1975 Fleetwod Brougham D Elegance on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Cadillac recalls 17,500 SRX CUVs in Canada

When reporting on recalls, Autoblog generally tries to focus on the US market. However, a recent campaign in Canada seems important enough to be worth mentioning because it could eventually affect American drivers. General Motors is repairing 17,481 Canadian examples of the Cadillac SRX from the 2010-2015 model years because of the possibility of a loose nut in the rear suspension. For the moment, the automaker hasn't yet announced whether the CUV in the US would require a similar campaign.
The notice was dated September 18, 2014, on the website for Transport Canada, similar to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US. It says, "the rear suspension toe link jam nuts" might not have been sufficiency tightened, which could allow a rear wheel to turn "inboard or outboard" while driving. If this happens, it could cause a sudden change in handling. Canadian Cadillac dealers are inspecting the parts and replacing the toe link if necessary.
This campaign isn't listed on the GM's running recall tally from September, which includes exported models, but it does list four other campaigns for the SRX this year - three in this range of years and one for the 2004-2006 model. Autoblog reached out to the company to ask about the possibility of this recall expanding to the US and were told "We have not publicly announced US recalls" for the issues affecting the SRX. The New York Times was given a similar quote. Scroll down to read the notice from Transport Canada.

Petrolicious eats up Rita Hayworth's 1953 Cadillac Ghia

The automotive industry has seem some wonderful transoceanic collaborations between America and Italy, from the Ford-powered De Tomasos of the 1960s to the alliance between Fiat and Chrysler today. Of course it's also seen unfortunate experiments in between like the Chrysler TC by Maserati and the Pininfarina-bodied Cadillac Allante. But before any of those, there was a beautiful tradition of rebodying American steel at the hands of Italian carrozzerie. And this could easily be among the most gorgeous of them all. It's a Cadillac Series 62 from 1953 with bodywork by Ghia. It's one of only two made, and has a star-studded history. The car was purchased by Aly Khan, prince of the Nizari Ismaili muslims and Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations, for his wife... who just so happened to be the inimitable Rita Hayworth. They split up, but she held on to the car. Today it's part of the permanent collection at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA, so the videographical artisans at Petrolicious went by to check it out. You'll want to as well in the five-minute short above.

J.D. Power: Mini, Lexus again offer most satisfying sales experience

JD Power has released its annual Sales Satisfaction Index Study, and once again Mini and Lexus have taken top honors. Overall, buyers are more satisfied with the auto-buying sales experience than they were last year, with those surveyed reporting an average score of 664 points on a 1,000-point scale. That's up from 648 in 2011. Dealer satisfaction also increased by five points over last year as well.
All told, Lexus brought home an index score of 737, which was high enough to put it atop the luxury brands for the second year in a row. JD Power says Infiniti came in second in that category with a score of 728 and Cadillac rounded out the podium with it's rating of 725. Speaking of Infiniti, that brand saw the single largest jump in sales satisfaction of any brand on the survey, popping up 52 index points over 2011.
Among mass-market brands, Mini ranked highest with a score of 712, followed closely by Buick with 706 and GMC farther down the line with 683. You can check out the full press release below for more information.