1974 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible - Excellent Condition - Runs Great! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Tesla leads and Infiniti bleeds in Consumer Reports' satisfaction survey

According to Consumer Reports, Tesla owners are more likely to rave about their vehicles than any other brand. And we're not surprised — Tesla has performed very well in past customer satisfaction surveys, despite the fact that the electric cars themselves tend to have more problems than most other automobiles. Second place went to Lincoln, which interestingly had a higher cumulative score than Tesla in individual category measurements like comfort and storage space. Ram, a truck-only brand, rounded out the top three. The consumer-focused magazine bases its owner satisfaction score on responses to a very simple question: Would you buy this exact car again? The higher percentage of owners who answer "definitely yes" to that question, the higher the satisfaction score. Further breakdowns are scored for other parts of the ownership experience, which is why brands that rank poorly in Consumer Reports' own reliability charts — like Tesla and Lincoln, for example — can still earn top marks for satisfaction. The lowest-ranked brands for satisfaction are Cadillac, Nissan and Infiniti. Interestingly, Cadillac performed better than average in Driving and Comfort and middle-of-the-road in the In-Car Electronics and Cabin Storage, but like most other brands, scored poorly in Value. In fact, only Subaru, Mazda and Volkswagen scored better than average in Value. Nissan and especially Infiniti earned comparatively low marks across the board to go along with the bottom-of-the-barrel satisfaction score. Here's the full list of automakers from Consumer Reports' satisfaction survey, ranked in order from best to worst: Tesla Lincoln Ram Chrysler Subaru Hyundai Porsche Dodge Mazda Toyota Kia Mini BMW Ford Audi Honda Volvo Volkswagen Lexus Jeep GMC Chevrolet Mercedes-Benz Buick Cadillac Nissan Infiniti It's worth diving into the individual category scores in addition to the official finishing order for a full look at the results. For instance, despite the fact that automakers like Lincoln and Ford use similar infotainment systems, their In-Car Electronics scores don't quite match up. Also, some automakers have full lineups with multiple cars, trucks and SUVs while others offer just a couple of nameplates. Head on over to Consumer Reports for all the details. Looking for a reliable car, truck or SUV? Check out the top 10 vehicles that owners keep the longest.

2017 Cadillac XT5 cuts weight, adds room over SRX [UPDATE]

UPDATE: This post has been updated with a full set of official photos. Impressions on the interior and exterior have also been added. The attention of Cadillac fans may be focused on the new CT6 sedan, but the most important new vehicle in the New York-based company's quiver might be the all-new XT5. Cadillac officially unveiled the SRX replacement today ahead of its full debut in Los Angeles next week. Short for Crossover Touring 5, the new XT5 drops 278 pounds over the old SRX, while offering an extra 3.2 inches of interior space. The XT5's face balances the best parts of the Escalade and CT6's fascias, with a strong egg-crate grille and prominent LED accent lights. It looks good scaled to a vehicle of this size. The taillights curve up and over the rear haunches, which feed into a strong shoulder line that runs towards the front of the car. It's a solid look, and one we're looking forward to seeing in person. The interior looks very, very nice, with warm leather and wood trimmings. The steering wheel, with its large, central wood accent, looks remarkably good. In fact, it might be one of our favor parts, if only because it's such a bold piece of design. We aren't crazy about the sheer abundance of buttons on the wheel, though. All four spokes are covered, and it just looks kind of cluttered. As is the trend nowadays, the center console features a floating bridge design with plenty of storage space underneath. Our early impression of the leather-wrapped dash is positive, although as is so often the case, we need to get a hands on before rendering a final judgment. There are no major surprises under the hood. Like the current SRX, the XT5 utilizes the same 3.6-liter V6 as the CTS and ATS sedans. Start/stop has been fitted, which should provide a boost in fuel economy although no mileage figures have been published yet. Cadillac will also offer a standard 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder XT5, although for reasons that aren't clear, it's only for the Chinese market. This seems like a misstep in our eyes, considering the XT5 will challenge the likes of the BMW X3, Audi Q5, and Mercedes-Benz GLC – all of which offer four-cylinder turbos. With the V6, the XT5 delivers 310 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. While there's more total horsepower than the Lexus, Audi, or BMW, the 3.6 still faces a torque deficiency versus the turbocharged X3 xDrive35i or supercharged Audi V6. The XT5 has a standard eight-speed automatic transmission.

Junkyard Gem: 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special Sedan

If you lived in North America in 1967 and you wanted to show the neighbors you'd clawed your way to the peak of the success pyramid, only one car would do: Cadillac Fleetwood. Today's Junkyard Gem is 4,685 pounds of General Motors luxury hardware, finally knocked off the road at age 53 by an unfortunate wreck and now residing in a Denver self-service wrecking yard. The Cadillac brand endured some rough years during the 1970s and 1980s, but rode high during the 1960s. The Fleetwood Sixty Special Sedan started at $6,423 in 1967, or just over $50,000 when figured using inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars. A Mercedes-Benz 250SE sedan set you back $6,385 that year, but it weighed barely half as much and packed just 148 horses against the Cad's 340. Really, you had to get a genuine Rolls-Royce to out-swank the Fleetwood-driving Joneses back then (the Lincoln Continental and Imperial didn't have quite the snob appeal at that time), and the Roller cost more than several Fleetwoods combined. This car has been around during its long life. On the windshield, we see 1980 and 1981 parking stickers from the Keeneland Club in Kentucky. This car was already 13 years old by that time, but still very classy. At some point, the car must have migrated to California. Here's a U.C. Berkeley sticker. This ancient In-N-Out sticker comes from the Southern California-only era of the famous hamburger chain. Sometimes it's tough to determine the reasons that an old car ended up in a place like this, but that's not a problem here. Let's hope the car's occupants had their belts on (lap belts only in 1967, but still better than nothing), because these old Detroit land yachts didn't have much in the way of energy-absorbing crumple zones. The paint and interior are quite rough, so this car depreciated from being worth perhaps a couple of grand to scrap value in an instant.  Cruise control was a very rare option in 1967, and this car has it. The famous Fleetwood triple-tone horns were still there when I got to this car. Under the hood, 429 cubic inches (7.0 liters) of super-smooth Cadillac pushrod V8. This engine grew to 472 and then 500 cubic inches during the following few years. The paint shows some great patina. Did I buy the horns? Of course I bought the horns — I always bring my trusty lightweight junkyard toolbox when I head out to shoot some Junkyard Gems. Related Video: