Geigo Good; Cadillac Bad

Mike K

TCG Elite Member
Apr 11, 2008
13,214
2,586
A neighbor hit the Q5 last week. Just a passing glance as they were turning around. No big deal but it damaged the door pretty bad. It gave me an experience with Geico that kind of blew me away. Geico (their insurance) called me for the first time Wednesday to acknowledge the accident. They asked me a couple questions about the damage and then said their driver admitted guilt at which point they set me up for an appointment at a highly regarded body shop a few miles away from me about 30 minutes after our call ended. They said they'd have a rental waiting. That was a pleasant surprise.

I assumed it would be an econobox but when I pulled up there was a Cadillac XT5 waiting out front for me. Geico is under no obligation to provide me with a similar loaner to the car I drive so that was a nice touch. They had me in and out within 15 minutes and the owner of the shop, who ended up being a neighbor of mine and a classic car guy, said the car will be done tomorrow. So kudos to Geico. I've never had something go that seamlessly from start to finish. The XT5 was decidedly less impressive...

XT5

It's not that the XT5 is bad. In fact, it's easy on the eyes and the interior looks nice enough and actually feels nice too. It's not poorly designed. It's just that for any rational person to purchase this vehicle it would need to exist in a world where the Audi Q5 and the BMW X5 do not because compared to either of those it's just a hodgepodge of GM parts bin sadness.

First off, it's front wheel drive based which means it suffers from maddening torque steer which, really? That's still a thing in 2018? You can fix that by turning all wheel drive mode on which promptly reduces the gas mileage from barely passable to laughably bad. It's rated at 19/26. I put 300 miles on it today and managed 20mpg. A Maserati Levante gets 20mpg on the expressway. This is not a Maserati Levante.

I guess this wouldn't be so bad if it performed well or had a decently smooth powertrain. It doesn't and it isn't. Everything about the driving experience is yawn inducing. I can't imagine anyone cross shopping a Q5 against this and wanting this. I haven't driven the new Q5s but my 2014 is buttery smooth, has power where you need it and gets really good gas mileage for what it is. Generally about 26mpg on the expressway doing 70mph. I can only imagine the new Q5s are better.

Then there's the interior. Cadillac's CUE system isn't horrible but it's not good either. Some of the buttons on the screen are maybe a 1/2" square which makes them impossible to press on the first attempt. Apple CarPlay is the great equalizer with infotainment systems though and I found myself completely bypassing CUE.

Overall nothing about this felt luxurious. The driving dynamics were comically bad, the engine rough and loud, the interior nice though still far behind that of Audi or BMW and the price... $55,000 as equipped for mine. I just went on Audi's site and priced the top of the line Q5 with every option package ticked. That gets you adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist (low speed autopilot), adaptive LED headlights, the heavenly Bang & Olufsen Sound System, a 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds versus 6.6 for the Caddy, better gas mileage, Audi's virtual cockpit instrument cluster, color heads up display, much better build quality and it's cheaper by like $400.

Who's buying the XT5?
 

1quick

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jan 29, 2008
26,554
24,002
coal city
Glad gieco took care of you, they boned the shit out of me when I had them and smashed up my last mustang, it took 2 months to pay out only because I called several times a week and bitched at the adjuster, I was using a small shop that couldn’t afford to front the money for the job so I waited 3 months to get my car back, dropped them as soon as the work was done, only caddy I’d buy is the new v
 

CMNTMXR57

GM, Holden & Chrysler Mini-Van nut swinger
Sep 12, 2008
26,148
31,258
Elgin
The problem is, most people (the general automotive consumer), aren't overly concerned about such detail about a vehicle.

- They want a Cadillac
- They want certain features
- They want it at a certain price point
- They most will most likely lease it which means they're simply renting it for a couple years anyway, so they don't get too "IN" to the vehicle itself


What they aren't;
- They aren't concerned as much about driving dynamics or track worthiness
- They aren't as much concerned about quality of interior bits (as long as it's nice, it'll do)


It's an upscale vehicle, has the features they want, is an CUV, and they'll be on to the next vehicle in the next 3 years anyway.
 

Chet Donnelly

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Aug 19, 2004
18,368
38,807
The problem is, most people (the general automotive consumer), aren't overly concerned about such detail about a vehicle.

