Is the Cadillac XLR as bad as they say?

every so often I write an article about some past sports car to give my opinion on if it would be a good car to buy at today's prices. But after I wrote one about the Cad body over Corvette called the XLR I came across a troubling report that the damn top blows off on occasion if you drive with the windows open, So far, 33 cars had this happen and of course the aluminum tops were ruined. Replacement? Try $3000 for the top, maybe labor is extra. And then I find out the taillamps are, hey forget the price of Ferrari taillights, $3000 each!. So now my estimate of the XLR's value is sinking down around $3000 for the whole damn car and only after I figure out how to hold the top onto the car.


After what I found the Allante looks good by comparison....

Anything else I should add to my report besides these two mind-blowers?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ah, the old top blowing off just like corvettes. If you have the top properly latched at the windshield there is no way it can blow off. I have owned many C4,C5 & C6's and never had it happen to me even on the track. As for the tail lights can't help you there but why do you need a new one? Did you already crack it? The lamps are cheap if the housing is ok. But really, how often does anyone have to replace the whole housing? The car itself was considered a decent car back in the day but no SL. The corvette chassis was rock solid too.

 

No, they aren't bad. Fun to drive, reliable and with a design that has aged extremely well.

 

I think the V's are better than the non V's, But if you look at BaT, Barrett Jackson, etc the low mile ones are going pretty high these days

 

I wish Cadillac would've stayed with the XLR. In time I think it would've gained some strong traction and at least been a competitor to the SL's.....

 

Sorry for the late response, but I just saw this thread. I probably can comment better than many, we have had three XLR's all bought brand new. One Neiman Marcus edition 2004 (the car was a weird shade of purple, that in certain lights looked good), one blue with tan interior late 2004 (bought because the purple was just a little tough to daily drive), and then a 2006 XLR-V (red tan that we still own 15 years later).

The regular XLR was not a bad car for its era, it had adaptive cruise control, was a very solid car, and performed a little behind an SL500 at the time. The problems were primarily in my opinion the interior quality was atrocious (the seats started cracking before we even got these cars home, we had one the speakers mounted in the seats fell out), the blue car also had a problem with the rear differential that ultimately was fully replaced under warranty, the tires on the regular XLR were just to narrow, it didn't handle nearly as well as it was promised to. The blue car was my Dad's daily driver for 2 years and nearly 40k miles, I drove it to proms, high school events, dates, etc. It was the perfect car to "borrow" as it had great looks, without as much risk as it was basically just a car that had sharp styling.

The regular XLR was very far from a Corvette performance wise, regardless of sharing a chassis/assembly line/ etc. The V was a game changer, it brought the car up a few notches, which took it above a regular Corvette but far short of a C6 Z06. The V's biggest shortfall is yet again its handling, it just didn't have the bite and turn in of a sports car and lacked the brute power of an SL55 at the time in straight line performance. The transmission always appears to be searching for the right gear, but the motor does make a sweet sound when the exhaust baffles open up. The interior on the V, they tried to improve by using Alcantara for the seats and door panels and darker richer wood. Overall, its a decent car that I wouldn't tell anyone that loved it not to buy. In terms of the maintenance, it is a little scary to think about XLR specific items, BUT the non XLR items like brakes (are significantly less than an AMG), normal maintenance, etc. are fairly painless.

The styling is still eye catching and has aged very very well. Our V, has 20k miles on it after 15 year, we kept it all these years because it lost so much value AND was still fun to enjoy, lately it looks like they have stabilized in value the last few years, not that it matters much as the original sticker was $100K. My Dad's original goal was to drive the V every day like the blue car, he drove it for about 6 months, then he got an S63 sedan and never looked back.

Not sure if this helps or not.

Erik

 

I've had 2 ..... an "09 XLR-V, loved it and sold it a few months ago, same red/tan as above....Just got delivered today a 2006 XLR-V, same colors with only 6500 miles, that I couldn't pass up!

 

I’ve owned two. First was an ‘05 that I bought used. Second was an ‘07 V that I bought new. In about 10 years of ownership, the only issue I had was an error message on the ‘05 that the top was not down. Took it to the dealer and a sensor was adjusted and all was well again. Otherwise, both were issue free.
The engine on the V was sweet. If memory serves, it was 440 hp and DOHC. It was not a bad performer and was pretty unique for the time, 14 years ago. Wish I still had it.