2022 Buick Envision

The 2022 Envision is a carry-over of the second generation launched for 2021, with one engine across Preferred, Essence and Avenir: the 2.0L turbocharged LSY four rated at 228 hp. There is no upgrade engine, so 228 hp is both the volume-trim figure and the model-range maximum.

Peak torque of 258 lb-ft arrives at just 1,500 rpm and holds to 4,000, which is what lets a 3,900 lb crossover with modest horsepower feel adequate in everyday driving.

Instrumented testing of the AWD Envision returns 7.3 seconds to 60 mph, with FWD versions a tenth or so quicker. Mid-pack for a compact SUV and slow for one carrying a premium price and premium positioning.

The 2.0T is quiet and unobtrusive at cruise — Buick's stated priority — and reviewers report little turbo lag from a stop, but the engine is uniformly described as adequate rather than eager and turns coarse near its power peak. The auto stop/start is the most-cited refinement complaint. Squarely mid-band: smooth in normal use, unremarkable under load.

GM's nine-speed automatic is the sole gearbox and is generally smooth and well-spaced in relaxed driving — reviewers describe smooth, quick gear changes and steady ratio-holding on grades — but owners report occasional jerky low-speed shifts and unhurried kickdown. No meaningful manual mode and no paddles on volume trims.

Buick rates the 2022 Envision at 1,500 lbs with a factory-approved hitch — enough for a small utility trailer or a pair of jet skis and nothing more. That sits near the floor of the SUV towing band.

All-wheel drive is optional on every 2022 trim — Preferred, Essence and Avenir — so it is widely available rather than reserved for the top of the range, but it is a basic on-demand system with a driver-selectable disconnect: no low range, no locking differentials, no terrain-mode suite. Textbook middle band.

An entirely pavement-oriented crossover: 6.7 inches of ground clearance — low even by compact-crossover standards — no skid plates, no off-road trim, no terrain modes, no low range, and road-biased all-season tires on 18- or 20-inch wheels. Snow-covered pavement is the limit of its remit.

One engine, one transmission, take it or leave it: the 2.0L turbo four with the nine-speed automatic is the only powertrain on any 2022 Envision. No hybrid, no plug-in, no EV variant, not even a second gas engine — the only driveline choice is FWD versus AWD, and the 2022 changes were cosmetic (revised Sport Touring package, red stitching on Essence, a new paint colour).

EPA rates the 2022 Envision at 25 MPG combined with all-wheel drive and 26 MPG with front-wheel drive. Respectable for a 228-hp turbo compact SUV running on regular unleaded, but with no hybrid option anywhere in the range it cannot approach the class leaders.

22 MPG in the city for the AWD volume configuration. Auto stop/start helps, but a turbo four hauling a ~3,900 lb crossover with no electric assist lands mid-pack; the lighter FWD car does notably better at 24 MPG.

The Envision's best showing is on the highway, where the nine-speed's tall top gears (0.62:1 ninth, 3.47 final drive) return 29 MPG in AWD form and 31 MPG in FWD — above the compact-SUV midpoint.

A 16.1-gallon tank on the AWD Envision at its 25 MPG combined rating gives roughly 400 miles between fills; the FWD car's 15.9-gallon tank and 26 MPG rating work out to about 413 miles. Adequate but unremarkable — the modest tank keeps it well short of longer-legged rivals.

EPA's standard-assumption annual fuel cost is $2,450 for the AWD Envision and $2,350 for FWD — held down materially by the engine's certification on regular unleaded, which most premium-badged rivals cannot match.

The 2.0L turbo is certified on regular 87-octane unleaded, not premium — an unusual and genuinely valuable trait in a premium-positioned compact SUV, where Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus and Volvo rivals typically want 91+. Nothing costly or complicated about keeping one fueled.

NHTSA crash-tested the 2022 Envision directly in both drivelines and awarded 5 stars overall, with 5-star frontal (driver and passenger alike), 5-star side barrier and 5-star side pole results — no sub-rating drops below 5. Only rollover sits at 4 stars, which is the normal result for a raised crossover and reflects centre-of-gravity geometry rather than any structural weakness; the vehicle recorded 'No Tip' in the dynamic manoeuvre.

The IIHS has never crash-tested the second-generation Envision, so the 2022 car has no small-overlap, moderate-overlap, side, roof or head-restraint result of its own and holds no Top Safety Pick of any kind. The widespread dealer and aggregator claims that the Envision is a TSP+ with Good marks across the board describe the FIRST-generation (2016–20) car and do not apply to this vehicle. An untested car is not a badly-performing one, so this sits at the top of the bottom band rather than the floor — but with weight 3 on published crashworthiness, a total absence of third-party crash data is a real gap for a buyer, not a neutral.

