Marlene with her ride, a 2024 Buick Envista Preferred. Marlene is the type of driver who values MPG more than anything else. She doesn't care where her car was made. Saving her money is also more important than reaching her destination quickly; everything has become more expensive since President Vaughn took office. In the age where the average price of a new car in America is over $50,000, the Buick Envista is here to provide simple, low-cost transportation. Marlene keeps her expectations low and doesn't expect too much and she loves it.
———
Marlene Bacon is a simple pig. She likes things to be efficient, no-nonsense and most of all: cheap. That's why she bought the 2024 Buick Envista Preferred. The Bacon family has had a long history with Buick vehicles, with her father still using her grandfather's 1972 Buick LeSabre. But, the Buick Envista is very different from her grandpa's Buick. In fact, it's not even a Buick. It's actually a Chinese SUV, the SGMW Baojun 690, that is rebadged for the North American market. Marlene is aware that Buick, since the late 2000s and early 2010s, has been a China-first company, with GMC taking Buick's former place as General Motors' semi-luxury brand to fill the gap between Chevy and Cadillac in America. Marlene couldn't care less. Her Buick Envista is affordable at only $23,000. Marlene likes the coupe-like styling which according to her looks more expensive than it is, spacious interior, and top of all, its fuel efficiency. The Buick Envista is also feature loaded for the price. It also has a 10 years/125,000 miles warranty. Unfortunately, the good things about her Buick Envista ends there. The rest of the SUV is pretty much reflective of the price.
Unlike the Chinese market Baojun 690, available with a turbocharged 2.0L inline-four engine churning out a respectable 236 horsepower, the Buick Envista is only available with a turbocharged 1.3L three-cylinder engine that produces a measly 140 horsepower. That, coupled with front wheel drive and a continuously variable transmission, propels her Envista from 0 to 60 mph in around 8 seconds, during which signature 3-cyl coarse engine noise and vibration infiltrate the poorly-insulated cabin. Marlene thinks this is a shame, considering how the Envista is sporty looking with its coupe SUV body type. The Envista can only tow 1,000 lbs thanks to its ridiculously underpowered engine. Luckily, it sacrifices performance for stellar fuel economy. During Marlene's five days, 1,100 mile road trip from her hometown of Hickory, Iowa, to her apartment in Fletchersburg, New York, she noticed an impressive average of 38 MPG city and 45 MPG highway, she refueled just once after leaving Hickory on a full tank. Ignoring the snooze-inducing acceleration and noticeable turbo lag, the Envista is rather fun to drive. It has minimum body roll, is quite agile in traffic, its braking is firm and responsive, and steering can almost read her mind.
Marlene bought the base Preferred trim, it cost just $20,000, and Marlene chose the Tech package that added a 9-speaker 575 watt JBL sound system for $3,000. The Preferred trim lacks the sunroof, all-wheel drive, and Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving system available for the more expensive Sport Touring and Avenir trims. For its price, the Envista Preferred offers more than enough. It came standard with a 19 inch digital dashboard, wireless iFruit CarPlay and Drone Auto, three years of OnStar Premium plan, and safety features like automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, forward collision warning, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, 8 airbags, and others. As an affordable SUV, the Envista's interior is like what she'd expect from the price with a lot of black plastic. There was this time that Marlene turned on her Envista and found out the infotainment system language suddenly became Mandarin. The cabin of the Chinese-built SUV is also noisy, with intrusive engine and road noises. The cheap OEM Continental tires didn't help with the intrusive noise either and they wore out quickly, so Marlene replaced them with Bridgestone Ecopia tires.
Marlene got her Envista in April 2024, she has owned it for over a year now, with more than 15,000 miles on the odometer. She loves her Envista, although her very patriotic Donald Trumbull-voting dad hates it since it's made in China. Her Buick Envista gets Marlene from point A to B without drama. It's a reliable and affordable commuter that's easy to live with. Just don't expect it to go off-road or go fast. Marlene doesn't like hybrids and EVs, so she appreciates that her Envista isn't greedy for gas, it can even drink regular 87 gas. Despite the Envista's couple styling, it has a generous interior room and cargo space. Though its sporty exterior fools people because the Envista is the definition of slow. Value-oriented buyers will love the Envista, though it's somewhat overpriced as the Chinese market's cheapest Baojun 690 trim is sold there for just $15,000. The Envista is the first of several Chinese-made rebadged SUVs for the North American market, Marlene doesn't give a damn about the New Cold War between the USA and the PRC. What's important to her is that her car is affordable and she won't go broke buying gas.
