Beyond the Brochure: Unpacking the 2025 Buick Enclave ST’s Real-World Luxury Quotient
As an automotive expert with a decade entrenched in the nuanced shifts of the premium vehicle market, I’ve witnessed firsthand the relentless evolution of the three-row SUV segment. The year 2025 presents a landscape teeming with innovation, escalating consumer expectations, and fierce competition. It’s against this backdrop that we assess the 2025 Buick Enclave, specifically the all-wheel-drive ST (Sport Touring) variant—a vehicle that promises a fresh face and modernized tech, yet struggles to fully articulate its luxury SUV identity.
Buick’s strategic play with the Enclave ST is fascinating. Often, manufacturers lead with their top-tier trims, showcasing every opulent feature to set a high benchmark. Buick’s decision to send a mid-range ST model for evaluation might, paradoxically, be a stroke of insight. Stripped of the top-line Avenir’s more visible accoutrements, the Enclave ST reveals a fundamental question for potential buyers: Is its core proposition compelling enough to warrant its premium positioning, or does it simply blend into the crowded field of family-friendly SUVs?
At an asking price that hovers north of $61,000 for our test model, the Enclave ST isn’t just competing with mainstream full-sizers; it’s stepping into the ring with established luxury crossovers 2025 and highly competent premium alternatives. My analysis, built on extensive road time and deep dives into market data, suggests a mixed bag. The Enclave ST performs its utilitarian duties with commendable efficiency and an undeniable aesthetic appeal. However, the true measure of a luxury vehicle lies not just in its functionality, but in the intangible sense of indulgence and elevated experience it delivers. Here, the ST variant encounters some significant challenges.
The Pillars of Progress: What the 2025 Enclave ST Gets Right
Let’s begin by acknowledging where the 2025 Buick Enclave, particularly in its ST guise, truly shines. Buick has clearly invested in areas that resonate strongly with today’s three-row SUV buyers, showcasing a commitment to modernization and practical utility.
Aesthetic Resonance: The Wildcat’s Influence on Exterior Design
The first impression of the 2025 Enclave is undeniably positive. Its exterior styling, inspired by Buick’s stunning Wildcat concept car, marks a significant departure from previous generations. The vehicle exudes a contemporary, sophisticated presence without resorting to overt aggression. The slimmer, more modern lighting signatures, the bold grille, and the sculpted body lines coalesce into a visually appealing package. In an era where many large SUVs struggle to differentiate themselves, the Enclave’s handsome exterior styling genuinely stands out. It’s an important asset, attracting attention and conveying a sense of upmarket design that is crucial in the premium vehicle segments. This aesthetic success positions it well against rivals who often play it safe.
Strategic Space Management: A Focus on Passenger Comfort
For any family SUV, interior space and versatility are paramount. The Enclave ST excels here, offering a good balance of second- and third-row room. Buick understands its demographic: families and individuals who frequently transport multiple passengers. The second-row captain’s chairs provide generous legroom and comfort, making longer journeys palatable for adults. The third row, while not limousine-like, is genuinely usable for average-sized adults on shorter trips and highly accommodating for children, avoiding the claustrophobic feel sometimes found in competitors.
Furthermore, the Enclave’s cargo capacity is respectable, even with all seats deployed. The ability to fold the rear seats flat at the touch of a button transforms the SUV into a capable cargo hauler, underscoring its practical utility. This thoughtful design for both passengers and cargo truly enhances the value proposition luxury vehicles offer to active families.
Powertrain Modernization: Efficiency Meets Everyday Performance
A significant engineering shift for 2025 is the adoption of a new four-cylinder turbocharged engine, replacing the outgoing V-6. This move aligns perfectly with broader auto industry outlook 2025 trends emphasizing efficiency and emissions reduction without sacrificing everyday drivability. While some purists might lament the loss of the V-6, the new turbo-four delivers a welcome increase in EPA fuel economy, a crucial consideration for buyers facing fluctuating fuel costs. In real-world driving, the power delivery is smooth and adequate for most situations, from urban commuting to highway cruising. The “slight acceleration penalty” compared to the V-6 is barely perceptible in typical driving scenarios, making this a smart, forward-thinking powertrain choice that contributes to lower vehicle ownership cost over time.
