Ever since GM unveiled the Buick Enclave concept at last year’s Detroit show, the buzz surrounding the large, curvaceous, luxuriously appointed crossover has been intense. People have found themselves unexpectedly desiring a three-row Buick. And they haven’t been ashamed to admit it.

Of course, desire can dissipate when a high price places a vehicle out of financial reach. And I expected the Buick Enclave to be expensive. The related Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia are moderately pricey. And GM has emphasized that the Buick would be more luxurious than its sibs, and priced accordingly.

I also thought functionality might become an issue, as GM has stated that some interior space had been sacrificed to achieve the curvy body.

Turns out I was wrong, on all counts. At this year’s auto show, I was able to sit in the production Buick Enclave and so discovered two things. First, the materials seemed no better than those in the GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook. Second, the interior seemed no tighter than the others. (I have since confirmed this by comparing the vehicles’ specifications.)

While the unexpected room was a positive, I wondered how GM expected to command a premium price without premium materials.

Well, today I got my answer when base prices were released. With a base price of $32,790, the Buick Enclave does start $2,800 higher than the GMC Acadia (itself $2,000 more than the Saturn Outlook). But it also includes over $3,000 in additional standard features compared to the GMC (including xenons, satellite radio, and power liftgate). Adjust for these and it’s actually priced about $350 lower.

Option prices have not yet been released. When they are, I suspect that a loaded Buick Enclave will be very close in price to a similarly loaded GMC Acadia. The Saturn checks in lower than the others even after adjusting for feature differences, but you cannot get as large (or even any) discount at a Saturn dealer.

I did not see this coming, not at all. I was a bit down on the Buick Enclave after the auto show. But the unexpectedly low feature-adjusted pricing has changed my perspective. Priced about $4,000 below an Acura MDX even in uplevel CXL trim, this Buick is going to sell.