2022 is the strongest of the three pre-refresh years for standard driver assistance, and the distinction matters: Buick Driver Confidence Plus is standard on Preferred, Essence and Avenir alike and covers automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, forward collision alert, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, following distance indicator, IntelliBeam auto high beams, and — unlike the 2023 car — Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert actually fitted. The supply-chain deletion of those two sensor sets began with 2023 model-year production on 10 October 2022 and does not touch this model year. Four of the criterion's five named features are therefore standard on every trim. The one real gap is adaptive cruise control, which is standard on nothing and confined to Technology Package II on Essence and Avenir, so the volume Preferred cannot be ordered with it at all. Comprehensive-but-for-ACC lands at the top of the middle band rather than in the top one.

Baseline AEB and front pedestrian braking are standard on every trim, and reverse automatic braking is genuinely available — the owner's manual ties the Backing Warning/RAB system to cars fitted with adaptive cruise, so a Technology Package II car brakes for obstacles behind it as well as ahead. Against that, the better-performing Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking is a cost option rather than standard equipment, and there is no intersection AEB and no bicyclist detection anywhere in the range. Performance is also entirely unverified: the IIHS has published no front crash prevention result for any 2021+ Envision, so nighttime pedestrian capability is unknown rather than merely weak. The only rated Envision AEB on record belongs to the previous generation's optional system, which earned Advanced — not Superior — under the older daylight-only protocol.

This is the clearest place the 2022 car beats its own 2023 replacement. Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert are standard across Preferred, Essence and Avenir and were actually built into the cars — the parts shortage that had GM shipping 2023 Envisions without either sensor set, with no dealer retrofit offered, began with production on 10 October 2022 and left this model year alone. Rear park assist is standard too, another thing 2023 lost on its two lower trims. What holds it out of the top band is that the coverage is alert-only in every direction: there is no Blind Zone Steering Assist and no rear cross traffic braking (both later additions), so the systems warn and nothing intervenes, and HD Surround Vision — the thing that would compensate at parking speeds — is standard only on Avenir, optional on Essence, and not offered on the volume Preferred.

Lane keep assist with lane departure warning is genuinely standard on every 2022 trim — NHTSA records LDW as Standard rather than optional — and reviewers describe the calibration as well tuned rather than grabby. But there is no lane-centering mode at any trim or any price: the system nudges the car off a lane marking, it does not hold it mid-lane, and a search of the Envision's own owner's manual for lane centering or lane following returns nothing. Nothing above it existed in the 2022 range either, since Super Cruise was not attached to the Envision until the 2024 refresh was revealed, and was then cancelled. Functional and well-behaved, but purely reactive — the middle of the band.

The hardware is better than the Envision's reputation suggests: this is GM's Adaptive Cruise Control (Advanced), a genuine full-speed-range system with stop-and-go — the manual confirms it can be set while the vehicle is already stopped, will hold the car at a standstill, and resumes from rest on the RES+ button or the accelerator — and it brings reverse automatic braking with it. The problem is getting it. It is standard on no trim, including the top Avenir, and lives inside Technology Package II on Essence and Avenir only, so a buyer of the volume Preferred cannot order adaptive cruise at any price. And once fitted it stands alone: with no lane centering to pair with and no hands-free option in the range, this is an adaptive cruise control rather than a highway-assist system, and the driver steers throughout.

There is no hands-free highway driving on the 2022 Envision at any trim or price. Super Cruise was first attached to the nameplate at the June 2023 reveal of the 2024 refresh — a year and a half after this model year went on sale — and GM then cancelled that package before it reached production anyway. A 2022 Avenir at the top of the range ships without the one driver-assist feature GM is best known for, and with no lane-centering substitute standing in for it.

LED headlamps are standard across the 2022 range — including the front-drive Preferred — and IntelliBeam automatic high beams are bundled into the standard Driver Confidence Plus group, so no trim is left on halogens or manual brights, which is respectable base-trim equipment for a compact crossover. The Envision's own owner's manual also carries a full Adaptive Forward Lighting section describing steering-responsive beams, so some 2022 configurations had cornering lights even though no trim literature advertises them. What keeps this mid-band is that the IIHS has published no headlight rating for any Envision of either generation, so the beam reach and glare control this criterion actually measures have never been independently validated.

The second-generation Envision's roofline works against the driver — thick rear pillars and no third side window mean the over-the-shoulder rear three-quarter view is genuinely obstructed, and reviewers split on how bad it is, with Edmunds calling the pillars sensibly sized where TheCarConnection says they blot out part of the rear view. What lifts 2022 above its own 2023 successor is that the electronic compensation is actually present: blind-spot monitors, rear cross-traffic alert and rear parking sensors are all standard on every trim and were really built into the cars, where 2023 shipped many examples without the first two and dropped park assist from its two lower trims entirely. The remaining limit is the camera: HD Surround Vision is standard only on Avenir and optional on Essence, so a volume Preferred buyer gets a plain rear-view camera and nothing more. Average-to-slightly-below for the segment, with the compensation working as designed.

