Should I...or Not?

[Joeinbcs]

Howdy all,
Joe from College Station, TX.
Long time car guy with three older Cadillac's ('68 Eldorado, '70 Eldorado & '76 Eldorado Convertible).
Been considering an XLRV for some time now.
I did a search for buying guides and didn't come up with a lot...Except that its best to look at '06 and newer...not an issue with the V. Are all V years essentially the same?
I'm drawn to the '06-'08 just because I'm not really a fan of the chrome detailing on the front fender of '09's.
Is there anyplace to look for a comprehensive guide on what to look for?
I've looked a few cars...some seem rarely to have visited the Dealer, and some which seem to have a dedicated spot there...with a scary amount of warranty work.
Just looking for any guidance...And, in a more general sense...I always look for very low mileage cars, but have read some opposing views here in my limited searching around the site.
Would be interested in any experience or recommendations.
Thanks, Joe

 

[Rob]

Welcome to the XLR Net!

 

[rexster314]

Hi! Raised in Bryan, lived in CS until I moved away in 73. Lived on Milner St two blocks off Hwy 6.
Do your due diligence. CarFax is good place to start, in fact that's how I found our 06.
Be aware that there's some important body pieces that are no longer being made and are out of stock EVERYWHERE. Headlights are practically non-existent.
Not trying to scare you away, these cars are almost as much fun as sex. People are always looking at ours, and lots of them will start talking to you about the car.
When this car was made it was like a test bed of styling and electronics.
I had a choice of a V or base model, and knew that if we got a V, it would only get me in trouble, so we went with the base model. Believe me there's plenty of power in a base model.
Get a good extended warranty upon purchase. Lots of guys don't but I did, and had to replace a leaking radiator within a month of purchase.
Pick out a good one and enjoy! Lots of good folks here and more information than you can handle

 

[Rule62]

Rexster is absolutely correct. Finding a one owner vehicle with verified CARFAX and service history is a plus. It took me two years of serious searching before I found the perfect V. The one thing I would add is budget in a good warranty. I purchased my '06 V from a Lexus dealership and negotiated a 5/50 $0 deductible warranty. In the two years and 3 months I've owned it the warranty has paid for almost $12,500 in repairs! I'm so grateful I bought it.


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[onalaska]

Welcome Joe, an XLR would make a good addition to your complement of Caddies. As you probably have already found out the XLR has a lot of technology built in and is a lot more complex than older cars. It does help if you have some troubleshooting skills and don't mind getting your hands into the inner workings of the car. Owning a Tech2 for diagnostics is a good idea also.

I do agree that a warranty is a good idea and make sure it covers the top as that is a source of potential problems. I had several warranty repairs done to my XLR soon after I purchased it and was glad it was covered. By the way my XLR had a long list of warranty repairs made by the dealer before I purchased it, but that didn't really bother me as I figured those were things I wouldn't have to deal with again. The warranty has since expired and so far I haven't had any more problems that I couldn't handle myself. Good luck on your search for your XLR and don't hesitate to ask questions on the forum, there is a tremendous amount of experience and expertise among our members.

 

[XLRATING]

This question comes up so much I really wish the forum had a "sticky" for it ...

All of the above folks are giving you good advice. Onalaska makes a real good point about the long list of repairs on his car before he got it - don't let that scare you off IF those things don't keep reappearing. My XLR also had some scary looking things on the service list in the first year the prior owner had it, but they never reappeared & I've had no problem with those items.

Ditto on a warranty if you can get it. Modern luxury cars retain their luxury pricing when repair time comes around, no matter what the latest owner paid for the car.

Looking at your collection, I doubt you'd use a XLR as a daily driver, but just in case, I wouldn't recommend it for a lot of reasons. At a minimum, you've got a lot of really old rubber seals to deal with so leaks are likely.

As for mileage, I'll pass this along: my base XLR had 32,000 miles on it when I got it. We've had a few repairs on it but no frequent nit picky problems. We later got a XLR-V with 15k miles on it that was in a lot rougher shape & has had more periodic issues. The issues weren't major, but just aggravating. All is well now but it just seems the higher mileage car was "happier" - I think these cars like to be driven.

