2012 Buick Enclave Premium

The Buick Enclave is a luxury crossover sport utility vehicle that seats seven or eight, offers big cargo space, and gets good fuel economy and performance. As a large midsize crossover, it offers the space of a truck-based SUV yet it is built using car-like unibody construction. Enclave features a modern cabin, with stylish illumination, crisp graphics, genuine wood trim and nice leather. The seats are comfortable, and it can be ordered with a second-row bench seat or luxurious captain's chairs, depending on whether seven- or eight-passenger capacity is needed. There's lots of convenient cubby storage and the Enclave offers 115 cubic feet of cargo space with all the seats folded down. With the optional trailering package, it can tow up to 4,500 pounds, though we'd prefer the truck-based GMC Yukon for serious towing. Enclave rates 5 stars in frontal and side crash for both front and rear occupants, and 4 in rollover, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Luxurious, practical and safe, it's an excellent vehicle. Enclave shares its basic platform with the GMC Acadia and Chevy Traverse, but they are not the same and its styling is considerably different from its siblings. The cabin is what sets the Buick Enclave apart from other seven- and eight-passenger crossovers. Starting with the double-wave dashboard and instrument panel and going all the way back to the rear cargo floor, it's as modern as tomorrow and as functional as a Swiss Army knife. The Enclave gets high marks for storage space and flexibility. There's 23.2 cubic feet of cargo room just inside the power tailgate behind the third row, 67.5 cubic feet with the third-row seats down and 115.3 cubic feet with both rows folded. Another four cubic feet of storage space is found under the rear cargo floor. And if you need to, you can flop the front passenger seat over as well for extra-long cargo. Up front, the Enclave has storage on top of the dash for sunglasses, iPods, and cell phones.