Our family recently had the opportunity to test out a 2013 Buick Enclave, courtesy of my friends at GM Canada. I love the chance to review cars – who wouldn’t? In our case, since we are a one-vehicle family any opportunity to drive a second vehicle gives us more freedom. Sometimes that freedom can come with a cost, when the vehicle is not suitable for a family of 5 and I find myself loving my minivan more during the review.
The Buick Enclave did not disappoint! We had a great time driving this vehicle for a week as a family of 5 and I also had the opportunity to take it on a road trip alone, testing out how the Enclave performs on the highway. The reasons are many, but here are my 5 reasons to love the 2013 Buick Enclave:
1. Seating for 7, without having to fold down any seats to get in and out.
The bucket seats in the second row give ample room for passengers, yet the space between them allows others to climb into the third row without having to remove any second-row car seats! For larger families this is a game-changer. It’s ridiculous to have to keep pulling out a booster seat to get a child into the third row yet I know people who do this. Why not simply make a crossover more efficient for families, I wondered. And then Buick did!
2. Safety.
The Buick Enclave features the industry’s first front-center airbag!
The front center air bag is an inflatable restraint designed to help protect drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes where the affected occupant is on the opposite, non-struck side of the vehicle. When a severe impact occurs, the air bag deploys in milliseconds from the inboard side of the driver’s seat and inflates between the driver and front passenger, providing added protection for both front occupants.
Other safety features include available Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert systems, standard head curtain side air bags with rollover protection for outboard occupants in all seating rows, standard StabiliTrak electronic stability control with rollover mitigation technology and standard rearview camera system and more. WOW.
3. The technology is perfect for families.
Our Buick Enclave came equipped with a rear DVD system, perfect for keeping the kids occupied on short and long trips. For mom and dad in the front, the Sirius XM Radio provided all the entertainment we needed, with an amazing stereo system. I appreciated the plug for my phone located right behind the middle console (which is helpful for second-row little techies as well!)
4. Families make noise, the Enclave doesn’t.
The Buick Enclave features “quiet tuning” which basically means they’ve managed to create enough insulation technology to keep outside noises out efficiently. Highway driving is surprisingly quiet. The ride is smooth, and you actually feel like you’re in a bit of a cocoon the way you are situated in the vehicle (I found that I sat lower and felt lower when at a drive-through window, for example). All of this combines to create a smooth, quiet ride – what more can a family ask for (beyond sleeping kids in that smooth, quiet ride right?)
5. Space
Coming from a van to this crossover, I wondered how much space I would be giving up. The Enclave can boast 23.3 feet of cubic space behind the third row – while you can get 115 cubic feet of space while folding down the second and third rows for transporting large items. For this family, I need to know what space I have behind the third row – because I need that third row. Still, the Enclave beats it’s competitors for cargo space behind the third row (The 2014 Acura MDX has 14.8 cubic feet, and the 2013 Volvo XC90 has 8.8) The hidden cargo space below the floor (seen above) gives you some additional storage for laptop bags, purses or other smaller bags. We could fit our stroller easily in the back, with room for shopping bags, but for larger hauls we’d have to take advantage of the 3rd row’s 60/40 split.
Our experience with the 2013 Buick Enclave was a good one and in chatting with other families online I’ve heard from Enclave owners who echo many of my own impressions. Next up, our family tests out the Chevrolet Traverse, which has been compared to the Buick Enclave (I consider it the little sister). In this case, we’re taking our review up a notch (or two, or three). We’re not only reviewing it as a family of 5 for everyday tasks but we’re taking it on a road trip from Saskatchewan to Calgary, Alberta! What will our experience be with the Chevrolet Traverse on our #familyroadtrip? Stay tuned!
I’m looking forward to reviewing the Traverse at the end of July on our family’s trip to BC. Fun fun!
Sounds lovely
Love your blog!
Great review! I love the amount of seating in the vehicle!
Great review. 😀
I love all the room in it. Would be great for road trips.
What a beautiful car!
I love the Side Blind Zone Alert plus other features. thanks for the heads up on this vehicle
Great storage area in the back!
Great review. Like the trunk space. I think it will definitely fit our big stroller and still have room for groceries.
My father worked in Fleet Leasing for years, and as a result has some very strong (and valid) opinions on car makers and car models. Buick has always been a steady brand – their cars are well made, and very reliable. Plus, I love the extra cargo room you’ve described. I don’t travel light, so to speak, and anything that gives me extra space is a blessing!
the ample of room for passengers, the first front-center airbag, the equipped dvd player, the quiet tuning feature and extra space just sounds all amazing.
Wowww so lucky to get a chance to review such a nice car, I really love its appearance and it seems that you can fit a lot of passengers.
I’d be sitting in the backseat with kiddies for the movies!
Love that the enclave has 7 seats and lots of space while being concerned with safety as well! Sounds like a great vehicle to own!
What a great looking car and so efficient for a family. The seats look so comfy too!
This is a great looking vehicle. I would love to review a car like this. I wouldn’t know where to start though. I love the idea of having so much seating space and then a large enough trunk space too. This would be so nice to take on a trip. Enjoy your Buick while you have it.
This sounds like the perfect vehicle for a large-sized family; however it’s a little too big for my needs.
