Greetings From Cape Cod, MA

[Bud Griffin]

Hi All,

Just a brief (relatively brief?) intro about myself and my '04 XLR. Have owned it for a little less than one month now and am really enjoying it. Its black on black with a little over 78K miles on it.

So far I had my friendly XLR-Certified Caddy Tech repair the top mechanism so that it works reliably. And I replaced its tires with a new set of Pirelli's, because the tires that came on the car were starting to crack and split from lack of use.

I've just installed an underhood battery charger in it so that during the winter when the snow gets too high for driving it I'll be able to keep the battery from going flat.

Actually, I should say that the installation is almost complete. I still can't figure out where to put an exterior receptacle to plug in the electric from the garage electric supply. Am currently just pooping the hood and plugging the charger feed to the extension cord from the garage. (To keep the underhood light from draining the battery while the hood is open, I disconnected the plug feeding the power to the light.)
(Originally thought I might mount the exterior receptacle on one of the [plastic} inset panels on either side of the lower grill. But access is impossible without removal/dis-assembly of the front bumper/fascia. And I can't figure out a way to do that.)

Any suggestions as to where and how to put an exterior receptacle/plug for the charger power supply will be greatly appreciated. (HELP)

BTW: I noticed when searching for a place to mount the charger plug/receptacle that the front bumper fascia is so thin that when I view it in a strong light from inside the hood I can see my hand -placed on the outside of the bumper - through the fascia. Surprised that the fascia/paint was that thin. But I guess it has to be for the front-facing radar to penetrate it.

Thanks for "listening".

Bud

 

[Rob]

Welcome to the XLR Net Bud!

-Rob

 

[Bud Griffin]

Thank you

Welcome to the XLR Net Bud!

-Rob

Thank you, Rob.
I'm already reaping the benefits of joining: discovering all of the many helpful hints etc about my XLR.
Bud

 

[V Happy]

Bud
Putting an external plug to charge the battery is a GOOD idea for these cars. I ordered a exstention cable from Summit racing. I then hooked it up to the battery and had it come out near the passengers windshield wiper. It is fiused and comes with a weather proof stored cover. It has been on my car now for over five years and no one has noticed it where it is. That way if you can't get in the car or under the hood you can just plug it in and charge!!!
Welcome
V Happy

 

[nerkpowers]

Bud, welcome to XLR-net. You chose an excellent color combination. Black on black is faster than any other color combo. I hope you enjoy the new ride.
Tim


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bud Griffin]

Thank you.

Bud
Putting an external plug to charge the battery is a GOOD idea for these cars. I ordered a exstention cable from Summit racing. I then hooked it up to the battery and had it come out near the passengers windshield wiper. It is fiused and comes with a weather proof stored cover. It has been on my car now for over five years and no one has noticed it where it is. That way if you can't get in the car or under the hood you can just plug it in and charge!!!
Welcome
V Happy

Thank you, V Happy. A great tip.
From what I am learning from the answers I've gotten so far, a lot of XLR owners have done this. So apparently this is the best way to accomplish what I am attempting to do.
Bud

 

[rexster314]

Howdy from southeast Texas from one newb to another. Got our XLR October 3rd

 

[Bud Griffin]

Greetings

Howdy from southeast Texas from one newb to another. Got our XLR October 3rd

And a Big Hello to You.
Your XLR looks good. Best of luck with it. Love the color.
I hope to be posting one or two pix of mine sometime within the next week.
Bud

 

[Bud Griffin]

Black on Black, eh???

Bud, welcome to XLR-net. You chose an excellent color combination. Black on black is faster than any other color combo. I hope you enjoy the new ride.
Tim


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the good wishes. I think that you are correct about the color vs speed. But I will be check that out to confirm it.

My wife has already told me that she worries that I may just kill myself if mine is only half as fast as the '06 XLR-V that I almost bought before I decided on this one. But as I explained to her, that V had been specially-built by Caddy for one of their high-performance parts suppliers, and thus wasn't anything like a stock production XLR-V. And even remotely close in performance and handling to a stock XLR like the one I bought.
Parenthetically, that '06 V was the fastest and best-handling US "production" car I've ever driven. And handled better than an Elva that I once upon a time drove on the track, too.

Actually - glad I didn't buy it, because I just might have killed myself the time the first time I would have driven it after purchasing it!
(BTW: My wife rode with me when I test-drove the '06 V the first time, and she was badly frightened when I hit on the go pedal - and it didn't stop burning rubber until I eased off the pedal at around 100 mph - that she refused to get in the car when I test-drove it the second time.)

Enough is enough, eh? So I'll end this long reply.

Anyway, love the color of your car. "A Touch of Class", eh.

Bud

 

[Bud Griffin]

Two Pix of My '04 XLR

Here are two pix of my '04 XLR. Hope they show up OK.
Bud

 

[lextoy]

the lower grill i think you are talking about isnt actually painted. its sort of like tinted plastic, reminds me alot of a dark pair of sunglasses. its transparent for the radar...like you said.

