Saw '08 CTSs on the Caddy Lot
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 2,030
From: Frankfort, KY U.S.A.
Saw '08 CTSs on the Caddy Lot
First time my eyes have graced this beauty in real life, and man the pics. don't do it justice. So many deatails, so many flowing lines, so many angles and edges. If only GM could do this to the main stream cars, that would be great, or at least this is a sign of things to come.
The Caddy lot I visited had 4 '08 CTSs on the lot, the salesman practially jumped out on to the lot to tell us all about the new CTS, I'd never seen a Caddy salesman so eager to talk about a product, of course most of the stuff he brought up I already knew about from internet reading.
The salesman told me they got 7 in on Friday of Labor Day weekend, and this was on Monday, Labor Day and they have sold 3 over the holiday weekend, one to a 84 year old woman
. Of the four left, two of them were 3.6 DI. A black one was fully loaded with the 3.6 DI and AWD and the sticker topped out close to $49K. I think that is a lot for a V6 sports sedan, but the new CTS is super sweet.
The Caddy lot I visited had 4 '08 CTSs on the lot, the salesman practially jumped out on to the lot to tell us all about the new CTS, I'd never seen a Caddy salesman so eager to talk about a product, of course most of the stuff he brought up I already knew about from internet reading.
The salesman told me they got 7 in on Friday of Labor Day weekend, and this was on Monday, Labor Day and they have sold 3 over the holiday weekend, one to a 84 year old woman
. Of the four left, two of them were 3.6 DI. A black one was fully loaded with the 3.6 DI and AWD and the sticker topped out close to $49K. I think that is a lot for a V6 sports sedan, but the new CTS is super sweet.
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Joined: Sep 1998
Posts: 4,320
From: Memphis
Cool - I had no idea they were out yet. I just drove by the Caddy dealer today and sort of thought to myself 'I wonder when they'll be on the lots?' but never woulda thought they might be there already.
Any word on lease rates yet?
Any word on lease rates yet?
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 2,801
From: South Bend , IN
I stopped last night and checked out the one out local Caddy had . They had a 07 next to it , its basically like comparing a C4 to C6 . This car is freaking gorgeous in and out and looks mean as hell sitting there . The model they had was a AWD , DI 3.6 and 18" wheels with what looked to be almost every option u could get ....including all the cool audio options . Basically full boat ...sticker $46K and sum change . And it looked to be worth every penny . GM even finally lost the ugly plain silver wheel paint for some Mercedes like aluminum looking silver wheel paint . Small stuff like that makes a difference .
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Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Frankfort, KY U.S.A.
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Agreed.
I watched the CTS at the Detroit Autoshow go round and round on its turntable for a long time ..... longer actually than I looked at the 5th gen 'vert
. I absolutely love how the lines flow from the front around the the side of the car.
Great job, GM!!
I watched the CTS at the Detroit Autoshow go round and round on its turntable for a long time ..... longer actually than I looked at the 5th gen 'vert
. I absolutely love how the lines flow from the front around the the side of the car. Great job, GM!!
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From: Saginaw, Michigan
Dan
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Joined: Sep 1998
Posts: 4,320
From: Memphis
I just went and drove one. It was a 3.6 liter automatic RWD w/ a sticker of 38,xxx. It said 258 horsepower but I thought these were like 304 or something like that? I noticed it didn't have a sunroof, which is odd at this price point.
Forgive the randomness of my general observations to follow... I just got back so I'm sort of rambling off the top of my head while my memory of the car is still fresh:
It definitely felt slow... like a 4000 pound car with 258 horsepower would.
The interior was great. I was shocked that I was sitting in a car that starts at 32k dollars with such nice overall design. There were a few spots that seemed a bit cheap, but again, for 32k dollars every car in this class has a few corners cut.
The Bose stereo sounded very good. Not amazing, but better than I expected for the standard stereo, too, so I think there's an uplevel stereo... so that would sound even better.
