DelawareCLS

My mother is currently looking into the purchase of a 2004 Cadillac CTS. Does anyone have any impressions from it, either first-person or hearsay?

Additionally, does anyone know how pricing has been running on these (i.e. final "how much over invoice")? She's looking at the 2004 CTS with package 1sb (approx. $5k), moonroof ($1.2k), 3.6L auto ($1.7k) for a total vehicle MSRP of $39k, invoice of $35.8k. They are offering $1200 off, on top of her trade-in. I have heard that they will let the car go for $500 over invoice, but wanted to see if anyone knows for sure.

Also, several websites report the 3.6L engine with auto as a $1,700 option (as opposed to 3.2L w/5spd manual std.), though the dealers have not included this in the pricing they've quoted her. Can anyone confirm whether it is a priced option or not?

Thanks for the help.

Scrib

Cadillac seems to have a pretty good thing going these days from a build quality/reliability side...




People who own them, LOVE them. If she does buy it, make sure she plans on keeping it for a while. Caddy's are the WORST when it comes to initial depreciation. Figure if the car stickers at 39K, after two years, it'll book right at 20K or so. Check edmunds.com for depreciation figures.

If depreciation isn't a factor, and she's at that age where a Cadillac is the car for her, then why not???

Casual

My gf had a 24 hour test drive in the 3.6l in black ... The car is siiick. handling and ride comfort is a plus . and the outlines of the car is just remarkable. The interior is nice..It just need a a set of 20's. I tok it out for a spin down to the beach and got looks everywhere I went.

gavriil

Wow, Audi and Mercedes made it above average in 2003. Hmm...

gavriil

Mercury and Buick. Unvelievable. Especially for Buick. Way too consistent at this point. It's gotta be real. Good for GM.

95gt

Seems to be a good car if you can get over the styling. i just can't stand the outside so could never consider it. Other than that is pretty well reviewed. Not highly praised but not dogged either

Chaptorial

Yes the 3.6L engine with the Auto is a $1700 option.

In my area (NY) with the options you wanted they have been going for $37,995 not including tax. If you can get if for $500 over invoice ($35,583) that would be a steal.

Make sure about the transmission option. Plus the trade in also changes the final price as well.

Black CL-S 4-Life

My aunt just got a black one fully loaded. I rode in it over the weekend and it was better than I expected. It seemed to have decent power and a smooth ride. The HIDs were pretty pimp to.

DelawareCLS

Ah, that's what I was afraid of with the engine, and is the first thing I asked her to verify.

$37,995 is right around where they are quoting her, so I will see if she can deal down the price a bit more. She's getting crap for her trade-in ('98 Aurora with 46k miles).

IRT to the keeper question, yeah, she'll hold onto it for a while. I warned her that resale on any GM product will be poor, so she might as well keep it until it doesn't really matter.

Thanks for the input.

vinarnold

there really nice car good quality, and comfortable for sure. you would like it.

turbowhat_RENAMED

the chart says per 100 vehicles... how is Hummer able to pull off screwing 225 vehicles when they have 100 to begin with?

cusdaddy

It means that there are on average 2.25 problems per every Hummer

chef chris

If she's local, I could get some figures for you from a dealer in Wilmington.

Just a thought...

Sarlacc

The car has grown on me a lot. I once hated the exterior and have come to really like it. And GMs growing new rep, cant hurt to try right?

Course the only one I would ever consider buying is the CTS-V

anothercls

Definately wait for the CTS-V. Also check to make sure they corrected the problem with the driver air bag deployment problem, it had some latency in it. Don't want to have someone hit the car from behind and hit the steering wheel only to find out the airbag was a few seconds late.

Ray Khan

even more interesting is how much higher Audi is than VW. I would think they would be simlar.

turbowhat_RENAMED

im not really into the Ergonomics tilted towards the driver... it seems to ruin the balance of the interior... But what do i know!

SFLA_Type-S

My brother in law just bought one. I drove it & love it!!! It is very quick (maybe quicker than the auto CL-S) & handles very well in the twisties. The interior is very nice, the seats are comfortable & the ergonomics are good. He got it for 29.5K which is a great deal too.

darrinb

ugly

pimpscls

damn nice chart mercedes is shit now

DelawareCLS

She is local (well, local enough - Middletown) but looking at Delaware Cadillac and the one in West Chester on 202. She's already got the prices quoted, which so far have just been MSRP. Thanks for the offer though.

One other thing I noticed is that the VVT engine (255hp 3.6L) is included in the 1SB package she wants, so there is not an additional $1700 for her to worry about.

And, though I agree that the CTS-V would be worth waiting for for you and I, it doesn't really come into play for my mother!

She and I worked out a price that she's comfortable paying with tradein, discounts and incentives. The dealer should take it and work with her without too much trouble.

Thanks again for the input!

F23A4

My own parents are looking to get the CTS. Thought I would only consider the V, they're only looking at the 255hp model. IMO, it's GM's only true 4dr sports sedan.

chef chris

Let us know how it turns out.

DelawareCLS

Well, Delaware Cadillac tried to screw her yesterday. She gave them a reasonable price that she was willing to pay (about $800 over invoice), to which the salesman seemed to be excited about. He said he needed to check with the manager and get back to her. Well, once he did, he claimed that he goofed and that he had not included the $1,700 for the 3.6L engine and auto, which would put the price right back up where he was originally quoting her (basically MSRP). My mother said she'd get back to him.

I told her that the engine is already included in the price of the 1SB option package, and that the guy was trying to get her back up to his original price. She then called him out on it, to which he replied that he had again made a mistake and that she was right (this is from a Caddy salesman with 18 years of experience). He then came back and said that he could not sell her the car for her asking price, but could sell her one with the 1SB package that "is coming in soon" but without the moonroof, for her price. For another $1,000, they'd put the moonroof in it. So, basically, he's trying to get the price right back up the same spot he started with.

I have advised her to not deal with Delaware Cadillac anymore, but rather to work with West Chester or Milford Cadillac. I have also put in front of her the option of getting a comparably loaded Chrysler 300M for $10k less than the Caddy. She's going to check it all out today.

I always thought I'd like to be a car salesman someday, when my real career is winding down. I guess I am just not a big enough jerk.

chef chris

It's ashame Cadillac is doing so good advancing the quality of their cars,,,but still using the same old methods to sell them.

chef chris

You know, I just checked the New Car Cost Guide for 1/04 & the 1SB contains the LY7 engine(3.6L).

My figures come out to(assuming we are not missing any option packages) $34,367 cost ... & ... $37,620 retail

These prices INCLUDE destination of $695.

DelawareCLS

Yeah, that's where they tried to screw her - double-counting the engine/auto (in the package and as a separate option).

She's at West Chester Cadillac/Olds/Saab right now. If they give her a fair deal, it becomes 300M and save about $9k vs. CTS where she's comfortable.

DelawareCLS

Just got the word - she went with the CTS from West Chester Cadillac for about $1,600 over invoice. Seems like a lot, but she got the price into the upper end of the range she was comfortable with. The salesman was super cool, and even mentioned that they have had a lot of complaints and business from the Delaware Cadillac dealer (not surprising). She picks it up on Thursday (the 8th).

Still surprised she didn't go with the 300M and save $9k, but hey, if she's happy, no biggie.

Thanks again for all of the input and thoughts.

chef chris

Hey...sounds like she saved $1500 over retail...good deal!

Chaptorial

Yeah congrats man. Glad you saw that crap they were trying to pull with the engine package.