the real reason. Mark could not really say anything on this as all that is known for sure is what platform it will be on. With it going to Delta II should make it smaller and lighter. It also by my estimate will only have a 2.5 and 2.0 Turbo with no V6 option. They need to get more MPG out of this thing and that is the only way they will do it.

I love my Terrain but it is too damn heavy for what it is. Very solid but too heavy.

[ocnblu]

Well he gave other reasons, and I'm sure he has more he's not willing to lay out. Not the least of which is maximizing profits per unit, I'm sure. They can charge more for it with a waterfall grille.

[riviera74]

http://cgi.buick.com...true&country=US

Cool, a link works!

Nice color combo. Is it just me or does the Encore look like a strange combo of a Vibe and a poorly-shrunken Enclave?

[ocnblu]

It's not just you. It is an odd vehicle that takes some getting used to.

[hyperv6]

I agree it is kind of odd in some ways and normal in others.

The front and rear are fine but the side view is not what you expect out of a Buick. Long low and sleek are no longer what Buicks are about. If it increases sales and profit I say go for it.

To be honest it is just hard to package great styling into a small package as you have so much less to work with. Just look at the Smart, IQ and Spark.

[ocnblu]

Here are a couple of safety videos featuring the Encore's donor car, the Opel Mokka:

[Drew Dowdell]

Do you know what the ratings ended up being?

[ocnblu]

No, I'm sorry, these come from a page I subscribe to on YouTube. I guess I could go in and look at the vids on YouTube and see if the results are in the description. I know you and your SO are interested in an Encore.

[Drew Dowdell]

well, I'm publishing an article about the encore on Thursday, so I might include it in the notes.

[ocnblu]

Maybe an NCAP site could yield some answers. That pole test looks like it took its toll, but the frontal test looks good, and Stabilitrak took care of business quite nicely, imo.

[ocnblu]

[Drew Dowdell]

If you have questions about the encore, I'm surrounded by the Encore engineers for the next 24 hours. Get them in now.

[ocnblu]

How does the AWD system work? What is the max percentage of torque that can go to the rear wheels under low traction conditions? Is the rear differential a limited slip, either electric or mechanical?

[GMTruckGuy74]

I'm actually starting to like the design of this car more. The wife is absolutely in love with it and lately has been telling others about it. I don't know if we'll make it to the Philly Auto Show January 19 before we go and check this car out in person (dealership visit). My salesman will email or call me once they get it in.