rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

So, as luck would have it, my wife's Dad works for Cadillac as a finance manager. Last Sunday, over some scotch he was telling us about the killer rebates he could throw at a 2012 model Caddy.

Her car, at 70k was barely broken in, but...since he always kinda dicated what she got it was also the model with cloth seats, no xm and no sunroof. I tried to make her love it and kept it immaculate over the last 5 years...it got the job done, but with the opportunity presented to upgrade without taking much of a monthly payment increase, we jumped.

Amazing the amount of bells and whistles they crammed in this thing, remote start, trunk open/close, pano roof, hidden navi screen, onstar, 10 speaker bose system and then I find out, it's the AWD model. Not that we NEED it, but I don't mind her having a solid safe and awesome handling vehicle. Looking like she'll be netting about 20 mpg, so not bad to only lose 5 mpg over the 4 cylinder accord. I was against black, as I'd be the one keeping it clean and relatively swirl free in addition to MY NBP...but the only 2012's they had to give the rebates on were a silver one and a burgundy one, neither appealed to her so Black it was. Raven black, to exact.

She finally is thrilled about the car, and it's exactly what I'd envision her needing to drive for the next phase of our lives. She seemed like she'd appreciate some nice pictures so got the trusty 30D out and snapped some tonight. Enjoy!

Accord we traded in:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/7662642936/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/7662642936/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr

and the new SRX
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417375733/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417375733/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8418469156/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8418469156/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417376097/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417376097/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417376365/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417376365/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417376681/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417376681/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417377049/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417377049/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417377447/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417377447/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417377739/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417377739/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417378081/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417378081/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417378415/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417378415/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8418472012/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8418472012/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417379131/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417379131/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417379501/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417379501/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417379987/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417379987/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417380573/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417380573/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417381077/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417381077/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417381535/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8417381535/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Wow, nice pickup Jeremy! Shoot, I like the looks of her Accord too. But I'm sure she's thrilled with the Cadillac.

F23A4

That's a sweet pickup. We briefly considered the SRX as a replacement for our 09 MDX. (However, my Acura guy gave me a deal too good to pass up on a 12 MDX Tech.)

Good luck with it. Keep us posted on your experiences.

rossv1

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I just thought.....oh shit, now you have 2 black cars in the family. You're going to be busy, my friend!

KJ TL-S

iTrader: (9)

Nice pickup there, but did you get to keep the a specs??

dallison

It looks great. Sorry to hear about your extra workload.

Healingduck

Not gonna lie, I was always in love with your wife's Accord when I saw it in the pictures with your TL. lol. But you guys will enjoy the SRX. My sister and her fiance bought one after they traded in their Rav4 and they love it. Like you said, it's surprising how packed it comes.

Good luck keeping this and your TL clean!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I agree, Steven...I had more buyer's remorse than she did but I think it's because over the years, I'm the one that put in all the blood sweat and tears on her. She's thrilled about the caddy...

I certainly will keep you guys posted. Honestly, I'd never even considered Cadillac...if her Dad had worked at another dealership, trust me, it would have been another car. She says she always thought the car was out of her reach and when the payment barely changed from the Accord, it was really hard to turn down. MDX is gorgeous too though, btw...I'd have loved that myself!

Tell me about it! I was NOT a happy camper when this was the ONLY 2012 they had that she liked...but, hey, I used to clean her silver car almost every time I cleaned mine too, so it's not THAT much extra work for me.


Oh, the aspecs haven't been on her car in about a year... I have them hanging in the garage as my backup set!

Tell me about it and thank you...
Well, turns out, on the Caddy the most effective way to get to any bulb is bumper removal. I am doing an HID install and she woke up to this, car isn't even ours for 6 days yet



Thanks for that! Yeah, I personally loved her car...it was nice and clean and drove well, although it was a 4 cylinder so it was NOT very peppy in the acceleration dept. We were almost paid off, but she's happy and that's what matters. Plus, I'm getting to an age where we'll soon be married and kids will happen after that. Even though she swore she'd deal with a 2 door, I would have given it about 2 weeks of squeezing into the back...