The LATCH hardware itself is genuinely good on this generation, and it is worth separating from the first-generation car's Marginal IIHS result, which does not describe it: Cars.com's hands-on assessment graded the second-generation Envision's LATCH an A, with two sets of lower anchors under plastic covers for easy connection and three clearly-marked top tether anchors set a third of the way down the seatback with good clearance. Forward-facing convertibles fit well. The compromise is space rather than hardware — a rear-facing convertible pushes the front passenger's knees into the dashboard, which drops that configuration to a C, and a five-seat compact crossover with a tether-only centre position is not a workable three-across proposition. Easy anchors, tight rear-facing packaging: the top of the middle band.

The 2022 Envision is a two-row five-seater on every trim and in both drivelines — no third-row option exists at any price, which puts it a quarter of the way up an SUV band that runs to eight seats. Buyers needing seven seats are pushed up to the Enclave.

39.6 in of first-row headroom sits mid-band for a compact SUV — adequate rather than airy. 2022 is a minor-change carry-over year within the second generation, so the dimensions are unchanged from the 2021 launch car.

Front legroom of 40.4 in is barely above the floor of the SUV normalization band. The Envision's packaging spends its 109.4-in wheelbase on the second row instead, which is where the car's space advantage actually shows up.

38.9 in of second-row headroom measures near the top of the compact SUV band on paper, though the second-generation car's sloping roofline means the tallest passengers still find it snug in practice.

39.3 in of second-row legroom is genuinely generous for a compact crossover and is the Envision's single clearest packaging strength — adults sit behind adults without negotiation, and a rear-facing child seat does not force the front passenger forward.

No 2022 Envision trim offers a third row and none of this generation ever has — a two-row-only compact SUV lands in the bottom band for this criterion by definition, and there is not even a token +2 option to soften it.

25.2 cu ft behind the rear seats sits right at the bottom of the compact SUV band — roughly a third less than a CR-V or Tucson. The rakish roofline and the deep rear bench that produces 39.3 in of legroom are both paid for out of the cargo hold.

Maximum cargo volume of 52.7 cu ft falls below the floor of the compact SUV band — one of the smallest seats-folded holds in the class, and a hard limit for anyone moving bulky items rather than luggage.

Everyday storage is competent and no more: a usable center console bin, decent door pockets, cargo tie-downs and a power-folding second row that drops from the cargo bay. Against that, the wireless charging pad that would normally occupy the console is upper-trim content in 2022 rather than volume-trim equipment, there is no underfloor cargo well of note, no household outlet and no fold-flat front passenger seat. Nothing here is innovative.

Eight-way power fronts with enough adjustment for most builds and a genuinely roomy rear bench — CarsDirect calls the 2022 car 'very comfortable for four adults' with 'especially supportive' front seats. The recurring criticism on this generation is specific: a front cushion that is short for taller occupants and padding firm enough to create hard spots after a few hours. Ventilated fronts and heated rear seats remain Avenir content, and in 2022 many cars were delivered without even the heated hardware (see 4.3.4).

Buick tunes the Envision unambiguously for compliance and the 2022 car is the one that got rewarded for it — Consumer Reports made ride comfort a headline 'high' and named it the best luxury compact SUV of the year. The suspension absorbs all but the biggest bumps while the body stays settled rather than floating. The volume Essence rides on 18-inch alloys, which is the sweet spot; the Avenir's 20s measurably stiffen it, and the continuous damping that would claw that back is Avenir-only.

The most consistently praised attribute of the 2022 car, and better equipped for it than the year's spec sheet suggests: QuietTuning insulation is backed by an active noise cancellation system that is standard equipment on this model year, not a later addition. Consumer Reports lists the quiet cabin as a high and finds little wind or road noise. What holds it out of the top band is the 2.0T itself, which turns coarse and loud when worked hard.

2022 is the year the comfort spec went backwards in practice even as it improved on paper. The improvement is real — rear air conditioning became standard equipment across the lineup for 2022, and the volume Essence nominally carries heated leather-appointed front seats, a hands-free programmable liftgate and remote start. The problem is delivery: GM built the majority of 2022 Envisions produced after 15 November 2021 without heated front seats (RPO KA1), heated rear outboard seats (KA9) and ventilated front seats (KU9) because of the semiconductor and parts shortage, with dealer retrofits only beginning in early 2023, and cars missing the heated steering wheel could not be retrofitted at all — those owners got a $150 credit instead. A buyer of a typical 2022 car did not receive the equipment the brochure listed.

2022 is the second year of the second-generation Envision and a carry-over year, so the entry Preferred stayed a front-drive car with all-wheel drive optional on every trim. GM applied a small mid-year increase in May 2022 (about $200, largely the destination-freight line), and $32,895 is the figure in effect for most of the model year — $1,900 below the equivalent 2023 Preferred.