Quietness. Hmm... I'd say roughly on par or just short of the Lexus ES350 which is to say far quieter than my Audi. The engine was somewhat loud at higher RPM but no worse than the 335i I drove from what I can recall.
The transmission shifted nicely - I didn't try any sort of sport or manumatic mode though.
I'm surprised that there was no push-button start. It's becoming the norm for this class of vehicle and GM has it on the Vette - why not Caddys?
The chassis felt really nice in terms of rigidity and isolation but in turns you could tell this was a bigger/heavier car than the competition's offerings in this same price class, and steering was WAY overboosted and completely lacked feedback - felt very Lexus-like, which I guess is a good thing or bad thing depending on what you're looking for from this car. I guess I expected this to try to emulate a german car in overall driving experience but to be honest I was reminded far far more of driving a Lexus. Which is still good in its or way, but not what I expected. On the bright side at least it didn't drive "like a cadillac", and I mean that in a traditional sense... it didn't have the floaty wandering old man feel of all the 90s and early 2000 model Caddies I've ever driven.
This car had the optional (I think almost a grand) white diamond paint... definitely would avoid that given the choice... I don't see what makes it worth that much money. In fact it almost had a naturally imperfect look to it - like I'd see shadows or something, almost like it was dirty.
This car didn't have nav, but it still had the cut-out in the dash that looked like it would pop up. Does it still pop up or is that just a cost cutting measure to allow them to use the same dash for nav and non nav cars?
The trunk looked pretty huge to me. The interior of the car didn't "feel" much bigger than my friend's 05 TL that we drove up to the dealer, but the trunk was much bigger looking.
The leather was nice. Not as nice as I've seen in Lexus models but almost as nice. Compared to the almost plastic-like crap they put in the german cars, it's worlds better. Granted I know some people like the stiff plastic leather in the german cars because it holds up better over the long term, or so I hear.
I'm not sure what other observations I'd make. Overall I'd compare this car most closely to the Lexus ES and Lexus GS in terms of the way it drove and its pros/cons. Very nice inside. Very nice ride. Not an exciting driving experience.
Forgive the randomness of my general observations to follow... I just got back so I'm sort of rambling off the top of my head while my memory of the car is still fresh:
It definitely felt slow... like a 4000 pound car with 258 horsepower would.
The interior was great. I was shocked that I was sitting in a car that starts at 32k dollars with such nice overall design. There were a few spots that seemed a bit cheap, but again, for 32k dollars every car in this class has a few corners cut.
The Bose stereo sounded very good. Not amazing, but better than I expected for the standard stereo, too, so I think there's an uplevel stereo... so that would sound even better.
Quietness. Hmm... I'd say roughly on par or just short of the Lexus ES350 which is to say far quieter than my Audi. The engine was somewhat loud at higher RPM but no worse than the 335i I drove from what I can recall.
The transmission shifted nicely - I didn't try any sort of sport or manumatic mode though.
I'm surprised that there was no push-button start. It's becoming the norm for this class of vehicle and GM has it on the Vette - why not Caddys?
The chassis felt really nice in terms of rigidity and isolation but in turns you could tell this was a bigger/heavier car than the competition's offerings in this same price class, and steering was WAY overboosted and completely lacked feedback - felt very Lexus-like, which I guess is a good thing or bad thing depending on what you're looking for from this car. I guess I expected this to try to emulate a german car in overall driving experience but to be honest I was reminded far far more of driving a Lexus. Which is still good in its or way, but not what I expected. On the bright side at least it didn't drive "like a cadillac", and I mean that in a traditional sense... it didn't have the floaty wandering old man feel of all the 90s and early 2000 model Caddies I've ever driven.
This car had the optional (I think almost a grand) white diamond paint... definitely would avoid that given the choice... I don't see what makes it worth that much money. In fact it almost had a naturally imperfect look to it - like I'd see shadows or something, almost like it was dirty.
This car didn't have nav, but it still had the cut-out in the dash that looked like it would pop up. Does it still pop up or is that just a cost cutting measure to allow them to use the same dash for nav and non nav cars?