Cutting-Edge Connectivity: Google Integration and Super Cruise
In the realm of automotive technology innovation, Buick has made significant strides. The integrated Google Assistant functionality is a genuine highlight. The large, curved infotainment screen—which appears to be a repurposed, inverted version of the Cadillac Vistiq’s display—serves as the command center. With Google built-in, users can install popular phone apps directly onto the vehicle’s OS, reducing reliance on phone mirroring. This push towards native app integration represents a significant trend in connected car features 2025, streamlining the user experience and offering more robust functionality.
Even more impressive is the availability of GM’s acclaimed Super Cruise system. As a MotorTrend Best Tech award winner in 2025, Super Cruise is a game-changer for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Its cautious, mapped-road approach to hands-free driving 2025 is remarkably effective and builds driver confidence. The fact that this sophisticated technology, previously exclusive to Cadillac, is now available in a Buick is a testament to the brand’s commitment to offering cutting-edge vehicle safety features 2025. It truly distinguishes the Enclave on long highway journeys.
The Unpolished Edges: Where the ST Fails to Dazzle
Despite its commendable advancements, the 2025 Enclave ST reveals some perplexing decisions that impede its ability to fully compete in the premium space. These shortcomings become particularly pronounced when held up against the rigorous standards of a discerning expert with an eye for detail and an understanding of luxury brand expectations.
Interior Ambience: A Study in Material Dissonance
The interior of the Enclave ST is where its “premium” aspirations genuinely stumble. The decision to limit the ST model to a monochrome black interior is a significant misstep. In 2025, interior design trends SUV favor rich textures, contrasting materials, and thoughtful color palettes to create a sense of warmth and luxury. The uniform black, while sleek in some applications, here merely serves to highlight the areas where material quality falls short. My eyes were repeatedly drawn to hard plastics on the lower dash and door panels, and instances of less-than-perfect fit and finish—rough edges, inconsistent panel gaps—that would be acceptable in a mainstream offering but are jarring in a vehicle asking over $60,000.
The center console, in particular, feels like an afterthought. Its design lacks the integrated elegance and functional sophistication seen in many rivals. Storage solutions are adequate but not innovative, and the overall execution feels more functional than inspired. This “indifferent fit and finish” significantly detracts from the interior material quality and the overall sense of occasion one expects from a vehicle marketed as a premium luxury crossover 2025.
Driving Dynamics: The “Snoozetastic” Reality
While the new turbocharged engine is competent, the overall driving experience of the Enclave ST is, to put it mildly, uninspired. It drives, yes, but it doesn’t engage, comfort, or excite in a way that aligns with luxury benchmarks. The ride quality, lacking the upgraded active shocks found in the Avenir trim, is merely adequate. It smooths out major imperfections but transmits too much road texture into the cabin for a supposedly premium vehicle.
Switching to “Sport” drive mode, rather than transforming the character of the vehicle, primarily results in the steering becoming “unbearably heavy,” without adding any meaningful feedback or precision. This lack of dynamic refinement speaks to a fundamental gap in engineering excellence when compared to competitors. The Enclave ST is a comfortable enough conveyance, but it fails to deliver the nuanced, refined, or even subtly exciting vehicle performance metrics that define top-tier comfort-focused SUVs. For those seeking a truly engaging or supremely plush ride, the ST variant falls short.
ADAS Gap: The Lane Centering Conundrum
Buick’s implementation of Super Cruise, while technically impressive, highlights a curious omission in other ADAS features. While Super Cruise offers hands-off driving on mapped highways, the moment you transition to an unmapped road, the Enclave ST offers no form of standard lane centering whatsoever. This is a critical deficiency in 2025. Many similarly sized and priced SUVs, and even some less expensive ones, provide a basic “hands-on” lane-keeping assist that actively helps center the vehicle within its lane.