Anyway, don't worry, after much blood sweat and final tears on this bitch, this is how we turned it in. I took EVERYTHING off, amp'd emblems, spacers, springs system, ipod player, xm player, hid's fogs...aside from the rear speakers (that had to be cut up to install the kicker mids because they were molded into the baffle) that car went back to be traded in like the day she drove it home!

JnC

iTrader: (12)

Talk about a nice upgrade From an outhouse straight to the mansion

J/k the accord was nice, especially with the aspecs but no comparison to the caddy Good luck with the truck, should have blacked out the headlights and installed a quick Mh1 retro rather than the HID kit.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Thanks JnC!
Yeah, I agree, I had a love/hate relationship with the accord, but as far as bells and whistles go, there really isn't any comparison.

She wouldn't let me touch the accord, so I doubt the caddy will get any headlight "upgrades"!

CCColtsicehockey

Awesome upgrade. The SRX looks really good.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I have to agree, kinda made me have the new car itch since I don't get to drive it every day.

For those that don't know me, I drive this. I have to say though, I still enjoy the hell out of driving my car. Totally different driving experience.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8377507305/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8377507305/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr

UA6~RBP

I've always loved the latest model SRX. My mom was about to pull the trigger on a silver one last summer, but she ended up getting a hell of a deal on the new Infiniti JX.

Side note, the added room in the SRX could potentially open you up to a possible Mustang in the next few years without feeling guilty about giving up cargo room

Crazy Bimmer

Congrats!

ttribe

Congrats on the new car! Enjoy.

neuronbob

It's time to start a Cadizine thread. We've only got three members so far, though, LOL!

Congrats! At least she'll be able to travel safely in Florida rain with the AWD.

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

Awesome. The SRX is one of the best looking crossovers out there, and you picked the best color. Congrats

edit: I imagine that you are looking at the stock wheels and thinking of going up a few inches.

MEKO

iTrader: (1)

Way to go J.!!! Looks nice.
Yupp wifey comes first, good idea with awd
So what's next for the car

Shoofin

Congrats!

I HAD one until October 29th, when Sandy took her life...

]

And "a go" she went!

pttl

Oh no....the engine is gonna blow up!




It's beautiful!

EkSoni

iTrader: (2)

That's one hell of a upgrade! Congrats

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

That's actually an excellent suggestion, thanks! I'll use that as a selling point. I've been thinking that at 90K miles on the TL...although mechanically sound, I wouldn't likely get a whole lot of it in a trade unless I sold it to someone that truly loved the look of the car. That said, my 2nd car could be MUCH more impracticle with a TL, SRX already in the stable.

Merci!

Gracias, amigo, I appreciate it!

You aren't lying...and trust me...your thread constantly makes me want to opt for a dang CTS V in ANY configuration. I'm sure my father in law could get me a crazy deal but with a looming approval on a shortsale on my way upside down townhouse, probably not a smart move.

I hadn't really given it much thought or a look until we had it parked in our driveway, but I can't disagree. It's gorgeous and yes, I've already been eye fucking the 19" performance package wheels...


Big time, I agree, I love that she's now in a fucking 4500 pound tank with AWD!

Wow shoof, sorry to hear that, man. Yeah, I can't say that I haven't fallen in love with the car, over the last 2 days I've now removed and reinstalled the bumper 3 times...I think "Raven" wanted some bonding time. I had a faulty ebay chrome dipped amber bulb that I had to swap out and this last go it took me literally 20 minutes to drop the bumper, remove headlights and swap bulbs and put it all back together.

PS, solution for the flicker HID's installed in a car with DRL as their low beam with a can-bus (pronounced canibus?) system: $10 in 2 4700ua 35V capacitors from Radio Shack. Amazing and can enjoy the gorgeous HID's in the car now.

