[xlr]

Unlike a Corvette Z06 where almost every car was pre-ordered and sold and they sold and sell for over sticker, I dont see this with the V.

While dealers are asking sticker or sticker plus a quick search on GM buy power shows a large stock available on dealer lots. Also there is such a hugh mark up from invoice that I am interested in buying one but will wait for reason to kick in with dealers. I dont these cars beiing pre-sold and flying off showroom floor.

My dealer called me and said he just got one in and he is asking 102K. I told him thanks but no thanks. Also, 2007 is just around the corner I think GM made a big mistake calling this a 2006 so late in model year (why is Escalade a 2007 now?)

Finally, how can GM not offer blue tooth for 100K? Everytime they do something right they do something stupid.

 

[Eyedoc]

GM is not the only one doing things stupid. I was looking into the Lexus hydrib SUV. It does not have XM, but does have Bluetooth. I called the dealer and he admitted that some Lexus have Bluetooth, some have XM and a few have both. No reason for this disparity.

I think that GM is not offering bluetooth becasue it would decrease the use of OnStar calling.

 

[rick1827]

GM is not the only one doing things stupid. I was looking into the Lexus hydrib SUV. It does not have XM, but does have Bluetooth. I called the dealer and he admitted that some Lexus have Bluetooth, some have XM and a few have both. No reason for this disparity.

I think that GM is not offering bluetooth becasue it would decrease the use of OnStar calling.

Hey, You think that's dumb listen to this. On my 135K MB S55 not only do you get old style nav that requires 10 discs and is completely useless, no XM, no Bluetooth, and if you want anything simular to on-star you have to buy there speciality phone for 1K. I have tried numerouse sterio shops and no one has figured out how to get XM (or Sirus for that matter) into one of these cars other than using a radio reception device which does not work well. All this for 135K!

 

[Quixotic]

Nobody said the MBZ SL was a good value.

 

[deelmakur]

This is a great car, but not at that price. These guys must have meetings with themselves at GM. Unlike most hot new exotic vehicles, you find many on lots, just searching GM Buy Power. While they can reallocate units in the beginning, to areas where there is more demand, I've never seen one like this not have a waiting list for the first year. The limit on colors is a huge mistake (Black seems to dominate the unsold back log). When Fiat (via Ferrari) reintroduced the Maserati, they sold them at breakeven, just to establish brand. Lexus did the same thing in the beginning, and the new Bentley GT could have easily broken 200 grand, given demand, yet they held it at 160 thousand. Marketing for this car has been "stealth", and most dealers are clueless about it. What a shame. This baby is priced 20 grand over the upcoming new Jaguar XKR, and even Aston Martin has a unit at 115 grand now. Sticker should have been 85K . The mark up between dealer cost and MSRP is the biggest I have seen in a long time. They will screw this one up just like the SSR, and once again, prove why they are in the dumper, with little hope. Hold your powder. Frustrated dealers, hung with big floor plan costs, will soon blink. How do you spell A-L-L-A-N-T-E?

 

[rick1827]

This is a great car, but not at that price. These guys must have meetings with themselves at GM. Unlike most hot new exotic vehicles, you find many on lots, just searching GM Buy Power. While they can reallocate units in the beginning, to areas where there is more demand, I've never seen one like this not have a waiting list for the first year. The limit on colors is a huge mistake (Black seems to dominate the unsold back log). When Fiat (via Ferrari) reintroduced the Maserati, they sold them at breakeven, just to establish brand. Lexus did the same thing in the beginning, and the new Bentley GT could have easily broken 200 grand, given demand, yet they held it at 160 thousand. Marketing for this car has been "stealth", and most dealers are clueless about it. What a shame. This baby is priced 20 grand over the upcoming new Jaguar XKR, and even Aston Martin has a unit at 115 grand now. Sticker should have been 85K . The mark up between dealer cost and MSRP is the biggest I have seen in a long time. They will screw this one up just like the SSR, and once again, prove why they are in the dumper, with little hope. Hold your powder. Frustrated dealers, hung with big floor plan costs, will soon blink. How do you spell A-L-L-A-N-T-E?

