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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Even a lot of $5,000 used cars are like 04 Dodge Ingrepids with 125k miles and are awful. It is tough to find a decent cheap car.
  2. smk4565
    What about a 2002-2005 era Ford Focus, they had a sedan, hatch and wagon of that car, they are under $5,000 and fuel efficient and cheap to repair. There are a lot of Chrysler Sebrings under $5k and Buick Century type cars that are cheap.
  3. smk4565
    Clue was an awesome movie. A mid-engine Corvette is sacrilege! It has to be front engine rear drive, and the Camaro should stay an affordable sports car, with the Corvette still not outrageously priced. Value is part of the Corvette's equation. Make a mid-engine Cadillac supercar if you want one, then you can go all out and price it high and make it more of an exotic car.
  4. smk4565
    A friend of mine sent me a link to the world's hardest car quiz, and I must say it was very hard but a lot of fun also. I got a 72%. It was made in the UK so a few of these questions are more about European cars, or cars sold in Europe at least. http://www.carwow.co.uk/world-hardest-car-quiz
  5. smk4565
    Part of Cadillac's problem is lack of body styles and lack of engine choices also. There needs to be coupe and convertible versions of the ATS and CTS and V-series in a hurry. The new C-class goes on sale in 2 weeks, but in 2015 calendar year they have the AMG version, a diesel and a plug-in hybrid coming, and coupe and convertible I think for 2016 model year. The 3-series has had multiple body styles for 30 years, so this isn't some new surprise, yet Cadillac seems slow to roll out model variants. Cadillac has sold cars in the $40k range for years though, and they seem to be struggling a bit now at it. So what happens with the LTS when they are really going into uncharted territory.
  6. smk4565
    I am not a BMW fan, but the 3-series outsells the ATS like 5 to 1 and ATS sales are down 20% this year. So Cadillac must have missed the mark on something. I don't think Cadillac really understands the luxury market. They copy the 3-series and the Lexus RX, they threw the ELR against the wall to see if it would stick, they figured there are a lot of "traditional" Cadillac buyers so we need an XTS for them, and they got some hits and misses. But overall they don't have a really good plan of attack. Not enough body style and engine choices, not enough focus on brand image, no core value to cling to. The ATS and CTS are supposed to be hardcore sport sedans, then you pair them with FWD soft riding SRX and XTS. What is Cadillac trying to be?
  7. smk4565
    The ELR can't be compared to an R8 or SLS AMG (which is getting replaced next year), because those are high end sports cars, they aren't going to sell they are more there for marketing purpose and engineer exercises. The ELR is a Volt coupe, the engineering was already there and it isn't creating some sports car halo effect that makes Cadillac a cool brand. As far as moving goal posts go, yes they do move and it is BMW and Mercedes who move them. Going back to 1990 when Lexus came out they copied Mercedes, but then Mercedes came out with soft closing doors, double glazed glass, power folding rear headrests, a V12 engine, etc. Then the target moved. Lexus tried to copy the 3-series with the first IS300, but what they really had was a dressed up Toyota Altezza, and when BMW put the twin turbo I-6 in the 3-series the rest of the segment was like 50 hp behind, so the goal post became 300 hp in 2007. The 3-series was so dominant in that class, that even though the 2014 model might not be as good as a 2010 3-series, what BMW builds is still better than what the copy cats have. Mercedes is about to attack the segment from a different angle, but by doing what their core traits are, luxury, engineering, ride quality, etc. The leaders set the goal post, the copy cat brands try to get there, only to find the leader moved it again. Cadillac benchmarked the 3-series for the ATS and bought 3-series and took them apart and tried to build a better mousetrap so to speak, but then you are also benchmarking a BMW of a couple years ago since it takes a few years to develop a car. When Mercedes designs a new S-class, they don't go out and benchmark and A8 or 7-series, the set out to build the best car in the world, they create their own benchmark and set what the new standard will be.
  8. smk4565
    ??? These are 3 letter names--CLA, CLS, SLS, SLR...pay attention. Yes Mercedes is doing a lot more 3 letter names now I guess I didn't realize how many, now that I think of GLK, GLA, CLA. But they pretty much only had C, E, S classes and ML, SL back when the other guys went to alphabet soup names. Lexus clearly has tried to copy Mercedes since the very beginning, but I still think Cadillac, Lincoln and Acura would have been better off sticking with word names rather than going to alphanumeric, I think they lost some of their identities when they did that.
  9. smk4565
    The 3-series may have drifted from the core values, and it does seem a bit big and fat now (as do all BMWs), but the 3-series still has enough of the BMW traits to keep people buying. Steering isn't as good, but they still have BMW suspension and BMW brakes, it is bigger, but they give you more interior room, it is heavier than it was 10 years ago, but they have an 8-speed and turbo inline 6 that is super smooth with great low end torque. BMW still does enough and the 3-series is sort of evolving or aging with its customer base. The ATS can't match the 3-series acceleration, and the ATS can't match the NVH. And the 3-series has a diesel that gets 45 mpg. The C-class is going to put the "luxury" back into luxury sports sedans, they aren't going to copy BMW like Cadillac and Lexus have done, Mercedes is doing what Mercedes does best and I think they are about to stick it to BMW. Cadillac needs to do what Cadillac does best, and not just try to copy the E90 3-series, because people aren't going to buy the copy.
