Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / Exploring the 2025 Buick Envista, the Chevrolet Traverse and New Car Shows

Transcript

Exploring the 2025 Buick Envista, the Chevrolet Traverse and New Car Shows · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: time now for this hour's car review.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Had a chance to drive the 2025 buick and vista.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Final assembly location is drum roll, please.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: What do you think?
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: China, nope, korea, oh really, yeah, it's built, made in korea.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Available trim levels the, the Preferred, the Sport Touring and the Avenir.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: I had the Sport Touring, which is the middle of the line, what they consider a small station wagon, we would consider it a small SUV, but whatever, it's only in a name Five-passenger vehicle, including the driver.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: It's all new for 2024.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: This is the 25 model that we're reviewing.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Really no changes between the 24 and 25.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Fastback roof design it looks really cool, but the one thing that you may have to put in your mind is, especially if you're six feet tall, is that you might have to bump your head on the roof to get in the back seat.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: There is that, but it looks cool.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: If you've got a bunch of kids and stuff, that's perfect.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: I like the way it looks.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: I love that fastback design myself.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Long hood, short deck popular with sports cars, as you well know.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Concentric wheel arches look really good in that because you know so many manufacturers like to shrink down the rear arch of the wheel.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: No, that makes it look ugly, like to shrink down the rear arch of the wheel.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: No, that makes it look ugly.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: High-mounted slitty headlights and sharp grille look racy.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Cargo hatch is glass that's almost horizontal.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: What I liked about it?
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: The overall look gets high marks in my estimation.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Nothing.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: I think it looks great.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Interior highlights we love the one large screen across the dash.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: It is really it's both the infotainment and the instrument cluster combined into one.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: It really works well.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Cloth or leather seating material is awesome.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: We love the well-laid-out controls.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Leather seating material is awesome.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: We love the well-laid-out controls.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: No factory navigation, but it does have Android and Apple CarPlay.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: That is standard in all of them and I think that that's the way to go, because you can customize your own stuff on your phone.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: You plug it in and boom, there it all is.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Cargo room is small, but the vehicle is small.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: What I liked?
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: The rear seat air vents, which you don't find on a small SUV, but this one had it.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Headroom in the rear seat may be small.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: As I said, it could be an issue with taller backseat passengers.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: So if you take large, if you take Grandpa who's six feet tall, he'll bump his head a little bit.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: If you take Grandpa, who's six feet tall, he'll bump his head a little bit, but that's okay, he probably needs it.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Yep, he's got a plate in it 1.2 liter four-cylinder turbo, 137 horsepower.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: 1.2 liter, 162 pound-feet of torque.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: And I said it was a four-cylinder.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: No, it's a three-cylinder, six-speed automatic transmission.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Tow rating no, there is no, because you ain't going to take anything to tow back behind it there Miles per gallon, 28 city, 32 highway, for a combined of 30.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: I got 28 over 399.2 miles.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: What I liked?
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: You know the power.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Even though it's only 137 horsepower, it matches nicely with the, the actual vehicle, the transmission and the miles per gallon.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: So I think that it's a good compromise.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Offer an optional motor with a little bit more horsepower.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: That would be my only suggestion to them.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: But when you do that then it's going to raise the cost of it, because now you've got to manufacture parts and pieces that are going to be able to accept both the three-cylinder and probably a four-cylinder.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Whatever Ride and handling Sportier ride than most other Buicks.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Some people may consider it a little stiff.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: It's a small vehicle.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Nada.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Here's the fun part of this vehicle.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: The base trim price is $24,700.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: The price is tested is $27,780.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: The base model price $22,900.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: That's sweet, dude.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: They're going to sell a bajillion of these things, I think.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Competitors.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: The Chevy Trax is related to the Invista.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: It sells for $20,400.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: So if you want a cheaper model, check the Chevy Trax.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Then it goes above and beyond when you talk to the Mazda CX-30 for $24,995.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Or the VW Taos starts at $26,420.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: So I think that this is a real bargain.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: I think that it's a sleeper, as we used to call it back in the day, because it offers a lot for a little bit of money.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: I think that you really should check it out if you're in the market for that kind of vehicle.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: One thing you mentioned about the nav.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: You can get nav.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: It's a pay-to-play with the nav.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Not, according to what I read, and not this vehicle.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, I have it in mind, I can pay for it, but you?
