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My first Cadillac - My Story

876 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  MMMM_ERT 
#1 ·
Cadillac is curently running this marketing promo labeled MY STORY, so I figured also as a BMW owner I would share my story of my first Cadillac with my fellow members:

I have never purchased a Cadillac before in my life, let along remember the last American vehicle I purchased. I think it was the Ford Probe GT back in the early nineties (ahhh the memories....)

The main reason I purchased an 07 Cadillac Escalade is I needed to fit all 3 kids (2 infants & 1 toddler) and their car seats all in the 2nd row. 3rd row seating does not help for young kids since it's tough to get back there and also it eats away at all the rear cargo space that is for the stroller & other baby gear.

I also looked at the Escalade's cousins; Tahoe & Yukon Denali and they both are the better bang for the buck, but the Cadillac always peaked my interest due to it's new sportier styling and 22" OEM rims. It was a great revamp for the GM full size SUV line. I also looked at other luxury name plates in the full size SUV arena and spending $90K on a Range Rover seemed ridiculous, the Lexus LX470 was another option (still a little more expensive than the Escalade), but at the time it was long overdue for a revamp and as you can see now the new style is already coming out soon. MB GL & BMW X5 were both more along the lines of a mid-size SUV and were too small, yet as expensive as the Escalade, so GM still really had the best offerring and bang for the buck in the full size SUV market.

Although the Escalade is my wife's primary vehicle and the family hauler, I love driving it. It's amazing power and the growl of it's engine when you start it up is so sweet. The ride is smooth and although it may not be as refined as a European or Japanese Luxury SUV, it's close. The interior as well as the exterior have been revamped and is a huge improvement over the previous model. It's more blingy now, but after seeing it in person it's not over the top blingy. GM did good on this model.

Knock on wood, I was worried about the reliability of this vehicle (let along any American Vehicle), but Cadillac's reliability scores according to JD Power & Associates were up there, even higher than some other Japanese brands. I was optimistic and had faith.

Although it shouldn't be an issue when you buy a full size gas guzzling SUV, in the back of my mind I was thinking do I have to fill up this monster truck every other day due to it's poor gas mileage? To my surprise with daily around the town driving, we are filling up at least once a week of week and half. We are still running in the 10-14 MPG range, but the large gas tank helps prolong those trips to the gas station. Filling up on Regular is around $75 a visit (Caddy says regular gas is fine) and that is also due to we have the highest gas prices in the country here in SOCAL.

Another incentive to push me towards buying the Escalade was although at the time there were no incentives for the Escalade (even with this high gas price issue, sales of Escalades were still good here in SoCal), the dealers were willing to sell it at invoice & I was lucky enough to have a GM Friends & Family Discount price (at under invoice) + another $1,500 discount in dealer cash (this was from a very genorours Caddy Forum member). Also Cadillac had the vehicle I wanted in stock, so I woudn't have to custom order like in most cases I have done with my BMW.

I had a very good experience at my local Cadillac Dealer. The Internet sales person was responsive and very pleasant to deal with however I was probably lucky since at any car dealership you can either get the good or bad salesperson.

My only 2 gripes about GM and Cadillac is their presentation as a luxury name plate. From the standard vehicle key to the manual book, it's all cheap & flimsy. Why not have remote integrated into the key. I can't remember the last time I had to lug around a key and a seperate remote from BMW or Lexus.

This is going to sound snooty, however I believe that Cadillac to further pursue it's aura of luxury & to succeed has to seperate itself from being in the same dealership as GMC / BUICK / PONTIAC. Almost all the Cadillac Dealers in this area (except 1) are combined with GMC / BUICK / Pontiac. This takes away from the luxury name plate feeling when you are having your Caddy serviced along with these other standard GM Brands. I don't mind, but the service waiting rooms in a Cadillac / GMC / Buick / Pontiac definitely look different (type of people) as compared to my local BMW or Lexus Dealers. Although my Caddy dealer still offers free coffee, water & pastries, but still no loaner car for scheduled maintenance (only for warranty work). I hopefully assume the service bills will be less at a Caddy Dealer than let's say a Lexus Dealer.

Overeall I am very happy with my new 07 Cadillac Escalade (knock on wood), I also feel somewhat patriotic buying an American Vehicle. It's definitely a change, but I enjoy this vehicle and it's my anti-minivan statement.

This my Cadillac Story. Thanks for listening.
 
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#5 ·
Good luck with GM. I owned GM cars for 18 years before I wised up (With the exception of a Honda which was the best car I ever owned).

Their quality, service and warranty leaves MUCH to be desired and I got tired of being treated like crap for my loyalty to GM. I hope your experience is better, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
 
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