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1. CADILLAC SRX4 TEST DRIVE REVIEW

   November 1, 2009 by My Carlady

   2010 CADILLAC SRX TEST DRIVE REVIEW

   

    I have to say my first thought when checking out the Caribbean Blue 2010 Cadillac SRX was…“HMMM, a little bright for a Caddy”, but the paint is rich and orange-peel free which gave the clear coat and metallic hues a rich feel.

   When I first climbed inside, the SRX felt every bit a Cadillac. Wood steering wheel, shift knob, wood everywhere there wasn’t polished aluminum or chrome accents.

   

   SRX DASHBOARD CENTER CONSOLE

    On the highway the SRX delivered a solid, not doggy effort from 30 to 60 to 90+ mphwith agility. The suspension handled capably with a tight turning radius and little tire or wind noise transfer into the cabin. While body roll is not significant on a 4wd/AWD crossover, I did run the SRX through some switchbacks at 20-30mph and expected at least some over-steer if not wheel kick, neither was noticeable.  Acceleration 0-60 is lagging, from 1^st to second is admirable, considering the rig weighs in at over 4000 lbs., 4400 to be exact in the AWD.  Inside the air conditioning blew full blast when I hit the gas hard and the  outside temp hovered around 100. The typical C pillar blind-spot was evident, as it is in all SUV’s, but the view is enhanced by the panoramic moon-roof which shed a lot of light into the cabin and back hatch.

   From the driver’s seat the steering wheel offers adjustable pedals but no power tilt and telescope-memory settings ? The wheel controls are limited to stereo mode, volume, blue-tooth and cruise.  Navigation, temperature and all the other tuning tools are buried low on the center console, which makes it impossible to keep your eyes on the road. NOTE: Do your adjustments before driving away. 

   The pop-up touch-screen command center video display is clever, and easy to see, and remarkably unobtrusive to the driver’s view. However, I found the large, black, mounting fixture for the rear view mirror made the windshield feel small and disproportionately slanted.  (Guest test drivers did not find the rear view mirror as annoying as I did.)  The rear hatch activation button allowed me to control the lift-gate to a ¾ or full opening, but I found myself reaching up towards the moon-roof switches instead of down to the driver’s door, where the lift-gate button is located. NOTE: The SRX lift-gate makes no NOISE, emits NO ALARM when opening or closing.

   The 10 speaker BOSE ® stereo provided great surround sound from the radio, iPod and CD, even the Navigation voice sounded rich in French. Interior lighting at night leaves much to be desired. The bright white gauges are three dimensional and easy on the eye, but the center console control buttons are mere lit specs not easily adjusted without the use of the map reading overheads.

   This is NOT a 7 passenger ride. Four passengers would make a long trip easily, but the fifth seatbelt in the rear would require a very thin person, or child booster seat.  The second row affords two grown adults a comfortable reclining bucket seat with sizable armrest, DVD screen in each headrest/seat, hot/cold vents, audio ports and cup-holders. A pass-through from the rear hatch accommodates skis and long items without giving up a chair to the 60/40 fold-down option.

   All-in-all I liked the SRX for the money, it packs lots of features onto a reasonable size frame. The 18” wheels and tires look decent and handle well. The 3.0L 265HP keeps the fuel economy at 18/23 reasonable, although it would have been a homerun with the HYBRID technology from the Escalade.

   LIKES: Styling, interior space, paint, features.

   DISLIKES: Rearview Mirror mount, 0-60, control buttons on center console too low.

   COMPETITION: Acura MDX, Lexus RX450, Infiniti FX45, BMWx6, MB350

   Of note: A TURBO is coming March 2010.  Needs some lease or finance options to compete with the imports.

