New Car Pics (Contains Cadillac)

OllyM · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:25

I had a door dent removed today (picked up in a car park after having it for a week :rolleyes:

) so thought I should finally take a few pictures and put a thread up.

It's a Cadillac ATS 3.6 Premium so it's pretty loaded - Navigation, Heads up Display, Adaptive HID Headlamps, Magnetic Suspension, Forged wheels, LSD etc.

I never thought I'd buy a GM product but this is actually a genuinely good car, and after considering some other cars (Audi A6 3.0T, BMW 335i/535i, Jeep Grand Cherokee) this seemed like the best compromise. Used cars cost a fortune here in comparison to the UK, especially German brands.

The infotainment isn't the best in the world and it's way behind BMW iDrive, but I can overlook that because of the price. It was a 2014 model year car sat in stock that a dealer needed to sell so it was a total bargain - I paid $31,500 for it and the MSRP is over $51,000. It should do us for a few years and not cost much to run - it has a 4 year/50,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty plus maintenance included.

The pictures aren't the best so apologies in advance!

geekman · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:30

Looks great - Cadillac have improved so much in recent years.

NickXX · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:31

Looks great Olly- didn't realise it had an LSD. How powerful is it?

[TW]Fox · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:31

Stunning.

These are fantastic cars - IMHO infotainment and gearbox aside they are better cars than the 3 Series.

All the ones I've rented have been 2.0T's - it must be even better with that proper V6.

Dis86 · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:33

Weirdly reminds me of the Nissan Primera from the rear...minus you know...the sexy exhausts!
Interior looks great.

OllyM · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:35

NickXX said:
Looks great Olly- didn't realise it had an LSD. How powerful is it?

321hp and 275 lb/ft of torque apparently, and it only needs regular gas which is quite nice.

Akagi · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:35

Dis86 said:
Weirdly reminds me of the Nissan Primera from the rear...minus you know...the sexy exhausts!
Interior looks great.

Eh?

P.B · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:37

N/A by them stats ?

Dis86 · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:43

Acme said:
Eh?

I dunno! It's like someone with skill actually redesigned the back of it!

Dav4 · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:50

What's the UK versions of the Caddy CTS like? There dirt cheap second hand compared to there new price. They're always auto's from the looks of it. Are they hard to get parts for in this country?

[TW]Fox · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:53

Dav4 said:
What's the UK versions of the Caddy CTS like? There dirt cheap second hand compared to there new price. They're always auto's from the looks of it. Are they hard to get parts for in this country?

They are terrible.

Part of the reason for the enthusiasm for the new generation of Cadillac cars is because they are actually good - for the first time, they make class leading or near class products. The previous generation models, such as the CTS, were terrible cars.

Sadly they can't seem to shrug the reputation, the new CTS isn't selling very well. By all accounts it is almost as good as a 5 Series. I've been itching to try one but they are nothing like as common to find as the old CTS was.

traveyb · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:55

Really nice car, however not sure on the exhaust layout. Does suit it though

Dav4 · 12 Aug 2015 at 20:58

Thought there had to be a reason there so cheap in the used car market considering they are as much as the 3 series/A4 etc new. They look really smart though. Much better looking than the Chrysler 300 everyone was buying a few years ago

Dis86 · 12 Aug 2015 at 21:06

traveyb said:
Really nice car, however not sure on the exhaust layout. Does suit it though

See, I really like the exhaust layout. Not a fan of the new rs6 layout for example where they're basically behind the wheels!

Joe T · 13 Aug 2015 at 06:25

That looks great!

I had really wanted an ATS 2.0T on my last trip to the States but had to 'make do' with a 328i instead.

Enjoy!

mccarf · 13 Aug 2015 at 06:46

Maybe a stupid question, but how come all these American cars are so much more expensive over here? I realise there maybe more tax or something, but looking at his car converted into pounds it's £20k. On the UK website for cadillac the same car with a less powerful 2.0t is £39k. Is there ACTUALLY that much extra tax or is it just a case of bending over the UK consumer?

Joe T · 13 Aug 2015 at 08:01

mccarf said:
Maybe a stupid question, but how come all these American cars are so much more expensive over here? I realise there maybe more tax or something, but looking at his car converted into pounds it's £20k. On the UK website for cadillac the same car with a less powerful 2.0t is £39k. Is there ACTUALLY that much extra tax or is it just a case of bending over the UK consumer?

I believe the prices quoted on US sites will not include any sales tax, as it varies by state. Also anything produced in the US and the imported to the UK will incur 40% duty.

[TW]Fox · 13 Aug 2015 at 08:06

Joe T said:
That looks great!

I had really wanted an ATS 2.0T on my last trip to the States but had to 'make do' with a 328i instead.

Did you try asking for one - I found last time when all they had was a Volvo (Seriously? An S60 a 'Luxury'?) that they were able to grab me an ATS from somewhere else. Where did you pick up from, SFO or LAX?

The 328's seem to be very low spec, how was yours?

I'm hoping my Cadillac luck doesn't run out next time

Joe T said:
I believe the prices quoted on US sites will not include any sales tax, as it varies by state. Also anything produced in the US and the imported to the UK will incur 40% duty.

Either way the pricing they've chosen will ensure nobody buys one. It's nuts and cannot be accounted for by duty alone. A base CTS with the 2.0T is about the same price as a BMW 550i. Nobody will buy at that sort of money - a 2.0T ATS is 340i money here as well.

They need to be a cheaper alternative to BMW and Audi to make any real headway and bizarrely they've come in as more expensive.

Joe T · 13 Aug 2015 at 08:12

[TW]Fox;28433674 said:
Did you try asking for one - I found last time when all they had was a Volvo (Seriously? An S60 a 'Luxury'?) that they were able to grab me an ATS from somewhere else. Where did you pick up from, SFO or LAX?

The 328's seem to be very low spec, how was yours?

I'm hoping my Cadillac luck doesn't run out next time

Collected from SFO.

They tried to give me an S60 as well, and it was only after asking twice that I managed to get the 328i. It was nice enough, had the basic toys you need for a road trip - leather, USB, climate control, cruise. No satelite radio though - I dont know how common this is fitted to BMWs in general. We had it on the Camaro and it was great from the point of view of not needing to retune all the time.

[TW]Fox · 13 Aug 2015 at 08:13

XM Radio seems to be an extra on the German brand stuff which is a shame. The new C300, which seems by all accounts to be excellent (Ipad dash aside) doesn't have it either.

Lucky escape with that Volvo. I think it's really not right how they try and pass those off as 'Luxury' cars. Nothing wrong with a Volvo S60 - as an alternative to a Mondeo or a Passat in the UK - but not the sort of thing you want to drive off with if you've booked a Luxury car!