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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  worst car ever and service - 2006 Cadillac DTS
  By oscar - January 9 - 10:35 pm

  worst car ever, Iv had my car for 2 years.12 times back in dealer for all kinds of electrical problems, transmission, drive train, suspension was out at 30000 miles and dealership manager said that everything is normal, same was with transmission at 5K miles car was jerking ,the gear change was wery rough, and again I was told by the service manager ,everything is normal, it took 6 trips to the dealer and and 40K miles later to make the dealer look at the problem again and finally figure it out.My advice for potential cadilac DTS buyer: If you are planning to buy the car for driving ,not sitting in a garage, please buy different car , Youll save yourself a lot of nerves,honestly!!!!

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  Worst Car I Ever Owned - 1998 Cadillac Catera
  By Dale Allen - January 6 - 9:44 pm

  Never have I owned such a terrible car! I had endless electrical and mechanical problems. There was something constantly wrong. GM should be ashamed for making such a piece of junk. I havent bought another GM product since this experience,nor will I ever again buy one. Anyone who buys this vehicle is asking for BIG HEADACHES and in all probability LOTS OF REPAIR BILLS!

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  Disappointing STS-V - 2006 Cadillac STS
  By Disapp STS-V - December 30 - 12:35 pm

  I have had 4 major failures repairs to date. Purchased in July 06. 1. Front end rack and pinion failure- two occurences 2. Wheel bearings in both front and back 3. Park gear sensor in transmission replaced-computer does not recognize that car is in park. 4. Im afraid #3 has caused a problem with the transmission as the car does not have any "impulse" power when put in drive. 5. Overall very disappointing automobile so far. I would definitely not recommend purchasing. I certainly will not make this mistake again. BMW and Lexus much better for the money. I have owned both. Tried to go with American car maker this time around. Extremely disappointed. Good Luck.

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  Well there you go ! - 2008 Cadillac SRX
  By Nigel - December 10 - 4:45 pm

  I thought Id do it ... delve into the American car market .. and I have to say ... what a mistake I made. You pay for what you get and this vehicle I suppose sums that up. Nice on the outside and inside I suppose but the drive and the handling .. appalling. Why is it American cars only drive well on a straight flat roads? Here in Europe we have no such thing and cant you tell with this car. Had an X5 and a Range Rover Sport before .. and now I know why. Nevermind .. it does look nice on the drive .. but thats about it. When will Americans ever build .. a decent car? I love to think they will one day. Well I have to go for a wallow down to the local supermarket now.

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  BUYER BEWARE - 2008 Cadillac Escalade
  By Concourse - November 1 - 12:23 am

  Transmission went bad with 2000 miles on it.After 5 attempts to have it fixed they finally found the problem. It is an engineering flaw that GM said do not repair,there is no repair and it is on all 07 & 08 models. Im crushed I paid $68k and no fix for Cadillacs engineering flaw, I asked them how much on trade they said $48k so a $20k loss on a problem that GM knows about and will not repair and will not warn potential buyers, how low can you go? Learn thru my mistake on trusting Cadiilac, and ask about this engineering flaw, the service dept. knows about it they have documents in their file that they can show you but you cant make a copy of it.

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  DONT BUY THIS CAR! - 1998 Cadillac Catera
  By Maze - October 5 - 5:24 pm

  When I got this car, it had 144,000 miles on it. A few hundred miles later, I had to replace the alternator. Not long after that, I had to replace my alternator again! The car had sever electrical problems. It also had problems with the transmission. In fact, my transmission went bad while I was driving the car this caused the wheels to lock up and the brakes to become unresponsive. To make the long story short, the vehicle could not be controlled, and I ran into a tree. I spent 2 days in the hospital because of this PIECE of CRAP! I suggest that you not even think about buy this CAR! It would be a painful mistake.

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  Never Again - 2007 Cadillac DTS
  By Never Again - August 31 - 7:51 pm

  How GM can continue to produce garbage like this and still stay in business eludes me. This is the second new Cadillac Ive owned, my 04Deville was a total lemon and I thought it was an anomaly, unfortunately it wasnt, my 07 is an even bigger lemon! I dont know where to start, the car breaks down almost constantly, everything from electrical to drivetrain, even the heated seats broke. The front wheel drive system, axils, seals and transmission are a mess. The car spends more time in the shop than in my garage. If I was to give a complete list of everything thats been repaired on this car it would take an hour to read. About all this car does is look good standing still.

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  Dont buy for looks, Has big problems - 2008 Cadillac Escalade
  By jason - July 14 - 4:52 pm

  Mechanically this car is junk. It is a new engine transmission combo for GM and they definitely didnt nail this one. Maybe in a few years they can make it better. I have had both engine and transmission problems with it and it only has about 12000 miles. JD Powers has rated it a 2 star for mechanical quality and that is very generous of them. All the good reviews are just for 1st drives and the looks after you have it a little while you will see the poor quality of this vehicle! And this is coming from a GM man that has always liked and bought GM!

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  Not Worth The Money - 2007 Cadillac SRX
  By Brighton - June 18 - 8:20 am

  The V8 engine works well on flat straight roads. With the mountain driving I do, the 6 speed is geared too high and it continously losses powers and shifts, even in the S mode. In a 25 mile stretch of mountain driving the engine shifted 40 times in regular drive and 33 times in the "s" mode. Very dissappointed in the performance of this car. The back up warning is useless, the is only a audio warning when you are within 12 to 18 inches of an object and only if your reverse speed is 3 to 5 mph. Otherwise you are required to look about the back window for lights to determine if there is something behind you.

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  XTS Lost in translation - 2016 Cadillac XTS
  By Go pro Million Miler - May 18 - 6:11 am

  So, rented this Caddy over thanksgiving weekend (no other cars available on elite aisle). Car rental treated like it was a Bentley, its not. Ok, good looks, nice interior. It ends there. This unit had 416 miles upon pickup, I put 2000 additional miles on it. Fuel mpg 23 or better, engine performance, not. The engine was disconnected as was transmission,when forced to work it would, multiple times non responsive at worst times, stutter, no response dangerous. CUE IS A NIGHTMARE! All technology in this car is a nightmare. even power seats are stupid, memory settings require you to hold the button until preferences are restored. Example, you have a seat exit programed, it runs, now you want the seat and etall back to your programmed settings, hold the #1 button for 30 seconds. HORRID. Interior nice finishes, no storage, no outlets, stupid powered dash panel to hide a 90s flip phone with an inaccessible USB jack. WOW. Im gonna stop here this car sucks.