SilverJ

Just read an article on the 2008 Cadillac CTS---40 gb hard drive, ability to RIP cd's right to the harddrive. Full ipod compatibility..STOCK and the best of all the ability to use the radio like a tivo...record anything on the radio or satellite and save it to hard drive. Awesome ! oh and of course navigation. I hope acura steps up with the 2009 TL...its about time they upgrade their tech. The nav system itself is long in the tooth at this point.

timmahh

Sooooo... =/

You're talking about a new generation of a model.. of course it's going to have the latest and greatest; when the 3G came out in 04 what did the CTS have?

Bearcat94

^^

Right.

The "2008 Cadillac CTS tech blows away TL..." is a bit over-stated until the new gen TL is spec'd and/or launched.

sunnyflava99

Technology is ever evolving... there's always something bigger and better around the corner.

I always want the latest and greatest just like the next man, but, sometimes you just got to be content with what you got. Would still take a TL over a CTS though.

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

I did see a review in a mag last night where dude took it around the nuremburg track and he gave it a thumbs up and he had the base (which doesn't have any of this stuff)

PS. also seen something on the news, Honda Motor Corp. came 4th with most reliable car... Toyota was tied for #1
Land Rover - Worst

SporkLover

I love the CTS-V cars, just because I come from LS1/2/6 land. But there is just something wrong about a car that loses soo much value in their first few years of life.

SilverJ

I'm not saying I like the CTS better than the TL...I just wish Acura would update their technology. So you may say---CLS is a new model etc etc --well guess what ? the RDX is a new model too(2007) and it has the same Navi system that came in the 04 TL. I mean cmon...could they at least improve the resolution ? The navi system looks like when u turn your pc down to 640x 480...its all blurry and the nav itself looks like a nav from 5 years ago...all stick figures.

Technology is constantly evolving...I wish acura were a little more proactive and not make us wait 5 years for "new" tech

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

1) That's not that technically advanced.

2) The 2007 Infinty's do most of that.

3) It's a Cadillac

I don't think it's that important... 40G HDD? But you have to rip each CD AGAIN, and once it's ripped, you can't extract the data. That stinks, I've spent enough time ripping CDs. Seems kinda ugly to use to me.

Native Ipod support? 07 Acura has an AUX jack too.

Radio recording support, that's neat... but i ain't buyin a Cadillac for it.

Nav is long in the tooth? The Honda/Acura nav is continually top rated one of the better system out there. The nav went to Gen 4 in 2007, lots more features, zagat, and all that crap, and the reolution was increased. What's the Cadillac nav have that we don't?

No video support?

I've learned that OEM will never provide what I truly want, but for under $700, I'm more than happy.
AVelectronics multiswitch interface...
- PS2 in the glovebox
- 120GB HDD "Mediagate" in the console that removeable, so i can load it up without having to RIP again (mainly for movies).
- Ipod on the dash
-Integrated TV tuner...

It's a little ugly to uset too, with remotes for everything, but it's working great when you get used to it.

xenonhid

My 30 gb HDD Pioneer Avic Z1 can rip CD's into its harddrive. Also has dvd player, and IPOD connectivity.


Being able to record Satellite Radio live and store it on the HDD is actually a cool idea !

sunnyflava99

Have to agree, the remotes are a bitch though. I wish they had a universal remote for all these devices.

JPTL-S

Actually, in the end it's just another GM car....blah!

JPTL-S

To be more specific, in the end it's just another GM car....blah!

Sclass88

Apples to oranges. You're comparing a 2004 vehicle with a 2008 vehicle so your original post warrants no validity.

Cadillac =

godfather2

If anybody wants a new caddy pm me. I work for arnold palmer cadillac in charlotte (shameless plug)

Hapa DC5

I'll hit you up when the new CTS-V is out (as long as it's under 60K). I like the new CTS, it's a shame that it's a porker at two tons, other than that I'm actual very impressed with the car.

The 4th gen TL should be very competitive and a huge improvement on what we currently drive. Hopefully the price increases won't be too extreme and the value factor for these cars continues.

