Why Are The Cadillac Engine Treatments So Bad?
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A premium vehicle needs to embody its premium positioning completely. If a buyer plunks down top-shelf money, they should get a top-shelf product in every detail, from the way it sounds, to the way it drives, to the way it feels in the cabin. Even seemingly minor things, like the way an engine bay looks, should be properly executed. With that in mind, we’re disappointed by the contemporary Cadillac engine treatments. However, there’s a reason they are so ugly.
Before we get down to explaining the reason, let’s first talk about the problem. Popping the hood on a modern Cadillac model reveals a mess of wires, pipes, plastic, cables, and insulation. The one exception to this is the Cadillac CT6-V and the twin-turbo 4.2L LTA V8, which actually looks quite tasty cradled in the top-performer CT6. By contrast, every other Cadillac engine bay treatment falls short of the LTA’s eye-popping style, and by a considerable margin.
Why can’t every Cadillac engine look as good as the LTA?
As explained in a recent post from our sister publication, Cadillac Society, there’s actually a very simple reason for all this – the Cadillac customer.
Speaking to an unnamed Cadillac insider, Cadillac Society learned that the automaker ignores engine aesthetics because “Cadillac owners don’t open the hoods of their vehicles.” The insider recounted a meeting where the sentiment was communicated by management.
With that in mind, it starts to make sense. Why spend the money to gussy up a Cadillac engine bay when the owners don’t even bother to pop the hood?
Of course, there are plenty of enthusiasts out there that do dive into their Cadillac engine bay on the regular, whether it’s for maintenance, or upgrades, or just to look at their vehicle’s beating heart. But while those kinds of folks are the majority on websites like GM Authority, they are unfortunately very much the minority in the world in general. Most car owners just want to get from A to B with comfort and convenience, and leave all those greasy bits to their mechanic.
That said, Cadillac’s direct rivals do offer much more aesthetically pleasing engine treatments by hiding cables, organizing the various engine components, and applying nice-looking plastic covers. The Mercedes-Benz GLC43 is one good example. And while such treatments do make simple maintenance a bit trickier, it at least makes things prettier under the hood.
The Mercedes-Benz GLC43 engine bay is much nicer to look at than the average Cadillac engine bay.
Do you agree that the Cadillac engine treatments need more attention? Or are you a fan of how contemporary Caddy’s look under the hood? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for ongoing GM news coverage.
This post was created in collaboration with our sister publication, Cadillac Society.
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I have complained about this often. Why put a cheap plastic cover on that looks like the on in a Chevy truck.
Dress up the engine a but so it looks higher quality for the extra money pay.
Case in point the Corvette and Fiero both did much to dress up the V8 and V6 stainless fasteners powder coated valve covers etc.
The black wing even with the wires looked better.
I agree that Cadillac engine bays are pathetic. My XT-5 looks like GM is embarrassed that they have to have an engine bay. I would like to open the hood and see a huge Cadillac emblem on the engine cover with some color. Maybe it’s just me.
The xt5 is an embarrassment.
The real reason…. Another cost cutting move.
Agreed, let’s call a spade a spade..they are CHEAP! We see it with the interior designs and materials, also the powertrain choices so don’t expect the engine bay to look anymore appeasing. Until GM management changes their mindset other than lets stick a battery in it and hope it sells mentality its business as usual. Granted the Escalade shows promise nothing else does……
What do you expect from a GM parts bin vehicle. It could have a Mexican 4 cylinder, a Chinese generic turbo, or whatever saves a few dollars. De Nysschen himself said there was really no difference between Chevrolet and Cadillac.
Lipstick on a pig?
As the owner of three Cadillacs, I agree that the look of the engine compartment has never been a factor in either my purchase or my ownership experience. Please keep putting the money into actual performance and quality over engine bling.
“Spend money where the customer sees it…not where they don’t.”
Enthusiasts see this kind of stuff and equate “brand value” to it.
A vast majority don’t…and won’t pay for it.
Finding that right balance has been the Vehicle Platform’s challenge for the past 40 years.
When BMW, MB, Audi, agree with GM and save a few bucks ill eat my words.
GM’s engines by far with out a cover look the best, Honda, Ford and others look like a wired nightmare. Most of GM’s engine bays have cables and wires nicely routed. Most covers in bays are for sound and not look. I rather have simple cover that’s easy to remove. Most of these other ones are a mess and a pain in the ass to remove. It also makes it very hard to wash the engine down and see where leaks might be.