When ever you get a car this expensive, you are not going to see them fly off the showroom floor. for example, MB Dealers are offering up to 12K off sticker for the SL500. SO, this is not just a GM problem. It is a problem with cars costing this much money.

 

[deelmakur]

I disagree. This is a great car, but the Cadillac nameplate does nothing for it. I have a 2005 Bentley Continental GT. I waited 2 years, including 10 months after it had actually hit the showrooms. Same experience when I got a Prowler. The XLR-V price point is silly. That engine, and a few updates, cannot possibly add nearly $30,000 to the cost. Savvy car buyers know that while a vehicle is a depreciating asset, one priced so out of proportion to what it is, will free fall in the secondary market. They have a right to charge what they want, but the proof of how mistaken they are is in the inventory pile up. I spend the winter in South Florida, and I had seen the first one Ed Morse, in Delray Beach, got in. They actually got two, and neither was pre-sold. According to the GM Buy Power website, they still have 2, and a quick search for available inventory showed 28 vehicles within a 150 miles. One assumes that Florida got a higher number of vehicles, initially, than many other parts of the country, taking into account seasonality.

 

[Guest]

I disagree with you..................You have to drive this V before you knock it. It makes my 04 XLR seem like a toy. To many people are making an opinion based on $$$$$$$$$'s.
I can change the exhaust sound with a push of a button, get the aggressive driving mode, by moving the shifter to the left into the gate. It's like having two different cars that can do what you ask of it at any given moment. Get stared at like I'm a rock star, mobbed almost every time I get out of the car. The latter of course isn't what I really want, but it sure does make you feel good.
It's a Gorilla in a Tuxedo

 

[rick1827]

I disagree with you..................You have to drive this V before you knock it. It makes my 04 XLR seem like a toy. To many people are making an opinion based on $$$$$$$$$'s.
I can change the exhaust sound with a push of a button, get the aggressive driving mode, by moving the shifter to the left into the gate. It's like having two different cars that can do what you ask of it at any given moment. Get stared at like I'm a rock star, mobbed almost every time I get out of the car. The latter of course isn't what I really want, but it sure does make you feel good.
It's a Gorilla in a Tuxedo

I agree. From a performance standpoint, it is A LOT more car. Is it worth 100k? Well, I think that is up to the buyer to decide. But I can tell you that i have a lot more fun driving this car than my 04.

As for the comments on the Bently, those cars are basically Volkswagons. Nice car, but they are now being made in far greater numbers than ever before. They are readily available and also being discounted.

I look at it this way. You really need to be making at least 200K per year to even think about buying one of these cars without being financially irresponsible. I don't know the exact numbers, but something like only 10% of the US population makes more than 200K. That is not a big number when you compare it to the general population. So, cars like this are always going to be directed at a limited market. that said, my dealer is taking all of them the factory will allow.

 

[mswaim]

Wow, stating the Bentley GT is basically a Volkswagen does little to support the rest of your statement since nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, only its funding comes from Volkswagen, the rest is pure automotive genius.

The Bentley may not be as chiseled as the XLR aerodynamically speaking, however it is:

faster
more powerful
more technologically advanced
better standard equipment + (options up the kazoo)
AND - it has bluetooth.

The XLR is a nice car, the XLR-V is an even nicer upgrade, but saying the Bentley is basically a Volkswagen is much like saying the XLR-V is basically a Cimarron with a convertible hard top.

 

[rick1827]

Wow, stating the Bentley GT is basically a Volkswagen does little to support the rest of your statement since nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, only its funding comes from Volkswagen, the rest is pure automotive genius.

The Bentley may not be as chiseled as the XLR aerodynamically speaking, however it is:

faster
more powerful
more technologically advanced
better standard equipment + (options up the kazoo)
AND - it has bluetooth.

The XLR is a nice car, the XLR-V is an even nicer upgrade, but saying the Bentley is basically a Volkswagen is much like saying the XLR-V is basically a Cimarron with a convertible hard top.

I am glad you like it. I drove one before I bought my AMG. Nice enough car. But, it has little torque off the line, all it's speed is at the top end. The rear visability was bad at best. Technologically advanced? I don't know. Seemed like a basic formula to me in that it uses simple turbo charging to achieve it's power. Advanced would be a car that achieves that power AND still got reasonable gas milage (ie XLR).

