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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: rockylee (Apr 07, 2007 10:57 am) I'd agree to a certain point. If a company has historically for a long period of time stood behind it's product then it means it must be good. Since GM has only recently offered a "decent" warranty (the bumper to bumper coverage still sucks, for lack of a better word) then its really just a marketing gimmick. Wait 10 years from now and see if the warranty remains the same. |
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Too often is only of Cadillac and GM's past. Let's have people post about Hondas and Toyotas from their first years here. I can start with the 70s, early 80s model a buddy had in Charleston with CVCC that required premium, quit running if you hit water on the road in rain, showed rusting real fast, jumped to the next lane when you accelerated quickly in a lower gear due to torque steer. Sometimes our views are tunneled without the broad view that lots of these cars had problems. Even today I can list a bunch of Camry discussions with _lots_ of problems, right here,now, on Edmunds, live. A couple-a-years-ago it was the Avalon. Even CR had to downgrade their rating with a small comment and a picture on the bottom of a page. Cars do change. Hopefully they improve. |
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Apr 07, 2007 4:16 pm) The dealers probably make more profit from having this exist than they can afford (or at least) want to lose. They will not let Honda raise their warranties "for free" for this purpose. |
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Has been around a while 
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Apr 09, 2007 9:15 am) Some of our most magnificent collectible/classic American cars were made by companies that soon after went out of business. RE: PROBLEMS PER 100 VEHICLES: do they define what a "problem" is exactly? Is my Lexus window regulator problem equal to your Cadillac transmission problem or somebody else's Mercury with the bad dome light? How does this work?
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 09, 2007 9:39 am) My Honda had a power seat that acted up a bit, window moldings/trim that rippled, and a rattle in the center console pocket storage door. (of course all of these we're covered under warranty and didn't cost me a dime)! My Dodge had transmission failures, head gaskets leak, broken serpentine belts (for no reason and well maintained), bad corroding battery terminals and starter cables, wires), bad parking brake, bad Orings and seals, leaky gas tank, (all of which cost me big time $$$ money after warranty). Which problems are worse?
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Replying to: andres3 (Apr 09, 2007 10:02 am) |
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2. Build a BMW 3-Series competitor. This is your "entry-level" Cadillac for new buyers This would be like Bentley making a $100K entry-level car. There's no practical reason for Cadillac to try to compete here. First off, all it does is cheapen their image. Mercedes won't bring their A class to the U.S. for precisely this reason. They learned the hard way with Chrysler that you need to protect your niche and learn to live within your means. Secondly, if they want to move themselves UP into the luxury market, they need more top-end cars and less filler for the masses. The idea of every make being a full line is very 1970s/1980s thinking. Third, GM knows it can't make a better car than the M3 - it's a waste of money, R&D, and effort, because it would have to be twice as good at less cost to win BMW owners over. So they just don't bother. There will BE no small Cadillac in the U.S. If you want a small GM luxury car in the U.S., buy a Saab.
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 09, 2007 9:39 am) I don't understand straw man reference. I posted the problems per 100 vehicles or whatever the rating system is. People can kvetch as much as they want over what a problem is rated by JD Powers. I suspect they are intelligent enough to consider a rattle different from a transmission failing at 1000 miles as in some recent vehicles. |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 08, 2007 4:18 pm) Here are excepts from two extemporaneous Time Magazine articles about the Cimarron; I apologize for the length of the first, but it tells the story Detroit is fighting back (page 2 of the article) May 1981 1. Like the successful X-car series that GM launched in the spring of 1979, the J-cars (Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac J2000 and Cadillac Cimarron) are designed for the new era of scarce and expensive energy. The four-passenger subcompacts, which replace models like the Chevrolet Monza and Pontiac Sunbird, fall in size between the bigger X-cars and the smaller Chevrolet Chevette. Powered by four-cylinder engines, the new autos are expected to get about 26 m.p.g. in the city and 43 m.p.g. on the highway. While the economy and styling of the J-cars are appealing, the prices are likely to be shocking to buyers who have not recently been in an automobile showroom. The Cavalier will carry a base sticker price of about $7,000. The J2000 will cost several hundred dollars more. The most startling version of the J-car is the Cadillac Cimarron. For years the Cadillac name has equated luxury with size, and buyers have spent $20,000 or more for opulent, lengthy Fleetwoods and Eldorados. The Cimarron represents a bold attempt to transfer that 78-year-old image to a car that is 4 ft. shorter than the now standard Cadillac and nearly the same size as a Toyota Celica. The mini-Caddie will carry the expected gewgaws and gimcracks, including electric remote-controlled side-view mirrors, an array of interior lamps and leather upholstery. But it will also have some unusual features for a Cadillac, like a tachometer, usually found only in sports cars. Price of the car: about $13,000. The Cimarron represents a major gamble for Cadillac, which hopes to sell 30,000 of them in the first year. Asks one skeptical competitor: "Can you hang a Cadillac name plate on something as thinly veiled as the Cimarron? I doubt it." The new model is designed to appeal mainly to a new Cadillac customer: well-heeled younger drivers who can afford a $12,900 BMW 3201 or an $11,100 Audi 4000. But will a sports sedan customer be attracted to a car that has traditionally been synonymous with conspicuous consumption? And will he pay several thousand dollars more for a Cadillac than for a similarly equipped Pontiac J2000 that is built in the same plant? Admits one GM executive: "It will be a real test for the Cadillac name plate." Mr. Smith shakes up Detroit May 1984 2. When the company began building smaller models—the X-, J-and A-cars—in the late 1970s, it ordered its divisions to use the same basic models to save money. The most egregious instance was the J-car, which was forced into service for all five divisions. Recently a Cadillac engineer was asked to explain the principal difference between the Cadillac Cimarron and the Chevrolet Cavalier, two J-cars. His reply: "Oh, about $5,000." |
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