   Learn more about CAR DEALS: US DOLLAR vs. The YEN

   Sarah Lee is an automotive executive with 20+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. Her company: MY CARLADY is a car buyer’s service committed to getting you the best deal on your next new or pre-owned vehicle. You can reach her at www.mycarlady.com

   Top learn more about getting your best car deal click here: CAR DEALS

   To see learn more about my test drive of the SRX CLICK HERE:
   

   

    

    

    

    

    

    

   Category: CADILLAC, CADILLAC SRX4, NEW CAR MAKES, WOMEN BUYERS, WOMEN DRIVERS
   Tags: 2010 crossovers, cadillac srx 2010
   

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2. CASH 4 CLUNKERS WHITE HOUSE GOES TO MARS

   by My Carlady

   Edmunds.com, the much respected guide to car prices, reviews and auto-geek forums recently wrote on it’s blog; “…that Cash for Clunkers paid out $24,000 for every car that was brought to market under the program, which issued rebates between $3,500 and $4,500 towards the purchase of an energy efficient car.”  Edmunds writers Jeannine Fallon and Chintan Talati went on to determine that only 125,000 of the 690,000 cars sold during the Clunkers/Junkers program were deals that would NOT otherwise have been made. THANK THE REBATES because the other 565,000 cars would have eventually been replaced anyway.

   The reality is American’s have been trained by the Big 3 to wait for bargain offers, rebates, low interest rates and incentivize leases before buying a car, in much the same way families cut coupons from the Sunday paper before heading to the grocery store. Double coupons, coupon trading and online search engines are an industry based on our desire to “get a bargain”.

   However, if you aren’t freaked by the $24,000 per car cost to buy 125k worth of iron, consider the bigger issue here is the response from the WHITE HOUSE about the article. Edmunds is most often recognized for it’s CAR info, not daily news. The WHITE HOUSE social media guru blasting them on the WHITE HOUSE blog elevates the story to TWITTER

   

   scionxb

   status, and makes one wonder if this is an effort to take the public’s focus off the Health-care showdown, H1N1 Vaccine-debacle or the Troops in Afghanistan. all CURRENT EVENTS, not three month old history. Now don’t get me wrong, I love history, especially when we LEARN FROM IT,  otherwise we are destined to repeat it.

   When you consider the C4C (cash for clunkers)as another version of economic stimulus to the auto industry, then the total return is about a wash. Count in the dollars spent recirculating through the country’s economic engine via sales tax, registration, employees earning and spending, parts remarketing and the float on the interest the government earned on the backs of the dealers waiting to be paid on those rebates while borrowing from their banks and manufacturers to keep inventory on the lot, which ultimately resulted in a wash because the program paid for itself by moving money. This EXPLANATION would have been the better argument for the WHITE HOUSE to make, rather than the comment about a MARS????

   FORGET the claim of people buying cars because they went to the dealership thanks to the hubbub, most of my clients found sticker prices, no selection and mass-confusion. Dealers declared the program a headache to administrate and if there was any ether left in the tank, a complete lack of factory production follow-up left those with money burning a hole in their pocket… no 2010 cars in inventory.

   But really folks… the money is spent.  Those American’s that had the cash or credit to buy a new car got a SCREAMING DEAL on the Trade Value of their JUNKER while the rest of America, once again paid for it.

   The most important thing to consider in all this barking is…the Head Blogger at the WHITE HOUSE needs to have an editorial review before posting, if only for his own image, HOWEVER, more important than his image is that of the President, as stuff like this makes the public aware and ultimately more concerned about “Who is steering the BUS in WASHINGTON?” 

   WE SHOULD BE ASKING …

   Shouldn’t all TAXPAYING AMERICANS, be issued stock in GM and Chrysler, which we can take as a loss on our federal income tax, as these companies are unlikely to repay the $70 Billion in loans?

   Are we as American’s going to continue bailing out GM, allow the dismantling of Chrysler by FIAT and or show/fail to register our support/not for the latest automaker showdown: FORD vs. UAW? (I hope the government can keep itself out of this debate.)

   Learn more about post-cash 4 clunkers here: 

   http://www.mycarlady.com/2009/08/03/cash-for-junke…its-the-brakes

   http://www.mycarlady.com/2009/08/12/sales-tax-credit-updatesales-tax-credit-update/

   http://www.mycarlady.com/2009/08/24/clunkers-ends-so-whats-next

   Sarah Lee is an automotive executive with 20+ years of experience. She writes about Cars, and is a staunch consumer advocate on car related subjects. Her company: MY CARLADY is a car buyer’s service committed to getting you the best deal on your next new or pre-owned vehicle. You can reach her at www.mycarlady.com

   Top learn more about getting your best car deal click here: CAR DEALS
   

   

   Category: AUTO STIMULUS BAILOUT, Car rebates and incentives, NEW CAR MAKES
   Tags: cash fro clunkers, edmunds, white house mars c4c
   

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