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Comments
Basically, the Performance includes all the Luxury III stuff plus the 300 HP engine and 18" wheels.
I have one and it is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
Thank You, Joe
Now, with Japanese and Korean makes, plus German (Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and VW), GM has the capacity to make too many cars, but not enough folks want GM products anymore...
It will be Chevy, for the common man, Buick for the Caddy wanna-be, Cadillac, and probably a consolidation of Chevy trucks and GMC trucks...GM is set to cover the market like in the 1960s, but the new reality is much different in this millenium...
If you want to discuss this further, head over to News and Views and look for any of the current GM discussion...
We now return you to talking about the 2006 DTS.
I just test drove a luxury 1 pkg (i think...anyway, it wasn't the performance pkg).
Like the car interior, features, etc...but found it a bit floaty.
They didn't have a performance pkg to drive... Any comments on the difference? Does the magnetic ride thing give better "handling" without sacrificing the great straight line comfort too much?
Thanks.
The fuel economy is terrible! My car is four three months and averaging 13 MPG around town.
So, if you buy a Caddy new, you really do pay overinflated costs, but if you buy 1-2 years used, you can buy one for half-price, because the trade-in value was even less...
Lexus and Mercedes seem to "keep their value" because the REAL market seems to believe that they are worth close to their original selling price, so a trade-in also maintains its value...if the real world ever gets the opinion that Lexus is just a glossy Toyota, like it believes that Caddy is a glossy Chevrolet, then Lexus will depreciate like a Cadillac...
Caddy used to call itself "Standard for the World", but after the junk of the 1980s and 1990s, that rep has been torn to shreds...Caddy and lincoln survive only because Americans over 60-65 remember the good old days, but even they are deserting for the Lexuses...
Maintaining a good rep is easy, but once you have lost your rep for quality, regaining it, like trust, may take longer than a generation...and the generation behind the 65 year olds has no brand loyalty to GM, but they are brand loyal to whoever sells them a quality vehicle...
Class dismissed... :shades:
You are right, they (GM/Ford) probably make more than they need due to those union contracts (which, hopefully soon, will be trashed in a Ch 11 bankruptcy)...
But, I would not be a happy camper if I just shelled out $52K for a new DTS, only to trade it in next year for less than half what I just paid...that would tell me that the car is seriously overpriced as compared to its intrinsic value...
Yes, I know...if the market can demand $52K then it is worth the $52K...I understand freemarket economics...but I think you see where I am going with this...
My reason for retaining the cigar is because of your comment about the dangers (to Toyota) of the public ever perceiving Lexus as merely a gussied up Toyota. You said it as if that is a bad thing for Toyota. But actually the public TOTALLY understands that NOW and that is the MAIN REASON Lexus is such a runaway hit. It builds luxury upon the base super-quality of Toyota. A gussied up Toyota is EXACTLY what the public knows Lexus is...and why they can't get enough.
While GM is spending countless millions on union contracts and pensions/health care, toyota is vicously investing in technology and new manufacturing processes. Over the years the technology simply cought up.
The union concesions might help save GM. We need to see what the labor situation is. If things keep going the way they are, however, toyota and its asian comrads will jump in technology so fast and so far away that GM and ford will not be able to catch up.
For now, looking at this DTS, looking at the Enclave and Aura, alons with the GMT 900's it seems GM is getting its act together. These new cars are great. Take a look side by side of the old DTS and the new DTS, exterrior and interrior. THERE IS NO COMPARISON! The new DTS looks 10K more expensive. Finally cadillac has a chrome grille again! THe wood inside is in all the right places and its just looks good.
That said, meybe the older DTS is now a good value in the used car maket.
I am going out to buy my OWN cigar... :shades: :shades:
Frankly I didn't see anything wrong with the 2005 dash. The seats were OK and there was enough room in the back. This DTS is really just an update of the '00-'05.
The front seats don't have as much hip room. I'm a bit of a big guy (6'2", 230#) and I feel squeezed in the drivers seat. I am fine with my 02 DeVille DTS. The sides of the seat seem to come up higher in the 2006.
The clock is a disaster. It is tilted back facing the windshield. I can't read it in the daylight (reflection) and I can't read it at night (poor lighting). I need a clock that I can just glace at in a second and know exactly what time it is. I can't be trying to drive and study a clock to see the time. The car needs a digital clock. It's 2006, not 1906. If they add a digital second clock to the radio / nav system, that would be fine as long as it can be displayed all the time.
My 2002 dash has a pure flat black backround where the tach and speedometer is. It looks great day and night. The 2006 has these stupid glossy rings around the tach and speedometer that reflect light from outside and I just think the pure flat black is so much better.
The interior door handles in my 2002 are fancy and neat looking. The ones in the 2006 are plain flat. I like mine better.
I just think the way the dash is rounded and tilts back towards the windshield is less appealing than mine in my 2002.
As far as the steering wheel. I'm not sure what the story is here. I drove 2 different 2006 DTS's as loaners from the dealer. On both of them, the seams between the center of the steering wheel where it meets the outer part of the wheel had large gaps at all 4 points. It really looked like some mistake was made in the fitting. The gaps were so large, I could fit my little finger in them. If I look at the interior pics on the Cadillac website, the seams seem tight there so I don't know what is going on there. There should not be those gaps there.
I think the window and lock buttons on my door panels are better than on the 2006.
These are a few things off the top of my head. The lack of a digital clock and the gaps in the steering wheel are enough for me not to buy the car. The other things, I can deal with. I have decided to hold out to see if these are corrected in the 2007 model when I plan to buy a new car. If not, I'm very likely to move away from being a Cadillac owner. I have already sent Cadillac a letter concerning the clock and their response was that they forwarded it to the appropriate people.
(This is on the non-Nav radio...)
We now have the Light Platinum color, with everything on it except for the Adaptive Cruise Control, which I do not want. This car will really move, but the ride is about the best that I've ever experienced.
I wanted the NAV for the enhanced display for XM radio. I am now enjoying using the voice command system for changing radio channels and CD tracks. My wife really likes the analog clock.
We just took delivery on Monday, so these are my early impressions. But, it appears to me that my new Performance DTS is a very worthy successor to my Aurora that I had enjoyed so much for the past four and one-half years.
Other than acceleration(which I'm not too worried about),how did you compare the three?. I'd get the base six in the other two,btw.
Width seems like what I've been accustomed to. The STS AWD that I drove seemed narrow to me, and its seat was not as comfortable.
My DTS is definitely fun to drive.
Going to be a tough decision.