“Speaking to an unnamed Cadillac insider, Cadillac Society learned that the automaker ignores engine aesthetics because “Cadillac owners don’t open the hoods of their vehicles.” ”
That’s because Cadillac customers are middle class people that truly do just want to go from Point A to Point B. There was a time when Cadillac attracted the affluent who appreciated fine things. No more.
Cadillac pays lip service to being a product for the dreamers and those who dare. In reality, there is nothing daring about Cadillac nor their customers. They attract aging middle class buyers who still think the name means something. They are folks who, after contemplating a $50,000 Highlander, make the calculation that they could “get a Cadillac!” for the same money.
GM shouldn’t be building Cadillacs on the cheap for the buyers they have now. They should be building fine cars, and the CT6-V Blackwing was an example of that, for the kinds of buyers they claim to want. I think this admission from GM is profoundly telling and sad.
Some years ago, I read the David Kiley book ‘Driven’ which tells the inside story of BMW. I remember a BMW engineer talking about how they obsess over the details and specifically talking about the attention given to the inside of door map pockets and consoles. He said the company lavishes attention there because they never want their customer to touch a cheap surface and feel “snookered” – and that was his exact word, He went on to say that if a customer ever got the impression that BMW had snookered them on the inside surface of the map pocket they would wonder where else the company had cut corners. Compare that to GM who says, in effect, that they know where customers won’t look so they can for sure cheap-out there.
This culture may work and even be necessary at Chevrolet where they are building products for the mass market and price is very important. A $60,000 Malibu, lavishly engineered, works for nobody. I get that. However, as I think Johan de Nysschen tried to get across to the powers-that-be at GM, Cadillac must not be ruled by the same cost-focused thinking. The fact that they so clearly are explains why they are no longer a brand for truly discriminating buyers.
Are we seriously acting like we are shocked by the GM Beancounters? Lol
Having had custom cars with lots of chrome under the hood and on my 2nd caddie….its rather putrid under the hood…looks like my GMC p/u….
Nothing says luxury like doing the minimum.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I don’t like any of those plastic engine covers; I prefer to see the ‘mechanicalness’ of an engine compartment. When the LS-series engines first appeared, I thought they were ugly—until I came to realize the engineering reasons for why everything was where it was/as it was.
As far as Cadillacs are concerned, I’d guess that very few owners of that marque ever open their hoods. That’s not an indictment of those owners, just a commentary on the type of people who buy Cadillacs as opposed to, say, the type of people who buy Camaro ZL1s or Shelby Mustangs.
It’s all part of the B minus execution of the modern Cadillac. GM isn’t sweating the details, for sure.
Not only in the engine bay. Take a look at the center mag wells caps. the last year Cadillac had center mag wheels caps logo paint was 2014 on alls caddy. May be it is a cut in the budget. Look all the others companies, Mercedes, BMW, porche, Alfa Romeo, and many others, Chevrolet has the logo center mag wheels. It is not a good way to cut on the prestige of the Cadillac.
On the Mercedes, maybe all that engine covering is one of the reasons they say it costs $500. for the dealership to open the hood.
Just to reiterate what others are saying here, and that is most Cadillac customers dont care about engine dressing. Other entry level luxury brands have similar cheap looking engine bays also.
Kind of funny that this story comes out. I recall how nearly everyone would open the hood or ask for the hood to be opened for many years. This was in the mid-west when I started in the business in 1988 at the Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda dealer. I just can’t recall customers NOT wanting me to show them under the hood. Or, maybe I just took it upon myself to do so?
Now fast forward to the present. I’ve been at this Mazda/Volvo dealership for 4 years now. Maybe it’s because we are in LA. Maybe it’s just that customers have changed. I don’t know. But I can tell you that I can’t remember a Volvo customer asking me to “pop the hood”. It’s like they just don’t care. Mazda? That’s a different story. Not a lot, but a few open the hood or ask me to do so.
I do feel that my 2018 Encore under-hood looks just fine.
Does anyone know WHO Cadillac’s competition is??? From all information put out by GM/Cadillac, it is clear GM sees Cadillac’s only competitor is COSTS…………………………