Yet another new Member here

[RetArmy]

Hello all, new member here. Trying to become a new owner as well. I'm flying to FL Saturday to test drive and fingers crossed buy my dream/retirement car I have been looking through the forum for the past week and boy, I have learned a lot. I was wondering are there any suggestions the forum members have for things I need to be on the look out for? We all know the stealership has one goal, separate me from my money. As excited as I will be sitting there in the driver seat, it won't be to hard. By the way, I'm in SC and looking forward to any XLR events up and down the east coast.

 

[Tiffany's Dad]

Welcome aboard. Hope your buying experience is a good one.

 

[Rob]

Welcome to the XLR Net and good luck!! Keep us posted!!

 

[nerkpowers]

Welcome to the Forum. There are lots of posts on a first purchases. Use the search function. The best advice I have seen on this forum is to read the owners manual forward and backward and make a list of each and every function listed in the manual. Of particular interest is the top operation. Good luck with your purchase. They can be downloaded, here is an example of a 2008 owners manual.
https://www.cadillac.com/content/da...s/01_images/2008_cadillac_xlr_xlrv_owners.pdf
Tim


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[AL_Jazz]

Hello all, new member here. Trying to become a new owner as well. I'm flying to FL Saturday to test drive and fingers crossed buy my dream/retirement car I have been looking through the forum for the past week and boy, I have learned a lot. I was wondering are there any suggestions the forum members have for things I need to be on the look out for? We all know the stealership has one goal, separate me from my money. As excited as I will be sitting there in the driver seat, it won't be to hard. By the way, I'm in SC and looking forward to any XLR events up and down the east coast.

Congrats and good luck. I am a newbie too...hope the buyer experience goes well!

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Welcome and drive her home you won't be sorry!!! Unless you get to many tickets.....lol


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Dan & Wendy
"05 GRAND DADDY"

 

[graytoad]

Going 'blind' here, no idea of the year and miles etc on your prospective purchase.

Other than the obvious of making sure the car is up to your standards: price VS condition: as far as paint, interior, everything works properly, top goes up and down, all 'creature comforts' work etc., I would double check the tires for age and tread wear and make sure the shocks are not leaking at all as the magnetic ride shocks are stupid expensive. As for the tires- they carry a date of mfg stamp and you should not drive tires over 7 years old if you can avoid it as they loose their flexibility ability to grip the road etc. The date of the tires may be nearing that point and you should take that into consideration if you may need to replace soon. Also, look at what kind of warranty the car comes with, if any and possibly deal an extended warranty in with the purchase.

When it is all said an done and you are driving your dream: (when it is safe) snap a selfie and post the pic of that "shit eatin' grin" (sorry: that is the best description of that ear splitting smile) of a new XLR owner: the one where you start to wonder how you managed to be so privileged to get to be the master of such an amazing car!

Good luck with your quest!

 

[RetArmy]

Thank you

Thank you, and thanks to the other members who responded to my post. Trust me I took all advice. I printed an owners manual and I am getting acquainted with the various features. I also did a forum search as was suggested and tried to soak up the knowledge of you more experienced members. I want to say you guys have no Idea of how excited I am but we all know that's not true. You have all been right where I am right now . I should have been in bed hours ago but I'm just wired at this point. I fly to FL tomorrow, late and go to the stealership first thing Saturday morning. I have a couple lined up. I will be sure to post a pic Saturday night. And I can't wait to tell everyone how my drive back to South Carolina goes . To everyone going to the event I read about tomorrow thru Sunday I think it was, have fun. I'm looking forward to my first event, hopefully it will be the trip to Nashville in Oct, with many more to follow. I am so lucky to have found this forum. Look out world, on 11 July 2015 a new XLR owner will be born !

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Hey RetArmy! These cars are as exciting as you are, we bought "Roxy" in March 2011 and love every minute we get to spend with her! Yes most of here have named our beauties! And it's still not to late to do the Mt. Carmel IN. Automobilia Show Event you probably seen posted! Enjoy your new baby topless as much as possible!


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Dan & Wendy
"05 GRAND DADDY"

 

[RetArmy]

Prior obligations

Thanks 05 Grand daddy. Unfortunately for me I will be in the Virgin Islands during that time for my anniversary. I would ask my wife about coming home early to drive to the event seeing how we both love the Indianapolis area (fell in love with it when I was in the Army stationed there) but I think I will wait for her to fall in love with the car before I introduce her to our new lifestyle. I understand naming the car. I plan on naming mine Freedom, the wife says I have to meet it first..lol.

 

[XLRATING]

It's so great to see someone else so excited about getting a XLR! Don't let any imperfections ding your joy -- think you'll find the feeling you get when you drive your XLR outweighs all else -- exhilarating! (what XLRATING really stands for).

 

[Crimson Pearl]

We just had a great trip to Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks this past May.

About a dozen XLRs in attendance,

We might try to get together a mountain trip this fall.

What part of SC are you in?

 

[RetArmy]

Columbia

We just had a great trip to Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks this past May.