———
Marlene is kinda into cars, as she grew up among her 7 brothers, who are all gearheads. She's also a tomboy. In a review submitted to Consumer Reports, Marlene rated the Buick Envista 7 out of 10.
With its pros being:
- One of the cheapest SUVs currently available for sale but it looks more expensive than it is
- Hybrid-like fuel economy with passable road behavior
- Generous interior room and cargo space despite being a coupe SUV
- Plenty of standard connectivity, tech and safety features
- Above average warranty
And its cons are:
- By the time the Envista reaches 60 mph, all diseases known to mammalkind have been cured
- Seriously underpowered since the turbo only kicks in at higher RPM
- The cabin is more noisy than a group of carnivore females
- Some of the more interesting gizmos, like Super Cruise and AWD, are only available in the range topping $30,000 Avenir, where there are better SUVs and cars for the same price
- Might attract some unwanted attention when driving in a red state
The Buick Envista renders subcompact cars like Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Versa, and Mitsubishi Mirage even more irrelevant. It's just too bad the Envista is the definition of "looks don't define reality" as its attractive sexy look is completely different from the econobox performance. Alas, it's better to not expect too much from a sub $30,000 SUV. General Motors did a smart (or stupid) move by selling a SUV designed for China in America. Definitely saved R&D money that enables them to sell the Envista at a cheaper price. Buick sold 39,469 Envistas for the 2024 year. Unsurprisingly, car magazines and reviewers trashed the 2024 Envita's performance. So Buick introduced the turbo 2.0L I4 for the 2025 Envista, $5,000 more expensive than the turbo 1.3L I3 that continues to be offered. The presence of Chinese SUVs on American roads triggered several hardliner conservative Republicans, so much that some Envista owners reported being harassed. Thankfully, Marlene lives in New York State. Marlene's dad even joked about how her Envista is stealing her data to be sent to the CCP. Marlene doesn't give a damn nonetheless, she is aware these things are outside her control.
———
Character: Marlene Smithfield Bacon © judyjudith
Art by tony07734123/KangWolf
———
Fun fact, the fictionalized Buick Envista in the JudyJudith's Universe of Anthropomorphic Animals is inspired by my dad's new SUV, the Wuling Almaz (Baojun 530), that is sold as the Chevrolet Captiva in the Central and South American as well as the Middle East markets.
———
Marlene Bacon is a simple pig. She likes things to be efficient, no-nonsense and most of all: cheap. That's why she bought the 2024 Buick Envista Preferred. The Bacon family has had a long history with Buick vehicles, with her father still using her grandfather's 1972 Buick LeSabre. But, the Buick Envista is very different from her grandpa's Buick. In fact, it's not even a Buick. It's actually a Chinese SUV, the SGMW Baojun 690, that is rebadged for the North American market. Marlene is aware that Buick, since the late 2000s and early 2010s, has been a China-first company, with GMC taking Buick's former place as General Motors' semi-luxury brand to fill the gap between Chevy and Cadillac in America. Marlene couldn't care less. Her Buick Envista is affordable at only $23,000. Marlene likes the coupe-like styling which according to her looks more expensive than it is, spacious interior, and top of all, its fuel efficiency. The Buick Envista is also feature loaded for the price. It also has a 10 years/125,000 miles warranty. Unfortunately, the good things about her Buick Envista ends there. The rest of the SUV is pretty much reflective of the price.
Unlike the Chinese market Baojun 690, available with a turbocharged 2.0L inline-four engine churning out a respectable 236 horsepower, the Buick Envista is only available with a turbocharged 1.3L three-cylinder engine that produces a measly 140 horsepower. That, coupled with front wheel drive and a continuously variable transmission, propels her Envista from 0 to 60 mph in around 8 seconds, during which signature 3-cyl coarse engine noise and vibration infiltrate the poorly-insulated cabin. Marlene thinks this is a shame, considering how the Envista is sporty looking with its coupe SUV body type. The Envista can only tow 1,000 lbs thanks to its ridiculously underpowered engine. Luckily, it sacrifices performance for stellar fuel economy. During Marlene's five days, 1,100 mile road trip from her hometown of Hickory, Iowa, to her apartment in Fletchersburg, New York, she noticed an impressive average of 38 MPG city and 45 MPG highway, she refueled just once after leaving Hickory on a full tank. Ignoring the snooze-inducing acceleration and noticeable turbo lag, the Envista is rather fun to drive. It has minimum body roll, is quite agile in traffic, its braking is firm and responsive, and steering can almost read her mind.