This “no lane centering when not Super Cruising” policy feels like a short-sighted marketing decision. It creates an inconsistent driver experience comparison and positions the Enclave behind many competitors who offer a more comprehensive suite of advanced driver assistance systems across their trim levels. It’s a baffling compromise, especially when the underlying technology for such a feature is clearly within GM’s capabilities (as evidenced by its presence in Cadillac’s hands-on mode).
The Avenir Aspiration vs. Market Reality: Positioning the Enclave
The original article points out, quite rightly, that the Avenir trim addresses many of the ST’s shortcomings, adding a panoramic roof, a superior suspension system with active shocks, and a more visually appealing interior with higher-grade materials. The Avenir’s mid-$60,000s price point feels more justifiable given these enhancements. However, even the top-of-the-line Enclave still faces an uphill battle in a highly saturated and competitive market.
The Competitive Landscape: An Unforgiving Arena
The competitive SUV market analysis for 2025 shows brands like Hyundai and Kia, with their Palisade and Telluride models respectively, pushing mainstream luxury boundaries. The Hyundai Palisade, for instance, is routinely lauded for its opulent interiors, comprehensive features, and sophisticated design, often at a price point that makes the Enclave Avenir look “a little tatty.” These brands have successfully redefined what buyers expect from a near-luxury offering.
Even within GM’s own stable, the Enclave’s position is precarious. The Chevrolet Traverse, particularly in its High Country trim, offers a strikingly similar feature set, interior volume, and general capabilities at a slightly lower price point. When a sibling brand offers a comparable experience for less, it forces a critical evaluation of Buick’s unique selling proposition. Why pay more for the Enclave ST if the Traverse High Country delivers similar utility and perceived quality for $980 less, as noted in the original assessment? This highlights a fundamental challenge in Buick’s brand strategy—how to clearly differentiate itself as a true premium player, rather than just a slightly elevated mainstream option.
Buick’s Identity Crisis in 2025
In 2025, Buick continues to navigate its identity. Historically a pillar of American luxury, the brand has oscillated between offering truly upscale vehicles and serving as a bridge between mainstream and premium. The Enclave ST perfectly embodies this internal conflict. It’s a vehicle that’s “good and decent,” a thoroughly capable servant for families needing space and modern technology. Yet, it fails to be a “stand-out SUV” in a segment where distinctiveness, genuine luxury, and an uncompromising approach to quality are increasingly demanded.
The Enclave boasts Buick’s signature QuietTuning technology, which does a commendable job of isolating the cabin from road noise. But acoustic refinement alone isn’t enough to secure a top spot in the premium three-row SUV category. Buyers are looking for a cohesive package of design, material quality, dynamic performance, and technological sophistication that consistently delights.
Conclusion: An Invitation to Reconsider
The 2025 Buick Enclave ST AWD is a thoroughly modern, handsomely styled, and technologically capable vehicle in many respects. Its spacious interior, efficient new powertrain, and the integration of advanced features like Super Cruise and Google Assistant are commendable strides forward. However, the ST trim, specifically, stumbles in its execution of luxury. Inconsistent material quality, a monochromatic and somewhat uninspired cabin design, and the perplexing absence of basic lane centering outside of Super Cruise-mapped roads create a dissonance that undercuts its premium aspirations.
In a market as dynamic and competitive as 2025’s luxury crossover segment, buyers demand more than just capability; they expect an elevated experience that justifies the price of entry. The Enclave ST offers practicality and a pleasant exterior, but it struggles to deliver the tactile luxury and refined driving dynamics that truly define a premium vehicle in this era. For those seeking an unfussy, functional, and stylish family hauler with some genuinely excellent tech, the Enclave ST might still be a contender. But for buyers desiring an unequivocal sense of premium craftsmanship, uncompromising features, and a truly engaging driving experience, a deeper exploration of the alternatives is warranted.
For those navigating the complex choices of the 2025 SUV market, the nuances matter. We invite you to experience the Enclave firsthand and compare it against its rivals. Visit your local Buick dealership to schedule a personalized test drive, or consult with one of our automotive experts to discuss how the Enclave fits into your specific premium driving aspirations and long-term vehicle ownership cost considerations. Make an informed decision that truly reflects your definition of luxury and value.
