The O.C.

Now that is one big ass phaser bank.........!

Well, about three months ago, I moved from southern California to Las Vegas to run the internet department at a Cadillac store here that is being run by a long-time CA friend of mine. Surprisingly, I'm really enjoying living here. Vegas certainly isn't for everyone, but in recent years, due to the tourism boom that this city has been experiencing, it's changed dramatically. With so many top-rated restaurant owners from New York and Los Angeles setting up shop here, you can experience just about any level of dining experience you are looking for. And, the sheer number of shows available to go see always gives you something to do. Also the sheer number of high-rises being built is mind-boggling. Some of these are new casinos and hotels, but a vast number of them are high-rise residential condos. Finally, with the boom in building on the strip and downtown over the last 15 years or so, Las Vegas is finally beginning to resemble a "real" city.....with a now-impressive skyline. What most casual visitors don't realize (and I didn't fully realize either) is that there is a whole 'nuther Las Vegas outside of downtown and the strip. I live about 15-20 minutes west-northwest of the strip in an area called Summerlin. Summerlin isn't an incorporated city (like the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson) but is a master-planned community with an actual Las Vegas city address. The current population of Las Vegas is around 550,000 people, with about 2 million living in the greater Las Vegas/Clark County metro area. Summerlin currently has a population of around 80,000. Summerlin reminds me alot of south Orange County where I lived.....lots of new developments, stucco/tile roof houses, wide tree-lined (yes...in the desert) boulevards and subdivisions, and lots of great restaurant and shopping choices. Located on the western edge of the Las Vegas metro area, Summerlin also enjoys great natural beauty with the Red Rock Mountains national recreation area just 5 minutes outside of the city. What's nice is that you could live here and never have to go down to the strip with some nice higher-end (chain) restaurants such as Fleming's steakhouse, Kona Grill, etc., and good shopping with all the Williams Sonoma/Banana Republic type shops located here in Summerlin locally. Consider it a smaller version of Irvine (CA), Scottsdale (AZ), Bellevue (WA), or other similar city suburban areas. Outside of the Lake Las Vegas area, it's probably the most upscale suburban area of Las Vegas. And, compared to areas in California, it's relatively affordable too. One other benefit of Las Vegas' "boomtown" status is roads and freeways that are in great shape, relatively new, and widened freeways. As far as living here in Las Vegas, even if you never venture to the strip, it's an outdoor person's paradise. From my house, I can be up at Mount Charleston (8,500 feet elevation) in 45 minutes.....where there is skiing in the winter. Red Rock is 5-10 mins from my house. And Lake Mead is about 30-40 mins away and offers all kinds of lake/boating things to do. Of course if you DO venture to the strip, you can take advantage of more shopping than you could ever imagine. Every conceivable high-end retailer has a store (or multiple stores) here. And, as said before, some of them have already begun to venture out to the more suburban areas (I even have a Bang n Olufson store just down the street from my house.) The heat really doesn't bother me that much. Yes, it gets hot....but when we get around 110-degrees or better, it tends to be extremely dry. So while it is hot, once you step into the shade or inside the A/C, you cool off very quickly. I'd rather have 110 degrees here than be at my parents house in Florida where it might be 90-95 degrees and incredibly humid. The nights are heavenly here.....warm, very sultry, very nice to sit outside on the patio, etc. Downsides? Traffic is approaching southern California levels. The winter, I hear, can be cold and windy....colder than what would be found in SoCal. Finally, car insurance and registration costs are VERY expensive (of course there is no state income tax...so that helps offset.) Overall, it's fun here. I think my stint here will be anywhere from 2-5 years, then I'll probably be back in SoCal at a larger store with my friend. So, I'm going to try to at least enjoy it while I'm here.

I agree. And I KNEW this would happen......and said so many, many months ago when everyone was going gaga over the concept. This car looks like it would fit a Cobalt badge better than a Buick badge. To me, the whole car just spells "cheap" and no removing of the graininess in the picture is going to change that. What the HELL has GM been thinking?

Awwww....I think someone is jealous of BMW's success.......

The only problem we are seeing now, is that CTS lease payments are now more, in some cases up $200-$300, over a comparable 3-series, C-class, or IS Lexus. That's a problem. With the new lease rates and lowered residuals GMAC has just implemented, you are close to $800/month for a $45K CTS. If you want a loaded CTS with DI, auto, navigation, summer-tire performance package, the '09 has topped $50K for the first time. We just got in 5 loaded '09s and they are all $50,400. Also, there are no cash incentives.....still...... So....yes.....up until this month, CTS was still hot. But if GM isn't careful, this car is going to do the quickest 180-degree turn in sales that the company has ever seen.

I'm surprised about all the negative comments about this car. I, for one, think it's hot. It looks like what it should be....a CTS on stilts. Everyone here at the Cadillac store that I've shown these pics to think it's great....and can't wait to begin selling it. The sad fact of the matter is, the current SRX is almost sale-proof. I can't remember the last time we sold one (and we were the biggest CTS dealer on the west coast last month, so it's not like we are a small-volume store or anything.) The biggest complaint we get from customers (styling-wise) is that the current SRX looks too much like a "wagon" and not enough like an "SUV." As far as the FWD-based architecture, as much as I would also like to see it RWD, the vast majority of people I HAVE talked too about the SRX had no idea it was RWD....nor did they really care. I think a crossover like this could succeed as a FWD-based vehicle much easier than an entry-level, or mid-level premium sport/luxury sedan like the CTS could pull off the FWD thing.

