13th Mar 2015, 10:54

It seems Cadillac can't win with some people. First they complain about them being outdated barges for the elderly, then when they update them with senseless sophistication similar to a German car - now people complain about them being too difficult and costly to work on.

14th Mar 2015, 13:01

I grew up with Cadlllacs. My parents bought them new since 1950. Those we knew for the decades following also did not do any of their own maintenance. You didn't see guys with these cars on jack stands, doing brake jobs and the like in their driveways. They went to the dealer and later a competent shop. The new cars were bought as a luxury car and you spent more than a new Buick for example, not to do oil changes and tune ups in the drive. Maybe it's a combination of prestige or accomplishment vs a luxury car purchase to skimp on labor costs involved.

The other comment was that even in the 60s, few really wanted a used a Cadillac. At least in our region. Even one that was only a couple years old appeared dated. The model years were easy to tell apart. Today it's hard to tell the age on some Cadillacs. My point is that if you can afford to buy one, you should not care about MPG, gas or even repairs. You drop it off. Otherwise an Impala sedan for example is more for one on a budget. I wouldn't either bother with cars like Cadillacs or a new Lincoln. So complexity isn't really an issue. If you pay the big new price, you play, not work on your back with oil and grease. In reality you should not have any issues if you sell or trade when the new car warranty is about to expire.

10th Sep 2015, 00:33

I'm sorry about your negative experience. Most cars, regardless of make, are not engineered for owner replacement of ANYTHING! I have had (so far) a great experience with my '09 SRX. We love it and are considering the next gen 2016, (or is it 17?). Didja ever change the oil on a BMW? F that! Or work on a Lexus? Impossible! A car dealer's profit is (about) 70% from garage work. The inevitability of the foreign car invasion forced engineering to produce dealer repairs, and not just American - Government Motors, and Ford, but also the foreign Italian Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep (the Italians were given the auto that defeated them in WWII, donated to the Italians by "The High One"). I love Cadillac, not impressed with Gov't Motors...

14th Sep 2015, 17:41

Funny, back in the 50s the hot rodders routinely pulled simplistic Cadillac motors out for their projects. Backyard or in driveways. It was the very hot engine of the day. Then modified with period performance parts. Our family scoured junkyards with pull your own parts. Sometimes it was a day trip visiting others as well. There was a lot of customizing chop, channel, nose, decked, frenched, scalloped etc. Not everyone when presented with a challenge shies away from drive trains past or even today. GM LS engines are a very common engine swap today in a variety of classic cars for example.

4th Jun 2016, 03:22

The engineers at Cadillac know their main job is to keep their dealers profitable. You cannot own a Cadillac more than 6 years old that will not throw a new service engine code every 3 months. Trust me, 90 percent of these repair codes are big money repairs. Stay away from older Caddy's. They will only drive you to the poor farm.

8th Jun 2016, 11:47

My GM is a Corvette Grand Sport. 10 1/2 quarts of oil and 2 drain plugs. My earlier C5 had to be the easiest car ever to change the oil. It was 6 quarts. Filter and drain plug straight lined up together. I like doing maintenance and upgrades on my cars. But this one is so complex as a 4LT that paying the $140 oil change and filter is the only way to go. About the only thing I do is pull the bottom passenger side fuse to change my dual mode exhaust from mild to wild full time. If you have a scanner, some issues are pretty simple. Others you drop it off.