Factory build sheet

2021 Buick Encore Base

Build KL4CJ3SB-M · 1.4L 4cyl · Front-wheel drive · Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)

VIN positions 1 through 8 read KL4CJ3SB and position 10 reads M. Those nine characters define this build. Position 9 and positions 11 through 17 differ on every car.

Every Encore whose VIN starts KL4CJ3SB and carries M in position 10 left the plant with the same engine, transmission, drivetrain and equipment listed below. We know of 16 of them.

  • Decoded Jul 7, 2026
  • 16 known VINs
  • 1 listed for sale now

Factory specification

As filed by Buick with NHTSA for this build. Fields the filing does not record are left out entirely — a missing row means no recorded value, not a missing feature.

Engine

Displacement
1.4 L
Cylinders
4
Engine model
LUV - MFI, VVT, ALUM, GME E85 MAX
Valve train
Dual Overhead Cam (DOHC)
Turbocharged
Yes
Fuel type
Gasoline

Drivetrain

Drive type
Front-wheel drive
Brake system
Hydraulic

Body & chassis

Body class
Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV)
NHTSA body type
MULTIPURPOSE PASSENGER VEHICLE (MPV)
Doors
4
Seats
5
Seat rows
2
Manufacturer
GENERAL MOTORS LLC

Weight rating

GVWR class
Class 1C
GVWR
4,001–5,000 lb

Gross vehicle weight rating is the loaded ceiling set by the manufacturer, not the car's own weight.

The same build, other model years

Buick used the VIN pattern KL4CJ3SB for 5 model years. Nothing but the year changes between these pages, so the price gap between them is depreciation on an identical car.

How this VIN pattern is read

A 17-character VIN carries two kinds of information: what was built, and which one it is. This page is the first kind — the nine highlighted positions.

Positions Characters What they encode
1–3 KL4 GENERAL MOTORS LLC · World manufacturer identifier
4–8 CJ3SB Model, body style, engine and restraint system
9 × Check digit — computed per vehicle, not part of the build
10 M Model year — 2021
11 × Assembly plant
12–17 ×××××× Production sequence number, unique to each vehicle

NHTSA safety ratings

Crash-test results are published per model year and body style, so they cover the 2021 Buick Encore as a whole rather than this build alone.

Overall

★★★★★ 5 / 5

Frontal crash

★★★★★ 5 / 5

Side crash

★★★★★ 5 / 5

Rollover

★★★★ ★ 4 / 5

16 vehicles carry this build

Every VIN we have decoded to KL4CJ3SB-M shares the specification above.

  • 16 Known VINs
  • 1 Listed for sale now

Keep going

Where this data comes from

Specification fields are decoded from the manufacturer's filings in the NHTSA vPIC database, keyed on VIN positions 1–8 and 10. We publish the filed values as they stand and leave out anything the filing does not record.

Vehicle counts come from the 16 VINs of this build we have seen in dealer inventory. They are a sample of the road population, not a production figure.