Someone may have beat me to this.....but all Audi's, including the A5/S5 are front-wheel-drive or front-wheel-drive-based AWD. With the A5 and S5 (and new A4) Audi, on the Quattro AWD models, the power split is about 40% front and 60% rear. In other words, normally, slightly more power is being directed to the rear wheels. However, the vehicles are still based upon front-wheel-drivetrains.

Very true. And I bet GM, in their usual reactionary way, will tell us the excellent new 2.9L V6 turbo-diesel for the european CTS will "take 2 more years to certify for U.S. consumption for the U.S. CTS" and that "we'll have it out in 2011." Surely, when initial work began on this diesel engine, someone, SOMEONE at GM was smart enough to certify it for U.S. installations? (Unfortunately, I bet not.)

Realistically, at our store, CTS is cross-shopped most with Lexus IS and ES G35, and C-Class. Never have I seen any comparison by consumers with anything in the 5-series/E-class segment. Many of our customers are also older STS customers trading into the new CTS because of style. Part of the problem is, now, for '09, a loaded CTS crosses the $50K mark......and a stripper is $38K. With GMAC's reduction in aggressiveness on leasing, that puts us more expensive price-wise, and lease-payment wise than the 3-series, C-class, etc. That's a big perception/pricing hurdle to overcome. If GM isn't careful, they are going to see the CTS popularity wane this year unless they stay aggressive in the market. The "5-series size for 3-series price" marketing tactic simply doesn't work. People simply don't compare CTS to those cars. It is truly seen as a direct competitor to the smaller german/asian entries. So, my opinion is that Caddy does need a larger, RWD car to replace STS and DTS......priced in the $55K - $65K range.

At our Caddy store in Las Vegas, we sell '04-'07 DeVille/DTSs and CTSs like they are going out of style. The new DTS and STS cars, however, are just about sale-proof. We sell new CTSs and Escalades. That's IT. (Last month we were the #1 CTS store on the entire west coast incidentally....)

Paulie, you are just used to typical GM 4-cylinder engines (of the past.) There are many modern L4 engines that are as smooth as silk. In fact, my A4 2.0T is just as smooth as the V6 in my CTS.....the only drawback, if you can call it that, is that it sounds (quietly) like a 4-cylinder whereas the 3.6L sounds like it should....like a V6. Malibu has been lauded for the extremely low levels of NHV in the L4 version....so if Chevy can build one that gets accolades from the press, Cadillac should be able to also....

You and I are hardly reflective of the vast majority of consumers out in the marketplace though. And while I could envision cross-shopping between Enclave and MDX, I really, really don't see it for the car lines.

God, I hate but WHEN is GM going to wake up and be pro-active instead of re-active? Stephens sounds like an idiot when he makes statements like that above. Correction: like a clueless idiot. Like is said above....people are ALREADY showing their interest in greater fuel economy by trading in their SUVs and buying smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. I think a turbocharged L4 in a lower-level CTS could make a really compelling entry in the marketplace. Yet GM doesn't have the balls to step up to the plate and do something innovative to combat the market.

Moltar, You are bull$h!ting us, aren't you? Don't tell me the next G6 is just going to be a rebadged Malibu........

Hey thanks! No worries....I'm still around.....just really freakin' busy here at the dealership (which is good) so my time to get on here and mess around isn't what it used to be.

$h! I didn't feel a thing (here in Las Vegas.) Although I was in the car at that time. Figures just as I move from SoCal, we get another fun shaker......

Unfortunately it's most likely going to be a cold day in hell before Acura is seriously cross-shopped with Buick.....no matter HOW nice the Invicta is.

I don't know about the TSX.....I've never driven it.....(the new one)..... But I've always thought of Healy as a real doofus......someone that tries to sound all knowledgeable about cars, but comes off as a supposed "my $h! don't stink" know-it-all that doesn't really know it all after all. In some ways, I rank him lower than the Consumers Reports testers......if you can believe that....

This morning, saw a Solstice Coupe/Targa with a MI manufacturer plate (but NO camo at all) on West Sahara here in Las Vegas!

I remember this car when working at Buick. It was the precursor to the actual production LeSabre T-Type. The LeSabre T-Type was introduced after this LeSabre Grand National....and sported the LeSabre MCE changes including the flush-mounted headlamps and revised front end. They did build a very small amount of LeSabre GN models but, unlike the Regal GN, this LeSabre GN ran a bone-stock 3800 V6 that it shared with the later LeSabre T-Type. (Incidentally, I LOVE the LeSabre and Electra T-Type models from that day and would love to find a cherry version of either.) Also, does anyone remember the Century (A-body) Gran Sport? It was also a very limited edition Century 2-door with Grand National-like all black paint and trim with exclusive wheels (I think 15-inch when the Century T-Type sported 14-inch rims in the day) and a special two-tone black and gray interior....

Hence the age-old problem that GM has refused to address.

<dripping sarcasm>........oh....but GM has no problem with "too many models, too many divisions" If this were the case, it would be a textbook case of how a proper product decision (bringing the Insignia over here in some capacity) being hampered by GM's decades' old problem of too many models and divisions stepping on each others' toes.

.....size queen......

Why.....don't......we......suggest........that a particular member/s doesn't like the discussion going on in a particular thread......don't enter the thread.....geez....! It's just like the radio or TV.....don't like the music or the program, change the damn station. I'm all for ANYTHING GOES in any of the Lounge threads......political talk or otherwise......

That's one of the MAIN reasons that I kept my condo in O.C. and leased it out......as opposed to selling it so I could buy something in Las Vegas. I KNOW that I want to be able to return to SoCal and live there again.....it may be a few years.....or it may be longer.....but it's home to me and at least I know I'll have a house there that I own to go back to. ......because the housing market WILL rebound.....it's just a matter of when. In five years, I might not have been able to move back there and buy something if I had sold my condo.....