2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport vs 2013 Lexus GS350 F Sport
#62
Lexus Fanatic
You should drive it, I liked a lot of things about it. Some not so much. Plus...$100 will buy you some baby stuff!
#64
Lexus Fanatic
Gotta stock up!
#65
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: CA
Posts: 48
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I test drove the CTS today for the 100.00 gift card. I was really surprised how snug the interior was considering it looks about as large outside as my GS. It (like others have said) drove great and had very well weighted steering which was a big plus to me. I was shocked how cheap the gauges looked and how grainy the backup camera was. I did think the fit and finish inside was very good BUT the dash looked a bit cheap to me and I don't like the touch controls on the center stack (they never seem to work for me!). All in all a really good car BUT pricy and small inside
#66
Lexus Test Driver
Strange, I thought the new CTS was supposed to be larger than the older one. Guess it's all relative though, if you're a big man, few cars will feel adequately roomy. I'm 6' 7" and the GS is the best fit I've had since my 81 RX7.
#67
Lexus Fanatic
It's significantly bigger than the previous CTS. Feels tighter than the GS because of the dash/console design.
#68
Pole Position
My 4GS is the first car I've had where I don't have to put the driver's seat back as far as it'll go to have enough room. It's great. I did have a little more headroom in my 03' Accord, because I specifically got the one without the sunroof for that reason. But at least in the GS I have enough room even with the sunroof -- in the Accord with one I was banging my head on it.
#69
Driver School Candidate
Thank You. for your response because I read Afrosheens comment an my head almost popped. I dont think its an age thing he is just extremely misinformed on absolutely every topic he touched on. He sounds smart but its like someone gave him only have the materiel to study. With that said Hyundai's brand image change isnt exactly the same thing. I believe the brand image of Cadillac declined more the past 15-20 years just as the quality for all the Japanese rivals were going up. Cadillac had a head start and the companies out of Japan quickly ate up the market with superior products. The past 5-10 years has seen a huge boom in consumer awareness and the sharing of all related information because of forums just like this. Simply put it was a bad time to be making crappy cars and its even harder now to change perception these days unless you are really doing things right. Hyundai on the other hand stumbled out the gate but has consistently made better and better cars over the past 10 years. Hyundai has steadily swooped all types of quality awards over this span and now more consumers are catching up. Two opposite trajectories imho.
First of all...last March is a year ago. Thats an eternity in the automobile industry. In any event, they've gone from an average age of 66 to an average age of 57...thats a huge accomplishment. Their buyer will always be older than "average" because thats the buyer they're really targeting.
As for "lagging behind average sales" what does that even mean? Every marque is going to have their own sales targets and goals, its not a zero sum game. Comparing the sales of one brand to another doesn't really always tell you much.
Theres so much wrong here:
1. While Hyundai and Kia are addressing a young market, that is certainly not even their focus..especially Hyundai. What are the two big releases from Hyundai and Kia right now? The K900 for Kia, which is a large $60,000+ luxury car, and the Genesis, which is a midrange near-luxury/luxury car. Neither car is aimed at a "20 something college kid". The next big thing for Hyundai is the Sonata, which is a family sedan not something for 20 something college kids. Before that it was the Santa Fe 5 and then 7 passenger. Same thing. I see no evidence at all that young markets are even a primary focus for Hyundai/Kia right now.
2. Yes Hyundai and Kia currently beat Toyota and Honda on value proposition, but the gap is narrowing, not widening. As time goes on Hyundai and Kia prices are RISING, not dropping. As their reputation improves they're nudging prices up. Eventually they'll be seen as peers to Toyota and Honda and the price chasm will have evaporated.
Search on CL for "exploding sunroof"...plenty of threads. Guy in the GX forum just had his rear window on a GX with 300 miles on it explode in a parking lot. There's security camera footage. That happens with all brands, its one of the drawbacks of tempered glass.
Again, this is really not the case. By the mid 1990s Apple had become a company that had a reputation for building overpriced, incompatible computers and was in a terrible state financially. The company was very close to going under.
When Steve Jobs came back to Apple and started re-imagining the company, he took them from the point of being seen as an "overpriced" computer supplier, to a company that had a very expensive product that people wanted to have and be seen having. Its an entirely different thing. Apple really had three game changers, long before the iPhone, the Apple stores, the original iMac, and the original iPod. The Apple store provided a dramatic showcase for them to present Apple products as the pinnacle of design and execution. Nobody else did anything like that. The iMac brought to the computer industry the computer as an object of desire and style. The iPod and subsequently iTunes revolutionized the music industry and completely changed how we as consumers consume music. The iPhone could not have existed without the iPod or iTunes, same with the iPad. Apple's brand re-invention was WELL underway before the iPhone was even conceived of. If anything, Apple is one of the most successful examples of brand re-engineering we've seen.
I'm not sure how old you are, but there was a time when Samsung was an economy brand. Before phones and TVs. They've reinvented themselves and have positioned themselves as a leader in smart phones, especially TVs, appliances, etc. Huge turnaround.
Lincoln has a lot of problems, one of those problems is just poor product. In order to re-imagine your brand and lure in more style conscious buyers the first step is to offer great products people want to buy...and Lincoln just doesn't do that. I personally think its too late for Lincoln.
