2025 Buick Enclave Avenir vs. 2025 Lexus TX 350

2025 Buick Enclave Avenir ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Luxury cars aren’t always built for families. Beautiful style, high performance capabilities, gorgeous interior materials, and cutting-edge features mean nothing if you can’t fit everyone inside. 

In this review, we’re comparing two family-friendly luxury crossover SUVs: the 2025 Buick Enclave Avenir and the 2025 Lexus TX 350. Neither of them is the most decadently posh SUV on sale. But they’re both among the roomiest luxury SUVs you can find for around $60,000. 

The Enclave Avenir is the top trim level of Buick’s three-row crossover – a more premium take on General Motors’ Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia. Similarly, the TX 350 is a fancier version of the Toyota Grand Highlander. Keep reading as we compare these two crossovers in each of eight categories, then name an overall winner. 

Exterior Design

Newly redesigned for 2025, the Enclave enters its third generation with a more upright, boxy style than the gracefully flowing curves that defined earlier models. We liked the old Enclave’s looks, but Buick may have decided it needed something more modern. Slim headlights spear toward a big, upright grille. And a lightbar connects the slim taillights below the rear windshield. 

The TX 350 debuted last year. To our eyes, it’s a more cohesive design than the new Enclave. It’s a rounded-off box with some well-placed details that keep it upscale. Overall, we don’t think anyone would buy one of these SUVs because they’re instantly enamored by their looks. And some luxury buyers will trade some of their boxy functionality for more styling flavor. Despite our personal preference for the Lexus’s looks, we’ll call this subjective category a tie. 

Winner: Tie

2024 Lexus TX 350 ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Interior Design

We’ll also call interior design a tie – but for a different reason. Both the TX 350 and the Enclave have notable advantages, but also frustrating flaws. 

We’ll start with the Enclave, whose dashboard is a thing of beauty that sets it apart from similarly priced rivals. A 30-inch digital display includes both the gauge cluster and the central touchscreen. The display’s concave curvature means it doesn’t look like a big slab of screen plopped artlessly in front of you. And unlike most similarly configured displays, there’s no interruption between the gauge cluster and the screen – it really is one continuous digital strip. Finally, we also appreciated the Enclave’s open storage area beneath its floating center console. 

The TX 350’s interior is much plainer. Its 14-inch rectangular touchscreen provides mostly digital dead space – neither pretty nor functional. Nor is the rest of the dashboard any more imaginative to look at. And yet, Lexus failed to lean into the TX’s simplicity with user-friendly controls. Too many functions are limited to the touchscreen. And the steering-wheel controls double up functions, making them slower and more distracting to use. 

So why doesn’t the Buick win this category? Because it has its own unforced errors. Many of its controls are also restricted to the touchscreen – with maddeningly small icons, too, in many cases. Even the headlights are buried in the screen settings. Also, while its interior makes a strong first impression, it also has some areas of cheaper or ill-finished plastics. And the center console bin’s lid slams shut with a less-than-fancy crash. 

Overall, you’ll be choosing between the flashier Buick and the simpler Lexus – aware that neither interior is perfect. 

Winner: Tie 

2024 Lexus TX 350 ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Passenger Accommodations

As we mentioned, the Enclave and the TX 350 are both among the roomiest luxury SUVs you’ll find. They’re not built from the ground up as luxury models – and they get to share in the advantages of their family-focused counterparts. 

Both the Enclave and TX 350 have three rows of seats with seating for up to seven passengers. And both can fit adults even into the third row. But a couple of subtle differences tip this category to the Buick. 

First, the Enclave achieves seven-passenger seating with second-row captain’s chairs and three positions in the third row. A seven-seat TX 350 has a three-passenger second-row bench seat and two seats in the far back. That means that if you pick the Lexus with the popular captain’s chairs to match the Buick, the TX’s total capacity drops to six. Also, only the Enclave has the option of massaging front seats. Both SUVs are comfortable and spacious, but the Buick is even more so. 

Winner: Buick Enclave

2025 Buick Enclave Avenir ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Cargo and Utility

The TX 350 and Enclave are also evenly matched when it comes to carrying cargo. And yet again, the Buick takes a slight lead. 

With 20 cubic feet behind the third-row seat, 57 cubic feet behind the second row, and 97 cubic feet behind the front seats, the TX is roomier than any competing luxury crossover – except the Enclave. The Buick ekes out another 3 cubic feet behind the third row while matching the Lexus’s other cargo specs. We also found the Enclave’s second-row seats easier to fold down than the TX 350’s. Both of these crossovers have standout cargo room, but the Buick’s functionality stands out just a little more. 