Essence is the middle rung of the 2022 ladder (Preferred / Preferred ST / Essence / Essence ST / Avenir) and the volume seller, and all-wheel drive is the representative configuration scored elsewhere in this scorecard — $36,995 for the front-driver plus the $1,800 AWD charge. Every trim shares the 228-hp 2.0L turbo and nine-speed automatic, so the trim choice buys equipment only.

Published estimates diverge because they price different baskets: CarEdge's $2,875 covers scheduled maintenance and wear items only, while Edmunds' True Cost to Own adds unscheduled repairs for a figure near $9,000 at 15,000 mi/yr. A scheduled-plus-repair figure around $5,300 is the fair middle and matches how the rest of the fleet is measured. The industry estimates are published at nameplate level rather than per model year, and the 2022 car uses the same LSY 2.0T and 9T50 nine-speed as the 2023, so no year-specific adjustment is warranted — high-volume, well-understood GM hardware, but premium-badge parts and dealer labor rates keep it above a mainstream compact SUV.

iSeeCars projects 46.7% five-year retention for the nameplate, and the 2022 cars now have four years of real market history behind them: KBB shows a current resale value of $19,100, or about 49% of the $38,795 volume-trim sticker at the four-year mark, which tracks to roughly 47% at five years. Weak in absolute terms but line-ball with the luxury compact SUV category, which itself depreciates faster than the market — and 2022 buyers who paid over sticker in the chip-shortage market did worse than these MSRP-based percentages imply.

GM cut Buick's bumper-to-bumper coverage from 4 yr/50,000 mi to 3 yr/36,000 mi with the 2020 model year, and the 2022 Envision carries the reduced term — the floor of the segment band, against 5 yr/60,000 mi from Hyundai/Kia and 4 yr/50,000 mi from most luxury rivals.

Powertrain coverage was reduced alongside the basic warranty for 2020 and stands at 5 yr/60,000 mi on the 2022 Envision — the bottom of the 5–10 year band and half of Hyundai/Kia's 10 yr/100,000 mi.

GM covers one first maintenance visit (oil and filter change, four-tire rotation, multi-point inspection), bundles 5 yr/60,000 mi roadside assistance with the Courtesy Transportation program, and includes a Buick Connected Services / OnStar trial. A single free service is thinner than Toyota's 2 yr/25,000 mi ToyotaCare, BMW's 3 yr Ultimate Care or the multi-year plans from Jaguar and Volvo, but the long roadside term keeps it out of the bottom band. Unchanged from 2021 and 2023 — the program is brand-level, not model-year-specific.

$38,795 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (47% retained, or about $18,234) leaves about $20,561 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,300 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $25,861 in total.

The two authorities that matter disagree sharply on this exact model year, and the disagreement is the score. Consumer Reports rates the 2022 Envision LESS reliable than the average 2022 vehicle — a distinct step down from the 2023 car, which CR calls more reliable than average and Recommends — with the trouble spots concentrated in in-car electronics: display screens going blank and needing replacement, backup camera/sensors, head-up display. NHTSA's file corroborates rather than contradicts it, with 25 complaints led by engine (4) and electrical (3) and several describing the instrument cluster going black at speed while the car keeps driving. Pulling the other way, J.D. Power's 2025 Vehicle Dependability Study surveys owners of 2022 model-year cars specifically and put Buick highest of all mass-market brands. Genuinely mixed signals on the same vehicle, weighted toward CR because it is the model-level verdict rather than a brand aggregate.

2022 was the high-water mark for Buick's quality standing, and uniquely for this model year the follow-up study has already landed. Buick ranked #1 of all brands in the J.D. Power 2022 Initial Quality Study at 139 PP100 — up 17 PP100 year over year from 12th place — and 2nd overall in the 2022 Vehicle Dependability Study at 147 PP100, one point behind Kia. Three years later the 2025 VDS, which surveys owners of 2022 model-year cars, again put Buick highest in the mass market at 143 PP100, ahead of Mazda (161) and Toyota (162). So the brand promise made when this car was new was actually kept at the three-year mark. Consumer Reports has been consistently cooler on Buick than J.D. Power, scoring it around average, which is what holds this short of the very top.

The recall record is near-spotless and shared with the rest of this generation: NHTSA lists exactly one campaign against the 2022 Envision, 22V903000, daytime running lights that fail to deactivate when the headlights are on — a body-control-module software fix that could be delivered over the air. No powertrain, fire or structural campaign has ever touched the second generation. The bulletin side is where points go: GM's LSY oil-consumption diagnostic family runs against this model year, alongside 9-speed automatic solenoid/valve bulletins for low-mileage vehicles, "Service Cluster Message" electrical bulletins matching the blackout complaints, and charge-air-cooler icing in extreme cold. Separately, this is the chip-shortage build year — GM deleted front and rear Park Assist from Envisions built after 24 January 2022 and retrofits did not begin until roughly October 2023, which is not a recall but is 20 months of owners driving a car missing paid-for safety hardware.

