This article is part of the GM Authority Mailbag series, where the GM Authority Crew features and replies to your questions, comments, and observations.
The following comes to us from greyflannel1:
Customers should be advised that the 2013 Cadillac SRX does not come with the trailering wiring for quick connect unless you get one with the trailer hitch installed. I checked with Customer Service and they verified this after I got a surprise when I was getting ready to install the pig tail quick connect trailering wire like the type that connected the wiring on the 2010-2012 SRX. The wiring for the pig tail was not there.
Why would Cadillac delete something like this on a $45-50,000 SUV? Why not have the wiring on it and add the few dollars to the price if they are cutting corners?
That’s a very good question and observation. What’s peculiar about this change, assuming that it’s a change to the 2013 SRX from the 2010-2012 model, is that it wasn’t listed on GM’s RPO-level changes. Nevertheless, a luxury vehicle such as the SRX shouldn’t skimped on this kind of equipment… didn’t Bob Lutz just talk about this?
Of course, one could argue that a customer who doesn’t opt for the trailer hitch from the factory probably doesn’t (or won’t) care about towing in the future, and that GM-Cadillac should rather put the money elsewhere in the car. If that’s the case, then something doesn’t feel right about the decision.
Comments
I honestly wouldn’t see why on earth you would carry a trailer around with your Cadillac…
Because that’s what Sport Utility is partially about.
But sport utility or luxury crossover in this case is not designed to tow a lot. I mean it makes sense. Do we see a lot of people using their X5 to tow stuff?? Not many. It’s just mainly bofs
Cadillac acknowledges that the SRX is a soft-luxury crossover, and that its nearest competitors are the equally-soft Lexus RX and Lincoln MKX. These are all glorified wagons, and you would hardly ever see anyone towing with them. The X5, on the other hand, is a rugged crossover…and can tow quite a bit more than the SRX ever could. The same is true of the MDX, ML-Class, Range Rover Sport and Cayenne/Touareg/Q7. Cadillac can keep the Theta-based SRX around, but it needs to supplement it with a more-premium, more-capable, and more-sporty crossover that (towing-rated or not) would certainly boost its credibility.
But then do you see people using the X5 and others to tow stuff? Not many. Even though the X5 and others are considered rugged.
Quite true! Most X5s are suburban cruisers or 6,000-lb tax-deductions. But something in the X5’s class would be much more suited to towing, and it would fit the image of the vehicle. Just due the X5’s muscular, sculpted shape, one could totally imagine something being towed behind it. The softly-sprung SRX (and the MKX and the RX and the XC60)? Not so much…
I regularly towed a single RTX Seadoo, and took an 8ft trailer with our 54″ Husqvarna on with my CTS. 380km with zero problems.
but that would be under 1000 pounds right?
Ya seadoo is about 850 and lawn tractor 500+trailer
Considering most all of these on the lots are dealer ordered to begin with they should have a few like that so the customer can get what they want and not have to wait considerable lengths of time for a specially ordered one to come in(@3mo?.)
Afterthought: Of course if it’s not avail. from the factory they probably could do a dealer installed option for them to make a little more money.
I would not expect a pigtail unless I ordered a trailer hitch package. That is why I ordered it on my GMC.
Not many people tow here and if they do buying new they order the hitch. This will only affect the used car buyers who may get one that has to add a hitch. To do so in not a big deal as people have been doing it for years and all the hitch companies offer them.
Not even real news here.
This is no where near what Uncle Bob was talking about. He is more concerned about appearance and things you touch in a car. Read his books and you will understand.
On the flipside, this is a real customer who is experiencing this situation (Lutz’s ideas all revolve around a superior customer experience via product). It all, ultimately, comes back to that — and this particular example (the customer experience) is one that’s not as positive as it could be, and would costs GM a very small amount to implement.
Real news? No, this is a Mailbag segment; the purpose of most Mailbag segments is to present opinions on topics that usually fall into the gray area. This is one such example: greater customer satisfaction vs. increased per-vehicle expense. Which one wins?
Ok this is one person out of how many that said dam I did not buy the trailer package and did not get a pig tail? You really think there is such disappointment in this small mostly unknown item to most buyers that it will tarnish the Cadillac Image.
I would be more concerned like they already are about improving the Cue system and things people feel and touch daily over this.
Generally most of these people have to buy and have someone install the hitch and the added cost of the harness is $30 and a little labor. In the end they generally pay no more and often less than the trailer package.
I agree with your point but not on this item. Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill. There are some real mountains out there they are need and are working on.
Yes, this is just one example, but how many others have experienced something similar, and haven’t voiced their frustration? How many don’t, for instance, know about or write in to us here at GM Authority as greyflannel1 did?
But I’ll entertain the possibility that the amount of owners experiencing something like this is low. Let’s assume this to be the case.
Then, let’s imagine that the owner in question switched from a competing brand (BMW, MBZ, Audi, or Lexus) to the SRX. Not having the hardware on a “luxury” product doesn’t prsent a very good experience for a “convert” now, is it? This is especially the case when BMW has fully wired its crossovers.
Perhaps there’s an argument to be made that if the customer didn’t opt for the package to begin with, they’re not planing on towing… but how delighted would they be if, sometime down the road, they did decide to tow something, and then find out that the underlying hardware was already included in the vehicle?
Answer: they’d be extremely delighted. And that’s what Lutz’s theories all stem from. Heck, that’s what the modern disciplines of customer satisfaction and marketing are all about: creating customer delight.
This is one very simple and very small issue that can be addressed by throwing a few dollars at it: including the hardware, and then being done with it. Compare that to research, time, and development costs associated with improving CUE, and the amount of time and resources needed to cross this item off the “complaints list” is nill.
At the end of the day, my argument is more about the principles driving the Cadillac brand and what it should stand for — luxury without compromises.
I really just could of tell him that either go to uhaul to have them installed (Or i thought they do that) or have somebody install for them and be cheaper than the ones that are dealer-installed.