For the 2022 model year, the Buick Encore gets a power bump and a few new conveniences. But not much else.
On one hand, it’s hard to blame Buick for keeping the Encore more or less intact. Buick sells more Encores than any other vehicle. In the highly competitive subcompact SUV segment, that’s no small feat.
On the other, it’s getting long-in-the-tooth. It currently sits last in our rankings of the best subcompact luxury SUVs. It also competes with its own newer sibling, the Encore GX – a vehicle in the same segment with almost the same name.
Buick has not announced prices for the 2022 Encore. The 2021 edition starts at $24,395, plus $1,195 destination fee. We expect the 2022 edition to see a small price increase to compensate for the upgrades.
The 2022 edition is powered by a turbocharged 1.4-liter 4-cylinder engine making 155 horsepower. That’s 17 more hp than the 2021 model. The same 6-speed automatic transmission sends power to the front wheels. All-wheel-drive (AWD) is available. That option added $2,020 to the price of last year’s Encore. That gives it reliable performance but makes it one of the slowest models in its class.
The front-drive Encore gets 24 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway or 27 mpg combined. Buyers pay only a slight penalty for more grip. The AWD model gets 23/30/26 mpg.
Buick has upgraded the Encore’s heater for 2022. Both driver’s and passenger’s seats now come with map pockets in the seatbacks. Active noise-canceling technology should help keep out road noise. Apple Carplay and Android Auto are standard with the 7-inch touchscreen.
Buyers can add a pair of safety packages. One adds blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. The other includes rain-sensing wipers, forward-collision alert, lane-departure warning, and parking assists.
