Apparently Cadillac owners had an opinion about this issue as well.
09 CTS-V Test Drive - Cadillac Owners Group

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"What you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy. “The jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication.”
Harmony happens whenever different parts get to form a whole by means of congruity, concord, symetry, consistency, conformity, correspondence, agreement, accord, unity, consonance…….

Thanks for the link B...

Interesting stuff even if it's from a thread prior to the V actually hitting the showroom floors.

I can't say enough how bad of a practice this is and it's a darn shame. Seems like a nice enough car that could have found a home in many a garage that will now buy German instead.

Wish certain car dealers weren't so short sighted. I guess if you're going to fail, might as well go down in blazing flames...

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss

Yep,
according to some apparently the practice of
"no test drives" was in the works from jump
street. I guess if you figure you've got them all
sold no need for test drives.

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"What you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy. “The jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication.”
Harmony happens whenever different parts get to form a whole by means of congruity, concord, symetry, consistency, conformity, correspondence, agreement, accord, unity, consonance…….

Yes thirty years can make a difference. I actually like the early to mid 80s turbo cars myself.

I'd say MrLabGuy summed up my opinion, though to some other people's point, a better interface between corporate and the dealer network could positively effect that, or so you would think.

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2001 E53 3.0 5pd

B-Line I thought that they would allow a test drive if you negotiated a deal and the deal would be subject to a test drive.

Seems like you can test drive the car if you are serious. If you are interested in the car why not do the deal subject to a test drive?

That is the problem Blue. Who in their right mind would negotiate the sale of a car they are not even sure they are going to buy just to test drive it???

They were interested in other cars as well at that point and wanted to do a comparison test drive.

How can I be serious if I haven't driven the car? I'm not serious about it. Quite the contrary. I think Cadillac in general is a brand I would stay away from. - I do remember when my Granddad drove Cadillac's though. They were something special then... But today.... Not so much...

The only way I would be serious about the car is if I was soooo impressed with the test drive, I would be willing to look past all of Cadillac's other issues.

In the same breath, I don't take negotiating a cars price lightly. If you were to ask any of the umpteen people I have helped buy/lease cars, they and their salesperson and finance manager will tell you, I'm a rabid dog. I don't allow people to get taken advantage of by a typical or lets call it, less than ethical sales team that might not present ALL the best finance/lease numbers etc.

And negotiating the deal requires time, effort and a lot of work on my part.

I'm not going to go through that routine with someone until I know the vehicle is something I want. Even then, I usually don't negotiate with salesman/finance managers.

I do my research, I learn what the buy rates are and what the invoice prices are and then I make offers. Simple as that.

Ex: "Hi, do you have a Blue X5 4.8is? Yes? Great! Does it have Nav? Yes? Great!" I'm willing to pay $1100/mo for a 12k/yr. mile, for 36 months, with minimum drive off including, First, Title, Reg and Acq fee. And I know the residual is set to 55%. The BMWNA money factor buy rate is .00125. Since I am not going to pay the dealership for up-charging me on BMW financial services buy rate, and since the invoice price is XXXXXX, I will give you $500 over invoice for negotiated sale price. So if you crunch the numbers which I have, that puts the monthly rate at $1101. If you say yes to me right now, I'll come buy the car this afternoon. If this deal isn't right for your dealership, I'll give it to someone else. And I will not accept any hidden fee's or last minute "advertising fee's or prep fee's, etc.
- So, do you want the deal or not?"

That is how I buy cars. I get informed, I make phone calls, I find out what I need to know and then when I"m ready I pull the trigger. And my sale goes to the first person who has the car I want, color I want, configured the way I want it and accepts my offer...

I have no time for the bullshit of car salesman and finance managers.. Their business is to exploit what the buyer doesn't know.

And I'm not going to go through all that for a test drive.. No thanks.. Guess we won't buy an American car even though my taxes are subsidizing them.

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss

M5 bites the dust.

Check the article here

LeMans, couple issues with this comparison.

First, the M5 has been around for a few years now and will be replaced soon.

Second, Roebling is a very tight race track where the V's huge torque advantage will come into play and the high-revving V-10 cant really stretch it's legs.

Also, I just want to the Atlanta Auto Show this weekend and sat in a CTS-V. I can say that after getting my hands on both cars that that the fit and finish in the BMW still way ahead ot the V. It wasn't just evident on the major items, but the simple things as well such as the way the door sounded when it shut and the buttons for the power seats. They looked so cheap in the Caddy. Just simple blocks with no visible proof that the designers gave it any thought at all. I know that sounds anal, but the small details is where BMW is still light years ahead. I have heard how great the interior is in the Caddy now, but it really wasn't in the same league as the M5, IMO.

I was going to post this in another thread, but it seems to fit here so, it is funny how much physical room Chevy/GM and Chrysler had on the showroom floor compared to other manufacturers and how much was wasted space. Ford had a ton of people in their display where Chrysler was a ghost town and Chevy wasn't much better. The only cars that stood out to me for Chevy were the Corvette (the ZR1 and Z06 are insaine) and the Cobalt SS was a good looking small car. Otherwise, it was crap town. The new Camaro is uglier than the Charger and both companies deserved to be B-slapped for wasting out tax dollars on these vehicles. They are absolutely disgusting in person. It was actually sad in the Chrysler camp where models and sales people were walking around looking at the floor and yawning because there were literally no customers to talk to.

On the other hand, Ford had it going on. A much smaller display area (probably cheaper to rent) and better vehicles. The Mustang is light years ahead of the Charger and Camaro and the new Taurus SHO looked really good and sort of European-ish. I was actually impressed with it.