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: have a vehicle that's larger, larger than this.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Right, I've got the Step Up, I've got the Envision and it's the Preferred as well.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: That's correct.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: This one doesn't offer from the factory, so you pick and choose the Buick that you want, and you can get a shirt like mine as well.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: This is Buick, right there.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Did you buy that?
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's the new Buick logo.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the new Buick logo.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: You selling those over there?
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: No, I went through a lot to get this, did you?
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll tell you the story.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: It's like a three-hour show.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Just to tell you the story.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Okay, all right.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Time now for Jeff's Car Culture.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: This week it's going to be on the Detroit Auto Show.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's not too pleasant for him because the Detroit Auto Show attendance plummeted as glory days fade for the Detroit Auto Show in Detroit.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Far more news was revealed at the Brussels Automotive Show, in the Tokyo Auto Salon and even CES this past year.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Most automakers have abandoned the event, leaving dealers to fill the gaps.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Now we were just at ours Autobotive Show with Rochelle Salinas outstanding organization, fantastic show.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: But the Detroit Auto Show only attracted 27 275 000 visitors last month.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: That's a lot.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: It's down a half a million since previous years they were.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: They were topping out at some big numbers.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: So the detroit auto show used to be a can't miss event and its return was barely worth mentioning.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: The ford mustang rtr and the mustang gt GTD Spirit of America were introduced ahead of the event, leaving the North American Car Utility and Truck of the Year Awards as the only worthwhile news on the media day.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Amazing To say.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: It wasn't worth attending and we're openly questioning whether or not the Detroit Auto Show was dead.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: We're getting a resounding answer and it's time to break out the defibrillator and catheter because the event is on life support Catheter.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: I wrote that While organizers tried to put in a positive spin on things, the numbers are truly terrible.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Over the course of 11 days, 275,000 people attended, as the Detroit Free Press noted.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: The pale is.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: In comparison to the 780,000 people who attended in previous years, that's a staggering decline.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: As a result, it's hard to judge and make up the lackluster lineup and the return to January has impacted everything.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Despite the awful attendance, organizers proclaimed it was one of the largest auto shows in the US.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: However, the numbers aren't much to brag about.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: In the former Motor City, jewel barely beat the 2024 Chicago Auto Show.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: The Chicago one was shorter by a day and it attracted 260,000 guests, so it was a little bit more and less days.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: The lackluster showing isn't much of a surprise for most automakers.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: It declined to Detroit and it was a worthy effort to do it.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: But as a result, dealers, four indoor tracks and randomness included the Army, the Marines and a Polish investment and trade agency helped fill the leftover space on the board.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Did they have any pierogies in there?
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: I?
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: hope they did, because those are awesome.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: This didn't stop officials from proclaiming.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: What is the whole thing with the dinosaurs there?
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I don't know, it's just some event that this, whatever Ford or Well, I was just going to say because, like a dinosaur, Is that like a Bronco back?
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: There.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: I don't know, it could be a Bronco.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: They didn't stop officials from proclaiming that the show had a true energy and a robust lineup of vehicles.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Well, that's enough to make your eyes roll.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: The event had estimated economic impact of $370 million.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: It cost them that much huh.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: That is actually down.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: Organizers also said there were 34 brands on display as well as nearly 500 vehicles.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: They're turning it into a different kind of show.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Evidently.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: The latter figure appears to include 150 modified personal vehicles that were shown in partnership with Modded Detroit.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: That's a club, evidently, there.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: While it's easy to write off the show as a major disappointment, the charity preview raised $1.7 million for the children's charities around the area.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: That's good news, although the show's future looks far from bright if things do not improve.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: With all this being said, is the Detroit Auto Show dead or is it just transitioning into a post-auto show era?
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Not much new, and it's hard to justify a trip to the Motor City.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: That's a shame.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it really is.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: It really is All right time now for this hour's car review.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Mr Mars has the Chevy Traverse he wants to talk to you about.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: All right, Michael.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, buddy.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: So I was really interested in this vehicle because we had kind of a run with the Chevrolets and this is the 2025 Chevrolet Traverse High Country.
