Category Archives: CTS

The most economical Cadillac since 1984…

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After debating the fuel economy of the 3.6L Cadillac SRX versus her competitors, I wondered what the most economical recent Cadillac was.  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes comparative miles per gallon for a variety of models since 1984 at fueleconomy.gov.  Because the test model changes from time to time, the charts for all years are kept up to date to the current test specs.  The original window sticker values for each model using the test at the time are also available.

2012 Cadillac CTS

For the 2012 models, the Cadillac CTS 3.6L RWD Sedan or Coupe are the leaders, at 18 mpg city and 27 mpg highway.  The DTS that ended production in 2011 on the current test would do 15/23, so no improvement there.  The SRX is heavier with the same drivetrain, so worse mileage than the CTS.  The 2008 XLR got a similar 15/24 mpg.  The 2010 Cadillac CTS with 3L V6 and manual transmission was 16/26; close, but no cigar.

The Escalade Hybrid comes to mind, and it does very well for a fullsize SUV at 20/23 mpg for the RWD model.  Still worse mileage than the CTS.

If one goes all the way back to 2003, the CTS had a 3.2L V6 and could be had with a manual transmission, but hit 17/24 mpg.  The 3L Catera? 16/23 mpg.

Diesel Seville?  Nope, under the current system a 1985 Cadillac Seville Diesel would be rated today at 17/26 mpg.   It was rated 19/28 mpg at the time.

To beat the current 318 hp CTS 3.6L we have to go all the way back to the 1984 model, 2L, 4-cylinder manual transmission Cadillac Cimarron.  On today’s test it would be rated 21/31 mpg.  Now, the difference in performance between a 2L Cimarron and a 3.6L CTS is beyond remarkable.  But the little-loved Cimarron was certainly economical.

If we include export models, the Cadillac BLS with 1.9L diesel was rated in the UK at 49.6mpg for imperial fuel mileage, urban combined.  An imperial gallon is 4.546L and  a US gallon is 3.785L, so that would appear to be around 41 mpg after conversion, but is not done to the same test method. It stands to reason that if we had EPA figures, the Cadillac BLS would be the most economical recent Cadillac.

In the absence of a home market BLS or other 1.9L Turbo-Diesel however, the current Cadillac CTS is in fact the most economical Cadillac sold in the US since the Cimarron.  We’ll see how the upcoming Cadillac ATS fares with its 2.5L 4-cylinder standard engine — it should be our new MPG leader.

 

New: Cadillac CTS-V features with CTS V6 Fuel Economy

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New Touring Package Models Enrich Cadillac CTS Lineup

Performance elements from V-series offered for standard models from $2,065

2012 Cadillac CTS Touring Edition. (12/22/2011)

DETROIT – Cadillac is offering some of the performance elements of its V-series product line on standard 2012 CTS models through the new Touring Package Sedan, Coupe and Wagon starting at $2,065.

The new CTS Touring Packages include such luxury features as Recaro seats, microfiber suede inserts on the seats and steering wheel, high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps, a performance-tuned suspension, a V-series aerodynamic spoiler and performance wheel packages.

“One of the best aspects of high-performance machines like the V-Series is that they bring new elements into the brand that enrich the rest of the breed,” said Cadillac Vice President of Marketing Don Butler. “The new Touring Packages give CTS buyers access to some desirable V-Series elements, in a more-approachable format.”

CTS Sedan and Sport Wagon come with either a 3.0L or optional 3.6L engine, both Direct Injection V-6 units, while CTS Coupe comes standard with the 3.6L engine. Each engine now will have its own Touring Package available:

The 3.0L V-6 touring package option retails at $2,065 and includes 18-inch pearl nickel finish wheels; dual exhaust; dark finish grille; HID headlamps and fog lamps; V-Series aerodynamic center high mounted stop lamp (except Sport Wagon); suede seat inserts, steering wheel and shifter; midnight Sapele wood trim and metal pedals.

The 3.6L V-6 Touring Package option retails at $2,810 and features Recaro performance seating, suede-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, midnight Sapele wood trim and metal pedals. The 3.6L Touring Package also gets a dark finish grille, V-Series aerodynamic center high mounted stop lamp (except Sport Wagon) and the 19-inch polished wheels with either summer tire performance package or all season tire package.