  10. smk4565
    The ELR in May had a 725 day supply on dealership lots, I wouldn't say they are moving. I guess with the big discounts though (and probably them not building any) has got it down to 194 days now. But that is still over 6 months. The CTS has a 215 day inventory supply. BMW and Audi have supplies less than 45 days by comparison. The ELR selling 60 a month or whatever they are getting is what makes it a flop. Had they priced it at $54,000 maybe they could have sold like 250 a month and it wouldn't have been as embarrassing. Either way they should drop the car.
  11. smk4565
    Agreed that the CTS name should have been used on what is now the ATS, people are used to "CTS" being the entry level Cadillac. The STS name could have been brought back to be what is the current CTS. Now you have to convince people to pay $50k for what was an entry level $35k car 5-10 years ago.
  12. smk4565
    I read there are dealers giving $20,000 off to sell ELR's. This car is a flop, the idea of the car itself was bad, to charge $76k for it was a horrible idea. Had they priced it at $55k from the start, maybe they would have sold a few, but this car is tanking faster than the Allante or XLR did.
  13. smk4565
    New C-class goes on sale August 25th though, and Road & Track said the interior is possibly better than any other German car except for the S-class. That could be a game changer in the small luxury segment. But the CTS is mid-size, actually the CTS is one of the biggest cars in the mid-size segment. the current CTS is the same length as the 2005-2010 STS. I would like a back up camera, that is something my car doesn't have that I think is useful. I also could care less about blind spot warning systems, maybe in a big SUV that does have huge blind spots it is useful, but I don't need the side mirrors lighting up every 10 seconds when a car is there. These nanny systems almost encourage distracted driving, although I would be in favor of self driving cars.
  14. smk4565
    Call me crazy, but I found a 2005 Pontiac Aztek with 85k miles for $5,250. It was FWD, 19/26 mpg. The Buick Rendezvous's seem to go for a little bit more. The Aztek would have cargo space, although Pontiac Aztek and reliability probably don't go hand in hand. Chevy HHR and PT Cruiser could be a possibility. Oldsmobile Alero has sort of a contemporary look, so even now they don't look too old or dated.
  15. smk4565
    I thought that too, the connectors for the DVD screens look from the 90s. Why not have a couple holders for integrated iPads or something that would look more slick.
  16. smk4565
    The Range Rover did set the Nurburgring lap time for an SUV at 8:14, but that puts it just behind a 2004 M5 or a current Porsche Boxter S. The fastest SUV ever is still not going to match up to an average sports car, well maybe above average.
  17. smk4565
    The leather and suede trimmings are well done, the materials and build quality look first rate. What glares at me though is that shiny black plastic center stack with Cue and the HVAC touch buttons. It looks like it belongs on a Chevy, I hate it on every Cadillac. Other than that, job well done on the interior, although why massage on only the driver's seat, both fronts seats should have that, maybe even the rear seats too.
  18. smk4565
    Cadillac, along with Acura and later Lincoln went to these 3 letter names to copy the Germans I suppose, but none of the Germans use 3 letters in their names. Maybe it was to copy Lexus because they had ES, RX, LS, but then they also put numbers after the name because they wanted copy Mercedes. Infiniti is doing what Audi did, perhaps that is why Cadillac is copyrighting CT5 and CT6, to have a letter then number like A4, Q50, etc. I am in favor of Cadillac using names and using some of their heritage. Cadillac seems to run from their past, rather than embrace it. Although let's be honest, this car doesn't have a chance against the S-class, I am surprised the 7-series LS460 and A8 are still hanging on, although only by a threat at this point.
  19. smk4565
    I think for sure the biggest Cadillac sedan should be called Fleetwood, and if they make an Omega coupe that should be Eldorado. Escalade keeps its name, SRX and whatever 3rd SUV they choose to put in there could use Imaj or Provoke or some modern names. I actually think the ATS could be renamed CTS, and the CTS renamed STS. Had they downsized the CTS and kept it their entry level car, then it would still be $35k base price, and what we currently have as the CTS could have been Seville or STS which was always their car priced like an E-class or 5-series. Instead what used to be the entry level car is now their most expensive car when fully optioned. The downside to using something like "CTS" is the "S" implies sedan, so making a coupe or convertible with that name doesn't make sense. Where as there could be a "Seville" sedan, coupe, wagon, etc.
  20. smk4565
    I don't think an Escalade is going to out-handle a Range Rover. The Range Rover is a great SUV, although any 500+ horsepower SUV is sort of pointless because it isn't going to be able to perform like a car.
  21. smk4565
    They should call it Fleetwood and the coupe off this platform Eldorado. Dump the alphabet soup names, otherwise Escalade should be renamed ETX or something to make it consistent with the 3 letter names. And that would make no sense. Names aren't bad, as Drew pointed out a lot of high end cars have names.
  22. smk4565
    It drives, but they could have put a 3.6 V6 in the concept car. I haven't seen any pictures with the hood open or where they detail the engine. Plus what a concept car has isn't what a production car will have. I think though what they release next April will be near production ready, so time will tell.
  23. smk4565
    I remember that, but they also gave almost no specifics on that engine, I think it was more a hypothetical engine. I wonder if they will actually build an all new V8. Cadillac ought to make a 3.0 liter straight six turbo based on the 2.0T, but that would probably be more suited for an ATS or CTS, it might not be enough for a base engine for the LTS. Even though a lot of the other guys have a 3 liter six as the best engine in their flagships, I think Cadillac has to go bigger than them.
  24. smk4565
    I saw 2 different Tesla Model S this weekend, one had the P85+ upgrade.
  25. smk4565
    So back to the LTS (which is a horrible name if they really use that) does anyone think it will have a new engine? My guess is 3.6 twin turbo V6 base and some optional supercharged Corvette engine with 550 hp for a V-sport model.
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