Also, the only reason you waited that long for the car was that Bently had to completely shut done for 1 year to get ready to built it. There were absolutely NO Bently built for 12 months. That will definetly drive up demand.

Better standard equipment? Please, they did not even have satelite radio.

 

[213XLRV]

There might be price resistance to a Cadillac at $100,000, but let's put that aside for a moment and consider the worth of the car relative to the XLR.

First the XLR-v engine. It isn't just a Northstar with a supercharger. This is a thoroughly re-engineered derivative, with many 4.4L-specific components, and then it is hand-built by a single engine builder, racing style. It is not a subtle upgrade nor a crude tuner bolt-in. The 4.4L engine dramatically changes the character of the car compared to the already excellent 320hp 4.6L Northstar.

Then there is the transmission. The new GM 6L80 speed shiftable auto is intelligent, strong, adaptable and exceedingly smooth. It's as much an upgrade over the XLR's 5 speed as is the 4.4L Supercharged over the 4.6L NA Northstart.

The interior has 360 degrees of hand-stitched leather on all the surfaces just below eye level. Even in back of your head. The wood and metal components are more luxurious and crafted.

The suspension is performance tuned, including differences in the magnetorheological shock tuning, spring rates, bushings, etc.

The car comes standard with 19 inch wheels and performance run-flats, Pirelli Euforis, which have impressed me so far.

The result is a car that feels and drives in an different league entirely from the XLR. So, if you believe the XLR is fairly valued around $75K, then you have to appreciate the value of what you get in the V for $25K more.

So there's that perceptual barrier out there -- Is a Cadillac worth a hundred large? What will my friends say? Will I have to explain this?

The markup on the car is larger than competitors, if you view invoices as an apples-to-apples comparison. But to be honest, that should not be so much of our concern. The issue is, Does the car deliver value relative to the market at large? To that I answer yes.

Given the hand-wrenched engines, capacity for this car is limited. If you loss-leadered it for $85K, then the base XLR would have to be $59K and that's not reasonable.

By the way, the car looks killer in black, and it is one of the blackest paints I've ever seen. It also needs constant attention to keep it looking fresh. Oh well, we all know that's the price of black on a cherry car.

I bought my XLR-v satisfied that I was getting value. I drove and priced the SL55, Maserati, etc. Drive a Corvette and then drive an XLR-v and you'll understand how stark that choice is (both good ones for different reasons). At the end of the day, every stratospheric car is subject to massive depreciation. Small things can make values plunge. We don't buy these things because they are financially responsible indulgences. I expect to keep my XLR-v long enough for the economics to be a distant distraction easily buried by the experience of driving the car.

Phil

 

[mswaim]

I am glad you like it. I drove one before I bought my AMG. Nice enough car. But, it has little torque off the line, all it's speed is at the top end. The rear visability was bad at best. Technologically advanced? I don't know. Seemed like a basic formula to me in that it uses simple turbo charging to achieve it's power. Advanced would be a car that achieves that power AND still got reasonable gas milage (ie XLR).

Also, the only reason you waited that long for the car was that Bently had to completely shut done for 1 year to get ready to built it. There were absolutely NO Bently built for 12 months. That will definetly drive up demand.

Better standard equipment? Please, they did not even have satelite radio.

Geez Rick, You must have driven a real dog, the one I was in pushed a 0-60 times better than advertised. It's an all-wheel drive, twin-turboed platform with enough torque to pull tree stumps. The "simple turbo charging" you reference is the same configuration MB is utilizing to push their V-12 powered S65 AMG to its lofty performance levels. You didn't specify your model of AMG, however the Bentley is faster than the CLS55 AMG. The Bentley can be ordered with a heating steering wheel, massaging lumbar support system, a TV tuner for the entertainment system, etc. Last time I looked my XLR didn't have any of those options and - don't forget, it has Bluetooth!!! BTW - No XM radio since its built for the brits and there is no such animal over there. However the stock sound system is so far ahead of the XLR (XLR-V) that it's not worth commenting on. Hell, my wife's H2 has a better radio!

