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Cadillac Worst Luxury Car Company According to Consumer Reports!?

6K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  jrose7004 
#1 ·
I bought my '12 CTS Premium and '13 SRX Premium since Cadillac was near the top of reliability according to CR a couple years ago; now they are at the bottom both in the luxury car and overall categories? Can CUE really be so bad? Bottom line trade in values will take another big hit. I can hear my salesman friend now who advised against leaving Acura after 6 trouble free vehicles. Looks like I'd better take my losses soon before it gets worse.
 
#6 ·
adamjeeps said:
How did you arrive at $45,000? Just a number you decided on?
MSRP of the CTS minus the published Invoice price from Consumer Reports added to the Private Sale price from Kelly Blue Book equals $45K for my SRX, give or take a few hundred dollars US. Did you think I didn't do my homework? This is not rocket science, it's just good old math. The $40K quote is from a Caddy dealership in FL, who does not stock AWD SRX's and wasn't really interested in mine. I am sure I will get more for the SRX in Indiana if I buy another Caddy, but right now I am leaning toward a '14 Acura MDX Advanced with Entertainment.
 
#10 ·
Before you jump on a MDX... better read the MDX forums

http://www.mdxers.org/forums/94-new-2014-acura-mdx/

Some very unhappy owners. Several reports of engine noise, rattles, infotainment system issues, even rust! yes rust under a rear door handle reported by several owners.

One buyer returned his to the dealership after 6 months and bought back his original trade vehicle which they still had.
 
#8 ·
adamjeeps said:
Why not agree on a price for the CTS first, then agree on a trade in value for your SRX separately? Edmund's says your trade in value is right around $39k-$40k. Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
There is no way you can beat a car dealership at their own game. They are going to make at least $2K profit regardless, which I don't begrudge them. The holdback from the car manufacturer is just frosting on the cake for them, plus all the other incentives they get; not to mention the profit they make from financing. When I want a new vehicle I want the process to go as quickly as possible. I've purchased many vehicles in an hour or less. No BS about talking to a manager, or low balling or high balling the vehicles. I'm honest with them and they're going to try to screw me every way possible. I give them the price I'm willing to pay after my research (at least 3 appraisals) and tell them some profit is better than no profit and it works most of the time, unless it's a hot new model like the '14 CTS.
 
#9 ·
If you want an example of serious depreciation - the Certified Pre-Owned 2013 Lincoln MKT I just bought stickered for $54,615. I bought it for $34,450. So you figure the dealer had around $32,000 in it. So, it could be much worse than you getting an initial offer of $40K!
 
#12 ·
So let me get this straight....You want to trade in your SRX because you like it, but Consumers Reports gave it a bad rating and thus you don't want to lose money whenever you trade it in? Do I have that correct? Or don't you like the SRX? Are you having reliability issues with it? I'm really confused by your post and strategy? Your letting a consumer magazine dictate your financial and consumer choices????
 
#14 ·
algiorda said:
So let me get this straight....You want to trade in your SRX because you like it, but Consumers Reports gave it a bad rating and thus you don't want to lose money whenever you trade it in? Do I have that correct? Or don't you like the SRX? Are you having reliability issues with it? I'm really confused by your post and strategy? Your letting a consumer magazine dictate your financial and consumer choices????
I am going to trade the SRX because I can. It has nothing to do whether I like it or not, which I do. I was going to buy a '15 SRX if it was going to be the 3rd Gen; since it's not by all reporting I am moving on. The longest I've owned a vehicle has been 4 years and that was a '70 Mustang Fastback. I trade now whenever I feel like it. Yes, I take the big hit on depreciation when I buy new, but I have also owned a number of used cars the past 45 years. If money were no object I would buy a Tesla S, but that's not practical for me now. CR is spot on their evaluations as I've found out over the years to my detriment at times.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I got my Consumer Reports recently and it had the car ratings in it. The SRX "Predicted Reliability" was average or right in the middle of the scale for the "Compact Luxury" category. It's overall road test score was 62 while the BMW X3 was the highest at 80. Only the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Pure did worse at 58. Owner satisfaction of the SRX was average. Based on my personal experience with the 2010 SRX Premium FWD, it won't be a vehicle that I keep for an extended period of time. Fortunately most of the problems I had were fixed under warranty. The most expensive fix was having to replace both front headlight assemblies. I'm thankful it was a warranty repair or I would have been out $4K. OUCH!