Marlene bought the base Preferred trim, it cost just $20,000, and Marlene chose the Tech package that added a 9-speaker 575 watt JBL sound system for $3,000. The Preferred trim lacks the sunroof, all-wheel drive, and Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving system available for the more expensive Sport Touring and Avenir trims. For its price, the Envista Preferred offers more than enough. It came standard with a 19 inch digital dashboard, wireless iFruit CarPlay and Drone Auto, three years of OnStar Premium plan, and safety features like automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, forward collision warning, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, 8 airbags, and others. As an affordable SUV, the Envista's interior is like what she'd expect from the price with a lot of black plastic. There was this time that Marlene turned on her Envista and found out the infotainment system language suddenly became Mandarin. The cabin of the Chinese-built SUV is also noisy, with intrusive engine and road noises. The cheap OEM Continental tires didn't help with the intrusive noise either and they wore out quickly, so Marlene replaced them with Bridgestone Ecopia tires.
Marlene got her Envista in April 2024, she has owned it for over a year now, with more than 15,000 miles on the odometer. She loves her Envista, although her very patriotic Donald Trumbull-voting dad hates it since it's made in China. Her Buick Envista gets Marlene from point A to B without drama. It's a reliable and affordable commuter that's easy to live with. Just don't expect it to go off-road or go fast. Marlene doesn't like hybrids and EVs, so she appreciates that her Envista isn't greedy for gas, it can even drink regular 87 gas. Despite the Envista's couple styling, it has a generous interior room and cargo space. Though its sporty exterior fools people because the Envista is the definition of slow. Value-oriented buyers will love the Envista, though it's somewhat overpriced as the Chinese market's cheapest Baojun 690 trim is sold there for just $15,000. The Envista is the first of several Chinese-made rebadged SUVs for the North American market, Marlene doesn't give a damn about the New Cold War between the USA and the PRC. What's important to her is that her car is affordable and she won't go broke buying gas.
———
Marlene is kinda into cars, as she grew up among her 7 brothers, who are all gearheads. She's also a tomboy. In a review submitted to Consumer Reports, Marlene rated the Buick Envista 7 out of 10.
With its pros being:
- One of the cheapest SUVs currently available for sale but it looks more expensive than it is
- Hybrid-like fuel economy with passable road behavior
- Generous interior room and cargo space despite being a coupe SUV
- Plenty of standard connectivity, tech and safety features
- Above average warranty
And its cons are:
- By the time the Envista reaches 60 mph, all diseases known to mammalkind have been cured
- Seriously underpowered since the turbo only kicks in at higher RPM
- The cabin is more noisy than a group of carnivore females
- Some of the more interesting gizmos, like Super Cruise and AWD, are only available in the range topping $30,000 Avenir, where there are better SUVs and cars for the same price
- Might attract some unwanted attention when driving in a red state
The Buick Envista renders subcompact cars like Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Versa, and Mitsubishi Mirage even more irrelevant. It's just too bad the Envista is the definition of "looks don't define reality" as its attractive sexy look is completely different from the econobox performance. Alas, it's better to not expect too much from a sub $30,000 SUV. General Motors did a smart (or stupid) move by selling a SUV designed for China in America. Definitely saved R&D money that enables them to sell the Envista at a cheaper price. Buick sold 39,469 Envistas for the 2024 year. Unsurprisingly, car magazines and reviewers trashed the 2024 Envita's performance. So Buick introduced the turbo 2.0L I4 for the 2025 Envista, $5,000 more expensive than the turbo 1.3L I3 that continues to be offered. The presence of Chinese SUVs on American roads triggered several hardliner conservative Republicans, so much that some Envista owners reported being harassed. Thankfully, Marlene lives in New York State. Marlene's dad even joked about how her Envista is stealing her data to be sent to the CCP. Marlene doesn't give a damn nonetheless, she is aware these things are outside her control.
———
Character: Marlene Smithfield Bacon © judyjudith
Art by tony07734123/KangWolf
———
Fun fact, the fictionalized Buick Envista in the JudyJudith's Universe of Anthropomorphic Animals is inspired by my dad's new SUV, the Wuling Almaz (Baojun 530), that is sold as the Chevrolet Captiva in the Central and South American as well as the Middle East markets.
Category Story / Portraits
Species Pig / Swine
Gender Female
Size 2588 x 1423px
This review is mostly fictional tho as the Buick Envista in my lore is mechanically different than the real one.
its not easy these days to get a car and even worse if they tax your current vehicle cus its old and polutent and not allowed in certain areas of cities or towns
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