Overview & Reviews

Owned by General Motors, Cadillac is America's most prestigious domestic luxury automaker. For most of its existence, the company was known exclusively for its cushy, senior-friendly sedans, but in more recent years the automaker has revised and expanded its lineup in a successful effort to attract a new, younger generation. Cadillac's roster now includes SUVs (its Escalade is a favorite of both rappers and suburban moms), a crossover and even a high-performance wagon.

Born in 1902, Cadillac was founded by Henry Martyn Leland, a manufacturer of automotive components. He named the company after a noted French explorer who discovered Detroit in the early 1700s. Leland helped create one of the company's earliest offerings -- the Cadillac Osceola, noted for being the industry's first concept car and the first closed-body car made in America. Only one Osceola was made, but it helped spark a trend; closed bodies caught on and spread like wildfire through the industry.

Cadillac quickly gained a reputation for specializing in precise craftsmanship and for using standardized parts. The success of early Cadillacs like the Model A and the "30" made the brand a sales success, so much so that the automaker was purchased by General Motors in 1909. The marque became GM's luxury division, and its list of innovations grew. Cadillac was the first U.S. auto manufacturer to produce a V8, the first to use thermostatic control of a cooling system and the first to offer dash-controlled headlights. During the 1930s, the brand earned a strong reputation for producing powerful and smooth V12 and V16 engines.

Soon after World War II, Cadillac history hit a high point as its tailfinned and chrome-laden cars became the epitome of American postwar automotive style. Cadillac's tailfin took its cue from Lockheed's P38 Lightning Aircraft, and was the brainchild of designer Frank Hershey. Vehicles like the Coupe de Ville and Fleetwood El Dorado made Cadillac a staple in upscale neighborhoods and among the Hollywood set.

By the 1960s, Cadillac's flashy tailfins had given way to a new styling cue: vertical taillights. This attribute was in evidence on one of Cadillac's most successful new cars of that decade, the Fleetwood Sixty Special. The Fleetwood offered luxury features that were cutting-edge for its day, such as fold-down writing tables, footrests and a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel.

The gas crunch of the 1970s, however, started a downward trend for the company. Cadillac's Titanic-sized behemoths that ruled the highways in previous decades were increasingly out of touch and out of favor. Cadillac responded to the changing times by downscaling the dimensions of many vehicles in its lineup. Despite this smart maneuvering, the automaker's fortunes suffered in the late '70s when it unveiled a diesel engine that quickly earned a reputation for spotty performance.

The 1980s saw the redesign of the Seville, a vehicle whose unique bustle-back styling sparked a trend and inspired its share of imitators. That decade also witnessed the rollout of the Cimarron, a small car that was essentially a rebadged Chevy Cavalier, the latter an economy car not exactly known for excellence. Understandably, the Cimarron never caught on with the public. Things got worse when Cadillac launched a series of underpowered, unreliable V8s during the first half of that decade that, along with the notoriously unreliable diesel, cost the automaker thousands of customers, millions of dollars and immeasurable damage to its reputation.

By the early '90s, Cadillac started a major turnaround as it brought out redesigned, stylish models with vastly improved engines. Shortly after the new millennium bowed, the company adopted its "Art & Science" design philosophy. With styling cues that included sharp, almost severe lines and stacked headlamps, Art & Science was first seen on Cadillac's 1999 Evoq concept roadster. By the mid-2000s, this bold new look had reinvigorated the company's sales, and was seen on hits such as the Escalade SUV and the CTS sport sedan.

This fresh styling, coupled with improvements in performance and overall product quality, has done a great deal to help Cadillac recover much of its previous status. Today's Cadillacs, which include coupes, sedans, crossovers and SUVs, are known for offering powerful engines, chiseled lines, sharp handling and a full accoutrement of luxury features.

User Reviews:

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  Not a real Cadillac - 2000 Cadillac Catera
  By dcv - August 22 - 9:15 am

  The car drives like a dream, however, the check engine light will not go off. No one can find the problem. The rear middle seat belt locks and cannot be used. The gas mileage is horrible. A new fuel pump at 70K cost me $917. If you try to run anything except premium fuel, you will find yourself in a world of hurt. My advice is to buy a real Cadillac (Deville, for example). Better mileage, better service. Cadillac needs to stand behind this product and make it right. I sure wish I had bought a Deville!

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  buy the benz - 2006 Cadillac XLR
  By Bob - August 18 - 6:57 pm

  After looking for one of these since Nov 07, and reading all the reviews I bought anyway. I have had 2 weeks and its been in shop for 6 days, for heated/cooled seats, and horn. Going back tomorrow for fog lights and high beam flash. Make sure only buy certified and get vis records. These are very high maintenance cars and while they look good, they are not built like a 75k car. Buy the Benz, more money but you should actually get to drive it, instead of rental cars. Certification provides warranty, but doesnt mean they actually checked. I had not driven 2 feet after delivered certified when the above were not working. Dont feel sorry for gm or employees, they need to do job.