About a dozen XLRs in attendance,

We might try to get together a mountain trip this fall.

What part of SC are you in?

I'm in the Columbia area. I saw someone post from Myrtle Beach, not sure if they had their XLR yet or if they were still looking.

 

[RetArmy]

Got my baby!

Well I got her! The trip started out on a horrible note. Our 8pm flight out of Columbia got delayed twice. The Airline decided to send us to Charlotte by cab to catch our connection to Fort Lauderdale. We barley made it. I told my wife it was a very bad sign. I had three dealerships set up to view. One in Fort Lauderdale, one closer to Miami and the third all the way up near Daytona Beach. We only made it to the first two. When they found out I had a blank check from my bank, they didn't want to let me walk away. Both cars were 2009s both crystal red. One had beige interior and the other had black. We went to look at the tan interior first. It had 60k miles but other than that she seemed drive well. They had already dropped the price to $31,900 before we arrived. To keep us from leaving they dropped to $31,300 with a 10yr/100,000 powertrain warranty. We still went to check out the black interior. 42k, it was listed for 37k with only the remaining 8 months of the certified Cadillac warranty. It drove well also. We had our check list for both of them and decided to go with the tan interior. Right after we left the black interior dealership they called me and said they would drop to 32k. How could I resist. We bought a 48mth, 48k bumper to bumper warranty for 4k. The other dealer called me back and said they would take another $700 of the $31,300. We declined and stuck with the black interior. My dream car for 36k. I'm in heaven. Been driving around Fort Lauderdale top down all afternoon. Can't wait for the ride back to SC tomorrow. Thanks again everyone for the advice. I'll try to post pics later when I get back to the hotel.

 

[sschooley]

Side Track

Your story makes me smile. If you have the time to waste come check into Orlando.
Would love to meet you earlier rather than later. (Especially being Army... you can not know the horror I must
endure with all the Navy and Air Force types on here)

Nothing shabby about being the owner of an XLR.
Must say though, hooking up with the wonderful folks on this site and participating in the group events has been just awesome.
Encourage you to do so!

Steve

Well I got her! The trip started out on a horrible note. Our 8pm flight out of Columbia got delayed twice. The Airline decided to send us to Charlotte by cab to catch our connection to Fort Lauderdale. We barley made it. I told my wife it was a very bad sign. I had three dealerships set up to view. One in Fort Lauderdale, one closer to Miami and the third all the way up near Daytona Beach. We only made it to the first two. When they found out I had a blank check from my bank, they didn't want to let me walk away. Both cars were 2009s both crystal red. One had beige interior and the other had black. We went to look at the tan interior first. It had 60k miles but other than that she seemed drive well. They had already dropped the price to $31,900 before we arrived. To keep us from leaving they dropped to $31,300 with a 10yr/100,000 powertrain warranty. We still went to check out the black interior. 42k, it was listed for 37k with only the remaining 8 months of the certified Cadillac warranty. It drove well also. We had our check list for both of them and decided to go with the tan interior. Right after we left the black interior dealership they called me and said they would drop to 32k. How could I resist. We bought a 48mth, 48k bumper to bumper warranty for 4k. The other dealer called me back and said they would take another $700 of the $31,300. We declined and stuck with the black interior. My dream car for 36k. I'm in heaven. Been driving around Fort Lauderdale top down all afternoon. Can't wait for the ride back to SC tomorrow. Thanks again everyone for the advice. I'll try to post pics later when I get back to the hotel.

 

[XLRATING]

Congratulations on getting one of the fast red XLR's! You must take Schooley up on his visit invite because the other horror he suffers is having one of those slow white XLR's ...

Anyway, enjoy your new ride!

 

[RetArmy]

Thanks

Congratulations on getting one of the fast red XLR's! You must take Schooley up on his visit invite because the other horror he suffers is having one of those slow white XLR's ...

Anyway, enjoy your new ride!

I'll have to see how the wife feels once we wake up in the morning. Not sure she is going to want to get to far off I95.

 

[oyealiz]

Great story and beautiful car! Congrats!

 

[RetArmy]

Best ride ever!

Just made it back to South Carolina. WOW, what a wonderful drive. I already have a CTS, so I thought I knew what to expect.. Wrong. The drive was so smooth, so relaxing. Just like many on the forum have already said, at every gas stop I got plenty of looks and questions. Surprisingly enough, I only got one ticket on the drive home. I was going 90 in a 65, didn't feel like I was going 55. He only wrote me for 9 over so I was happy. So far so good, I don't think I will ever fall out of love with this car!

 

[oyealiz]

Just made it back to South Carolina. WOW, what a wonderful drive. I already have a CTS, so I thought I knew what to expect.. Wrong. The drive was so smooth, so relaxing. Just like many on the forum have already said, at every gas stop I got plenty of looks and questions. Surprisingly enough, I only got one ticket on the drive home. I was going 90 in a 65, didn't feel like I was going 55. He only wrote me for 9 over so I was happy. So far so good, I don't think I will ever fall out of love with this car!

Only one ticket. That's the spirit!