GotS?

A brand new Caddy sedans goes for ~ $50k, but a 3 year-old Caddy only goes for only ~ $20k. It's such a huge depreciation. It sounds like a such bargain.
Are there any downside to buying a used Caddy? I figured they are mostly driven by older population and not us kids.
I know that my Mom would love for me to have one as a second car when she comes to visit, and I wouldn't mind getting a Caddy that's fully loaded, slightly used with low miles for ~$20k instead of a SUV.

2002 Cadillac DeVille: DeVille got a new DVD navigation system for 2002. Leather upholstery became standard instead of optional on base models, and a tire-pressure monitor was standard on DHS and DTS. Added during the model year was an optional satellite radio that played commercial-free programs for a monthly fee.

2002 Cadillac Seville: A new DVD navigation system with voice recognition was added this year. Newly standard were heated seats and a rear-obstacle-warning system. Added during the 2002 model year was a satellite radio that played commercial-free programs for a monthly fee.

2003 Cadillac Seville: Appearance alterations include a body-color grille for the SLS and standard chrome wheels for the STS. The SLS also gains a standard driver-seat memory and, like the STS, now comes with a power tilt/telescoping steering wheel. Rain-sensing windshield wipers are newly standard for STS.

I checked Carmax.com and they have 2002 Caddy Sevilles and DeVilles for ~$20k with less than 30k miles.

Any thoughts? (And no old jokes plesease, I just turned 30 today, so I feel old enough as is...)


Thanks in advance,

LT

rockville

Just some general stuff:
1. Market demand. Unlike a BMW or Porsche there just aren

CG

The cars are boats but they really don't drive all that badly. The Northstar is sweet in these cars. Do not make the mistake of driving at 100mph and trying to stop, it can be downright scary.

I looked at a low mileage loaded CTS a couple of weeks ago for my parents and at 23K I thought it was a darned nice car.

To the question of the big Caddies being a good buy, I really don't know because the value seems to keep falling but it is a lot of car for the money.

Fast Shadow

It's just a common thing with luxury cars. Lexus suffers from it as well, though it's not as pronounced. So do Jag and Mercedes.

A great example of Caddy depreciation is the CTS-V. MSRP on a V is about $52,000 and you can get one for around $47,000 with GMS pricing. There are several 5,000 mile V's out there in the upper to mid 30k range. That is a nasty depreciation hit.

Palmateer

Due to excessive labor costs, GM cars are not a good bargain.

rai

A guy I know got a "great deal" on a Catera. Very low miles, cream-puff, etc... Well he had to replace the engine a few times. I believe it was under warranty but if it wasn't...

Slithr

I guess the same could be said for German cars.

bluedd

It's not really Caddy specific but domestic cars in general. They can mark whatever price on their cars but it doesn't mean those cars worth that much. You think you're driving at mid-30k GTO but the fact is mid-20k after discount is not hard to find so the car is not really a mid-30k car. Just by comparing features some cars might seem appealing but people tend to fail to regconize design, craftsmanship, quality of material and reliability (time and hassle even fixing things under warranty is cost to owners too). So I wouldn't take the msrp as a comparing point but real market value is how much you can buy one new after discounts.

no_really

My dad has owned and driven Cadillacs for over ten years. He buys them off lease, and saves a ton vs. new car prices. They are more expensive to fix than a much cheaper car, but are built very well, and you can buy a 2 yo model and drive it for say 50K+ miles and not expect any problems. Every car has things that break and need fixing, but Cadillacs, in my experience, tend to not have any niggling issues in 100,000 miles. A recent-model used Cadillac is a great deal, IMHO.

Anyone who gets a "great" deal on a used car, then has to get the engine replaced multiple times needs to consider other factors than the auto maker.

Warren J. Dew

It used to be that the main difference between Cadillacs and, say, Oldsmobiles was that you got better dealer service from Cadillac dealers. Very few warranty denials and prompt service. It stands to reason that once the warranty period ended, the value of the cars dropped to be close to the Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

I'm not sure to what extent this is still true.