HiTEC

The Navi in the RDX is not like the 2004 TL. Last I looked the 2004 TL did not have XM Navtraffic? The RDX Navi is comparable to the RL and 2007+ TL Navi. When the 4G TL comes out I'm sure we will get a totally new Navi. They've added little tweaks along the way.

crhoads

GM still sells more cars then anyone in the world. Yes, the passed Toyota back. Honda/Acura isn't even a pimple on GMs a??.

U.S. LIGHT VEHICLE SALES BY COMPANY

2006 2005 %
Cal. Year Cal. Year Change

General Motors 4,028,992 4,416,043 -8.8%
Ford Motor 2,716,383 2,953,197 -8.0%
Chrysler Group 2,142,505 2,304,833 -7.0%
Big 3 Total 8,887,880 9,674,073 -8.1%

Honda/Acura 1,509,358 1,462,472 3.2%

crhoads

Forgot to mention above. Notice these numbers are "Light vehicles only." The 4,028,992 doesn't even include GM trucks or commercial vehicles.

screaminz28

iTrader: (1)

And yet Toyota just reported record profits while GM just had a $39 Billion dollar loss for the 3rd quarter alone, lol... I was looking into getting an 04 -07 CTS-V but when I saw the problems with the rear-ends, the typical GM build quality, and huge loss in value each year, I changed my mind. GM is losing ground fast, and while they might still get a good many boomers to buy, most of the gen-x and yers are import buyers. GM gets a lot of their numbers from fleet sales still too. How many Accords do you see at rental cos and state vehicles?

BaByBlAcKtYpE-s

iTrader: (2)

GM has many sells because their cars break down and people have to go out and buy another one thats why. lol

infantry

I dont see why seeing GM having problems is funny . You have a lot of americans out of work right now in Michigan . We will see how funny it is when the Goverment slaps a 5,000 tariff on every foreighn car that comes in the country to bail out GM .

infantry

Oh, by the way GM quality is actually pretty solid .

BaByBlAcKtYpE-s

iTrader: (2)

i thought there was already a tariff on foreign cars???

infantry

I beleive there is but its small I think about $500 dollars .
Dont get me wrong guys, I own a Acura, but I am not brainwashed to think because its american that the car is crap . The build quality is actually is pretty solid . GM and Ford will make there comeback, the cars they have lined up in the future is a strong line up with their increasing commitment to build quality and new management they are poised for a big comeback .

Caddilac has already made there turnaround and is the model for the other GM divisions to follow . The CTS is a great car and the TL is not even competion for them, there rivals are BMW and Mercedez .

TL-ed

How did GM get their numbers so high? Ever rented a car? How many times you have rented a car that was NOT a GM brand? Most of the GM sales are from fleet. If you put more cars in market of course they are going to loose their value. It may not always be about the car or the quality but its simple demand and supply rule. GM is now pulling some brands out of fleet and rental categories where as Toyota on the other hand has atleast added Prius, Corolla, Camry and Avalon to the rental market if not more.

I love my TL and don't want it to be the most selling car instead a best selling car. They only sell what 54k or something a year on purpose to keep the car unique and its value in the market. The sales of TL drop this year because of it being in the market since 04 and that's a whole different topic.

06 Acura TL

have u guys ever seen how the CTS buttons fade n look like absalute crap within 6 months?

SporkLover

Think any of that had to do with the big cash payment that GM was going to give the UAW in order to get medical costs off of their books?

As for flooding the market and Supply and Demand being the cause for GM car loss of value........ too simplistic of a view. There are many reasons....... One... their sales tactics. Selling a car at full price one year, and then with a 6k discount the next year really kills value of the cars sold in the previous years.....

korrupted

The problem is that they still make an inferior product.
Granted Cadillac is GM's elite division, but I know people who had their $50K+ Caddy break down in the first few years and the dealers don't even know how to fix the problems.
Also all the major foreign mfgs have factories in the US now, and I don't believe they are UAW, so their costs are much less.

