2004 Cadillac Escalade on 2040-cars

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2019 Cadillac Escalade ESV Drivers' Notes Review | Old, but not antiquated

When the Cadillac Escalade debuted 20 years ago, car-based crossovers were just getting their start. The Escalade was and still is basically a Chevy Tahoe with new styling and a nicer interior. That's especially true today, as our test car has an interior that looks like it was lifted straight from a Cadillac CTS rather than a Chevy Silverado. Crossovers may be more comfortable and fuel efficient, but they can't hold a candle to towing and payload capabilities of a body-on-frame SUV. If you need to haul seven people and a full-size Airstream in quiet comfort, few options are better than the Escalade. This week, our tester was a long-wheelbase Escalade ESV. That means substantially more room both behind the third row and with the seats folded. The Premium Luxury trim sits in the middle of the lineup, but it still comes with a lot of goodies. Features include a Bose audio system, a digital instrument cluster, a heads-up display, heated and cooled leather seats, a heated steering wheel, tri-zone climate control, Magnetic Ride Control and a stout 6.2-liter V8. Options include upgraded leather for $2,000 and polished 22-inch wheels for $600. All in, this Escalade was just shy of $100,000. Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: The Escalade is arguably Cadillac's best vehicle. It's a bold, body-on-frame SUV that feels decadently all-American. The Escalade is still contemporary even though it's been years since the ute has had a major redesign. I enjoyed a couple nights in this luxury bruiser. The V8 is powerful, and the 10-speed is a smart improvement. The command seating position is always welcome for me. The interior is nicely laid out, and the materials all look and feel upscale. Not a huge fan of Cadillac's touchscreen (no longer officially called CUE), but it seems to be getting better or I'm getting used to it. Love the Escalade's exterior design. It's dramatic, imposing and gives Cadillac something that's a true style-leader. All that being said, I'll be interested to see how Caddy iterates the Escalade. The Lincoln Navigator is an excellent product and a worthy adversary. Cadillac would be wise to keep its SUV flagship fresh. Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: I was not excited to get into the Escalade. This is really not my cup of tea. I used to love the Chevy Suburban, but that fondness has languished as my tastes evolved as these huge vehicles have modernized, losing the charm that drew me to them when I was younger.

Dealers mobilize to protect their margins from automaker subscription services

Six individual auto brands — Lincoln, Cadillac, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo — have established or are trialing a vehicle subscription service in the U.S. Three third-party companies — Flexdrive, Clutch and Carma — run brand-agnostic subscription services. And three automakers — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors — have also launched short-term rental services. Dealers, afraid of how these trends might affect their margins, are building political and lawmaking campaigns to protect their revenue streams. So far, three states are investigating automaker subscriptions, and Indiana has banned any such service until next year. It's certain that those three states are the first fronts in a long political and legal battle. Powerful dealer franchise laws mandate the existence of dealers and restrict how automakers are allowed to interact with customers to sell a vehicle. On top of that, Bob Reisner, CEO of Nassau Business Funding & Services, said, "Dealers and their associations are among the strongest political operators in many states. They as a group are difficult for state politicians to vote against." In California earlier this year, the state Assembly debated a bill with wide-ranging provisions to protect against what the California New Car Dealers Association called "inappropriate treatment of dealers by manufacturers." One of those provisions stipulated that subscription services need to go through dealers, but that item got stripped out when dealers and manufacturers agreed to discuss the matter further. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a moratorium on all subscription programs by dealers or manufacturers until May 1, 2019, to give legislators more time to investigate. Dealers in New Jersey have taken their campaign to the state capitol, asking that the cars in subscription programs get a different classification for registration purposes. Automakers run the current subscription services and own the vehicles. Sign-ups and financial transactions happen online or through apps, leaving dealers to do little more than act as fulfillment centers to various degrees, with little legal recourse as to compensation amounts when they're called on to deliver or service a car. That's a bad base to build on for business owners who've sunk millions of dollars into their operations.

Cadillac Celestiq and Honda Civic Type R revealed | Autoblog Podcast #740

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They kick things off by talking about the latest vehicle reveals, specifically the Cadillac Celestiq show car and the 2023 Honda Civic Type R. They discuss Chevy's move to offer incentives to help prevent customers from flipping the new Corvette Z06. Greg has spent time behind the wheel of the 2022 Range Rover First Edition, while John has been driving the 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance. From the mailbag, a listener is looking to replace a 2003 Subaru Forester with something that can hold three dog crates and gets decent fuel economy. Another listener asks whether to keep a 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo or replace it with a 992-generation 911 for which he is awaiting an allocation. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #740 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cadillac Celestiq show car revealed 2023 Honda Civic Type R revealed Chevy offers incentives to prevent Corvette Z06 flipping Cars we're driving 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance 2022 Land Rover Range Rover First Edition Spend My Money: Replacing a 2003 Subaru Forester Spend My Money Update: New or 2008 Porsche 911? Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: