2008 Cadillac Dts L Sedan 4-door 4.6l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

J.D. Power study sees new car dependability problems increase for first time since 1998

For the first time since 1998, J.D. Power and Associates says its data shows that the average number of problems per 100 cars has increased. The finding is the result of the firm's much-touted annual Vehicle Dependability Study, which charts incidents of problems in new vehicle purchases over three years from 41,000 respondents.
Looking at first-owner cars from the 2011 model year, the study found an average of 133 problems per 100 cars (PP100, for short), up 6 percent from 126 PP100 in last year's study, which covered 2010 model-year vehicles. Disturbingly, the bulk of the increase is being attributed to engine and transmission problems, with a 6 PP100 boost.
Interestingly, JDP notes that "the decline in quality is particularly acute for vehicles with four-cylinder engines, where problem levels increase by nearly 10 PP100." Its findings also noticed that large diesel engines also tended to be more problematic than most five- and six-cylinder engines.

2014 Cadillac ELR leases for $699 a month

Most Autoblog readers thought the $75,000 price tag on the 2014 Cadillac ELR was too high. If you can't swing the MSRP all in one go, how does a lease price of $699 a month sound? That's the amount that Cadillac is offering on the official ELR website, with some caveats, of course. First off, it appears that this lease price is for just for "current owners and lessees of all 1999 or newer GM vehicles." They will also have to pony up $4,999 at signing (all others will need $5,999). Second, the $699-a-month price is for a 39-month lease. Then, of course, "tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment [are] extra" and "each dealer sets own price." Also, it appears that this lease deal is only good until the end of January. Cadillac started shipping the ELR plug-in hybrid coupe to dealers last month. There are two things to note in the fine print. The most surprising is that the payments are based on "a 2014 Cadillac ELR with an MSRP of $76,000." That's $1,000 more than the official MSRP announced in October. Then we get to the real kicker: The lease limits you to a mere 32,500 miles, which is just 833.3 miles a month. Well, 'limit' isn't the exact word, since you can certainly drive more. All you have to do is pay 25 cents per mile for each mile over 32,500. Drive the national average of 13,476 miles in a year? That comes to 43,797 miles over 39 months, which is 11,297 extra miles and an extra $2,824.25.

Cadillac to bolster CT sedans with XT crossovers

Cadillac is moving swiftly to change up its naming scheme. Barely over a week ago we received our first indication that it was considering a different name its the upcoming flagship sedan previously known as LTS. Then Cadillac not only revealed the model would be called CT6, but announced that it would set the stage with a massive overhaul of its model nomenclature. And now we have another piece of the puzzle.
According to Forbes, Cadillac will not only rename its sedans with the letters CT, but will realign its utility vehicles under the banner of XT - both to be followed by a number indicating its place in the lineup. The one exception will be the Escalade, whose nameplate has such a strong following that it would be foolish for Cadillac to cast it aside. That leaves only the SRX (pictured above), but makes room for a new crop of crossovers said to be in the works.
It's a similar approach which Cadillac's new boss Johan de Nysschen took in revising the naming scheme at Infiniti. While it's bound to ruffle some feathers and scratch some heads in the beginning - especially since the company's current flagship sedan is called XTS - it's equally sure to make sense of it all in the long run. All we need to know now is what Nysschen and his marketing chief Uwe Ellinghaus plan to call the coupes.