Remember, I'm not here to throw rocks at either the XLR or its bigger brother - I just recognize and respect a really nice car when I see it. I have a golf partner in Carmel who owns a GT so I have had opportunities to both drive and ride in one, and I enjoyed it very much. But, I also like driving around in my wife's H2 so who can account for taste? She owns a Jag and an H2 and the Jag has been sitting so long I'm not even sure it will start!

 

[XLR-V]

I belong to a car club and have several friends that own respectable collections. I have been shocked by their reaction to the XLR-V. One friend has already launched a search to buy one. This car is a sleeper, and I now feel it has the potential to be a serious collectible in the future; however, this is not the reason I bought it. I was floored the first time I saw it, and it seems to be generating a similar reaction with others, whose opinions I respect greatly. I bought this car for love and plan to have a blast with it. Beyond that, I could care less what happens to the price.

 

[Guest]

A lot of people here are having an awful lot to say negatively about the V and don't even own one. I think you have to own one before you beat it to death.

 

[deelmakur]

The XLR-V is a magnificent car.Some of us just think it is overpriced. If we are wrong, it will reflect itself in inventory on hand in the next 6 months, or so. The comments on the Bentley are not correct. I have one, and it is the most powerful machine I have ever driven. The GPS is old fashioned, and that was a mistake. It has some VW parts, in the same way Jaguar and Aston Martin have a few Ford things. The engine is essentially two VW V6's, combined to produce a W12, with a turbo on each. Don't get in the way of it, and if you can find one at discount, I'd like to know. That said, it will be interesting to see how the XLR-V sells. I was more than surprised to see as many available as I did, on the GM website. It was inconsistent with a car in heavy demand, and that has to be a pricing issue.

 

[Jetboyphx]

The XLR-V is a magnificent car.Some of us just think it is overpriced. If we are wrong, it will reflect itself in inventory on hand in the next 6 months, or so. The comments on the Bentley are not correct. I have one, and it is the most powerful machine I have ever driven. The GPS is old fashioned, and that was a mistake. It has some VW parts, in the same way Jaguar and Aston Martin have a few Ford things. The engine is essentially two VW V6's, combined to produce a W12, with a turbo on each. Don't get in the way of it, and if you can find one at discount, I'd like to know. That said, it will be interesting to see how the XLR-V sells. I was more than surprised to see as many available as I did, on the GM website. It was inconsistent with a car in heavy demand, and that has to be a pricing issue.

The inventory may also reflect dealers trying to get over MSRP for the V's. A lot of folks will pay full sticker for the latest and greatest from GM but over MSRP is a tougher steak to chew for most potential XLR owners. I remember the mess dealers made of the GTO launch. They were trying for 4-6,000 over MSRP in the spring and then as inventories built up they had to blow them out at 20% off MSRP by September.

 

[Jetboyphx]

Just did a check in the 250 mile radius of Phoenix and it only came up with three in stock. A black one in Tempe, a black one in Tucson and a red one outside of Vegas. That is still pretty slim picking out west.

 

[Guest]

:iagree I do agree with you jet. Some out west here have gone for 115K. We have people out here willing to pay any price for what ever it is they want and that will keep inventory up. I paid MSRP and happy to know that when my car came in I didn't have to hassle price. You take other areas of the country that aren't this affluent and there going to sit for a while. Just my feelings on this.
Bob:cheers

The inventory may also reflect dealers trying to get over MSRP for the V's. A lot of folks will pay full sticker for the latest and greatest from GM but over MSRP is a tougher steak to chew for most potential XLR owners. I remember the mess dealers made of the GTO launch. They were trying for 4-6,000 over MSRP in the spring and then as inventories built up they had to blow them out at 20% off MSRP by September.

 

[djdom106]

I agree with the price discussion going on. I own a V, have 4100 miles on it. For $85,000 I would stack this car against anything out there. You add that extra $15,000 on there and even I have some doubts. Do I think I'll ever get a good return for this car when it's time to trade? I doubt it. Do I think it's gonna hold up to my driving style? Only time will tell, but the bottom line is this. The car runs great, it swallows asphalt as good as anything out there and does it with not only finesse but some gentle brute force as well. I'll keep you updated, but I live in Texas and the weather's great so I got to hit the road with the top down and supercharger screamin'