The trunk looked pretty huge to me. The interior of the car didn't "feel" much bigger than my friend's 05 TL that we drove up to the dealer, but the trunk was much bigger looking.
The leather was nice. Not as nice as I've seen in Lexus models but almost as nice. Compared to the almost plastic-like crap they put in the german cars, it's worlds better. Granted I know some people like the stiff plastic leather in the german cars because it holds up better over the long term, or so I hear.
I'm not sure what other observations I'd make. Overall I'd compare this car most closely to the Lexus ES and Lexus GS in terms of the way it drove and its pros/cons. Very nice inside. Very nice ride. Not an exciting driving experience.
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Joined: Aug 1998
Posts: 511
From: Mill Creek, WA
I just went and drove one. It was a 3.6 liter automatic RWD w/ a sticker of 38,xxx. It said 258 horsepower but I thought these were like 304 or something like that? I noticed it didn't have a sunroof, which is odd at this price point.
Forgive the randomness of my general observations to follow... I just got back so I'm sort of rambling off the top of my head while my memory of the car is still fresh:
It definitely felt slow... like a 4000 pound car with 258 horsepower would.
The interior was great. I was shocked that I was sitting in a car that starts at 32k dollars with such nice overall design. There were a few spots that seemed a bit cheap, but again, for 32k dollars every car in this class has a few corners cut.
The Bose stereo sounded very good. Not amazing, but better than I expected for the standard stereo, too, so I think there's an uplevel stereo... so that would sound even better.
Quietness. Hmm... I'd say roughly on par or just short of the Lexus ES350 which is to say far quieter than my Audi. The engine was somewhat loud at higher RPM but no worse than the 335i I drove from what I can recall.
The transmission shifted nicely - I didn't try any sort of sport or manumatic mode though.
I'm surprised that there was no push-button start. It's becoming the norm for this class of vehicle and GM has it on the Vette - why not Caddys?
The chassis felt really nice in terms of rigidity and isolation but in turns you could tell this was a bigger/heavier car than the competition's offerings in this same price class, and steering was WAY overboosted and completely lacked feedback - felt very Lexus-like, which I guess is a good thing or bad thing depending on what you're looking for from this car. I guess I expected this to try to emulate a german car in overall driving experience but to be honest I was reminded far far more of driving a Lexus. Which is still good in its or way, but not what I expected. On the bright side at least it didn't drive "like a cadillac", and I mean that in a traditional sense... it didn't have the floaty wandering old man feel of all the 90s and early 2000 model Caddies I've ever driven.
This car had the optional (I think almost a grand) white diamond paint... definitely would avoid that given the choice... I don't see what makes it worth that much money. In fact it almost had a naturally imperfect look to it - like I'd see shadows or something, almost like it was dirty.
This car didn't have nav, but it still had the cut-out in the dash that looked like it would pop up. Does it still pop up or is that just a cost cutting measure to allow them to use the same dash for nav and non nav cars?
The trunk looked pretty huge to me. The interior of the car didn't "feel" much bigger than my friend's 05 TL that we drove up to the dealer, but the trunk was much bigger looking.
The leather was nice. Not as nice as I've seen in Lexus models but almost as nice. Compared to the almost plastic-like crap they put in the german cars, it's worlds better. Granted I know some people like the stiff plastic leather in the german cars because it holds up better over the long term, or so I hear.
I'm not sure what other observations I'd make. Overall I'd compare this car most closely to the Lexus ES and Lexus GS in terms of the way it drove and its pros/cons. Very nice inside. Very nice ride. Not an exciting driving experience.
Forgive the randomness of my general observations to follow... I just got back so I'm sort of rambling off the top of my head while my memory of the car is still fresh:
It definitely felt slow... like a 4000 pound car with 258 horsepower would.
The interior was great. I was shocked that I was sitting in a car that starts at 32k dollars with such nice overall design. There were a few spots that seemed a bit cheap, but again, for 32k dollars every car in this class has a few corners cut.
