Encore GX Preferred vs Select vs Essence: What’s the Difference?

Eye-catching, sporty, and intuitive, the 2023 Buick Encore GX crossover SUV makes every drive more pleasurable. Stand out with its polished silhouette, descend into its plush interior, and stay connected wherever you drive. The Encore GX sounds like a trim level, but it’s a stand-alone model and replacement for the Buick Encore. It’s one of today’s more luxurious subcompact SUVs, offering a wealth of technological and advanced safety features.

You can choose between three unique trim levels to find the right combination of premium styling and engine options to suit your lifestyle. Cochran Buick GMC of Boardman, Ohio, has put together a guide to help you review the differences between the 2023 Encore GX Preferred, Select, and Essence trim levels.

Exterior Styling

The Encore GX has a sleek, stylish exterior figure with a signature grille and wheels that command attention. Buick’s base model, the Preferred, comes with bright silver 18-inch alloy wheels as standard. The Select and Essence trim levels boast 18-inch machined aluminum wheels with high-gloss dark Android pockets. All trims can opt for exclusive 18-inch medium Android high-gloss wheels with dark Android high gloss inserts. Black custom-molded splash guards that help protect your vehicle from mud, gravel, and road splash are available on the Preferred and Select trims.

All trims will stand out day or night with signature LED daytime headlamp technology and shine at night with available LED fog lamps. Dramatic LED tail lamps add visual style and come standard on the Essence trim. When your hands are full of gear, the hands-free power liftgate with LED logo projection marks the activation spot under the rear bumper and is available on all trims.

Engine Power

The front-wheel drive Buick Encore GX Preferred and Select trims are always ready to take you wherever you want to go thanks to their 1.2-liter turbo engine with 137 horsepower and 162 lb-ft of torque. A 1.3-liter turbo engine with 155 horsepower and 174 lb-ft of torque comes standard on the Essence and is available on the Select.

Engines on all trims pair with a continuously variable automatic transmission. Intelligent all-wheel drive, engineered for success, maximizes traction in slippery road conditions and helps improve cornering and acceleration on dry roads, especially when paired with the 1.3-liter turbo engine on the Select or the Essence. These upper trims also have the option of a nine-speed automatic transmission.

Performance

The dynamic Encore GX is an agile and fun-to-drive SUV that demonstrates impressive handling. There’s a welcome amount of traction around sharp corners, and standard on all trims is the StabiliTrak to give you more confidence on icy, wet, or uneven roads. StabiliTrak automatically intervenes when it senses a loss of traction to help you maintain control. It also adjusts the brakes and engine torque to help you stay on your intended path.

The transmission is responsive, and the engine is the most fuel-efficient in its auto class. Both all-wheel-drive models achieve 26 mpg and 29 mpg in the city and on the freeway, respectively. The front-wheel-drive model achieves an impressive 29 mpg and 32 mpg for the 1.3-liter and 29 mpg to 31 mpg for the 1.2-liter engine in the city and on the freeway, respectively. If you’re looking for a more fuel-efficient SUV, the Encore GX is your ride.

Interior Design

The Encore GX exudes luxury with premium standard features, a spacious interior, and comfortable seating for five. It has a large center console with ample storage for travel essentials. The console provides a center armrest that you can share with your front passenger. The reconfigurable cargo floor extends and gives you access to 2.7 inches of additional cargo height when you need it most. Dual-zone climate controls that allow both you and your front passenger to set your preferred temperatures are available on all trims.

Interior features on all trims include a removable cargo cover, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, keyless entry and start, active noise cancelation, and a height-adjustable driver’s seat. The panoramic sunroof tilts upwards or slides back for extra ventilation and is a power sunshade that you can close when you want to block light from entering the cabin from above. For fully loaded luxury, the Essence includes an in-cabin air ionizer, a heated steering wheel, a household-style power outlet, leather upholstery, a power-adjustable passenger seat, driver’s seat memory settings, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.

Technology Features

Advanced, class-exclusive, high-tech features come standard across all trims. Active noise cancelation, triple door seals, and acoustic laminated glass in the windshield and front side windows help reduce and absorb unwanted noise. An expansive 8-inch touch-screen control center provides an intuitive infotainment experience with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability. Feel at home with the available built-in Amazon Alexa that can tell you the temperature, play your favorite song, or access integrated navigation.

There are speakers throughout the cabin that provide outstanding sound quality and an enjoyable listening experience, as well as four USB ports, a 120-volt outlet, and a wireless charging pad to ensure that your devices are fully powered.

Safety Features

Standard interior features on all trims include frontal and knee airbags for you and the front passenger, seat-mounted side-impact airbags for all outboard seating positions, automatic high-beam headlights, forward collision mitigation, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, following-distance indicator, and lane-departure warning. Teen driver capability allows you to set limits on speed and audio to safeguard new drivers.

Optional on the Preferred but standard on the higher trims are safety features that include adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, park assist, and a rear vision camera that shows you an image of the area directly behind your vehicle when you’re in reverse at low speeds.

Are you ready to get behind the steering wheel of the all-new Buick Encore GX? If you’re still undecided on which Buick SUV best meets your needs, simply drop us a line or visit our showroom in Boardman, Ohio, to find out more about the various Buicks’ specifications. Our knowledgeable and service-oriented team is here to help you drive away in the Buick of your dreams once you determine which trim best suits your needs. Contact us today to set up your test drive.

Image via Buick Media Center