Initial impressions of my 2009

[CADXLR-V]

Some had asked that I post my thoughts/comments about the car after I hade some time in the seat. Just put a little over 400 miles on the car and everything is great.

I had one minor issue that I was pretty concerned about that turned out to be no big deal. The day after I brought her home I got a "low coolant" warning on the DIC. I checked the coolant and it was low, but not totally gone so I took it down to my dealer. A tech took it inside and came out after about 5 minutes and told me it was fixed. He said that he knew what the problem was before he took it in, but wanted to check to be sure before he said anything. It seems that the hose clamp put on at the factory is one of those that you do not screw down, it's the one where you pinch the clamp to open it and when you release it the tention is supposed to make a tight seal and keep the hose on. The tech said that he had seen the problem a few times before. He suspects that some of the clamps get over stretched by the tools that are used to put them on and they lose some of their clamping power. Anyway, he put on a new clamp and the problem was solved.

I could write a list 2 pages long of all the things I like about the car so rather than typing a book I'll just mention some things that I would have liked to see different. Nothing major, just little "nit picky" stuff:

No outside temp gauge.
No compass in the mirror.
XM radio preset buttons do not indicate station name.
No integration between HUD and radio/nav system.
Would like to have another 2 or 3 inches of cockpit space for my long legs.

The bottom line is that the car is just awesome! My biggest problem now is that the wife likes it much more than her Lexus SC430 so we may just have to buy another XLR-V in a year or so.

 

[cubby558]

CADXLR-V,

The temp gauge is on your nav screen, as well as direction arrow on nav screen. Most of the other things are because they haven't changed most of those electronics since the '04 inception. Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

Being in the Chicago area; mine only sees spring, summer and fall. But I have enough other toys to play with besides the X so it doesn't bother me.
Hope you consider the trip to San Antonio in May--it will be a blast, lots of great people.

 

[CADXLR-V]

CADXLR-V,

The temp gauge is on your nav screen, as well as direction arrow on nav screen. Most of the other things are because they haven't changed most of those electronics since the '04 inception. Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

Being in the Chicago area; mine only sees spring, summer and fall. But I have enough other toys to play with besides the X so it doesn't bother me.
Hope you consider the trip to San Antonio in May--it will be a blast, lots of great people.

I knew about the direction arrow on the nav screen, but totally missed the outside temp on the screen. It has always amazed me how slow GM is when it comes to keeping their products updated with the latest technology. It's the same with my Vette... The C6 came out in 2005 so that means the radio/nav system was designed in probably 2003/2004. Consequently, we have 6+ year old equipment being installed in brand new cars. In technology years that's extremely significant. I understand the cost in trying to update the equipment every model year, but once or twice every decade is ridiculous.

 

[standby-V]

The radio also reads out on the nav screen as many other features do, but just for about 10 seconds. Change your radio station and watch the HUD. I have to agree with you on why the radio doesn't show the XM radio station. And what ever happened to the station "Chrome?"

CADXLR-V,

The temp gauge is on your nav screen, as well as direction arrow on nav screen. Most of the other things are because they haven't changed most of those electronics since the '04 inception. Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

Being in the Chicago area; mine only sees spring, summer and fall. But I have enough other toys to play with besides the X so it doesn't bother me.
Hope you consider the trip to San Antonio in May--it will be a blast, lots of great people.

 

[Jetboy]

The XM station indicators and the HUD in the C^ Vette were the two things I walwys wished they would move over the the XLR. Loved that G meter in the HUD

 

[standby-V]

I hate you............wish I would have gotten red when I ordered my 06-V in January of 05 while driving a platinum 04. Actually I ordered it red but changed my mind when the day came to put the order into the factory.

Some had asked that I post my thoughts/comments about the car after I hade some time in the seat. Just put a little over 400 miles on the car and everything is great.

I had one minor issue that I was pretty concerned about that turned out to be no big deal. The day after I brought her home I got a "low coolant" warning on the DIC. I checked the coolant and it was low, but not totally gone so I took it down to my dealer. A tech took it inside and came out after about 5 minutes and told me it was fixed. He said that he knew what the problem was before he took it in, but wanted to check to be sure before he said anything. It seems that the hose clamp put on at the factory is one of those that you do not screw down, it's the one where you pinch the clamp to open it and when you release it the tention is supposed to make a tight seal and keep the hose on. The tech said that he had seen the problem a few times before. He suspects that some of the clamps get over stretched by the tools that are used to put them on and they lose some of their clamping power. Anyway, he put on a new clamp and the problem was solved.

I could write a list 2 pages long of all the things I like about the car so rather than typing a book I'll just mention some things that I would have liked to see different. Nothing major, just little "nit picky" stuff:

No outside temp gauge.
No compass in the mirror.
XM radio preset buttons do not indicate station name.
No integration between HUD and radio/nav system.
Would like to have another 2 or 3 inches of cockpit space for my long legs.

The bottom line is that the car is just awesome! My biggest problem now is that the wife likes it much more than her Lexus SC430 so we may just have to buy another XLR-V in a year or so.