The Flicking of the XLR switch...

[buki]

After enjoying my 2005 Base for almost three years now I am continually astonished by the effusive comments made by newer buyers of the ultimate Cadillac halo car.


It seems we all have the same fascination with these remarkable vehicles.

That phenomenon got me to thinking.

What is it about our rides that led us to spend 5 figure cash packs for cars that are essentially 6 to 11 year old used cars?

I have strong feelings about my decision but I really want to hear yours first.

Think deep.

Be mechanical or psychological or whatever.

Few cars have ever tapped the feelings I had at 16 when the first girl said yes the day i asked her to spend some time with me at the drive-in. It wasn't just the fact that I was hotter than an August night and smoother than a pocketful of Jello.

It was something far deeper than that.

I welcome your response.

Everybody else does too.

 

[pure zen]

Finding the right car,,,,,,,,,,

Found a 10 year old XLR while at a car show, a one-owner, private party, lady owned beauty with 23K on the clock and not a single rock chip on the car. The car was pretty much immaculate, so off we went trying to buy the car at a price we wanted to pay. After tough-tested negotiations probably aided by the Cadillac dealer trying to steal the trade-in on a new 2014 CTS V coupe, the owner realized our offer was better to sell the car outright and then buy the new Cad with a trade-in. Win-win for all of us!
10K miles later, we are pleasantly pleased with the XLR purchase although we have managed to get one rock chip on a outside mirror casing, and getting CDs stuck in the audio player unit. New Bridgestone DriveGuard tires go on the car next week. This past April we tripped over a '05 Z51 Vette coupe while at the same car show with 10K on the speedo. Another lady owned, private party, seldom driven, well cared for car. Bought that one also for a daily driver = Bucket list completed...

p z

 

[XLRATING]

Oh boy, now you've got me started! For me it was the lines of the car - I'm an "angle" design person, not a "round" design person, & as soon as Cadillac came out with the "Art & Science" design I loved all of it. I'd always wanted a Corvette once the C4's came out, & the XLR was just that much better looking & more unique, but out of our price range.

Time went on, I kept wanting one, & the XLR's got more reasonable in price for us. A friend who was a dealer knew of our interest & let us know when he got in an '06 XLR one-owner that he had sold new, so he could tell us all the history of it & its owner. It had been used as a daily driver & had 32k miles but was immaculately kept. Mike took me to test drive it, which I didn't want to do because I knew I would want to have it & it was an extra car/expense we didn't "need." I drove it & was so taken I was literally speechless - it was everything I'd imagined it would be. So, shortly thereafter it ended up in our garage as an anniversary present.

Turns out the car I didn't "need" is one of the best things I've ever gotten. Driving it just puts a giant grin on my face, because it's so cool, because it's so different, because it's so beautiful, comfortable, fast, everything. Never thought I'd care for a convertible but I love driving with the top down - good as going to a spa.

Now Mike & I are both full blown XLR addicts - I think he's worse than me & originally he was a Mustang guy!

 

[rexster314]

One of the newer guys here, but glad I got here.
For me, the first time I remember seeing the XLR was at a Cadillac/GMC dealer while we were looking at Yukon Denali's. It was the same color as the one we have now and I thought it was one of the most beautiful cars I had ever seen. When I saw the sticker, I knew there was no way I could afford it at the time, but always in the back of my mind I also knew I was going to have one at some point.
Almost traded in our 04 red Thunderbird 3 years ago (it was paid for) but my wife wasn't ready to get rid of it as it was her daily driver and she really liked it.
Fast forward to this September and she started looking at the X's and got serious about making a trade. Once she saw a couple of the cars in the "flesh" she was hooked. Especially after seeing a Raven Black at a local used car lot. So started looking for the "right" one the first part of September. I checked out Autotrader, CarMax, and the local Caddy dealers with not much luck. We knew our first choice was a red XLR, but would settle for a black one. After about a week of internet searching, I was almost ready to give up but I did a search on Carfax. Lo and behold I found a silver X about 40 miles away and a red one about 125 miles away. Since my wife hadn't actually been in one (I hadn't either) we went to the closer one last week with the idea we would look at it, test drive it and if we liked it would make a deal. The visit to this dealer left a lot to be desired. The salesman acted like he was doing us a favor and it took him over 30 minutes to find the car on the lot. He must have walked past it several times but didn't see it. It was a little rough outside and inside and had 70000 on the clock. We decided we'd go look at the red one before making a decision, but I had already made a decision: They could keep that silver one and choke on it. Long story short, we ended up buying the Infrared 2006 with 42000 on the clock that was a one owner with just a few small things that I decided we could fix up, such as the split in the middle start button and headlamp washers that probably got knocked off in a car wash.
And we couldnt be happier with the purchase!!

 

[pure zen]

Rex,,,,, You made the correct decision...lower mileage, one-owner, red one

That first salesman, where the silver one was located, obviously had no product knowledge of the XLR if he couldn't find it on the lot.

ENJOY the RIDE!

 

[rexster314]

Rex,,,,, You made the correct decision...lower mileage, one-owner, red one

That first salesman, where the silver one was located, obviously had no product knowledge of the XLR if he couldn't find it on the lot.

ENJOY the RIDE!

lol, he had no knowledge nor a clue. He actually called yesterday wanting to know if we were still interested in it. Wife said "uhhhh, no"

 

[oyealiz]

I first saw the XLR when at Corvette Forum Cruise In in Bowling Green. Loved it, but didn't even think about buying one at that time as I planned to get a c6 vette. (I did, and had it for 8 1/2 yrs, sold it before getting my c7 vette.)

Driving home from vacation in May this year, saw this car on I20 in Shreveport and decided I realllly had to have one. So the search was on! No clue whose car it is, but they cost me money!