The fifth-generation Cadillac Escalade is definitely highly desirable, and more than a few Cadillac dealers are continuing to take advantage of that desirability with massive markups, despite GM’s warning.
For those readers who may have missed it, the president of GM North America, Steve Carlisle, issued a warning to GM dealers last year stating that they were “obligated to ethically and lawfully sell” vehicles and that some dealers have engaged in undesirable practices detrimental to a positive sales experience for customers. Chief among these practicers were attempts to “demand money above and beyond the reservation amounts,” as well as requesting that “customers pay sums far in excess of MSRP” to purchase or lease a new vehicle. For those dealers that continue to engage in such practices, Carlisle threatened to redirect vehicle allocations or take other recourse.
Unfortunately, it looks as though the threats didn’t stop some dealers from continuing to apply massive markups to the Cadillac Escalade. A GM Authority reader recently sent us a message stating they were looking to buy a new Escalade Sport last month, but found many dealers asking $15,000 to $30,000 over MSRP.
“Not going to pay it,” the GM Authority reader writes. “This is not a limited build like the Escalade-V. Just purchased a new 2023 Ford Bronco Raptor and paid MSRP, and this is an extremely limited build by Ford.”
A quick internet search reveals that our reader’s experience certainly isn’t unique. Huston Cadillac in Lake Wales, Florida, for example, is asking $149,690 for a 2023 Cadillac Escalade ESV 4WD Premium Luxury Platinum, a market adjustment of $30,000. Then there’s Arrowhead Cadillac in Glendale, Arizona, which is asking for $149,934 for a 2023 Cadillac Escalade Sport Platinum, a market adjustment of $25,000, plus some random add-ons. Jim Winter Cadillac in Jackson, Michigan is yet another example, asking for $144,900 for a 2023 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Sport Platinum, a market adjustment of $21,310. Funny enough, Jim Winter Cadillac lists the markup as a “GM Employee Discount.”
On the flip side, some dealers are actually discounting the iconic luxury SUV, such as Serra Cadillac in Washington Township, Michigan, which is deducting $11,914 for a 2023 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Sport Platinum, or Al Serra Cadillac in Grand Blanc, Michigan, which is deducting $10,615 for a 2023 Cadillac Escalade 4WD Sport. Although in these cases, the discount applies only to GM employees, as some readers pointed out in the comments.
All told, the auto market is still pretty crazy right now. Tread lightly.
As a reminder, the Cadillac Escalade is available with either the naturally aspirated 6.2L V8 L87 gasoline engine, or the 3.0L I6 LM2 turbodiesel Duramax engine. Under the body, the SUV rides on the GM T1 platform, while production takes place at the GM Arlington plant in Texas.
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Comments
Empty threats. GM ain’t going to do a damn thing to these dealerships. GM just had record prophets by producing less entry level models and producing low amounts of specialty models like the ZO6, Escalade V, CT5 V Blackwing and ZL1. This forces people to buy well equipped models at a higher cost and pay huge markups for the specialty models, which brings huge profits to GM. Mary Mary quite contrary even said that GM’s new business plan is to produce less to keep demand high.
Yes, May’s comment made me pause Mam. I have reserve for both Blazer and Lyric as I would take either, though I do think the Blazer will provide more smiles per mile!! I can’t wait to turn off traction control somewhere safe away from anything and eat 2K miles off the tires in 20 minutes or so!
So Mary, you get me excited panting after these vehicles, promising rampes up production “coming soon” but WEEKS LATER You admit to an effective slow down?! What gives?! Don’t use battery update excuse, that roll out is easy, quick and relatively cheap. Besides, you made this announcement weeks ago, before yesterdays battery cell update announcement. You can’t BS a fellow engineer. Brandt
I AGREE IN THE CHICAGO-LAND AREA DEALERS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LACK OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE ORDERING END USER AND THE DEALERSHIP MY DEALER ASKED ME IF I HAD GOTTEN AN EMAIL FROM GM THAT STATES IF THE HAVE ACCEPTED MY ORDER ???REALLY? THEY ARE NOT KEPT IN THE LOOP (TRY TO GET A DELIVERY DATE YOU WILL JUST GET A SONG AND DANCE) THEN THE DEALERSHIP HAS THE AUDACITY TO CALL YOU UP AND TRY TO BAIT AND SWITCH YOU SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE AN ORDER IN THE SYSTEM EVEN THOUGH YOU PUT YOUR $1000.00 DEPOSIT DOWN ON A NEW ORDER SPECKED VEHICLE … I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL GM FAN FOR 50 PLUS YEARS AS WELL AS MY FAMILY GM YOU HAVE LOST TOUCH WITH YOUR CUSTOMER…BASE FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR NEW PROFIT AGENDA …WHY IS THERE NO INVENTORY IN YOUR DEALERSHIPS TO CHOOSE FROM HOW ABOUT JUST ONE OF EACH SO MAYBE WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE WHAT THE COLORS LOOK LIKE ON THE ACTUAL VEHICLE YOU WANT TO ORDER… YOUR CADILLAC DEALERS ARE SAYING 9-12 WEEKS (IN CHICAGO NORTH SUBURBS) AND A 15 K PREMIUM…. MY ORDER IS FOR A GMC DENALI MY DEALER LOOKS AT ME AS IF I AM AN ALIEN WITH A GLAZED DONUT LOOK ON HIS FACE AND SAYS WE HAVE NO CLUE WHEN YOU VEHICLE WILL ACTUALLY GO TO PRODUCTION LET ALONE A DELIVERY DATE AND THAT THEY WILL CONTACT YOU FIRST BEFORE THE DEALERSHIP …YES I HAVE A DEPOSIT DOWN ON A GMC DENALI… IM ASSUMING THE STORY ABOUT THE COMPUTER CHIP SHORTAGE IS OVER OR IS IT STILL AN EXCUSE… PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES ..SINCERELY SUBMITTED
This guy is a tool. The only way to avoid this issue is to follow Tesla’s lead and sell direct. Everything you see at a stealership is paid for with money that we shouldn’t have spent. That’s all profit for them and drives up the costs of these vehicles. We need to eliminate dealerships completely.