The Bose stereo sounded very good. Not amazing, but better than I expected for the standard stereo, too, so I think there's an uplevel stereo... so that would sound even better.
Quietness. Hmm... I'd say roughly on par or just short of the Lexus ES350 which is to say far quieter than my Audi. The engine was somewhat loud at higher RPM but no worse than the 335i I drove from what I can recall.
The transmission shifted nicely - I didn't try any sort of sport or manumatic mode though.
I'm surprised that there was no push-button start. It's becoming the norm for this class of vehicle and GM has it on the Vette - why not Caddys?
The chassis felt really nice in terms of rigidity and isolation but in turns you could tell this was a bigger/heavier car than the competition's offerings in this same price class, and steering was WAY overboosted and completely lacked feedback - felt very Lexus-like, which I guess is a good thing or bad thing depending on what you're looking for from this car. I guess I expected this to try to emulate a german car in overall driving experience but to be honest I was reminded far far more of driving a Lexus. Which is still good in its or way, but not what I expected. On the bright side at least it didn't drive "like a cadillac", and I mean that in a traditional sense... it didn't have the floaty wandering old man feel of all the 90s and early 2000 model Caddies I've ever driven.
This car had the optional (I think almost a grand) white diamond paint... definitely would avoid that given the choice... I don't see what makes it worth that much money. In fact it almost had a naturally imperfect look to it - like I'd see shadows or something, almost like it was dirty.
This car didn't have nav, but it still had the cut-out in the dash that looked like it would pop up. Does it still pop up or is that just a cost cutting measure to allow them to use the same dash for nav and non nav cars?
The trunk looked pretty huge to me. The interior of the car didn't "feel" much bigger than my friend's 05 TL that we drove up to the dealer, but the trunk was much bigger looking.
The leather was nice. Not as nice as I've seen in Lexus models but almost as nice. Compared to the almost plastic-like crap they put in the german cars, it's worlds better. Granted I know some people like the stiff plastic leather in the german cars because it holds up better over the long term, or so I hear.
I'm not sure what other observations I'd make. Overall I'd compare this car most closely to the Lexus ES and Lexus GS in terms of the way it drove and its pros/cons. Very nice inside. Very nice ride. Not an exciting driving experience.
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From: Okemos, MI
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 9,507
From: Okemos, MI
The chassis felt really nice in terms of rigidity and isolation but in turns you could tell this was a bigger/heavier car than the competition's offerings in this same price class, and steering was WAY overboosted and completely lacked feedback - felt very Lexus-like, which I guess is a good thing or bad thing depending on what you're looking for from this car.
FE1 is the softest, FE3 the sportiest. Just a hunch -- I'm betting you drove the FE1.
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Joined: Sep 1998
Posts: 4,320
From: Memphis
Yeah it probably was the FE1.
I'm curious though - everywhere on the 'net that I've read says that the automatic 3.6 is DI 304hp by default... no optional upgrade or anything like that. Pretty much seems like if you have an automatic, you should have 304hp, period.
edit: I also forgot to mention, I noticed some bad exterior panel alignment on the one I drove. The seam between the trunk and the rear quarter panel/ base of the c-pillar went from narrow (almost touching) to wide (pretty big gap) on one side, and did the opposite on the other side (wide to narrow), so I guess the trunk was misaligned or something...
I'm curious though - everywhere on the 'net that I've read says that the automatic 3.6 is DI 304hp by default... no optional upgrade or anything like that. Pretty much seems like if you have an automatic, you should have 304hp, period.
edit: I also forgot to mention, I noticed some bad exterior panel alignment on the one I drove. The seam between the trunk and the rear quarter panel/ base of the c-pillar went from narrow (almost touching) to wide (pretty big gap) on one side, and did the opposite on the other side (wide to narrow), so I guess the trunk was misaligned or something...
Last edited by Threxx; Sep 6, 2007 at 02:24 PM.