Every 2022 Envision runs GM's 2.0L LSY turbo four (228 hp / 258 lb-ft) through the nine-speed automatic, FWD standard with AWD optional — an Ecotec-family pairing in service since 2019 that most owners take past 150,000 miles without drama. The caveats are documented rather than theoretical: an oil-consumption bulletin family with its own diagnostic procedures, timing-chain-tensioner noise, LSPI exposure if the oil specification is ignored, and nine-speed solenoid/valve bulletins that specifically call out low-mileage vehicles. This model year's own NHTSA file adds engine and powertrain complaints describing stalling and a no-restart that also locked the shifter out of neutral. Proven enough to stay well out of the low band, nowhere near a benchmark.

This is the pre-refresh cabin — the material and display upgrade did not arrive until the 2024 model year — and reviewers put it a clear step above a mainstream compact SUV without it reaching premium standard. Upper door panels and dash surfaces wear appealing soft-touch materials and QuietTuning glass makes the cabin genuinely hushed, but subpar plastics remain in evidence and the car is priced into luxury territory, which is precisely where the criticism lands. Reviewers were blunt that even the range-topping Avenir's materials undermine Buick's luxury aspirations. The 2022 austerity deletions (the in-vehicle air ionizer went away entirely) do not help the case for the premium price.

Assembly quality and initial quality point in opposite directions here. Buick ranked #1 of every brand in the J.D. Power 2022 Initial Quality Study — the study that surveys 2022 model-year owners at 90 days — which is the strongest initial-quality result any year of this nameplate can claim, and SAIC-GM's physical build draws consistent praise for tight panel gaps and a quiet, rattle-free cabin. Against that, the defects that showed up later are exactly the kind IQS is weakest at catching: CR's owner survey singles out display screens going blank and requiring replacement, and NHTSA narratives describe complete instrument-cluster blackouts while the vehicle is under way. Add a build year in which GM shipped cars knowingly missing Park Assist hardware, and this lands solidly mid-band rather than in the top one.

A 2022 buyer bought into a network that has since collapsed around them. GM's voluntary buyout program took Buick from roughly 1,958 US franchises at the start of 2023 to near 1,000 by that December, and to about 745 in the most recent Automotive News census — so whatever the store count was at purchase, the servicing reality for this car now is the thinned network. It is partly offset: departing dealers were mostly small stores accounting for only about 20% of sales, survivors are higher-throughput and usually co-located with GMC, and Buick maintains that 89% of the US population remains within 25 miles of a dealer. Rural owners absorb the loss, and the Park Assist retrofit backlog showed what happens when that network has to reach every car in a model year.

Routine running costs are a genuine strength: RepairPal puts the Envision's annual maintenance at $233 and rates the nameplate 5.0/5, ranked 1st of 32 in its SUV group, well under the $608 Buick brand average. The LSY engine and 9T-series transmission are shared across high-volume GM SUVs — Blazer, Cadillac XT4/XT5, Acadia — so mechanical parts are cheap and stocked everywhere, and this pre-refresh year avoids the 2024 refresh's large-display assembly entirely. Two things pull it down from the sibling years' mark: RepairPal has insufficient data to rate the 2022 specifically, and this model year has a documented electronic-parts problem — the Park Assist modules simply did not exist to install for roughly 20 months, and CR owners report display screens being replaced rather than repaired. Body and trim pieces unique to the China-built Envision remain slower and dearer to source.

The 2022 lineup splits by trim: an 8-inch touchscreen on the base Preferred and a 10.2-inch unit on the volume Essence and the Avenir, angled toward the driver, with nothing larger available at any price. That is mid-band for a compact SUV in 2022 and two years short of the 30-inch ultrawide panel the 2024 refresh brought.

GM's pre-Google infotainment generation is one of the better systems of its era and testers say so — Consumer Reports calls the 2022 touchscreen system user-friendly, it responds quickly, and real volume and tuning knobs plus physical climate controls survive alongside it. Two 2022-specific demerits keep it below the segment median: the electronic gear selector's alternating push-buttons and pull-levers is singled out as hard to operate without looking away from the road, and wireless CarPlay was slow enough in CR's testing that they reverted to a cable.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are standard on every 2022 trim, including the base Preferred with the smaller 8-inch screen — no cable, no package, no trim walk, which was still uncommon in the segment in 2022. It sits just below a perfect execution because the wireless connection itself was measurably slow in independent testing.

Amazon Alexa Built-In handles natural-language requests better than GM's own embedded assistant, which is a command-word system rather than a conversational one — but in 2022 Alexa is an available feature rather than blanket standard equipment, and native navigation is the weaker half again: standard on the Avenir and a cost option on the Essence, so a volume buyer without that package has no embedded maps and falls back on phone projection. This is two model years before Google Built-In arrived with the 2024 refresh.