I think you forget about Saturn and Scion, both no-haggle brands.
Come on global recession.
End the greed & high prices.
If you had an old nickel and could sell it for $100,000, would you sell it for a nickel? Greed is what capitalism is. Whatever the market will bear. I remember my uncle farmed and when the market was bad too much supply, he would pack only the best produce he could find, if the supply was short, he packed the ugliest produce out in the field he didn’t care what shape it was in just get as much out as he could. Be careful what you wish for you just might get it. No matter how safe you think you are it just might reach you!
I had a deposit on an Escalade V for almost a year. The week before it went into production the dealer called me and told me it would be $50k over MSRP. I laughed at them and canceled my order. I then called Cadillac who apologized and said there is nothing they can do about it and issued me a $100 coupon off my next service appointment. Thanks for nothing!
You should have laughed. Said no. You are selling the vehicle at the price I agreed to pay when I placed the order. If you don’t, I’m suing you for bait-and-switch, emotional distress caused by your attempted bait-and-switch, all lost wages I incur for having to take time off work to sue you, all attorney fees, and whatever punitive damages I can attach to my lawsuit.
Just putting a deposit down on an order doesn’t guarantee and lock in a price. It essentially just gives you right of first refusal The only thing that guarantees and locks in a price is a signed Purchase Order/Bill of Sale (signed by you and the dealer), showing all costs including vehicle price, fees, taxes, any add-ons, and final sale price.
They are two very different things, and many people think that just providing a simple deposit and waiting for the dealer to let you know when the car shows up is a firm commitment. Many people balk when presented with an Purchase Order/Bill of Sale document when “ordering” and don’t want to commit at that point [even though that locks you in and commits you to buy, the dealer can’t make changes…that would be a definite breach of contract.]
The Cadillac dealer here is still asking over for all models…
Escalade: $15k-20k, depending on trim and $50k over for the V
XT6: $10k
XT5, XT4, CT5, CT4: $4k-$5k depending on trim
CT4&5-V: $20k
CT5V-Blackwing: $50k
I bet their lots are full with the vehicles sitting.
Just goes to show that the dealerships don’t respect GM and not threatened on their supposed consequence. If you have to, just try to wait it out or shop at another dealership that is selling at MSRP.
And they don’t respect the customers, which is why they shouldn’t exist. Sorry, but direct sales like Tesla does is simply a better way, because it prevents these things from happening. Dealers should only be repair facilities. If they have to close down, oh well. Also, spending 5 hours to buy a car in unacceptable. Having ANOTHER salesperson try to lock you into an extended warranty and paint protection is unacceptable. Their days are numbered though.
The last 4 vehicles I’ve purchased I never went to talk to the sales manager or the finance guys. That said I’ve had to walk away on deals where they insisted I do and the would not complete the sale without them torturing me.
Can GM Authority please move the comment reply buttons away from the lower right corner of each posting?
Scrolling on a frequently. engages and opens the reply window way too frequently.
Geez, I wrote that before my 1st cup of coffee, and it shows…
The point remains. Scrolling often accidentally opens the reply box and keyboard.
Thank you for the suggestion. We will review the suggestion during our UX reviews.
Buyers are the only reason dealers get away with such pricing. Why does anyone pay over sticker price? Frankly, why does anyone pay sticker price? I last bought when I got 15% off sticker and I’m planning to wait till those days return. If nobody bought under these pricing games the dealers would stop.
Just playing Devils advocate Why is it okay to expect to negotiate under MSRP when inventory is plentiful and not expect to pay over when inventory is sparse or vehicle is in high demand?
