I don’t know if you’ve looked at the cost of rent in major cities lately, but if you want to live somewhere with nice materials and finishes, central heating, and decent storage, you need to make a bajillion dollars. You can check my math on that one. I recently saw a super cute little cardboard replica of a house, advertising the big house behind it for rent, at just $700 per month. But it turned out that $700 was actually just to rent the cardboard house. The real house was $8,000 per month. So, I’m looking at the total dumps I could live in for my meager budget as an automotive journalist, and I’ve decided that living in a 2024 Buick Encore GX Avenir would actually be an upgrade. Here’s how I came to this conclusion.
Central Heating
The 2024 Buick Encore GX Avenir has heated front seats and a heated steering wheel. I can get warm and cozy on cold days for the price of a car lease. It even has dual-zone climate control, allowing my guest and me to choose our preferred temperatures. I recently looked at a studio apartment renting for $1,700 per month with no central heating. But they did offer to additionally rent me a space heater for another $500 per month that they promised had only caused three electrical fires in the past. They technically offered multiple climate zones, since the bathroom window was a piece of plastic with holes in it, rendering that “zone” permanently freezing.
Upscale Materials
The Avenir has leather-appointed front seats, so I can instantly offer a guest more luxury accommodations than I was finding in most apartments within my budget. It also has chrome accents on the front bumper and a cool logo on the headrests. These are features that will wow my home-on-wheels guests.
Mind you, when I was apartment hunting, I saw one place that said they had “hardwood-esque” floors. When I checked it out in person, it turned out the landlord had just grabbed some leftover planks of wood from a nearby construction project, taped them together, and put them down in the living room.
Room to Sleep
It seems that the definition of a “one-bedroom” apartment has been slowly shifting. I visited one recently, and the bedroom was actually a murphy bed in the wall of the kitchen. You could either have the bed folded out, or you could use your kitchen, but never both. I have always dreamed of having a pizza oven in my bedroom, but that’s not what I meant. Meanwhile, the 2024 Buick Encore GX Avenir has a front passenger seat that folds flat, as do the rear seats. So I can easily create a nice place to lie down on the passenger side, and leave the driver side for business. That’s, technically more zones than I’ve been finding in apartments. It still doesn’t have a pizza oven, but when I’m parked overnight on the street across from Domino’s, it’s the next best thing.
Wi-Fi Included
Today, included utilities and amenities are a big selling point, but most apartments I can afford don’t offer that. One place tried to sell me on the point that the cabinets are included. What??? Another place told me that the “pet rats” were included, which I’m pretty sure was their way of covering up their rat infestation problem. Anyways, the 2024 Buick Encore GX Avenir has a standard Wi-Fi hotspot. That is a real amenity that lets me answer emails, stream shows, book travel, and more, all from my vehicle. I mean home.
A 120-Volt Power Outlet
The 2024 Buick Encore GX Avenir even offers a better way to charge my devices and appliances. It has a 120-volt outlet which I can use to plug in food warmers or personal electronics. And I have it all to myself. I mention this because, at the last studio I looked at, the landlord explained that I could only plug stuff in between noon and 2pm and that “the other power usage slots were already taken.”
A True Home On Wheels
You don’t need a big fancy Instagram-style camper van with a zillion gigawatts of solar panels, an outdoor steam shower, and a room dedicated to your pet ocelot to live on the road. The 2023 Buick Encore GX Avenir has almost everything those rolling mansions do, and for a fraction of the price. It fits in a normal-size parking space, and it doesn’t look like you live in your car, which is perfect for places that frown on living in your car. Best of all, you won’t be paying some scumbag landlord or ginormous mortgage company for the privilege of existing in their dump. Take your life into your own hands and live in a Buick instead.
