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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  Very happy with the SRX - 2012 Cadillac SRX
  By commander58 - January 13 - 1:34 pm

  2012 FWD Luxury model. Great lease value compared to competetors such as Acura MDX. Infinity EX, FX, etc. Delaership experience excellent. SRX rides fantastic. Road noise non-existent. Handling, acceleration, shifting of the transmisson all great. Seats are firm, but I find the SRX to be very comfortable. Great feature content on the Luxury trim level. Averaging 21 mpg with mostly highway driving. Very pleased with the exterior & interior appearanc eand build quality. I was in the market for a luxury SUV/CUV and found this to be the best value out there. I have not had a GM product for quite a few years, and Im very impressed so far!

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  mrdeville(PHX, AZ) 99 deville-base - 1999 Cadillac Deville
  By mrdeville - January 11 - 12:40 pm

  i owned this car for 1 yr now. & i love it, it has power & comfort & heads turn cause i got 16 wire wheels on him. my caddy is all car & drives smooth, so far nothin major has gone wrong with it & it has 88,700 miles on it. juss minor things like the antennea motor & d/s window motor, i totally luv this car it is my BABY. i will never get rid of it!!!!my wife didnt want it till she drove it,& then she was convinced she wanted it!!!!

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  3 Weeks in The Repair Shop!!!! - 2007 Cadillac CTS
  By mkzgirl - January 10 - 12:16 pm

  We will never own another CTS ever again! My husband and I purchased this car used in Feb. 2010 from a GM dealer. What sold us was the low mileage & excellent warranty. My husband has a long drive to work and wanted something fun and comfortable from the domestic luxury market. He fell in love with the styling and handling, that was until he was left stranded not once, not twice but THREE TIMES over the same problem which the dealership, several engineers & technicians direct from GM HQ could not pinpoint after three weeks, they had never seen the problem before! The key was stuck in the ignition and would not start or release the key so they had to replace the entire ECM to get it to start!

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  love my Cadillac SRX - 2011 Cadillac SRX
  By misty47 - December 30 - 7:57 am

  I love my Cadillac SRX still -after having it six months. After test driving all the Chevy, Kia, Honda, GMC, Buick, Nissan, Hyundia, Toyota cars and SUVs, I liked the SRX the best. I bought it because they have the mainteance free for 4 years or 50,000 miles. Free oil changes, tire rotation etc. It has the 6 cyl which has plenty of power to get on freeways.

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  This is a great car - 2006 Cadillac SRX
  By k_man60 - December 29 - 9:11 am

  I purchased our 2006 Cadillac SRX for my wife in 2009. It was a low milage unit and it was exactly what we were looking for. Aside from some normal maintenance issues we have not had any major issues with this car. The car runs well and while it doesnt get 40 MPG the fuel economy is pretty good for a V8. The SRX has a great ride and is a sporty looking unit for a family wagon. We havent had any of the problems other posters have had. Must be the luck of the Irish. I also do my preventative maintenance (oil changes, inspections etc.).

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  An Underrated (V8) car that well miss - 2009 Cadillac STS
  By cadillacmike - December 29 - 12:35 am

  While the CTS is the darling sport sedan from Cadillac, the STS was a more refined car with more room, and power (with the NorthStar V8) and better egronomics with regard to the memory seat and wheel recall functions. We have both a CTS (2008 premium ed) and an STS (2009 Platinum ed), so can compare them both. We also had a 2005 CTS and two (still have 1) LT1 Fleetwood Broughams, so weve had a few Cadillacs in recent years Handling and performance are equal to or superior to the CTS, particularly with NorthStar & the wide 255mm 18" rear tires (CTS has 235mm front & rear) Interior room is better and the single glass sunroof is quieter. 15 speaker Bose system is very powerful and clear.

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  slightly disappointed - 2012 Cadillac CTS
  By connoisseur - December 27 - 10:02 am

  Ok, this is my third cadillac in succession and i have driven the DTS and STS for a while before i finally ended up with a CTS 2012. Style and Design are the best in class, which I must say is the biggest lure to buy a CTS. Performance is great, has good power and handles better in corners. I am surely disappointed with the drive comfort level, seats itself arent bad, something about the drivers position and may be the suspension. It gave me a neck ache after a couple hours drive. Love the pop up nav screen.

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  2nd CTS and probably not the last - 2008 Cadillac CTS
  By cadillacmike - December 21 - 11:15 am

  This is our 2nd CTS. the first was a Black 2005 with EVERY option except block heater (were in FL folks) and pearl paint. This one is the same, in light platinum (looks like the silver on my 2009 STS). It also has AWD. The 2005 went strongly to 117,000 miles when we traded it this one is up to 30,000. No major issues, but the ultraview sunroof is too noisey, somethings loose because i can push up on the divider and the noise goes away. Handling is superb, inside room is good (I also have a Fleetwood and like my room), performance is outstanding. Noise level will be great once the roof is fixed. Eye appeal is without par, wife gets compliments on the chrome wheels all the time.

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  Cadillac Forgot Comfort - 2012 Cadillac SRX
  By brucetaxes - December 20 - 4:12 pm

  I have had this SUV for 7 weeks and 3500 miles. The seats are VERY uncomfortable. The bolsters are too hard to the point that I have black and blue marks on the back of my thighs. The space between the bolsters is 11 1/2" but my rear end is 13 1/2" and I am not a large man. Maybe a larger person would have their own padding, but I dont. The seats are too hard. The back seat has no leg room and is also very hard. My biggest problem is with the head rest leaning to far forward. I can not sit straight in the seat. So I had to remove the head rest.

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  Fairly new yet but - 2012 Cadillac SRX
  By pierret - December 19 - 4:25 pm

  The car overall is A+ the seats could adjust up on the front side more. The road noise is very little there is some engine noise when getting on it but I kind of like that