The base system is a six-speaker setup — adequate, unremarkable, and flattered by a cabin quiet enough to make modest hardware sound better than it is. The nine-speaker Bose upgrade is genuinely good but is upper-trim or option-package content rather than something an Essence buyer can tick on its own.

No 2022 Envision has a full-digital cluster at any price. The gauges are conventional analog dials flanking a color driver information center — 4.2 inches on the Preferred, stepping to the larger 8-inch display from the Essence up. The reconfigurable digital cluster is exactly what the 2024 facelift added, so 2022 sits squarely in the partial-digital band.

The 2022 Envision does receive over-the-air software updates through its embedded OnStar connection, and GM has pushed OTA campaigns covering 2021–2023 Buick vehicles for OnStar and telematics-platform improvements. But the scope is infotainment, telematics and service-bulletin-level fixes rather than the whole-vehicle updates that add features on GM's newer electrical architecture, and it requires an active connected-services acceptance. Solidly mid-band.

The myBuick app covers the core competently — remote start, remote lock/unlock, vehicle locate, horn and lights, diagnostics — and remote start is standard hardware from the Essence up, so the volume trim can actually use it. Two things cap it: the useful remote functions sit behind an OnStar Remote Access plan once the trial lapses, and there is no phone-as-key or digital key sharing on this model year.

Ports are adequate — a mix of USB-A and USB-C in the console with a second-row pair, plus a standard built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot — but the headline convenience is missing where it matters: wireless charging is an option confined to the upper end of the range in 2022, and extra USB ports are bundled as Avenir content, so the volume Essence buyer typically has neither. No household 120V outlet is offered on any trim.

On the volume Essence the full convenience set is standard: remote keyless entry, push-button start, remote engine start and a hands-free programmable power liftgate that opens with a foot wave. The base Preferred has to option the liftgate, and no 2022 trim offers phone-as-key, which is what keeps this out of the top band.

Better base coverage than the trim strategy that followed it: an HD rear vision camera and rear park assist are both standard on every 2022 trim, so even a Preferred buyer reverses with sensors as well as a camera. Everything above that is gated — HD Surround Vision, front parking sensors and Enhanced Automatic Parking Assist are options or Avenir content — which matters in a car whose rear three-quarter visibility is genuinely poor.

A color head-up display exists and is well regarded, but in 2022 it is an option bundled with adaptive cruise, front parking sensors and the surround-view camera rather than something orderable on its own, and it is not reachable on the base Preferred. Available-but-package-gated is the middle band.

The second row is the Envision's best family asset: 39.3 in of legroom and ample foot space under the front seats mean a rear-facing seat installs without shoving the front passenger forward, the door apertures are wide, and complete LATCH hardware sits at both outboard positions with a tether-only center. What drags it down is behind the bench — 25.2 cu ft is near the bottom of the compact SUV class, so a stroller plus a week's groceries is a real negotiation rather than an afterthought.

Stronger than the years around it on the equipment that families actually get. The 2022 car earned NHTSA's five-star overall rating, and the standard Buick Driver Confidence bundle puts forward collision alert, automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, following distance indicator, rear park assist and — unlike the supply-hit 2023 run — blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert on every trim including the base Preferred. Two gaps hold it mid-band: the IIHS never crash-tested this generation at all, so half the usual safety picture is simply absent, and adaptive cruise control is an option on every trim rather than standard on any.

For the passengers it is a good long-haul room: a hushed cabin with standard active noise cancellation, a compliant ride that settles the car over broken interstate, a genuinely roomy back seat, and — new for 2022 — rear air conditioning as standard equipment across the lineup. The limits are amenities and space: no rear-seat entertainment at any price, heated rear seats confined to the Avenir and widely deleted anyway by the parts shortage, and only 25.2 cu ft of luggage room once the family is actually in the seats.

This is what the Envision is actually for, and 2022 is the year the judgment was ratified — Consumer Reports named it the best luxury compact SUV. Light steering, a soft ride, a quiet cabin and good forward visibility make it genuinely low-effort in traffic. Two calibration flaws keep it out of the top band: noticeable turbo lag from a standstill with a nine-speed automatic owners describe as jerky at low speed, and a push-button/pull-lever gear selector that CR found hard to operate without looking down.

Middling on fuel, better than middling on everything else. EPA rates the AWD volume configuration at 25 MPG combined (26 FWD) — respectable for a 228-hp turbo premium crossover but nowhere near a hybrid rival — and it runs on regular unleaded rather than premium, a real per-mile saving against the European compacts it is cross-shopped with. Consumables are cheap: RepairPal puts combined annual repair and maintenance around $318 against a $494 segment average.

The footprint is modest for the class at 182.5 in long on a 109.4-in wheelbase, and the 38-ft curb-to-curb turning circle is tidy enough for a supermarket deck. Rear park assist and an HD rear camera are standard on every 2022 trim, which genuinely helps. What is left is what the driver cannot see: the second-generation body has no rear quarter window and thick pillars, so the over-the-shoulder view is obstructed, and the surround-view camera and front sensors that would fully compensate are optional.