I recently rented a Chevy Malibu (not the new one that just came out), that was the scariest driving experience of my life. I would not drive it more than 65, I really feared death if I exceeded that speed. Also the breaks would constantly lock up, causing skidding in normal breaking conditions.
I felt safer in a beat up Dodge Neon, than I did in this brand new car.
Until the US mfgs decide to produce competitve vehicles, they will never see the sales they saw in their heydays.

blueracer17

Cadillac is still junk. Panels don't line up, hoods aren't centered, the interiors still have a cheap feel to them. This is first hand experience with new Escalade ESV (the almost $70,000 one) and $51000 CTS. They use hard plastic instead of soft touch materials. Shut the doors on the ESV and it doesn't sound solid at all. Just too much plastic and cheap feeling. That has been the gripe about GM for a long time. I spend mos of my time IN my car and care about what the experience is inside the car as well as how it handles and drives-obviously it has to look good too. The "old" 3G TL still outclasses Cadillac IMO. GM is improving, but at a snails pace. With all the engineering capibility in Detroit one would think they could pump out some good cars. Don't get me started with the UAW.

Aristo82

I like techy-gadgets too, but...

1. I think MP3-CDs are good enough compared to a 40GB hard drive. I can't imagine the hassle of turning my car on and waiting for the data to get transferred just so that I can have tunes in my car. Plus I would hate to pay out of pocket to replace these hard drives. The only next step up for TL that I want is MP3-DVDs with a slightly better menu system to pick out what songs I want.

2. As far as navi goes, I think the current system is pretty good. I can't think of any other manufacturers that does a better job. Perhaps that's why there really hasn't been a whole lot of changes here. Regardless of who you go to, everybody is gonna have the same problem with outdated navi data.

3. More features you add, more complexity you introduce. I'm pretty electronic-savvy, but there are others who aren't. Anybody ever done an JD Powers Initial Quality Survey (IQS)? One of the tickmarks allows customers to complain about audio controls usability. I don't know how these CTSs are as far as ease of use, but I hope they did a good job if they put in that much stuff into that model.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

the new interior looks much more appealing compared to the old one.

KN_TL

iTrader: (3)

So why are you here on a foreign car forum?

I tried 4 GM cars over a 12 year period and all 4 were in for warranty issues and started falling apart @ 50K. Never kept one more than 5years or 75K, The last two were 2 yrs and less than 50K.

I've owned a Honda Pilot since 04, it has 50K on it now and has been flawless. The only gripe is that the front bumper cover won't take on a 100lb deer @ 65MPH (JK). But everything behind it sure did.

I now own a TL with only 10K on it (2yrs old) and it too has been trouble free.

AcuraVic

The CTS and other Cadillac products use BMW and Mercedes as 'benchmarks' for their models. Caddy cars do not rival Mercs and BMW's. Don't get me wrong, when the CTS-V and the STS came out I was impressed, until I drove one of each.
I'd love to own an American car that fulfills all my needs, but it hasn't been designed and built yet. Or, is the California designed, Ohio Built 04/TL what I was looking for !?

AcuraVic

I just drove the new Mercedes C 350. The car rode nice but the interior is crap. So, Americans arent the only ones that miss the mark sometimes.
I was considering the new c63 AMG until I read that the ride is so harsh its almost unbareable. At 60K with the cheap interior, I'll pass.

korrupted

You weren't expecting a "real" Mercedes at $40K-$50K, were you?

screaminz28

iTrader: (1)

I think you hit the nail right on the head. The CTS-V looks great "on paper". In reality, it an entirely different story.

Not to change to the union side of things, but it appears that most people don't realize that a LOT of foreign cars are made in the US. If the unions are so necessary, how come their membership keeps falling? If the pay was so lousy at the foreign maker plants, wouldn't the workers unionize?


As far as the $39B charge, that was because GM lost a beneficial tax credit on profits they have yet to make. They can only take it if they can "prove" they will make a profit soon. Looks like they can't.

GM can make a great motor, they just won't. The LSx is phenomenal. Why not make a V6 300+ hp motor from it? Get the general build quality and interiors up to par, and I'd consider one. For the most part, their cars haven't improved a bit since the mid 90s.

OneOfOne

toyota is worth more as a corporation in stock value than gm is. or ever will be. what car in its class does gm make thats better than any honda or acura? none. loser.

datmrman

Wow. This thread should have been locked up a long time ago.

This discussion (and all other car comparison threads) belongs in Car Talk. Thanks.