Buick Regal vs Buick Encore: which is more reliable?
The Buick Regal and the Buick Encore are level on the federal record — 82/100 against 79/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Buick Regal
- 10 model years scored
- 633 owner complaints on record
- about 3 complaints per year on the road
- 28 recall campaigns, 12 safety-critical
- best year 2017 (92/100) · worst 2011 (42/100)
Buick Encore
- 10 model years scored
- 598 owner complaints on record
- about 7 complaints per year on the road
- 22 recall campaigns, 16 safety-critical
- best year 2021 (94/100) · worst 2015 (61/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Regal against Encore
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Buick Regal
- Engine — 169 complaints
- Electrical System — 159 complaints
- Exterior Lighting — 127 complaints
Buick Encore
- Engine — 221 complaints
- Electrical System — 84 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 69 complaints
Both nameplates have Engine as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.
Years to avoid on each
Buick Regal — avoid: 2011.
Buick Encore: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020….
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Buick Regal prices at about $19,800 and a Buick Encore at about $23,600 — the Buick Regal is roughly $3,800 less, and they return 26.0 against 26.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Buick Regal or the Buick Encore more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Buick Regal scores 82/100 against the Buick Encore's 79/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Buick Regal and Buick Encore years should I avoid?
Buick Regal: 2011. Buick Encore: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Buick Regal and the Buick Encore?
The largest complaint group on the Buick Regal is Engine (169 complaints); on the Buick Encore it is Engine (221).
Is the Buick Regal or the Buick Encore cheaper to own?
A recent used Buick Regal prices at about $19,800 and a Buick Encore at about $23,600, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.