With 318 horsepower from the 3.6L direct injection V-6 engine, the CTS accelerates from 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, and comes with optional all-wheel-drive and FE3 performance suspension designed for agile cornering and braking. Steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters for the electronically controlled 6-speed automatic transmission are also included in the FE3 performance package.

Other new CTS features for 2012 include standard Bluetooth connectivity, optional RainSense Wipers and Side Blind Zone Alert (Coupe) along with new colors: Opulent Blue Metallic; Black Diamond Tri-Coat and Mocha Steel Metallic.

Suggested retail prices including destination charges for the 2012 models start at $36,790 for the CTS Sedan, $39,590 for the CTS Coupe and $39,890 for the CTS Sport Wagon.

What I learned from Selling My Car (this time)

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I am terrible at selling cars.  I have come to accept this, so I know it is something I have to work at.

Recently I purchased a 2008 Cadillac STS-V to replace my previous 2005 Cadillac CTS.  After a long search, I had found the right Cadillac at a Dealer 5 hours away.  We had all the details worked.  It was not convenient however to take a chance of bringing the CTS on the roadtrip to see what the Dealer might offer on trade.  That would have put me in a bad negotiation position in a situation in which one is already in a bad negotiation position, so no thanks.

The car business feeds on convenience.  It is convenient to trade your old car in on the new one, and avoid the hassle of having to sell it yourself.   Great for the Dealer, if he can purchase your used car at below wholesale, and sell you the new car at retail; he makes money coming and going.  You almost always make more money on the sale by selling your car yourself, but that means posting an ad, having people call or email you, avoiding scams, avoiding in-person ripoffs, and navigating the narrows.

To prepare to sell my car, I re-read Help! I Gotta Sell my Car Now! by L. James Johnson.  This book takes you through the steps of how to prepare your car to sell, where to advertise, how to negotiate, etc.

Things I learned this time selling my Cadillac CTS:

  • Any ad on Craig’s list will get an offer; you have to learn to recognize the scams.  I posted a “Want to Buy” ad before I found my new car, and I got an offer of $1,500 in response.  Clearly this person is using some automated software that sends a low-ball offer to every ad posted.
  • If your tires have less than 50% of tread remaining, get new tires before offering the car for sale.  It makes a ton of difference and should be treated as part of getting the vehicle prepped.  If you weren’t selling the car you’d have to get new tires anyway, so just write it off to a car expense and don’t mix it up in your mind with the car deal.
  • Pull a Carfax or Autocheck on your car.  Like checking your credit, this allowed me to see that there was a blemish on my 1-owner, never wrecked permanent record.  Knowing the facts of the incident allowed me to address it in my ad.
  • Write your ad copy, then get several people you trust to read and review it.  This helped me to focus my ad, but it also helped me to get ready to talk about the car with Buyers.
  • You will need several different write-ups.  Craig’s List has a filtering system and if it believes you are posting the same text as it finds anywhere else the ad will get ‘ghosted’ and not show up on CL. Using the talking points from your ad copy, write a new unique CL ad for each time you post.
  • Cars.com has a cool 800# phone forwarding service.  For $4 I setup a temporary telephone number that forwarded calls to my cell phone.  Put the temporary number in the car ad instead of your phone number.  Then when the car sells, turn off the forwarding and avoid a dozen more calls to see if the car is still for sale.  Brilliant.
  • Autotrader.com has an online instant trade-in offer honored by certain local car dealers.  Fill in all the details of your vehicle, and they send you an offer to purchase.  Take the car to the local dealer to evaluate against your description, and if all matches then they honor the offer apparently.  Interesting, and an easy way to get a ‘floor’ for which you know you can sell the car right away.
  • Besides getting the car detailed and ready to sell, keep some speed detailer handy so you can spruce up the car right before a Buyer comes over to look at the car & test drive.  Visuals make a ton of difference in car sales, so be ready for last minute touch-ups.
  • Vacuum the trunk.  I forgot this one
  • Remove your toll tag and garage door opener from the car before you sell it

What did you learn from selling your last car?  Please leave a reply.