There's an old saying, "someone with experience is not at the mercy of someone with an opinion". Thats not meant to be a dig at you, but from our exchanges here it seems pretty clear to me that you haven't spent a lot of time reading about and doing research into business concepts or the history of a lot of these companies we've talked about. Thats okay, we all have different focuses in our lives. However, I have spent many years in the business world and I've spent many years following these companies, their markets, what they've done and what the results have been...its an interest of mine both professionally and personally. When I see things that are just plain incorrect being put out there...like Apple never had an image problem, or that Hyundai's main focus is on college 20 somethings, or that Buick is not doing well because they've taken their average age from 66 to 57 but the average is still 52...I've got to present the other side of things.
As for "lagging behind average sales" what does that even mean? Every marque is going to have their own sales targets and goals, its not a zero sum game. Comparing the sales of one brand to another doesn't really always tell you much.
Theres so much wrong here:
1. While Hyundai and Kia are addressing a young market, that is certainly not even their focus..especially Hyundai. What are the two big releases from Hyundai and Kia right now? The K900 for Kia, which is a large $60,000+ luxury car, and the Genesis, which is a midrange near-luxury/luxury car. Neither car is aimed at a "20 something college kid". The next big thing for Hyundai is the Sonata, which is a family sedan not something for 20 something college kids. Before that it was the Santa Fe 5 and then 7 passenger. Same thing. I see no evidence at all that young markets are even a primary focus for Hyundai/Kia right now.
2. Yes Hyundai and Kia currently beat Toyota and Honda on value proposition, but the gap is narrowing, not widening. As time goes on Hyundai and Kia prices are RISING, not dropping. As their reputation improves they're nudging prices up. Eventually they'll be seen as peers to Toyota and Honda and the price chasm will have evaporated.
Search on CL for "exploding sunroof"...plenty of threads. Guy in the GX forum just had his rear window on a GX with 300 miles on it explode in a parking lot. There's security camera footage. That happens with all brands, its one of the drawbacks of tempered glass.
Again, this is really not the case. By the mid 1990s Apple had become a company that had a reputation for building overpriced, incompatible computers and was in a terrible state financially. The company was very close to going under.
When Steve Jobs came back to Apple and started re-imagining the company, he took them from the point of being seen as an "overpriced" computer supplier, to a company that had a very expensive product that people wanted to have and be seen having. Its an entirely different thing. Apple really had three game changers, long before the iPhone, the Apple stores, the original iMac, and the original iPod. The Apple store provided a dramatic showcase for them to present Apple products as the pinnacle of design and execution. Nobody else did anything like that. The iMac brought to the computer industry the computer as an object of desire and style. The iPod and subsequently iTunes revolutionized the music industry and completely changed how we as consumers consume music. The iPhone could not have existed without the iPod or iTunes, same with the iPad. Apple's brand re-invention was WELL underway before the iPhone was even conceived of. If anything, Apple is one of the most successful examples of brand re-engineering we've seen.
I'm not sure how old you are, but there was a time when Samsung was an economy brand. Before phones and TVs. They've reinvented themselves and have positioned themselves as a leader in smart phones, especially TVs, appliances, etc. Huge turnaround.
Lincoln has a lot of problems, one of those problems is just poor product. In order to re-imagine your brand and lure in more style conscious buyers the first step is to offer great products people want to buy...and Lincoln just doesn't do that. I personally think its too late for Lincoln.
There's an old saying, "someone with experience is not at the mercy of someone with an opinion". Thats not meant to be a dig at you, but from our exchanges here it seems pretty clear to me that you haven't spent a lot of time reading about and doing research into business concepts or the history of a lot of these companies we've talked about. Thats okay, we all have different focuses in our lives. However, I have spent many years in the business world and I've spent many years following these companies, their markets, what they've done and what the results have been...its an interest of mine both professionally and personally. When I see things that are just plain incorrect being put out there...like Apple never had an image problem, or that Hyundai's main focus is on college 20 somethings, or that Buick is not doing well because they've taken their average age from 66 to 57 but the average is still 52...I've got to present the other side of things.
#70
Pole Position
Seeing that the power mismatch is skewing a fair comparison between the GS350 and the Twin Turbo CTS V-Sport, here's a review that matches up the 3.5L NA GS350 vs the 3.6L NA CTS 3.6 :
http://www.autos.ca/car-comparisons/...350-awd/?all=1
http://www.autos.ca/car-comparisons/...350-awd/?all=1
#72
#73
Lexus Champion
I realized that after lol. But still, option this car with the twin turbo v6 and you're looking at a $72k msrp! I guess I still see the CTS as a bargain pseudo 3/5 series fighter as opposed to a full fledged midsize competitor with a midsized price.
#74
Eyeopening; i was initially impressed by Cadillac's 'value' sports sedan. Great 'bang for the buck'. Even considered it but swayed by GS resale value. However their $60k price-point seems not entirely accurate... Looking forward to a more even shootout against the GS-F.
#75
Lexus Test Driver
Thank You. for your response because I read Afrosheens comment an my head almost popped. I dont think its an age thing he is just extremely misinformed on absolutely every topic he touched on. He sounds smart but its like someone gave him only have the materiel to study.