I don't base my sole decision on whether or not to buy a vehicle on a consumer magazine but it is a great place to start. The reliability numbers weren't available on the SRX when the 2010 model redesign was introduced. But now that we have 4 years of numbers the SRX is not placing as high as it should for the cost of the product. I'll be buying something else next time.
 
#18 ·
ronpasquale said:
That last comment about the ignition switches problem could only be relevant to this forum if you are thinking of trading in your SRX for something more affordable, like maybe a used Cobalt.
The Cobalt is not half bad, but I'll pass. My sister-in law had one. I had several Ford vehicles that had the same problem with the ignition switches, but that was 30 some years ago and Ford and the US government didn't do anything. Back in the day most GM cars could be started and stopped without the use of the key in the ignition switch. Those were also the days most car companies only used a dozen or so lock cylinders, so going joyriding was pretty easy if you had a set of mechanic's keys.

My point about the recent ignition switch problem was perhaps a bit much, but people who go ballistic about a tiny rust spot need to see the big picture of how the love of money and power lead to serious issues that hurt and kill people, and not just in the car industry. I feel sorry for the 6 people who have died needlessly. GM will pay the families handsomely and already money hungry personal injury (ambulance chasers) lawyers will be having a field day filing tortes against GM for years to come, and so it goes.
 
#24 ·
I don't get Consumer Reports, what are they stating about the SRX that puts it at the bottom of the list?
I started off looking at the Q5 and the X3 but the wife liked the SRX better and she is the one that will mostly drive it. I've driven it several times and think it does everything well.
 
#30 ·
I don't get Consumer Reports, what are they stating about the SRX that puts it at the bottom of the list?
...
Not the SRX specifically, Cadillac in general. The single biggest factor is they don't like the CUE system (or Ford's MyFordTouch, or Lincoln's MyLincolnTouch) and downgraded because of that. They cite consumer complaints as the reason but, IMO, those complaints come from people who are either: 1) technophobes or 2) don't want to spend the time getting up to speed on the user interface or 3) don't want to change from buttons and dials. Their own opinions based on a couple hours, or even days, of evaluation are not going to be positive for much the same reason - the learning curve.

I've been a subscriber of CR for more years than I care to admit and find that to be the one area where their reviews are lacking. If something (ie. CUE) takes time to learn it tends to get a thumbs down. (I've seen them lower the rating for smart TVs and smart DVD players for the same reason, they didn't like the user interface.)

For the most part the rating of the SRX is average to good on the non-subjective things.
 
#31 ·
Consumer Reports rates the SRX low because of reliability ratings. If my 2010 SRX is any indication, I can see why. I only have 28K miles on mine and it just went out of warranty. You should see the long list of things that were fixed while it was under warranty with the most expensive being both front headlights. That little item alone would have cost me $4K if I had paid for it. So now I'm nervous about hanging on to this vehicle long term. I figure in about 3-4 years those new headlight assemblies will have the same problem as the first ones and I don't plan on being out $4K.

Unlike some, I am willing to admit that I made a mistake buying a first year redesign. I won't be doing that again. I have better things to do than debug and play beta tester for a car manufacturer.
 
#32 ·
Steve, there are much cheaper places than dealers to have work done on your car. Also the world is full of places that sell parts and most of them are way less expensive that dealers. Sure I take my car to a dealer when it's under warranty but after it's out, I go elsewhere. You just have to look around and find a facility that has a good reputation of quality work at reasonable prices. They're out there in every city.
 
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