Effectively none. The 2022 Envision is rated to tow 1,500 lbs regardless of trim or driveline — a small utility trailer and no more — has no bed, offers 25.2 cu ft of enclosed cargo behind the seats, and puts 228 hp through a single-engine lineup with no work-oriented variant. This is a premium commuter crossover asked to do a job it was never designed for.

The mechanicals are the respectable part: the 2.0L LSY turbo four and GM nine-speed automatic have been in high-volume service since 2019, and 2022 is the settled second year of the generation. Everything around them is wrong for work — a soft-trimmed near-luxury cabin with cloth and leather-appointed seating, no rubber-floor or vinyl-seat work configuration, no fleet program of consequence, and a 3 yr/36,000 mi bumper-to-bumper term at the bottom of the segment. The year's own build-quality footnote does not help: a large share of 2022 cars left the plant with equipment missing.

Close to nothing. There are cargo tie-down anchors, roof rails from the Essence up and a second row that power-folds flat from the cargo bay, but there is no 120V household outlet on any trim, no washable interior surfaces, no bed or bulkhead, no factory ladder-rack or upfitter ecosystem, and the 1,500-lb hitch rating makes even a tool trailer marginal. The accessory catalog runs to cargo nets and organizers.

A good tourer held back by one omission. The quiet cabin — with active noise cancellation standard for 2022 — the soft-riding suspension and the roomy second row are exactly what a 400-mile day wants, and the 16.1-gallon tank at 25 MPG combined gives roughly 400 miles of real range on regular fuel. The endurance limits are the front cushion, short and firm enough to create hard spots after a few hours, and the driver-assist gap: adaptive cruise is an option on every trim and there is no lane centering at any price, so the fatigue-reduction tech most tourers now have is missing on the car most buyers took home.

Pavement and the graded gravel road to the trailhead is the honest limit. All-wheel drive is at least available on every trim for $1,800 rather than restricted to the top, but it is a basic on-demand system with a driver-selectable disconnect — no low range, no locking differentials, no terrain modes — riding about 6.7 in off the ground on road tires. The 1,500-lb tow rating rules out most toy trailers, and there is no 120V outlet to support camping.

The mechanism is good and the volume is not. A 60/40 bench that folds flat from the cargo bay, standard roof rails from the Essence and a wide, low load floor make what space there is easy to use. But 25.2 cu ft behind the seats and 52.7 cu ft folded are both at or under the floor of the compact SUV band — CarsDirect flags both as below segment average — so bulky gear genuinely does not fit, and the 1,500-lb hitch rating rules out a cargo trailer as the escape valve.

Secure rather than agile. Reviewers of the 2022 car describe handling as decent and very secure but not nimble, with notable body roll through corners — Buick tuned the five-link chassis for compliance and got exactly that. The continuous damping that would sharpen it is Avenir-only, so the volume Essence runs passive dampers and 18-inch road tires.

The clearest dynamic criticism of the car: the steering is vague and overly light, with essentially no feedback about what the front tires are doing. It is a deliberate choice — the same lightness is what makes the Envision restful in traffic and helped it win Consumer Reports' class pick — but on this criterion it lands in the bottom band.

The strongest part of the driving story. Consumer Reports' instrumented testing of this generation records short emergency stopping distances with the car staying composed and controllable throughout, and pedal feel is progressive rather than grabby — a meaningful contributor to the 79/100 road-test score the 2022 car posted. It is held short of the top band because no fade-resistance testing under repeated hard use is published for the 2022 car.

Smooth at a cruise, imperfect at the edges. The 228-hp 2.0L turbo four and nine-speed automatic are relaxed and unobtrusive once rolling — adequate rather than eager, at roughly 7.3 sec to 60 mph — but there is real turbo lag off the line, owners report low-speed shift jerkiness, and the stop/start restart is a recurring complaint on this powertrain. Cylinder deactivation adds another transition to manage.

At part throttle the engine is barely there — QuietTuning insulation plus a standard active noise-cancellation system that targets engine frequencies keeps the cabin hushed, and Consumer Reports makes the quiet cabin a headline high. Ask for full power and the four-cylinder turns coarse and audible, with none of the character that would make that acceptable.

A 19.0-ft curb-to-curb turning radius — 38.0 ft diameter — is mid-band for a compact SUV and appropriate to the 109.4-in wheelbase, giving the Envision unremarkable but entirely adequate low-speed maneuverability in parking structures.

Eight-way power front seats with enough range for most builds, a commanding-but-not-perched hip point, easy ingress and physical volume, tuning and climate controls within reach, with the 10.2-inch screen angled toward the driver on the volume trim. Three deductions, one of them specific to how this generation was laid out: the front cushion is short for taller drivers, the missing rear quarter window and thick pillars leave a genuinely obstructed over-the-shoulder view, and Consumer Reports singles out the electronic shifter's mix of push-buttons and pull-levers as requiring the driver to look away from the road.

