The 2013 Buick Encore was the first vehicle I'd ever chosen for myself, so it meant a lot to me. Looking online, I see that I was actually LUCKY that it lasted 80,000 miles. That said, I didn't drive it very hard, owned it for 8 years, and bough it with only 5,000 miles on it. It started exhibiting coolant component issues in 2021. These were addressed as they crept up. The car always ran fine and no lights went on, until I was told I needed a catalytic converter in spring 2023. Okay. Fast forward to Nov 2023. Every now and then I'd get a faint burning smell. Transient, but noticeable outside the cab. Took it in, had a new water reservoir installed. Still smelled a few weeks later. Went back in, now they said I needed a thermostat housing and gasket valve replacement. Okay. Repair made. As they drove it out of the shop, the car blows into billows of gray smoke. I'm told that it had "run just fine in the garage", that the engine looked "fine", and it had passed its 45 minute burp test. Obviously it was NOT FINE!!!!!!

Turns out a rod was bent into 2 cylinders and a head gasket blown. The good news was it didn't happen on my watch. The bad news was, my car was deemed totaled. This was a combination of mechanics who only worked from the "outside-in" with limited, exterior diagnostics--and a car make, that, if you look--has issues with their engines. My advice to you is: if you see a 2013 Buick Encore for sale online with 70,000 miles or more, and you think wow!--only $10k-13k!--what a great car for my kid or old mother!--DO NOT BUY IT! While this car only gave me trouble at the end, it was a catastrophic end.

No car should die at 80,000k, especially when it's only driven around 8,000 miles per year, and is CARED for!!! Nor should it need a catalytic converter at this mileage. Shame on Buick for making these cheap and dirty cars and passing them off to the public in droves. They're all over the roads, and I can only imagine how many more will die mysteriously slow deaths because no lights go on, indicating you have problems with your coolant system. For comparison, my husband's 2011 Buick LaCrosse died in 2024 at 205,000 miles, and he'd never needed a catalytic converter in that time span, nor did it have engine issues during its prime. Buick Encores are bad cars.