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: Now, this is a new trim level.
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: This year it's been available in several other vehicles.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: They dropped their baseline and kept it at four trim levels by including the High Country.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: It's an LT, a Z, a z71, the new high country and then there's the rs uh, the one we had.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: The high country is front wheel drive.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: There is an all-wheel drive available.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: This is classified as a standard suv three row.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: Now I would look at it as a mid-size but, being that's what the government calls it, that's what the government calls it, it is a seven passenger seating in this vehicle.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Up front you're going to find the LED lighting all around.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: You've got the walk-up and the exit lighting that comes on whenever you're approaching or getting out of it, which makes it kind of nice if you're out in the dark world.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: It's got the trailer and package and I mentioned that here because it has the hitch view and hitch guidance option that comes with that.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: And when you look at this vehicle, it's got a lot of nice lines to it and you look at the size of it it's.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Technically it is actually on the same wheelbase as the Tahoe, but it's not as long.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: The body's not as long but it is the same wheelbase.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: It came with roof rails.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: It's got the hands-free liftgate, which works extremely well, as in, you get out of the driver's pass and you run around the back of it to run into the store.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: If you walk too close you might look behind you and see your lift gates open, or you might come out of the store and the lift gates open because you didn't realize it opened up.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: But it works really well.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: We were rolling on some 22-inch wheels that were really nice, absorbed a lot of the road imperfections.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Getting inside of it.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: We had the leather seating.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: Now the front is heated and ventilated.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: The second row was the bucket seats and both of them are heated, and the third row is a one-touch fold flat.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: That's pretty easy to get into.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: We had the 11-inch driver display.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: Now this is a big screen for the driver to configure however you want your information, your speedometer and everything.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: But in the middle was this big 17.7 inch LCD display where you're going to find your nav system, your convenience controls, all those kind of things that you're going to be looking for, easy to find here Now.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: It does have the wireless cell phone charging, with Apple, android and Google's making some inroads into the GM.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: It has a digital rear view mirror, which works really well, and a Bose 10 speaker audio system system.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Now, up under the hood, the only thing you're going to find in a traverse, regardless of the trim level, is a 2.5 liter turbo that does have 328 horsepower, 326 pound feet of torque, which is pretty good for an inline four.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Eight speed automatic transmission in this vehicle, with the trailering package will tow 5 000 pounds.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: This epa says in the city you should be looking for 20, the highway 27, and then combined 23.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Now I drove this vehicle.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: I enjoyed driving this vehicle.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: I drove it 490.7 miles, dang Nice.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Where'd you go.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: I had to park it.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: Well, I came here, went to the beach.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: I mean I had fun.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: I liked driving this vehicle.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: I got 21.8 miles per gallon across that and I thought that was pretty good.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: You know, hauling kids around grandkids and everything.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Again, it's comparable.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: I've got grandkids.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: Do you have kids?
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: No, yes, I do.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: They're grown, he's not sure.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: I kind of skip them and go straight to the grandkids nowadays.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: So again, it's comparable in size to me, to the Tahoe kids nowadays.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: So again, it's comparable in size to me, to the tahoe.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: The tahoe is actually physically bigger but it's gets the same wheelbase and it's got a much more cuv type ride because it is more of a cuv than the tahoe is or the suburban or those kind of vehicles.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: But body wise, the the tahoe is like seven inches longer.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Just to give you an idea, the base model price on this vehicle is $40,600.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Now the trim price for the High Country starts at $53,600, but because everything that was on it is part of that trim package, there's really no options.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: So the MSRP is at $54,995.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: If you're looking for something to compare it to, the Kia Tay ride starts at $36,390.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: The Palisade from Hyundai starts at $37,000.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: And the Toyota Grand Highlander is at $40,000.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: So they're all pretty comparable in price riding through there.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: But I did enjoy this vehicle and I think if I was looking for a three-row midsize or standard size vehicle, I would definitely encourage you to look at that one.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: I liked it.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: It looks really good too.