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Cadillac STS/STS-V: What's New for 2007?

1325 messages,  Last post on Apr 08, 2009 at 7:01 AM

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What is this discussion about? Cadillac STS, Cadillac STS-V, Sedan

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#51 of 1325 STS info link by notyourname Jul 09, 2003 (4:38 pm)
http://www.gminsidenews.com/sts_spied.shtml
#52 of 1325 Great Link by arenn Jul 11, 2003 (2:38 pm)
Potential problems I see:   - Say the want to be internationally "competitive", not the best.   - No mention of interior quality.   Assuming this is real, of course.
#53 of 1325 Customer Reception by mbukukanyau Jul 11, 2003 (3:43 pm)
Cadillac needs to train its staff on how to treat customers when they walk in through the door. They need to know, that they are dealing with a different crowd, in this new market they seek to address. Maybe, getting some people from Lexus would help! I walked into a Cadillac dealer to check out the CTS and I was totally ignored. I went into a Lexus dealership down the street for the IS comparison, and the reception was absolutely gorgeous. Lucky for them, I like the CTS. But I will not be buying the STS from that dealership
#54 of 1325 Old Info by richw5 Jul 12, 2003 (8:36 am)
The link posted by "notyourname" was an old fiberglass mockup created around the year 2000. While some of the features of the 2005 STS will be similar, this was a proposal along with some benchmarking questions.   Rich
#55 of 1325 Post # 11 of 19 June follow-up by gearman Jul 16, 2003 (12:59 pm)
Here are a few follow up comments to my 19 June posting.   Being an enthusiastic owner of some interesting GM cars, including a 2000 Catera (I post at that thread on occassion) and a'02 STS, I was delighted to participate in a target market consumer opinion clinic conducted by a market research firm on behalf of GM to obtain comment on an 05 STS prototype. My comments on the car are detailed in that earlier posting.   Here are some additional comments in response to a couple of more recent postings to this site.   The disguised prototype 'spy' photos that have been recently posted to this thread are consistent with the appearance of the prototype that I evaluated in June (see my 19 June posting). Having seen the STS in person, I can easily make out the shape of the STS prototype under the black cladding.   Recently, I've had the chance to attend a couple of 'ride and drive' new product introductions: one sponsored by Ford for the new Jaguar XJ sedan and one sponsored by VW for the new Audi 8L sedan.   These are events where the invitees receive a product briefing from the organizers (Motor Trend and Jim Russell, respectively), followed by aggressively driving the cars at the edges of their performance envelopes through a low speed (70mph) track laid out between orange cones in a huge empty parking lot.   At one of these events, a fellow participant (an enthusiastic owner of a 2000 STS with 180 k miles !) described his participation in a target market consumer clinic in which he had the opportunity to drive an STS prototype. His comments echoed mine in regards to the low-budget material quality and fit/finish that he observed in the STS prototype.   Disturbingly, he was so disappointed at the disparity in interior fit/finish/materials that he observed between the '05 STS prototype that he previously drove and the '04 Audi 8L that he and I were driving at the event that he will be selling his STS and buying an 8L next week instead of waiting for the '05 STS to arrive.   To reinforce that point further, the benchmark in terms of interior fit / finish / material quality is still some selected VW products, particularly the new VW Toureg and the new Audi 8L. Interestingly, both of those cars interiors were purchased from the same French subcontractor as DCX uses for several of their Mercedes brand products, including the S-500.   The name of that French company is Faurecia. Their website is 'www.faurecia.com' in case any of you would like further information.   On the topic of the higher-buck competitors to the upcoming STS, namely the XJ, 745i, 8L, and S-500 that I drove and compared during the last couple of weeks, those cars all had very refined road manners, with variations in flavor as reported by the car magazines. Particularly the Jag: Ford has endowed that car with a remarkably effect air suspension system that provides class leading smoothness and control (always a tough combo) that was notably more refined than the air suspension equipped S-500 and 8L sedans. The new STS has some really tough competition from these cars (and their smaller/cheaper stable mates); I hope that GM's development time has been well spent.   In terms of interiors, the interior of the 8L is stunning. No matter the space, panel, edge, surface, etc, the fit, finish, and materials usage are superb. If you're interested to see the benchmark in this product category, go visit an Audi dealer. Faurecia's 8L interior is in a different ballpark from what I saw in the STS prototype, and notably better than the now-stale interior in the S-500 and the slapped-together ergonomic mess that serves as the 745i interior.   Good for GM is that neither VW nor BMW yet seems to know how to produce a mechanically reliable product that is affordable to maintain after the mechanical warranty expires.   The XJ is in the middle: not as good as the audi 8L, but better than the STS prototype.   Regarding road behavior, if my experience with the CTS is any guide, the STS will potentially be very competitive with any of the above-described cars, particularly in the rumored 'v' variants with awd and/or a V-12 (!) engine.   The '05 STS is high on my list of candidate future cars to own; I just hope that GM places a call to Faurecia's US offices or takes some other steps to properly address that interior material quality and fit/finish issue. Although I'm very pleased with the elegant interior of my STS, it clearly exhibits lower fit/finish quality than the exemplary 8L.
#56 of 1325 gearman by libertycat Jul 16, 2003 (1:02 pm)
Prototypes typically have AWFUL interior quality. The real one might be different.
#57 of 1325 Re STS update by Gearman... by msgreen Jul 16, 2003 (1:23 pm)
again, thanks for posting your observations. As several of us have previously stated, Cadillac simply CANNOT get the STS "wrong" - it is just too important to their overall brand image and bottom line. In my opinion, "getting it wrong" can also include trying to shave a few hundred bucks off the price by skimping on interior materials, exterior paint, etc. I sure hope not, because anyone spending 50K+ is much more likely to be persuaded to buy based upon their impressions of quality, workmanship, etc, than by saving the relatively small amounts of money that would constitute the difference in materials costs. I have no idea how the STS prototype's interior will compare with the production version, but if Cadillac seriously wants to cut corners here, they will find many buyers pivoting on their heels in show rooms on their way down the street to the competition.
#58 of 1325 by kirstie_h HOST Jul 16, 2003 (1:34 pm)
Don't forget tonight's member-to-member open chat!   http://www.edmunds.com/townhall/chat/townhallchat.html   6-7pm PT/9-10pm ET. Pop in for live chat with other members. Hope you can join us!   kirstie_h Roving Host & Future Vehicles Host
#59 of 1325 gearman by merc1 Jul 16, 2003 (10:23 pm)
Very interesting post. Someone else mentioned that Audi/VW and Mercedes and even Jaguar used the same supplier for some of their interiors. That is most interesting. I'm curious to know why you think the S500's interior is stale even after it's redo for 03? But I agree the A8 and Touareg are awesome inside and out concerning the A8. This level of interior build should help the Phaeton when it arrives, it's going to need a big advantage for 60K sitting on a VW showroom floor.   M
#60 of 1325 "Touraeg is awesome inside and out" by libertycat Jul 17, 2003 (9:05 am)
You have GOT to be kidding me. It is the second ugliest luxury SUV out there (platform-sharing Cayenne is the ugliest) and I'm not impressed with the interior at all. It looks very old-fashioned; as if this was an '80s car.

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