CADILLAC PRICES ARE FALLING

[daniel812]

I recently looked up the value for my 98 SLS and was amazed how a car with so many options and a great drivetrain is basically worthless. How can this car only sell for about $4,500?? There is NO car that comes to mind that can replace my Caddy for the same money. So I checked newer Seville models 98-04 and I really stunned at how cheap they are for the amount of car you get for your money. Have the prices of these cars dropped because of the high fuel costs??

[JimD]

Fuel costs are a major factor. And fuel costs are not going to reverse direction in my lifetime. You and I (and a lot of other folks) are driving 8 cylinder dinosaurs.

Driving a 10+ year old, high mileage (173,xxx in my case) dinosaur has one redeeming feature; 90+% of the value has been amortized. The daily out-of-pocket cost to you from this point forward would be only fuel plus repairs. We are beyond the depreciation curve.

[Texas Jim]

Daniel812,

I think a large part of it is due to the gas prices.

I hate to see the prices of Cadillacs come down so much. That means that our cars are worth less on the market almost daily. But you only lose REAL money if you actually SELL. As long as you keep it and drive it... it is all just on paper.

I think that PUBLIC PERCEPTION is a large percentage of the problem.

They know NOTHING about Cadillacs and don't WANT to know any REAL facts.

They already KNOW all they think they NEED to know about Cadillacs.

CADILLACS ARE HUGE GAS GUZZLERS.

The average guy on the street, just KNOWS that Cadillacs get HORRIBLE gas mileage.

ipso facto... they wouldn't even LOOK at one on a car lot... much less even THINK about actually BUYING one.

So... if there are no lookers at a car at a certain price... the only thing a car dealer can do to try to move it, is to lower the price.

Actually my car and most of the Cadillacs on this board, only get a few MPG LESS than the so called ECONOMY cars.

When I think of what I would have to GIVE UP to get a tiny bit better mileage... FORGET ABOUT IT.

My prediction...

In the next year ... there are going to be some completely insane fantastic deals on almost new Cadillacs and large V8 pickups.

Back in '74 when we had the other gas crises... my Dad had a '68 Chrysler New Yorker. My stepmother was on him CONSTANTLY to SELL the GAS GUZZLER. It was a beautiful car. Had almost no miles on it. He went around to a bunch of dealers trying to sell it. He was getting lowballed. I told him to get the best price he could... and I would give him $100 more. Kinda joking with him.

A few days later, he came to my house and said I could have it for $800.00. The best offer he had got was $700.00 I bought it and drove it for about three years and 60,000 miles and then sold it for $800.00.

EDIT: He went and bought a little Suburu. It got about 25 MPG. The Chrysler would get close to 20. With what it cost him to buy the little car, and what he lost on selling the Chrysler.... he could have bought a BUNCH of gas and not have lost ANYTHING.

[BodybyFisher]

Funny you say this, over the last week I have been asked a bunch of times, how do I like a big car now.... Just last night, I said, well, I just drove 125 miles at an average speed of 60.7 miles per hour and got 24.5 miles per gallon. What most people don't understand is that its only a 281 cu in engine with 32 valves with high compression.

[JimD]

Happy B'day, Mike.....

[BodybyFisher]

Happy B'day, Mike.....

Hey thanks Jim!

[lothos]

If prices keep falling I might pick up an Eldorado

[TDK]

So my brother from Chicago says how fast do you want to drive to Las Vegas, (about 530-miles from Winnemucca). He says he drives in CHICAGO and all, so he's used to expressway traffic, yada, yada.

So we drive...

I lead in our '94 Deville Councours and he follows in his Plymouth Voyager. A few hours later at the one gas stop I had planned, he is exasperated. His two kids with us are happy campers and unaware of the velocity. He was nearly empty and I am over 1/4 tank. His wife is cranky and his kids are nervous because dad is "pedaling fast" so to speak. A mere 90+ in areas sustained for time with triples at times to pass in moments.

So the Caddy gets 23-24 mpg at 82 average and his 6-cyl Voyager is struggling to keep up and getting perhaps 16-18 mpg.

HELLO...its the technology!

Let the "unwashed heathens", discard perfectly good technology for pedal cars, while they econimically drive to stores to buy silk sheets, big screen TV's and organic whatever.

It is the journey as much as the destination.

Yes, there were Margaritas involved in this prose...

[Logan]

Vodka for us....

I think the Caddiacs do pretty good.

Just got back from a beach trip in Florida. With some city traffic gettting to the highway (I-65).

Gas was $3.85-$3.99.

Trip average was 24.6 mpg. 440 mile trip. 100 miles were secondary roads, with 'no reason' stop lights etc getting to I-65.

Not bad, car had 4 people, trunk was packed. Car was hunked down. No more room..

Being a GM employee. Been looking at some new GM cars.

Pontiac G6. 30 mpg. So I would of saved maybe $12 doing the same trip in a G6? Plus less room..

I think I'll keep the Cadillac.

[Texas Jim]

Pontiac G6. 30 mpg. So I would of saved maybe $12 doing the same trip in a G6? Plus less room..

I think I'll keep the Cadillac.

My feelings exactly.

For ten bucks or so every 400 miles, taking into consideration what you have to GIVE UP, including comfort, smoothness, room, and various amenities, it just isn't worth it.

And thats "NOT" taking into consideration the cost of the new car. Which is a good chunk of money.