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  Stick with a luxury import - 2008 Cadillac STS
  By GM Never Again - August 4 - 10:36 am

  The car is fun to drive and is great when its not in the repair shop. I have had my STS in service 2 times in the last three months (BRAND NEW) for different problems. GM and Cadillac treat you like you bought a Chevy.You pay a high end price and get low end service. To sum it up, they suck and I will never buy a GM product again. High end imports are more reliable and give much better customer service.

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  A year later - 2008 Cadillac CTS
  By ctshadaflood - August 3 - 11:20 am

  Just about one year later, The $48,900 loaded CTS had two leaks in the sunroof making water run into the car though the A frame. The Fuel Pump went the 1st week with 400 mile on the car. Since then all is ok except the hard ride has created more rattles than a NYC Gypsy cab. Im Very disappointed. Craftsmanship is still crap. No wonder GM is hurting

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  Stay away - 2007 Cadillac STS
  By locdoc - July 26 - 7:54 pm

  I leased this car, and within the first year, the car was in the shop for over 30 days! It was first a recall, then rattles in the trunk that took three tries to fix, then a blown speaker, then Homelink failures. Unbelievable! I was never offered anything for my troubles by the dealer or GM. Bottom line, I traded for a 2008 335i BMW sedan and could not be happier. BMW offers so much more for the money. Imagine that, a BMW more affordable and a better value than a Cadillac!! The original list on the Caddy was $65,000, and it wholesaled after I traded it in for $25000, and only after 13 months!!

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  Timing Chain Repair at 70K miles=$2500 - 2004 Cadillac CTS
  By rcwilbur - July 9 - 1:05 pm

  I love driving this car. When purchasing I opted for the 3.6 liter engine, in part, because it has timing chains that are supposed to survive the life of the car, as opposed to the 3.2 which the owners manual suggests replacing at 100k miles. The owners manual even states that if you dont replace the timing belt on the 3.2 liter you risk severe engine damage. Well the timing chain broke on my 3.6 CTS at 70K miles and the dealership estimates that the repair costs will be about $2500. Dealership also told me they had another 3.6 CTS in at the same time, for the same problem.

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  Rattle from Center Console Area - 2008 Cadillac CTS
  By Joe N - July 6 - 9:43 am

  Likes: (1)Price (2)American brand (3)Style improvement over outgoing model Dislikes: (1)Started making rattles from center console (perhaps from fan) within first 1000 mile (2)Noisy engine at idle (3)Screaming engine at full acceleration (4)Terrible sound system for base model (5)Very few options for base model (6)Handsfree bluetooth should be a standard feature

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  problem after problem - 2000 Cadillac Catera
  By Charles Fields - July 4 - 12:57 pm

  Cadillac should be sued for making a piece of crap like this. I own a 2000 catera, and it stalls out at random. The rpm dont go above 1 when idling. My fuel cap censor is going haywire, my check engine censor is on the fritz as well. If Cadillac is going to keep making vehicles like this, then they need to go back to square 1 at the drawing board. Its my first car and I thought it was nice. It was nice for the fist 6 months, now its been sitting in my driveway for the last 7 months.

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  WORST cadillac ever to be made!!!! - 2001 Cadillac Catera
  By Dustin - June 24 - 6:05 pm

  I have had this car since 2004 and have had nothing but problems. It had between 20 and 30k miles on it when I got it. Thought I was getting a steal at 14k. Now that Ive had it a while, I realize why it was only in production for 4 years. Since 2006, I have replaced not only 1 but 2 engines and now this one quit yesterday. There are problems with the electrical system in it. The sunroof opens and closes when it wants to, the car is definitely a lemon and Cadillac should do something to alleviate some of the cost since it was their bright idea to sell an American made car that was produced in a foreign country. All together Im at $9,000 in repair costs. And its not paid off yet.

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  Its Finally Gone - 2004 Cadillac SRX
  By Unhappy Owner - June 18 - 2:55 pm

  The SRX was sold last week with absolutely no regret. We were very excited when we originally bought the SRX because of its looks and performance. Both of the attributes held to be true to the end. Interior finish was awful and build quality was about as bad as it could get. The dealer tried to make things work but Cadillac was very uncooperative. The sunroof would not function at times and creaked and rattled all of the time. The engine burned 5 quarts of oil in the last 8k miles driven and Cadillac said that was in tolerance. The final straw was the sunroof began leaking with water pooling under the third seat. It really is too bad that the car had to be dumped on the market.