Hope everyones info helps!

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Hey Joe welcome to the forum. I bought my 2005 in March of 2011. I have had purchased a aftermarket warranty's since I've own her. My first warranty cost $1800 and they paid well over around 7 grand out..so yeah there worth. She had 53k on her when I bought her..... and 97k now! All the things mentioned in other post here to look out are must with these cars... when checking one out run the top up and down a few times and also open trunk and under carpet in the back corner on left side is where the top pump is, look down in there for water and corrosion that should be dry! Also check to see if there is any water marks on the carpet if so it may have a bad trunk seal! The NorthStar motors are good but they do have their issues, and are expensive to repair if you take it to a dealer. One last note is see if you have a Cadillac dealer in your area that has an XLR mechanic they can be a big help as regular mechanic don't always know everything about these cars especially the retractable top! Always check back here for questioning there is a wealth of information and experienced people here from passed experiences themselves. Some of name our rides and I named mine Roxy! Good Luck and Cruz'On Topless!


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[Joeinbcs]

Thanks for all the advice

The lack of spare parts is a little scary...
I do much of the mechanical work on my cars...I have an older Mercedes (560 SEC) that I also maintain, so I enjoy being able to fix my cars...
I originally thought I needed a V, but not so sure...Part of the reason for my indecision is that I really love Thunder Gray...a friend has a CTSV in this color, and unfortunately, I believe this color was only available in '04. But, confused on this point.. I've seen Thunder Gray listed as both an '04 & '05 color, and elsewhere, only an '04 color. I could find only '04 cars in this color by Googling and in the Registry...
As for the early cars, it seems the general opinion is that many issues were straightened out by '06. Would these issues likely have been fixed under warranty on '05 & '06 cars, or they fundamental design flaws that make these cars poor choices?
I will probably use my car very lightly...maybe 1000 miles per year at most...I have seven other cars now, and I like driving them all a bit.
Thanks again for the help...Joe

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

The lack of spare parts is a little scary...
I do much of the mechanical work on my cars...I have an older Mercedes (560 SEC) that I also maintain, so I enjoy being able to fix my cars...
I originally thought I needed a V, but not so sure...Part of the reason for my indecision is that I really love Thunder Gray...a friend has a CTSV in this color, and unfortunately, I believe this color was only available in '04. But, confused on this point.. I've seen Thunder Gray listed as both an '04 & '05 color, and elsewhere, only an '04 color. I could find only '04 cars in this color by Googling and in the Registry...
As for the early cars, it seems the general opinion is that many issues were straightened out by '06. Would these issues likely have been fixed under warranty on '05 & '06 cars, or they fundamental design flaws that make these cars poor choices?
I will probably use my car very lightly...maybe 1000 miles per year at most...I have seven other cars now, and I like driving them all a bit.
Thanks again for the help...Joe

First there is a Satin Nickel color also darker then my light platinum silver not sure about the Thunder Gray thought. One of my issues with my 05 is heat from exhaust on the interior console. I would think it depends on mileage if the any other issues have already been taken care of!


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[Rule62]

First there is a Satin Nickel color also darker then my light platinum silver not sure about the Thunder Gray thought. One of my issues with my 05 is heat from exhaust on the interior console. I would think it depends on mileage if the any other issues have already been taken care of!


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Regarding the heat coming from beneath the console, I installed a thicker plate between the exhaust and the torque tube and it's made a noticeable difference in heat transfer. I did it when I had my Corsa kit installed since that seemed to be the most logical approach.

Amazon.com: 1/4" Thick Corvette Aluminum Ceramic Coated Tunnel Plate WITH Thermal-Abs: Automotive



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[05 GRAND DADDY]

Yep my intentions are to deal with that this spring when I get her out of storage, the heat is very annoying in the car and against by leg! The harder I run her the hotter it gets.


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