[MCA]

Hello Forum members:
My wife bought a new Envision Premium 1 this summer, and we enjoy driving it -- about 4500 kms on it now. We haven't seen too many of these on the roads here, so we feel we stand out. Best features I think are the quiet cabin, the fine leather upholstery, the infotainment thing, and the many comfort features. We are enjoying the Sirius radio but haven't decided if we will keep it. (Not enough classical music stations to suit me.) We have one problem, which I hope will be fixed when we take it to the dealer shortly: there is a rattle somewhere in the exhaust I think. I had this problem long ago with a Honda and it was caused by heat shields around the exhaust components. At least I think this is the problem. But because the car is so quiet it's quite noticeable at certain speeds.

 

[Napoleon]

Welcome to the forum!
Hopefully its just the heatshield and not an exhaust hanger but as long as you go to the dealer in good timing then you shouldn't have an issue.

What other vehicles were you guys looking at before getting the Envision?

 

[MCA]

Thanks for your interest and words of welcome. I was looking at trading my 2010 Rav4 earlier in the year and looked at the new Rav, the CRV, Escape, and Mazda CX5. I then decided I loved my old Rav too much to lay out 30,000 on something new. But my wife must have caught my new car fever. She's always been a Buick fan and was annoyed when they stopped making the LeSabre. She tried the Encore but found it too small (golf clubs wouldn't fit), then they were offering a really good deal on a Terrain with a V/6 -- I liked that one. She looked at the Envision but thought it was too pricey, until they came out with a big discount. That closed the deal. This is probably too much information, but get me started on cars and I don't know how to shut up.

 

[NormT]

Please keep posting your car opinions! Love to hear your opinion of the Envision. Our lease is up soon on our Terrain SLT.

 

[General]

A starting price of $34,065 isn't too bad for a Buick, but it could deter potential buyers from going for the brand. What did you end up paying for your Envision?

 

[MCA]

Prices in Canada are a lot higher than in the US. The Premium 1 with navigation was listed at over 49,000. This particular one had a discount of 7,000, so the before trade price was about 42,000.

 

[NormT]

Between $7,000-10,000 is the discount in the states but is limit geographically. But some dealerships will work with you on price and have no problems shipping hundreds of miles away.

 

[MCA]

Just discovered the Envision has that hands free thing on the tailgate. I was washing the car and suddenly the gate went up. Nice feature providing your balance is good enough to stand on one leg and kick the other one without falling over.

 

[NormT]

I was loading up the back seat with stuff plus my while my Mom's jack Russell running around the Envision. The hatch opened an I thought I squeezed the remote in my pocket so I closed and made another trip to the car with the cracks Russell running around. This time being conscious of the remote in my pocket....it happened again! The Jack Russell is just the right height to fit under the bumper.

 

[vic1212]

Just discovered the Envision has that hands free thing on the tailgate. I was washing the car and suddenly the gate went up. Nice feature providing your balance is good enough to stand on one leg and kick the other one without falling over.

That's honestly a much better design compared to the standing still design that Hyundai and Kia have

 

[Napoleon]

I remember seeing Ford do it first and was impressed by that, good to see that Buick did it here. But then again aren't the two related? Unless those ties were cut a while back. Regardless, at least we are getting similar features between these american car makers.

 

[MCA]

There are a lot of nice features in the Envision. We've just put over 6,000 kms on it so I have a few more observations. It's very quiet on the road, very little road noise, a typical Buick ride that is smooth and comfortable. The motor has lots of power for passing quickly and smoothly. Seats are supportive and comfy for us, neither of us being very tall or wide! Gas mileage is excellent, averaging around 8.2 litres per 100 kms, better than my Rav 4 (not as good as the old Malibu.) I love all the usb ports, etc. and the infotainment system works well. The safety warnings are welcome, especially that one that warns you with flashing red lights on the windshield if you come up too fast on a car ahead. Some negatives -- don't expect it to handle like a sports car, quite a bit of lean on sharp curves; the telephone can't understand me for some reason, and I speak clearly I think. I haven't dared to try any other voice commands. I don't find the navigation system is too smart. It doesn't seem to recognize newer streets etc. Perhaps it needs updating. Anyway, it's a great highway cruiser and we are enjoying the ride.

 

[NormT]

We need some more owners to post fuel economy numbers!

http://www.fuelly.com/car/buick/envision

 

[MCA]

Has anyone else noticed how easily the paint can be scratched? We have a black Envision and a couple of stone marks on the hood and a scratch on the windshield pillar which show "white." They are very surface scratches. Why would they show white?

 

[NormT]

My wife wife likes to push the traffic out of her way on the highway. She is also getting addicted to the 2.0T power. I've notice some chips on the hood and on the grill. Looks like I'll be buying some 3M clear bra to out on before winter time.

 

[vic1212]

One reason I regret getting a dark color like black.

 

[General]

I expected better from Buick, but not surprised that the quality of their paint is not up to scratch. Other manufacturers are cutting corners as well. Or it could be a case of large pebbles hitting the body.

 

[MCA]

A follow-up on the rattle issue. We had the car back to the dealer yesterday an they think they have found a fix for the rattle. This is how they described it: Find concern may fall under #17-NA-059. Correction: Reprogram and setup rear diff clutch control module.
We haven't had a chance to drive it enough to find out if it has been fixed. Here's hoping. By the way the Envision is pretty rare around here. They've only sold a couple of them at the large GM dealer in town.

 

[NormT]

Found this:

Some customers may comment on when mostly driving on a smooth road, a metallic gear type rattle can be heard when cruising between 72 to 85 km/h (45 and 53 mph).

This condition may be caused by the rear differential clutches turning off when the vehicle is in 6th gear and cruising at a steady rate of speed above 70 km/h (44 mph) for more than 10 seconds.

If the rattling noise has been validated to be caused by the condition listed, the Rear Differential Clutch Control Module (RDCCM) must be updated to the latest software calibrations available.

The rear differential shuts off at speeds of 44 mph on up. This is to improve fuel economy at speeds where the AWD is not needed. In China, like the newer GM SUVs can manually select FWD or AWD. The Envision is automatic which is good as just turning the wheel and tipping in the throttle will cause the inside wheel to slip before the others catch on.

 

[MCA]

Thanks, Norm, for this info. This seems to have fixed the problem. We had a drive the other day and didn't notice the rattle. On another matter, today I ordered some winter floor mats from the dealer which look pretty good in the pictures anyway. I checked Weathertech, but they were more expensive (159 CDN vs. 129 at GM). And these have the Buick logo on them!