Compare the2023 Buick EnclaveVS 2023 Audi Q7

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the Buick Enclave’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Audi Q7 doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Enclave are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Q7 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Enclave has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Q7 doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Enclave and the Q7 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Buick Enclave is safer than the Audi Q7:

	Enclave	Q7
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	15.6%	25%
Leg Forces (l/r)	53/40 lbs.	61/46 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	35.2%	44%

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Buick Enclave is safer than the Q7:

	Enclave	Q7
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Restraints	GOOD	GOOD
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Head injury index	61	225
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Max Chest Compression	18 cm	30 cm
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Femur Force R/L	.5/0 kN	5.5/.1 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	4%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Tibia forces R/L	1.4/0 kN	4.2/.3 kN

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Buick Enclave is safer than the Audi Q7:

	Enclave	Q7
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	69	187
Hip Force	204 lbs.	350 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	134	337
Spine Acceleration	39 G’s	62 G’s
Hip Force	716 lbs.	888 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	251	290
Spine Acceleration	34 G’s	40 G’s
Hip Force	554 lbs.	557 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

Buick’s powertrain warranty covers the Enclave 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Audi covers the Q7. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Q7 ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 6 times as many Buick dealers as there are Audi dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Enclave’s warranty.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Buick vehicles are better in initial quality than Audi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Buick first in initial quality, above the industry average. With 100 more problems per 100 vehicles, Audi is ranked 31st, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Audi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Buick second in reliability, above the industry average. With 85 more problems per 100 vehicles, Audi is ranked 25th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Audi vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Buick fourth in overall reliability. Audi is ranked 14th.

Engine

The Enclave’s 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 49 more horsepower (310 vs. 261) than the Q7 45 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Enclave gets better mileage than the Q7:

			MPG
Enclave
	FWD	3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/26 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	17 city/25 hwy
Q7
	AWD	3.0 turbo V6 Hybrid	18 city/22 hwy

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Buick Enclave uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Q7 requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Enclave has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Q7 doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Buick Enclave, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Q7.

Brakes and Stopping

The Enclave stops shorter than the Q7:

	Enclave	Q7
60 to 0 MPH	130 feet	133 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

The Buick Enclave’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Audi Q7 only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Enclave has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Q7 doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Enclave has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Q7; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed. Some tire options on the Q7 don’t have a run-flat feature, either.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Enclave’s wheelbase is 3 inches longer than on the Q7 (120.9 inches vs. 117.9 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Enclave is 1.2 inches wider in the front and .4 inches wider in the rear than on the Q7.

For better maneuverability, the Enclave’s turning circle is 2 feet tighter than the Q7’s (39 feet vs. 41 feet).

Chassis

The Buick Enclave may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 400 to 450 pounds less than the Audi Q7.

The front grille of the Enclave uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Q7 doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Enclave uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Q7 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Enclave has 2.7 inches more front headroom, 2.7 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear headroom, 3.1 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.7 inches more third row headroom, 4.3 inches more third row legroom and 7.9 inches more third row shoulder room than the Q7.

Cargo Capacity

The Enclave’s cargo area provides more volume than the Q7.

	Enclave	Q7
Behind Third Seat	23.6 cubic feet	14.8 cubic feet
Third Seat Folded	57.7 cubic feet	37.5 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	97.4 cubic feet	69.6 cubic feet

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Enclave easier. The Enclave’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 30.5 inches, while the Q7’s liftover is 32.5 inches.

The Enclave’s cargo area is larger than the Q7’s in every dimension:

	Enclave	Q7
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	26.2”/54”/90”	19.5”/44.7”/80.7”
Max Width	52.7”	52.5”
Min Width	48.5”	42.6”
Height	30.8”	30”

Servicing Ease

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Buick service is better than Audi. J.D. Power ranks Buick fifth in service department satisfaction. With a 7% lower rating, Audi is ranked 8th.

Ergonomics

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Enclave’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Q7 doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Audi Connect CARE can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Enclave has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Q7 only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

Consumer Reports rated the Enclave’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Q7’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

The Enclave has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the Q7.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Buick Enclave has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Wireless charging costs extra on the Q7.

The Enclave offers an optional 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Q7 doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

Model Availability

The Enclave is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Q7 doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Enclave owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Enclave will cost $3140 to $5370 less than the Q7 over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Enclave is less expensive to operate than the Q7 because typical repairs cost much less on the Enclave than the Q7, including $371 less for a muffler, $647 less for a starter, $355 less for fuel injection, $577 less for front struts and $646 less for a timing belt/chain.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Buick Enclave will be $15365 to $16949 less than for the Audi Q7.

Recommendations

The Buick Enclave outsold the Audi Q7/SQ7 by 48% during the 2021 model year.

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