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Received a call from a friend who works at the local Scottsdale Cadillac dealer, said they have a few new ATS' in stock and wanted to see if I was going to stop over and check it out Well...how can one refuse that offer?!
Think I'll stop Thursday around noon or after work and kick a few tires. I honestly wouldn't mind having an ATS in the garage next to the F-150 and 'Vette. I'm a bit taken back by the price though; the version that includes the CUE/Nav along with the configurable heads-up display and magnetic ride starts at $45K for the 2.0L Turbo or $47K for the 3.6L DI. I know it's a Cadillac and it's competing directly with the 3 Series but damn, that's a lot for a small car! If it were closer to $40K fully-loaded, I would be a bit more interested.
Has anyone here looked at the ATS or thought about buying one?
I like the style, love the interior, and it gets great gas mileage in 2.0L Turbo without sacrificing power.
Definitely would look at Charger SRT8 or a Chrysler 300 SRT8 for that kind of money. It would blow that thing out of the water in looks and performance.
Definitely would look at Charger SRT8 or a Chrysler 300 SRT8 for that kind of money. It would blow that thing out of the water in looks and performance.
No interest in either. Don't get me wrong, both are great vehicles but not something I'd care to drive on a regular basis and I'm still leery of the quality of Chrysler products.
I thought about trading the 2010 F-150 off this winter and trading up to a 2013 with Ecoboost, but the more I think about it, the more I'd like to get a car to commute and save the truck for pulling the boat. Just mulling the idea around in my head, I won't buy anything anyway until this winter at least. Thought about a slightly used 2012 CTS but I'd really like the CUE interface if I was getting a vehicle to commute in each day. Thought about a used 2009-2010 Mercedes S400 or S550 as well but not sure about buying a used Mercedes without a warranty.
But I'm going to check the ATS out and will post impressions Thursday or Friday.
I was drooling over an ATS on the showroom of a Caddy dealer I was doing work for yesterday. It was Opulent Blue, making me want it even more, with the black interior. The sticker wasn't on the window and I was too busy oogling it to look for it, but that is a NICE car.
Definitely would look at Charger SRT8 or a Chrysler 300 SRT8 for that kind of money. It would blow that thing out of the water in looks and performance.
The big engine Mopar's are beasts, but the ATS is going to be a completely different kind of drive, and will appeal to a different buyer.
I drug myself over to my companies Cadillac franchise a couple weeks ago to drive one. The only one they had available for me to play with was the base 2.5L automatic. It was overall a very nice car, but that powertrain simply shouldn't be sold in that car and I don't think I could ever recommend buying one with it. It's not a bad engine/trans combo...in a Malibu, but is a total mismatch for this car. That aside, everything else about it was great and featured high quality materials and fit/finish even on the base car I was driving. The rear seat was surprisingly cramped, worse IMO then a 3-series, but still usable for short trips.
In my last thread about what car to buy next, I basically set a $40k ceiling on the purchase and a couple people suggested a new ATS. While I like the car, to get it the way I would want it easily pushes the price into $45k+ territory. If you give up on the goodies, you can get that to around $40k with the 2.0T, but then you are kind of missing out on a lot of what this car is about except for the performance. I do agree that there is a good deal of sticker shock involved especially when $45k+ easily puts you in decently equipped CTS territory.
Compared to a 3-series, not only does the ATS perform as well or better, it also is arguably a better value, you just have to get past the idea that you are spending 3-series-esque money. I think a lot of people had an image of a $40k price point to "get it all" and you can get that price, you just have to decide if you want the luxury/tech or the performance, you can't get both.
I think the biggest hurdle is that when you go to the dealer you are looking at rows of slightly used CTS's for less money. In my case when I looked at the price of an ATS equipped the way I wanted it (pretty much the same as you) I looked across the lot at a loaded CPO 2010 CTS-V with 37k miles on it that was stickered at $46,990. If I was spending $47k that day, I wouldn't have been leaving in an ATS. Ultimately I think used CTS's are going to be the biggest competitor to the ATS, at least on the ground at the dealer for the next couple of years.
I really like the ATS and in a few years depending on Cadillac reliability (I'm not familiar with it) they could be the preowned entry luxury car to buy. 40k+ is just a bit too high, regardless of the competition. 3-4 years if it's in the high to mid $20's I think this car will be a steal.
I drug myself over to my companies Cadillac franchise a couple weeks ago to drive one. The only one they had available for me to play with was the base 2.5L automatic. It was overall a very nice car, but that powertrain simply shouldn't be sold in that car and I don't think I could ever recommend buying one with it. It's not a bad engine/trans combo...in a Malibu, but is a total mismatch for this car. That aside, everything else about it was great and featured high quality materials and fit/finish even on the base car I was driving. The rear seat was surprisingly cramped, worse IMO then a 3-series, but still usable for short trips.
In my last thread about what car to buy next, I basically set a $40k ceiling on the purchase and a couple people suggested a new ATS. While I like the car, to get it the way I would want it easily pushes the price into $45k+ territory. If you give up on the goodies, you can get that to around $40k with the 2.0T, but then you are kind of missing out on a lot of what this car is about except for the performance. I do agree that there is a good deal of sticker shock involved especially when $45k+ easily puts you in decently equipped CTS territory.
Compared to a 3-series, not only does the ATS perform as well or better, it also is arguably a better value, you just have to get past the idea that you are spending 3-series-esque money. I think a lot of people had an image of a $40k price point to "get it all" and you can get that price, you just have to decide if you want the luxury/tech or the performance, you can't get both.
I think the biggest hurdle is that when you go to the dealer you are looking at rows of slightly used CTS's for less money. In my case when I looked at the price of an ATS equipped the way I wanted it (pretty much the same as you) I looked across the lot at a loaded CPO 2010 CTS-V with 37k miles on it that was stickered at $46,990. If I was spending $47k that day, I wouldn't have been leaving in an ATS. Ultimately I think used CTS's are going to be the biggest competitor to the ATS, at least on the ground at the dealer for the next couple of years.
NJ- You have absolutely hit the nail on the head! I agree with everything you've said.
When looking around on Autotrader, I can get a well-equipped 2009 or 2010 Caddy CTS-V for the same price as a new Caddy ATS with the premium package. You get so much "more" car with a CTS-V than you do with an ATS although the ATS does have a bit nicer interior and more tech gadgets.
I would also argue the ATS is a better value than the 3-Series. I also like the interior quite a bit more even though the backseat is more cramped.
If I was going to spend between $45k-$50k, I'd be hard pressed to even expand my list to include:
2009-2010 Cadillac CTS-V
2009-2010 Mercedes S550 or S400 Hybrid
Maybe even a 2010-2011 Mercedes E550
I really think the ATS tops off a bit high at close to $50K. I believe that Cadillac is overlapping the ATS and CTS a bit much and not creating the differentiation needed between the model segments. The CTS should start in the mid to upper $40K range while the ATS should top off at the bottom range of the CTS MSRP. I'm curious as to what the used market will be for the ATS in the next year or two.
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. I'm a bit taken back by the price though; the version that includes the CUE/Nav along with the configurable heads-up display and magnetic ride starts at $45K for the 2.0L Turbo or $47K for the 3.6L DI. I know it's a Cadillac and it's competing directly with the 3 Series but damn, that's a lot for a small car! If it were closer to $40K fully-loaded, I would be a bit more interested. 