Posting an in depth cause I'm posting to the Cadi forum too...help some people out. That forum could learn a thing or two about a smoothly run community, the traffic sucks and nobody knows how to post proper DIY Pictures!

To get rid of flicker on HID's when using them in your low beam DRL on your 2010 to 2012 Cadillac SRX (and then some).
DDM Tuning kit, has a second set of wires with female/male plugs used for a harness, which the SRX doesn't need. We have voltage enough to power a small village in Nigeria

First, go to Radio shack and buy a pair of (sold indiv.) 4700 ua 35V capacitors


Cut the sacrifice unused wiring for use and pull through rubber grommet. Chose to keep the rubber grommet in once piece in case i needed to run the HID kit outside the housing assembly (in this case I didn't, everything tucked into headlight so no OEM splicing or drilling).

Cut back and strip the wires

add some heatshrink...can't tell you how many times I realize this after i've already soldered and it's too late

twist everything together, capacitor should have arrows pointing at the ground/black wire

wired up

soldered

heatshrink heated

electrical tape added to ensure nothing makes contact with anything inside the housing

like a newborn...everything tucked in. Double sided tape added to the ballast and it's attached inside the top of the housing

and bam...no way around it, looks about a billion times better. Wife wasn't happy about her new car being disassembled numerous times but thanked me profusely () after seeing what all the hard work and research was for.
BEFORE:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8418469156/http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockstar143/8418469156/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/rockstar143/, on Flickr
AFTER:



I hope this helps someone out. Wife's happy!

SlowLane

Nice SRX. Looks great in black. Congratulations.

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on the new car J.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Thank you Fellas, very very much.
I appreciate the feedback. She's happy as hell with the purchase, needless to say.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Nice upgrade.

F23A4

I know how that feels but it's worth it!

KarKraze

Now that is a serious upgrade,love it. My neighbour just got a R350 Benz after he had an accident with his SRX and he was telling me that he is sorry he did not get back the SRX.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Wow, that's actually quite a compliment for my little lady. She'll be happy to hear that story!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

LOL....only Jeremy would be modding a newly acquired car within days of taking possession!

Nice job on the headlights.

fsttyms1

Nice upgrade

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

you have the rare 8.5' gunmetal aspecs just sitting in your garage?!

1StGenCL

Awesome upgrade and damn your 3G looks good, makes me miss mine.

Oh, those pics make me sad I'm in crappy VA right now and not Florida

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

LOL, you know it, Steven...trust me, the first time, I was a little apprehensive but Betty nearly flipped. She was in a bad mood until I put it back together and she saw that I didn't break anything. She was like...you know HONDA, not Cadillac. I was like, cmon girl...it's a car with nuts and bolts...I can figure it out. I will say that I DID take a little extra care using a trim removal plastic tool and didn't break ANY clips etc. I also figured out toward the end that I didn't need to even unbolt the bottom of the bumper, I could just slide the whole thing down to access the headlight bolt holes.

Thank you, suh! :

I do.
I love being able to swap back and forth to them though...

Thanks man...yeah, after driving the caddy all weekend, I have to remember that I love my car. New car itch is strong right now but it's not a wise move. I'd rather have a 5 or 6 year cycle where we pay off one car and then I'll be the next to get one. My car now will last a long time since I'm really good with maintenance and keeping up with the paint.

About the weather, I feel ya...a lot of members give me crap when they see how gorgeous and warm it is down here.

BlueAc

iTrader: (2)

Nice upgrade....

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

awesome upgrade, J. as others said, i always liked her accord but this is just top notch. enjoy it!

MEKO

iTrader: (1)

I know right.. haha
Nice job with the headlights J.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

J, why they hell aren't you working in an engineering field? You should be designing cars and stuff, make them easy to work on and simple.

Love the shots you took, and I see you have a polarizer

MarbleGT

Color match that front grill ASAP.

Anxious to see its transformation.