Nice-looking vehicle! Seems quite spacious and I love the trunk!
This is a beautiful vehicle for big families.. which was a challenge we face as a family of 7 and occasionally, 10. Safety is always a concern especially when you travel the way we do, with so many monkeys in tow. This isn’t really ideal unless you can use the space.
I wonder if having a dvd player in a car when I was a child (I’ll just forget that they weren’t around) would have stopped myself and one of my sisters being constantly car sick – this stopped when we sit in the front of a car
The Buick Enclave is luxurious but functional.
That trunk is amazing — it’s like a trunk within a trunk!!!
Now that’s a car with space I could get excited about!
I love the hidden storage in the back and the plug in too! Perfect size for my family
WOW…it looks like a beautiful vehicle 🙂
We’re looking at a 7 passenger vehicle. We’re just a family of 4 but I love the extra space the third row would provide. And when the boys get older and have friends they want to invite out the extra room would be nice.
I liked your article 5 Reasons To Love the 2013 Buick Enclave.
This looks like a great family vehicle.
I like the extra room in the cargo space. I often wonder how much space there can be when there’s 3 rows of seating but this looks pretty good. Lovely interior.
Love those seats and the extra storage area. This is one of the nicer suv’s I’ve seen
Looks like it is a nice vehiclr. I like how there is seating for seven and the space between them. Looks like it doesn’t have too bad storage either. Only concern is leather seats, hot in summer cold in winter.
Nice review. Love to own one. Could use that seating space this summer.
very nice car i love the space wish i could afford one 🙁
This looks amazing. Lots of comfortable seating and the storage is fantastic.
Safety is definitely most important. What a beautiful vehicle.
We’ll be looking for a new vehicle soon. This will go on the list..love that hidden cargo space.
I love all the space behind the third row, it’s like having a mini van without having a mini van!
Nice looking vehicle. A little too big for us but I will let my friend know about this review because they are looking for a new vehicle.
Looks like an amazing vehicle!! My kids would be all over this, so would my hubby. I love test driving cars…I’m so glad you had the chance to try this and share the experience with us.
I’ll get my family to have a look at it. So far our minds were set on the mini van.
It’s the older of the Lamba based SUVs having been introduced for the 2008 MY. Funny enough it’s stablemate, the Acadia, is rumored to be killed off at the end of its life-cycle in 2015. For someone thinking long term it might be an idea to wait and pickup inventory clearance deals on that model.
Interesting! We just purchased a Honda Pilot after looking at Buick Enclaves and Chevrolet Traverses (along with minivans!). One week in…and we absolutely love it.
Buick brings me back to my childhood. Always a name my dad trusted. Back in the day though if you wanted to seat 7 it had to be without seatbelts. I love that it seats 7!
Hey – we’re a one-car family too. I think the space would be the best element along with the quietness of driving it.
Wow what a pretty car! My first car was a buick and it was very reliable
awesome storage….
What a great looking car.
wow there’s so much space in there! Great review!
Wow, this looks like an amazing vehicle. With our growing family this would suit us perfectly!
Love the space!!
We had a look at these a few weeks ago and I loved the inside of them, but the small rear side window is an issue for me.
I would LOVE to have one of these. So luxurious!!
I like that it has lots of seating, yet doesn’t look like a minivan.
Now THAT is a slick ride! I can’t believe the amount of seating it has and yet still doesn’t have the classic mini van look to it!
Looks like it has a good amount of storage room. Once you throw a stroller into the mix it often leaves no extra space
Ok, I’m in love. I like how it has a third row and still has lots of storage space.
Love the look of this car that fits *7*?!
WOW I am not a fan of Buick by anymeans, but this is sure sharp looking and has a lot of great features that I would definately want in a vehicle!
It looks like the perfect car for the family.
Would love any car right now, but this one definitely has my name on it!
Looks like a great vehicle for our camping trips….room for people AND gear, that would be a dream! The DVD system is over the top….way better than the car bingo we played on trips when I was a kid!
great review. it actually looks pretty luxurious and the seating is awesome. i really like the alert safety features and would love to have the side blind zone alert. impressive vehicle for sure.
We test drove the Buick Enclave just last month, it is on our shortlist. My husband would have purchased it right then and there but I have to do more research..lol. Your article has given me more food for thought, it really is an awesome car!
I’ve always been a fan of these but this years model seems to die for!
I love that it doesn’t look like a minivan or station wagon! We’ve been considering a new car with more seating, but that would be a dealbreaker for me.
Great car for a family!
Oh wow, it looks like a great car!! I was never a fan of Buicks until recently, but they have a lot of great features!
Oh my gosh I absolutely LOVE the luggage storage area behind the third row seat! And the front middle airbag is an awesome idea!
Wow, I’ve always thought these SUV’s were sharp but wow!!! It’s so spacious and innovative I can’t believe it!
I can’t believe how spacious this car is!
What a gorgeous vehicle! I love everthing about it, especially that it seat up to 7!
Great car! Super for families!
Great review. I love the look of this vehicle. And I love the seating. And especially the doors. (Pet peeve are the mini van sliding doors) Looks like a great family car.
The Buick Enclave is a beautiful SUV, I really like that it blocks the outside noise. The storage is awesome, hard to believe it is a 7 seat vehicle and looks this great.