Winner: Buick Enclave

2025 Buick Enclave Avenir ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Driving Impressions

Both the TX 350 and the Enclave use turbocharged four-cylinder engines – a healthy 275 horsepower in the Lexus and a whopping 328 horsepower in the Buick. And on paper, the Enclave reaches 60 mph about a second faster than the TX 350. 

But we preferred driving the Lexus. Its four-cylinder engine is mild-mannered yet effective, peacefully whirring this big crossover up to speed. By contrast, the more powerful Buick’s engine rasps and roars even when you’re not shoving down hard on the throttle. It’ll beat the TX 350 in a race, but it can’t putter peacefully around town – which is what we really look for from such vehicles. 

We also enjoyed the TX 350’s ride and handling. It’s smooth, steady, quiet, and composed. It’s easy to drive and, once again, free of drama. The Enclave’s experience isn’t far off, though its ride felt less serene under our test vehicle’s huge 22-inch wheels. 

Winner: Lexus TX 350

2024 Lexus TX 350 ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Fuel Economy

The TX 350 edges out the more powerful Enclave in the EPA’s fuel economy testing as well. It gets 21 mpg in the city, 27 mpg on the highway, and 23 mpg with all-wheel drive and 20 mpg city, 26 mpg highway, and 23 mpg combined with all-wheel drive. Meanwhile, the front-drive Enclave averages 20 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, and 23 mpg, while AWD models dip to 19 mpg city, 24 mpg highway, and 21 mpg combined. 

And yet, we’ll give the Enclave the win. That’s because the TX 350 requires premium fuel, while Buick recommends low-cost regular. The Enclave’s slightly higher consumption is more than offset by its willingness to drink the cheap stuff. We wish Lexus had tuned the TX 350’s engine to drink 87 octane like the Toyota Grand Highlander. The TX gets an extra 5 horsepower out of the deal, but those are some expensive ponies at the pump. 

Finally, while our results aren’t scientific, we’ll note that we averaged 25 mpg in our Enclave test vehicle versus 24 mpg in our TX 350. Lexus does offer a pair of gas-electric TX hybrid models, but they’re more expensive than the gas-only TX 350 and still require premium fuel. 

Winner: Buick Enclave

2025 Buick Enclave Avenir ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Safety

The TX 350 and Enclave are two safe vehicles, packed with technologies to help you avoid a crash and keep you safe if one occurs. But the Buick’s safety record is even stronger. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave both SUVs five out of five stars in its crash tests. But the Lexus earned just four stars for frontal-impact protection, while the Buick got five stars for both frontal and side impacts. 

And the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the Enclave its highest Top Safety Pick+ designation, while the IIHS didn’t fully test the TX 350. And the Lexus earned only the second-highest score of Acceptable in the IIHS’s driver-side small-overlap frontal crash test. 

Winner: Buick Enclave

2025 Buick Enclave Avenir ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Pricing and Features

The 2025 Lexus TX 350 starts at $55,410, which is much more than the cheapest 2025 Buick Enclave – the $45,100 Preferred trim level. 

We’re focusing this comparison on the most Lexus-like Enclave model: the $58,200 Avenir, which has richer interior materials than lesser Enclave models. The Enclave Avenir is most similarly equipped to the $57,940 TX 350 Premium – actually a slight price advantage for the Lexus. 

Still, we’ll give this category to the Enclave. Not only can you get a less costly Enclave model than the cheapest TX 350, but Buick also has some exclusive features that you won’t find on any TX. Notable ones are massaging front seats and Super Cruise – a hands-free driving aid that handles accelerating, braking, gentle steering, and even automatic lane changes to overtake slower vehicles. The Lexus has an optional 21-speaker stereo (versus the Buick’s 16 speakers) and optional ventilated second-row seats, but the Enclave has the stronger overall value. 

Winner: Buick Enclave 

2025 Buick Enclave Avenir ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Final Thoughts

We liked driving the 2025 Lexus TX 350 more than the 2025 Buick Enclave. It has just the peaceful, quiet, no-stress experience we’d expect from a roomy, upscale family-friendly luxury SUV.

But if the Enclave’s loud, rough-sounding engine isn’t a dealbreaker, it edges out the Lexus for safety, fuel costs, price, and high-end features. It has the more eye-catching interior, and it pairs seven-passenger seating with second-row captain’s chairs. 

We expect our readers will split into two camps: those who say “who cares about the Enclave’s engine noise when it has so many other advantages?” and those who say “how could anyone think that engine is acceptable for $60,000?” As it is, the Enclave is our winner – but we won’t be shocked if you pick the TX 350 instead. 

Winner: Buick Enclave

2025 Buick Enclave Avenir ・ Photo by Brady Holt