Jenkins Chevrolet in Venice FL has $5k on every new vehicle, plus a load of dealer installed rubbish options that altogether amount to abot $10k on every vehicle, eg Traverse, Trailblazer, etc.
Never threaten your kids with things you are not prepared to follow through with.
There is an error in accuracy in this article. Serra Cadillac is NOT selling an Escalade for 11k off. It is advertising this online as a discount anyone can qualify for, however when you actually click on the real vehicle, it clearly states that the advertised price is for GM Employees only.
This kind of misleading advertising is illegal in most states.
Serra’s listing states at least three times that the discount is for GM Employee Pricing. Nowhere does it state on Serra’s site that the price is for “anyone”. Additionally, the site further states that the dealer sets the final price, which means they are reserving the right to make additional adjustments. Anyone thinking they can go in and get a $10,735 discount on that Escalade without being a GM Employee is delusional and wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in court.
Threatening unscrupulous dealers does nothing. Theses dealer have a tight network. All it would take is for GM to cut off all allocations for high demand cars to these dealers. Word would get out fast.
I’m a big Corvette fan. Have a 22 C8. Waited almost a year to get one at MSRP. I’m seeing inventory sitting at dealers while people sit on waiting lists because of over MSRP pricing.
I don’t know how GM doesn’t think this affects their brand. It turned me off from getting a Z06 or the ERay
The formula is quite simple really….you like what you see, good….show me the money and you can have what you want!
Obviously over stated but, this is Capitalism at it’s finest, however that also works both ways, if consumer interest isn’t there for the product or the dealer, then you have no business, so you have to get creative on both ends, and that is exactly what GM/Cadillac and the dealers association are doing, and for the most part, damn if it ain’t working cause Cadillac sells a lot of Escalades to those who can afford them, and if you can’t afford them, then you don’t have too much to say that’ll change the way both GM and the dealers do business. You can threaten both of these entities but they don’t care, because until they have a cash flow problem that affects them both, that is a lack of production and lack of sales, you’ll see this sort business being performed all over the USA. My advice, shop around because depending upon where you live and where a Caddy dealership is located, generally speaking the more expensive the location, the larger the dealer markup, this isn’t always the case but it would be a foolish dealer indeed, say located in Beverly Hills Ca. that would discount ANYTHING, cause the money is out there and so are the needs of the Rich and Famous! Ain’t Capitalism amazing!
Foolish. If the public stopped this buying frenzy for several months the price of these vehicles would correct themselves in market value quickly.
Arrowhead Cadillac (a Berkshire Hathaway store FKA as Van Tuyl) always had ridiculous addendums on their vehicles. That’s pretty much the case for every dealer in Arizona though.
From Arrowhead’s website:
ADDENDUM ZAKTEK – ZAKTEK UTIMATE PREMIUM PROTECTIVE COATING $ 399
ESC/ESV PLATINUMS – $25,000 Market Adjustment – The price has been adjusted with a Market Price Adjustment to reflect current market conditions of supply and demand, and is in addition to MSRP. Arrowhead Protection Package includes PREMIUM METALIZED SOLAR FILM $ 1299 LIFETIME WARRANTY FOR DEFECTS CLEAR DOOR EDGE GUARDS AND HANDLE PROTECTORS $ 249 LIFETIME WARRANTY FOR DEFECTS NITROGEN FILLED TIRES $ 229 FREE PRESSURE ADJUSTMENTS CADILLAC ACCESSORY WHEEL LOCKS $ 179 ZAKTEK ULTIMATE PREMIUM PROTECTIVE COATING $ 399 TOTAL $27355
Then you need to add another $599 for the doc fee. Total garbage
I think it was W.C. Fields that said “Never give a sucker an even break”. As long as there are idiots out there willing to pay extra for something, SELL IT to them.
Hmm…If I’m not mistaken, the “S” in MSRP does stand for “suggested”. This is, after all a free market society. The folks in the ivory towers in Detroit need to remember that this is the business model and culture THEY created. If any other business tried to operate the way the automobile industry is allowed to operate they would be in jail. You’re just gonna have to learn to live with the monster you have created.
I waited a year for an allocation to order an Escalade at sticker. I had emailed and talked to dealers everywhere, all were 5-20 over, which I refused to do, don’t want or need it that bad. It’s not the money, it’s the idea of getting ripped off. Sadly, several of my friends caved and paid the price, which is the actual problem. Dealers may be greedy, but people buying them demonstrate a form of greed too, IMO.
Just took delivery of my Escalade Sport 4WD SUV, from Alserra at MSRP. The process was smooth and easy, I highly recommend them
Florida Sheehan Cadillac
$25,000 over sticker and you have to buy one of there packages ie paint protection etc
When will we get the chips for park assist and start stop