 

[Phil105]

NICE. Love the locations for your photos!!

Here are two pix of my '04 XLR. Hope they show up OK.
Bud

 

[Bud Griffin]

the lower grill i think you are talking about isnt actually painted. its sort of like tinted plastic, reminds me alot of a dark pair of sunglasses. its transparent for the radar...like you said.

After re-examining it, I agree. I should have looked more closely. Thank you.
Bud

 

[Bud Griffin]

Two Pix of my '04 XLR

NICE. Love the locations for your photos!!

A couple of places here on The Cape that my XLR and I frequent.
Thank you.
Bud

 

[Crimson Pearl]

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new acquisition!

Like the rest of us here, you'll LOVE it.

Good information available here.

Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[GizmoQ]

My wife has already told me that she worries that I may just kill myself if mine is only half as fast as the '06 XLR-V that I almost bought before I decided on this one. But as I explained to her, that V had been specially-built by Caddy for one of their high-performance parts suppliers, and thus wasn't anything like a stock production XLR-V. And even remotely close in performance and handling to a stock XLR like the one I bought.
Parenthetically, that '06 V was the fastest and best-handling US "production" car I've ever driven. And handled better than an Elva that I once upon a time drove on the track, too.

Actually - glad I didn't buy it, because I just might have killed myself the time the first time I would have driven it after purchasing it!
(BTW: My wife rode with me when I test-drove the '06 V the first time, and she was badly frightened when I hit on the go pedal - and it didn't stop burning rubber until I eased off the pedal at around 100 mph - that she refused to get in the car when I test-drove it the second time.)

Probably need to start a new thread for this topic, but I'd love to know more about that 06 V.

Where it is? Who owns it? Specs? History?

 

[Bud Griffin]

"The XLR-V"

Probably need to start a new thread for this topic, but I'd love to know more about that 06 V.

Where it is? Who owns it? Specs? History?

Sorry, the program just ate my first attempt at a reply to you. To recap:
The XLR was for sale at a Caddy dealership here in Mass over two months ago. (BTW: I am certain that they no longer have it.) Wish I'd known then about XLR Net. I would have let the others here know about it when I passed on buying it.
I saw the XLr-V advertised in a newspaper and called about it. They were asking $36,000 for it. (OOPS - CORRECTION: They were asking $36,900.) My wife and I went to see it.
When I arrived to look at it, the first thing that the salesman did was to hand me the keys and tell me to "try to keep it under 100mph". I though he was kidding. (I found out, hew wasn't.)
Looked like brand new. I couldn't find any imperfections: interior or exterior. The only visible change to the car that I noticed was that the center [brake light] panel at the rear was replaced by a blank panel matching the black body paint.
When my wife and I got back to the dealership, I sat down with the salesman and he told me the story of the car. According to the salesman's story the car was built on the normal XLR(-V) assembly line, but from parts hand-picked by the first owner.
And then the salesman phoned the second owner and let me talk with him. (Sorry, I can't remember his name.) But like the first owner, he also owned a company that supplied high-performance parts to GM for 'Vettes.
He told me about all of the modifications he had done to the car during his ownership: almost all were subtle but very effective ones - including such things as modifying the stock rear wheels/rims so that they gave a wider stance to the rear (the modified rims could then use wider tires for more traction/better handling), new brake calipers that, at least to my untrained eye, looked stock until you looked very closely at them, etc., etc.. The second owner traded it to the dealership for a new Caddy. This makes 8 Caddies he currently owns, he told me! Says he "likes Caddies". Apparently so!
Every once in a while I regret not buying the car. But, of course, if I had I probably wouldn't be here to write this mail.
As I told the salesman when I left after my second test drive of the car that day, I expect that I will always compare every other XLR I ever see and/or own to [that] XLR-V. And so far, that has been true.
Don't know what happened to it except that it was sold by the dealership. The last I knew of it, the last newspaper ad from the dealership (well over a month ago) had the asking price reduced to $35,900 - which was what I offered them - and what they refused. And then the car disappeared from their inventory list. By the time they had reduced the asking price, I was already in negotiations for the XLR I now own. So it was too late for me.
Bud
(ADDITIONALLY: I rationalize my not buying the V by saying that with the money I "saved", I had the old driveway ripped out, had a new one installed, spent a couple thousand on some other "non-essential things", and still had a dollar or two left for "splurging".)

 

[Bud Griffin]

Thank yhou for yhour welcome

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new acquisition!

Like the rest of us here, you'll LOVE it.

Good information available here.

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Hi,
And thank you for your welcome. Are you sure your car's name isn't Sylvia? She sure is good-looking!
Bud

 

[Bud Griffin]

Thank you for your welcome

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you.
I am already learning much about my "new" '04 XLR.
Bud

 

[Army Al]

(ADDITIONALLY: I rationalize my not buying the V by saying that with the money I "saved", I had the old driveway ripped out, had a new one installed, spent a couple thousand on some other "non-essential things", and still had a dollar or two left for "splurging".)[/QUOTE]

How many miles on the V model that gave you the extra spending money?