For the 2022 model year, the Buick Encore subcompact SUV will be available in just one trim level – the Preferred. It will retail for $24,600. That’s exactly the same sticker price as the 2021 Encore Preferred.
Technically, it counts as a price increase. But only because Buick has eliminated the cheaper $23,200 base model.
Buick also charges a $1,195 destination fee — up from $995 in 2021.
The sticker price may be unchanged, but the car you get offers more. The 1.4-liter 4-cylinder engine now makes 155 horsepower – 17 more than last year’s Encore.
Inside, buyers get a new electric heater and defroster, which should heat up faster than the old model. The central touchscreen, however, has shrunk by an inch. It’s now just 7 inches diagonally. It will, however, display outside temperature thanks to a new sensor.
Stepping down to one trim level may be a sign that the Encore is on its way out. Buick already makes another subcompact SUV – the Encore GX – that offers more room, more in-cabin technology, and a better driving experience for a sticker that’s $1,000 more. Trimming the Encore from the lineup would be logical, though Buick hasn’t formally said that will happen.
In a normal year, we’d tell you that the end of a model creates an opportunity to get it at a significant discount. But this isn’t a normal year. With the nationwide supply of new cars at about one-third of normal, the average new car sold for a record $46,329 in November.
Class of 2022: All the New and Redesigned Cars, Trucks, and SUVs
