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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  Lemonade - 1994 Cadillac Seville
  By Wayne Cox - October 23 - 2:00 am

  After 1 year of ownership, the transmission went twice, the air compressor went, the paint is faded on the roof,hood,and trunk lid,the engine leaks oil and ruined my driveway. The interior is coming apart. The seat has split,I had the console recovered, the headliner wrinkled and I had that repaired,now th door panels are coming apart and they need to be repaired. When I contacted the Cadillac factory rep. he told me to bad its a used car. I will never purchase a General Motors product ever again.

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  Who Did This? - 2002 Cadillac Deville
  By El Rey - October 12 - 2:00 am

  The goofy sun visor was designed by Rube Goldberg. The emergency brake pedal coundnt be in a more wrong location. The seats are narrow - and Im not fat. Assuming that the seat control are operating properly, they are absolutely nonsensical: returning the seat to the operating position from the exit position as soon as the door is locked. The air conditioning is noisy to the point of interferring with normal conversation. The cooling system was delivered to me with inadequate coolant. Now, after 3000 miles, the "coolant level low" light came on. (I added coolant immediately). Its got a leak somewhere. This car is poorly thought through.

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  DONT BUY IT!! - 2000 Cadillac Catera
  By MLB - October 10 - 2:00 am

  Not a reliable car. Resale is horrible. Ive been told by the mechanics at the dealership that its impossible to fix a Catera because its a foreign car. NOT A GM!

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  GM/Cadillac Junk! - 2000 Cadillac Escalade
  By bill doobie - October 8 - 2:00 am

  Most un-dependable vehicle made. OnStar problems required 6 service visits as the system keep killing the battery. Front end cant be aligned right. Water leaks required 3 svc. visitsBraking system sucks! Cadillac service and Detroit Customer Service is useless. This owner will never buy a GM vehicle again.

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  GM Quality? - 2003 Cadillac Deville
  By Rudy Moon - September 30 - 2:00 am

  Ive had my 2000 DeVille for 2 1/2 years, and its a fine car when it is not in for repairs. Unfortunately, it spends too much time in the shop, mostly for problems related to initial construction and component failure - not dealer service & support. Ive been stranded twice ... ONSTAR doesnt work when you have electrical problems .... but its fun riding 100 miles in a tow truck with a "good ol boy". Im not sure I can afford this car after the warranty runs out.

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  Dont buy one new or used - 2000 Cadillac Catera
  By ech - September 11 - 2:00 am

  Have had nothing but problems since Nov98 when I purchased it. In the shop appox 30x you name it has broken GM gave me an extened warranty 75000 or 60 months to make up but. I wanted to trade it in after a year and a half but this thing was worth 1/3 of purchase price due to problems with them. Dealer I bought from didnt want it. I will never buy a Cadillac again.

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  buy junk--- by american - 1999 Cadillac Deville
  By r kitchen - September 10 - 2:00 am

  lemon from the beginning. Poor quality in assembly, poor dealer support, in fact dealer support borders on legal theft. attitude of customer NO service deplorable. Very uncomfortable for extended trips

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  Not Happy with this Car - 1999 Cadillac Escalade
  By ironhorse - August 7 - 2:00 am

  Car has basically new tires on it. I have spent the last 3 Fridays either at the dealership or tire shop trying to figure out why the car wobbles at 65-72 mph and 30 mpn. They are going to try another set. The windows creak still and the rear end still shudders on take off.Its an ok SUV but I am ready to trade it back in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2nd owner blues - 1996 Cadillac Seville
  By ron Stecker - August 1 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car used in 98 with 35k miles now ahve 72k. Car looks great run good but had to replace struts at 65k miles. Cost $3k, yes $3000 also had the battery go bad and the dealership charged us $100 to read the computer...our fault we dont deal with them anymore. The car also depreciates more than average

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  Never again - 1997 Cadillac Eldorado
  By buffy - July 17 - 2:00 am

  Beautiful car ,sporty car and full of speed, but things happen to it and there is no explaination. The problems are evidently fixed with just luck. The service personnel work digilently and it is apparently a lot of experietmenting to solve the numerous problems. The first problem was a whinning sound from the front of the vehicle. The second problem was the car dies at any speed it was fixed after 2 months but the problem has returned. The car has had a cracked head and the steering broke on a trip.