- They want a Cadillac
- They want certain features
- They want it at a certain price point
- They most will most likely lease it which means they're simply renting it for a couple years anyway, so they don't get too "IN" to the vehicle itself


What they aren't;
- They aren't concerned as much about driving dynamics or track worthiness
- They aren't as much concerned about quality of interior bits (as long as it's nice, it'll do)


It's an upscale vehicle, has the features they want, is an CUV, and they'll be on to the next vehicle in the next 3 years anyway.
Exactly this. Vehicle purchases are one of the most (if not THE most) subjective purchases people make.

This...and 90% of people probably could barely tell the difference in driving dynamics between a Porsche 911 GT3, a Camaro ZL1, a Ford Expedition, a Honda Ridgeline, and a Volvo V60.
 

CMNTMXR57

GM, Holden & Chrysler Mini-Van nut swinger
Sep 12, 2008
26,148
31,258
Elgin
Just looking at GM's Q3 2018 deliveries just recently released;

XT5 deliveries for the Quarter were 4,101, which is up 15.4% from 3,553 in Q3 2017.
XT5 deliveries for the Year to Date were 12,664, up 15.9% from 10,923 YTD in 2017.

My guess is attractive lease options and of course fleet sales, even though GM is trying to wean themselves off of that.
 

jason05gt

TCG Elite Member
Jan 17, 2007
15,307
7,195
Naperville
This...and 90% of people probably could barely tell the difference in driving dynamics between a Porsche 911 GT3, a Camaro ZL1, a Ford Expedition, a Honda Ridgeline, and a Volvo V60.

I'd take that bet any day of the week. Even my wife would be able to tell the difference between a GT3 and Volvo. While they might not be able to articulate the difference like us enthusiasts, it's pretty easy to feel which one accelerates faster and has firmer steering.
 

Mike K

TCG Elite Member
Apr 11, 2008
13,214
2,586
The problem is, most people (the general automotive consumer), aren't overly concerned about such detail about a vehicle.

- They want a Cadillac
- They want certain features
- They want it at a certain price point
- They most will most likely lease it which means they're simply renting it for a couple years anyway, so they don't get too "IN" to the vehicle itself


What they aren't;
- They aren't concerned as much about driving dynamics or track worthiness
- They aren't as much concerned about quality of interior bits (as long as it's nice, it'll do)


It's an upscale vehicle, has the features they want, is an CUV, and they'll be on to the next vehicle in the next 3 years anyway.

I'm not disputing that that's why people buy certain cars but I can't think of a single metric where this beats the Germans. The Germans tend to lease much better as well. It has no features the Germans don't have, it's more expensive and has less equipment, it has worse gas mileage, it doesn't feel nearly as premium inside and the list goes on. People have all sorts of different reasons for why they pick one car over another. Efficiency, interior quality, features, price point, value, etc. The XT5 beats the Germans on none of these metrics. You couldn't compare one of them where the XT5 would come out ahead. This has to be a case of the GM sedans where nobody actually buys them; they're just all sold as fleet vehicles.
 

bnr32

Regular
Nov 6, 2013
442
92
So you'd pay more money for an objectively inferior product just to support your brethren?

You asked who is buying an Xt5, and i told you who. I didn't say it was me, i'd never be in the market for a crossover I think they are useless.

But there is many people in the USA who only want USA Brand and made cars, and on top of that only want Union Built cars. Same reason you'll see most places buy 4 door F150s over Silverados, they don't want a Mexican made truck. Also the reason people that won't shop at Walmarts, won't patronized a business that uses Scab Labor, won't buy Oreo cookies, won't buy anything from hostess, i could keep going.

It has nothing to do with a Volkswagen being 400 dollars cheaper, people simply don't care about the brand or any of its models as they would rather buy American.
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
TCG Premium
May 24, 2007
122,148
87,662
Niche score of 2,363
You asked who is buying an Xt5, and i told you who. I didn't say it was me, i'd never be in the market for a crossover I think they are useless.

But there is many people in the USA who only want USA Brand and made cars, and on top of that only want Union Built cars. Same reason you'll see most places buy 4 door F150s over Silverados, they don't want a Mexican made truck. Also the reason people that won't shop at Walmarts, won't patronized a business that uses Scab Labor, won't buy Oreo cookies, won't buy anything from hostess, i could keep going.

It has nothing to do with a Volkswagen being 400 dollars cheaper, people simply don't care about the brand or any of its models as they would rather buy American.


so uh, you're just shootin' from the hip on this one then huh? :rofl:
 
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