Nobody takes the long way home in one. Vague light steering, body roll, a 7.3-second 0–60 from a single unenthusiastic engine, and a Sport Touring package whose 2022 additions are alloy pedal covers and embroidered headrests rather than any chassis or powertrain change, add up to appliance-like — competent, calm, forgettable. That is squarely what Buick was aiming for, but this criterion measures enjoyment, not intent.

At $32,895 delivered the 2022 Preferred includes LED headlights, an 8-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, 18-inch alloys, automatic emergency braking, forward collision alert, lane-keep assist with lane departure warning, automatic high beams and blind-spot monitoring — a solid list for the money against luxury-badged rivals. It sits a notch below the 2023 car because adaptive cruise control was still a Technology Package option rather than standard, the panoramic sunroof was optional, the larger 10.2-inch screen and navigation lived on higher trims, and the base car is front-drive. The chip shortage also hit 2022 builds directly: GM shipped Buicks with heated seats and heated steering wheels deleted, paying $150–$500 credits for missing content.

At $32,895 delivered the 2022 Envision undercut an Acura RDX, BMW X3, Volvo XC60 or Lexus NX by several thousand dollars while returning better EPA numbers than most of them, and Consumer Reports rated it the best vehicle in its luxury compact SUV class — real content-per-dollar. Against it: one 228-hp 2.0T with no hybrid or PHEV option, cabin materials reviewers consistently say fall short of the badge, a small-for-class cargo hold, and mid-40s five-year resale that erodes the up-front saving over an ownership cycle. Scored a shade below the segment norm's upper half rather than into the standout band because the value case rests on price, not on being the better vehicle.

Five published trim entries — Preferred, Preferred ST, Essence, Essence ST, Avenir — each offered in front- or all-wheel drive, giving ten configurations spread from $32,895 to $43,045, plus Technology Package options that let a buyer add driver aids without stepping up a trim. That is wider and better-spaced than the 2024-onward lineup, which made AWD standard and removed the cheap entry point. Still one engine, one transmission and no electrified or performance variant, so beyond drivetrain and the ST appearance treatment the choice is an equipment level.

2022 was the Envision's worst year of the current generation: 25,870 US deliveries, down 45.2% from 47,173 in 2021, with monthly volume bottoming near 1,300 units in January and February. The cause was supply rather than demand — the Envision is built by the SAIC-GM joint venture in China and imported, so it was exposed to both the semiconductor shortage and shipping constraints, and the nameplate rebounded 71% to 44,282 in 2023 on the same car. Scored at the boundary of the two bands accordingly: the trajectory that year genuinely was a sharp decline, but it does not read as market rejection.

2022 was an unusually good year for the badge: Buick ranked highest of any brand in the industry in the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Initial Quality Study at 139 PP100, up from 12th in 2021, and Consumer Reports put the Envision first in its luxury compact SUV class. That lifts it above the neutral midpoint, but the marque still carries little aspirational pull against Lexus, Acura, Genesis or the Germans, skews toward an older value-driven buyer, and Chinese assembly remains a friction point for some shoppers — none of which the quality awards changed.

2022 was close to the worst new-car buying market in modern memory and Buick was the least-discounted GM brand in it: incentive spend fell 76% year over year to an average of $964 per vehicle in Q3 2022, against $4,700–$5,500 per vehicle in the pre-2021 norm, while industry incentives hit a record low of 2.3–2.8% of transaction price and buyers routinely paid over sticker. Scored for buyer benefit as the item directs — there were essentially no deals on a 2022 Envision when it was new, which is the low band by definition, though the scarcity that caused it also propped up early resale.

2022 is only the second model year of the second-generation Envision, which launched for 2021 on the E2XX platform shared with the Cadillac XT4 — a genuinely current car when new, with the mid-cycle facelift still two years away. Held out of the top band because it is no longer the launch year and the changes for 2022 were trivial (one new paint colour, ST package trim details, an air ioniser deleted), but a 2022 buyer was two model years clear of the redesign risk that dated a 2023 car.

The 2022 car collected the best press of its generation: Consumer Reports scored it 84 and ranked it first among luxury compact SUVs, praising ride quality, cabin quietness, braking and infotainment, and Buick took the top spot overall in the 2022 J.D. Power IQS. Mainstream reviewers were cooler — U.S. News rates it 7.5/10 and #9 of the 2022 luxury compact SUVs, Edmunds calls it 'an average small SUV in nearly every metric' — and CR's own criticisms (gear selector, low dash vents, front wheelspin off the line) are real. A class win from the most-cited independent tester is a genuine award, but it is not a pattern of comparison-test victories, so this lands in the upper half of the middle band rather than the top one. IIHS did not test the second-generation Envision, so it is not a Top Safety Pick; NHTSA gave it five stars overall with four in rollover.