2024 Buick Envista: Nice vehicle, nice price, but lacking some niceties

2024 Buick Envista Avenir FWD: A little bit of something new from Buick?

Price: $30,490 as tested. Avenir Advanced Safety Package added $795 for adaptive cruise, lane-change alert, rear cross-traffic alert, and power side mirrors.

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “high-end appearance, well-controlled ride, surprisingly low price tag,” but not the “poky acceleration, no all-wheel drive option, interior not quite up to luxury-car standards.”

Marketer’s pitch: “Refined has been redefined.”

Reality: I’d almost hand over 30 grand for this, but for a couple shortfalls.

What’s new: There are certain new vehicles that are on my radar and everyone else’s. Others just slip by unnoticed.

The new-for-2024 Buick Envista happened upon my driveway in the latter category. I didn’t know what to expect, which I guess meant I couldn’t be disappointed, right?

The once-mighty American brand is down to just four models now; the Envista sits at the bottom of the lineup, cheaper than the tiny-but-tall Encore. Up higher are the Envision and Enclave.

Though considered a crossover, the Envista is pretty much a sedan with a sloped roofline, à la the Mazda3. (In fact, that was the first thought that sprang to my mind: “Boy, that looks like a bigger Mazda3.”)

Competition: Chevrolet Trax, Hyundai Kona, Mazda CX-30, Subaru Crosstrek, Volkswagen Taos.

Up to speed: The little 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine creates a miniscule 137 horses for powering the vehicle. It doesn’t feel too awful under most conditions, unless you’re pushing it from a standing start. It seems to handle country-road hills and even big highway entrance ramp climbs fine.

Still, the numbers are pitiful. Car and Driver reports that it took 9.3 seconds to hit 60 mph. Pack some patience.

Shifty: Speaking of boredom, the six-speed automatic transmission has only the standard GM Button of Ennui for changing the gears yourself. So combine an old-fashioned automatic with no real shifting capabilities, and you’ll find yourself with a slow ride that lacks performance. They could make this feel a little more peppy if the automatic was shiftable or if there was an actual stick.

On the road: You’d think the “FWD” designator in the name would indicate there’s another counterpart, but no such luck. The Envista comes only in front-wheel-drive form, so it’s more like a Mazda3 than you’d think, although it’s also like a Kia Soul and Chevrolet Trax.

The handling is far less wonky than many front-powered units, probably because horsepower is so limited. The Envista performed nicely on highways and not embarrassingly on country roads.

Driver’s Seat: Upon opening the door of the Envista, I was greeted by a pair of bucket seats that I swear took me back 50 years to the 1973 Chevy Nova. The plainly adorned seats feature almost no bolster, and that’s how I remember the white vinyl seats of my uncle’s base model Nova, which even featured a three-speed manual on the floor. (Truth be told, that squeaky old shifter might have enhanced the Envista driving experience).

Look forward, though, and the dashboard is far more updated. The Envista has a tech-y screen for speedometer and other gauges. You can easily add more information to the instrument cluster. In any case, points for user-friendliness, if I can figure it out just from icons.

Friends and stuff: The rear seat is actually one of the bright spots for Envista occupants — it’s not too uncomfortable, and it’s kind of spacious. The floor is almost perfectly flat, making the middle seat not too terrible.

The seat itself is fairly bench-like, though, and the headrest sits at an awkward angle.

Cargo space is an acceptable 20.7 cubic feet behind the rear seat and a very tiny 42 with the seat folded, illustrating the Envista’s long, low profile.

Play some tunes: The infotainment touchscreen handles most of the work, along with a stubby volume knob that caused me to hit the touchscreen and reset things a lot.

At least the 11-inch touchscreen is clear and easy to get back to the right place.

Sound from the system is not that great, about a B+.

Keeping warm and cool: The HVAC system does OK for a small car, and the seat heaters are a nice touch for this price point. Toggles handle all the selections, making control simple.

Fuel economy: I’d have been so much more impressed if this number were higher, but it was a disappointing 27 mpg, despite a long day of driving on some highways.

Where it’s built: Bupyeong-gu, South Korea

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Envista reliability to be a 3 out of 5.

In the end: If not for the seats, the acceleration, and the lack of all-wheel drive, I’d be ready to part with some money for this Envista.

Come to think of it, I guess that’s a lot of missing pieces. Looks like the Mazda CX-30 would fill in the blanks, although there’s a literal price to pay. The Hyundai Kona or Subaru Crosstrek offer other good ways to go.