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Is Cadillac's Image Dying and Does Anyone Care?

6186 messages,  Last post on Mar 26, 2013 at 6:19 PM

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What is this discussion about? Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac XLR, Cadillac STS, Automotive News

    

Messages Page 511 of 620

#5095 of 6186 Re: My experience is different [cooterbfd] by lemko

Jul 21, 2008 (11:43 am)

Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 20, 2008 10:41 am)
Wow, a lot of lucky people! I had a 1968 Buick Special Deluxe, 1975 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, 1979 Buick Park Avenue, 1979 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency, 1987 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, 1988 Buick Park Avenue, 1989 Cadillac Brougham, 1994 Cadillac DeVille, 2002 Cadillac Seville STS, and a 2007 Cadillac DTS Performance.
 
We still have a fleet of four GM cars: 1988 Buick Park Avenue, 1989 Cadillac Brougham, 2005 Buick LaCrosse, and 2007 Cadillac DTS Performance. I'm 43 and my girlfriend is a year younger. We'd have been those hypothetical kids and teenagers back in the 1970s and 1980s. Funny how we still buy GM cars.

#5096 of 6186 Re: cooter and sls [marsha7] by lemko

Jul 21, 2008 (11:58 am)

Replying to: marsha7 (Jul 20, 2008 2:34 pm)
....the Yuppies from (loosely) 40-60 are DEFINITELY not tied to Big 3 cars and have zero brand loyalty to GM or Ford
 
Not everybody who is 40-60 years-old is a yuppie. To be called a yuppie was an insult where I came from and certainly something I didn't aspire to be. A yuppie wouldn't have bought a Cadillac or Lincoln even if they were the best vehicles ever built. Cadillacs and Lincolns were their parents' cars and represented the so-called "Establishment" and they were out to rebel against said establishment by purchasing foreign luxury vehicles when they had the ability to afford one. They could care less if that BMW was unreliable and expensive to service and repair. They were more interested in a trendy brand name more than anything else. I also can't think of anybody who grew up to be a yuppie who drove a Chevrolet, Ford, or Plymouth in their teen years. They were more likely to drive VWs or some other Japanese or European facsimile.

#5097 of 6186 Re: My experience is different [62vetteefp] by lemko

Jul 21, 2008 (12:09 pm)

Replying to: 62vetteefp (Jul 21, 2008 6:03 am)
I think that link is fake too...unless the guy was from New England and never washed his car since day one and let all this road salt accumulate on his car during the winter. During the summer, he parked the car on the beach and let the tide come in and flood the car. Oh, that and he spilled battery acid all over the car and had a nasty habit of leaving and spilling bottles of Pepsi all over the finish.
 
I also don't believe the story about the 1988 Brougham with the bad brakes and gaskets. My 1989 Cadillac Brougham is mechanically identical to a 1988 Brougham and I have never experienced any major mechanical maladies with the car, let alone ones as severe as the ones he described.
 
If you're going to make stuff up, be sure there are no other posters who have those kinds of cars who can call shenanigans on you.

#5098 of 6186 Re: My experience is different [lemko] by fintail

Jul 21, 2008 (12:21 pm)

Replying to: lemko (Jul 21, 2008 12:09 pm)
I think if every GM owner cared for their cars like you do, GM would be in better shape today

#5099 of 6186 Re: My experience is different [lemko] by circlew

Jul 21, 2008 (1:15 pm)

Replying to: lemko (Jul 21, 2008 11:43 am)
That is pretty funny!
 
Regards,
OW

#5100 of 6186 Re: My experience is different [lemko] by circlew

Jul 21, 2008 (1:21 pm)

Replying to: lemko (Jul 21, 2008 12:09 pm)
Wow, pretty touchy when the truth comes out. I must have imagined my brother taking off the entire top of the engine and changing the passenger side head gasket.
 
Oh well, you are a real GM guy! That's for sure.
 
By the way, my German Shepard beat the 1984 FWB for 100 feet of the line. No big deal because almost anything that could breath could blow that thing into the weeds. Nice ride, though!!
 
Regards,
OW

#5101 of 6186 Bob.... by cooterbfd

Jul 21, 2008 (1:38 pm)

COOTER: I have no thoughts on that in Mississippi except to wonder why...
 
When I saw this (I can't remember where) I was disappointed. As an American, I'd like to think we are up to ANY challenge, ala WW2. I don't believe that they have to be union (or not) to build a quality product, I just believe it helps to stick together to make sure you aren't taken advantage of. I don't agree with banding together to "Stick it to the man", but I also think that we have an obligation to stand up for ourselves when we feel wronged, as well as stand behind others we see wronged.

#5102 of 6186 Re: Would'nt you know... [circlew] by sls002

Jul 21, 2008 (2:20 pm)

Replying to: circlew (Jul 21, 2008 10:50 am)
How does GM account for the costs of trucks vs cars? There are a lot of overhead expenses that cost GM money, but probably can't be directly charged off as either a car or a truck expense, and so are charged off evenly accross all models. The Escalade probably does not cost much more than the Chevy Suburban, but is priced higher, making it much more profitable. I question whether they can or should be comparing the cost of the Escalade with the Malibu.
 
We know for example that GM's gross sales were about $180 billion in 2007 and sales were about 4 million. that averages out to $45,000 per vehicle. but probably need to account for world wide sales. In 2006 sales were 207 billion on 9.1 million vehicles world wide = $22,800 per vehicle. So the minimum price tag should be $25,000
 
One of the long term problems that GM has had is how to make profits off the small cars. They have never been able to see them as anything but cheap cars to sell at no profit. I think that this has been an accounting problem of sorts. I think one thing they wanted out of the Saturn investment was accounting that would show a profit.

#5103 of 6186 Re: My experience is different [circlew] by lemko

Jul 21, 2008 (4:38 pm)

Replying to: circlew (Jul 21, 2008 1:21 pm)
Are we talking about the same engine? That 307 V-8 is darn near bulletproof. My car has 157K miles on it and I never had to take the engine apart. It would take an extraordinary circumstance to blow a head gasket on that car.
 
As for a 4100-powered 1984 Fleetwood Brougham, I can believe it. I drove a 1983 model once with the 4100 and 0-60 could be measured with a calendar. It was, however, a very nice car.
 
I think that Cadillac should've stuck with the 425 V-8 from 1977-79 until a suitable alternative could be developed, just paid the CAFE fines, and told the eco-weenies where they could shove their Birkenstocks and granola bars.

#5104 of 6186 It's all nice and good... by bumpy

Jul 21, 2008 (7:58 pm)

to say that GM should have simply thumbed its nose at the government and continued to build smoggy gas guzzlers regardless of the political, social, and economic climate of the time. However, in doing so management would have been abrogating its fiduciary duty to the shareholders, and most likely would have been out on their bums in short order.
 
As for the Oldsmobile engine in those not-really-Cadillacs-anymore, they were understressed machines that held together well enough, assuming the guy on the line didn't decide to take his liquid lunch before he finished torquing down the head.

Messages Page 511 of 620

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