2024 Buick Envista Sport Touring

Buick introduced the Envista, a completely new model, in 2024. With its narrow, angled headlights and taillights and coupe-like fastback roof, it’s a stylish entry in the compact crossover segment. We tested the midlevel Sport Touring trim, which comes with black 18-inch wheels, mirror housings, and body trim and black faux-leather seats with blue stitching. Fundamentally, the Envista offers good value; the price on the base Preferred trim level starts at just $23,495, including shipping. The cabin provides lots of headroom and legroom front and rear, and the Envista has plenty of desirable standard features (rear-seat reminder, an 11-inch infotainment touch screen, and LED headlights with auto high beams, for example). Standard advanced safety features include automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, and lane-keeping assistance. Adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warning, and rear cross-traffic are available in the Advanced Safety package ($595). But in some ways, the Envista’s sporty, upscale appearance promises more than it delivers. Power from the sole available powerplant, a noisy 1.2-liter turbocharged 3-cylinder engine (137 hp), is pretty anemic, and the driving experience isn’t at all engaging. Additionally, the climate-control system is only single-zone, all-wheel drive is unavailable, and rear visibility is compromised by the sloping roofline.