Per TDK's example, "IF" you drive the little econoboxes FAST, like some of us do... they will actually get WORSE mileage than the Cadillacs.

I too will keep my Cadillac.

[Ed Hall]

Regarding econoboxes and perception, I rented an econobox Ford Focus several weeks ago and drove on both freeway and city and only averaged 20.1 mpg. I know that I could have got the same or better fuel economy with my 82 diesel Suburban and probably not too much worse with my Cadillac. If anybody is wondering, the 6.2 diesel that Chevy came out in 82 gets the best fuel economy of any diesel of this size out there. After 82, fuel prices fell so they modified the engine to make more power but fuel economy also plunged. I routinely get upper 20's and often 30 mpg if I'm easy on it. That's pretty impressive for a big non-aerodynamic 3 ton hulk going down the road. Everybody perceives that this thing is a major gas guzzler but in reality, it does better than most of the cars out there that are half the weight.

[steve6]

Their known issues and high prices to fix are another great reason... head gaskets, TCC solenoids, seat heaters, crankshaft sensors, 65mph wobble - people avoid them like its the plague.

and fuel prices dont help.

[Patrick7997]

I concur with steve6....

Every single prospective buyer who looked at the Eldorado I recently sold asked about the head gasket....

People love the car, but are terrified of getting a maintenance nightmare....

[daniel812]

about 6 months ago I was considering my Caddy SLS, but realized it was only worth $5 grand at that time. I was looking at what I could replace it with and came up with nothing. Leather seats? Heated Seats? Bose cassette/cd? power seats? dual-zone digital climate control? rain-sensing wipers? Dual front and side airbags? ABS & Traction control? V8 power? Even half of these options were not available.

I get 15 MPG City/ and 26 MPG Hwy. If I drive a little slower those numers go up slightly.

All I was able to find were cars with higher mileage than I have and less options and overall just not as nice.

Yes, my car is 10 years old, but I only 60k miles. If something breaks, I will fix it. I love my caddy and have no intention of selling it.

I do plan on buying a newer Caddy in 2-3 years and I am already thanking the first owner for taking the depreciation hit instead of me.

[tjtjwdad]

Belated Happy Birthday Mike.

I haved a 01 STS and I drive (most of the time) around 65 MPH. I'm averaging 26 MPG and the avg speed is 60 MPH. NOTE: that avg MPH rwally drops when you're at a stop light. All these non-believers have a hard time realizing a V8 can do that.

As the GURU once said; "a little less MPG is a lot-cheaper than "a" night in the ICU.

Jim

[smadb5]

I purchased my 98 SLS about a week ago. It is perfect leather is immaculate, and only 40,000 orginal miles! holla! and i paid 4,500. It has all the features and some beautiful chrome rims from the factory and people keep asking me about it and they are amazed when i tell them i only paid 4,500. I did all kinds of research on them prior to buying them and theres many reasons the prices have fallen so much. Gas is one of them even though as we know the sls can run off of regular and actually gets better gas mileage than alot of cars we would never think possible, (like my sisters 6 cylinder mustang convertible, that she paid like 20 for....owned.) Plus the sls is a mass produced car and its in alot of peoples eyes a pimped out old aurora and since its a cadillac and 10 years old and has a million features theres a million possibilities for something to go wrong and then ur gonna have to shell out some serious clams to the caddy dealership or find out a way to fix it on your own. The way i see it is i love my caddy, ill never sell it and its everything id want it a car, its fast, its gorgeous, comfortable, great factory bose sound system and all of that for 4,500 bux to not buy one of these old caddys over todays hideous cars is insane to me. THeres not a car they make today thats not over like 35,000 that i even find attractive.

[Texas Jim]

I tend to put a lot of miles on a car.

My 2006 DTS that I bought new for my Christmas Present, in 2007, already has almost 38,000 miles on it. Thats in a year and a half of ownership.

It will have close to 100,000 in another 2.5 years. By next spring it will probably have close to 50,000 on it and I will have to buy the GMPP warranty. There are too many computers and too much electronics in it to be without a warranty.

We take driving vacations. Just drive around the country and look at things.

I will be retiring in December 2010 (I hope) and plan on (depending on gas prices and our health) doing more trips.

That means that the 2011 models will be out.

There will always be enough people with MONEY, (that leaves ME out ) that will be buying the new ones and trading every year or two and don't drive them much.

At that time I will be looking for an almost new CERTIFIED 2010 or maybe an Ultra Low Mileage CERTIFIED 2009.

Will not be buying another new one and taking the tremendous hit on depreciation. I will let someone ELSE take THAT hit.

If gas stays high, that means that the used ones will be a bargain. Just like now. If gas prices come back down and the used prices start back UP, I might trade even sooner.

At least that is the plan for now.

EDIT: Another possibility is a FULL SIZE BIG V8 pickup.

My son has a 2007 GMC Sierra Denali. Four door / Crew Cab

The interior is almost identical to my 2006 DTS.

Same BOSE radio and NAV system.

Same heated and AC seats.

Same controls on the drivers armrests.

6.2L and 403 HP... and that was BEFORE using the Preditor Programmer to tune it.

His last trip... (he does not drive quite as fast as I do) he averaged around 20MPG.

It rides real nice and runs STOUT. It is quicker than my DTS Performance Sedan.