Searching for Brougham in a Combover World: '17 Caddy CTS 3.6 AWD

I still enjoy my Palladium White Gold ‘17 MKZ hybrid. But I am still always looking for “the next one.” And so it was I was haunting McLaughlin’s website last week and saw this: New arrival, 2017 CTS V6. AWD. And was intrigued.

Back before I got the Z in late summer 2021, I drove several CTSs, preowned, and enjoyed them. But every frickin’ one had the damn 2.0 turbo four. Curses. And the XTSs that came in (all those had the 3.6 V6, thank goodness) were either rough or in unpleasing color combinations to your author.

And frankly, this car was in an unpleasing color combination too. But these cars are so damn hard to find with the V6 that I was willing to overlook it if the rest of the car was nice. And the wood trim was really pretty.

It was a nice car, albeit higher miles than ideal. Just short of 79K. My Z is coming up on 71K, but I wanted to drive one with the V6, and my friend at McLaughlin, Brian, was happy to let me take it for a spin.

It WAS well kept. Sure, there was road rash on all four wheels but the rest of the car was quite nice. No dings, no dents, no chips. The leather was nice, including the driver’s seat and steering wheel.

And the V6 was a lot of fun. I don’t know if it was just this car or the start/stop engine BS cars have had the last decade, but it was REALLY herky-jerky at a standing stop. It would smooth out and be fun, but at the next light it repeated itself. Most annoying. Also, it had the usual GM wear and tear.

The panorama sunroof worked fine, but the cloth covering the shade was already bagging down like it would on an ‘86 Caprice circa 1995.

The black rubber-tex on the front windows was worn off, and the plastichrome on the steering wheel trim had popped up in a wicked shard to the unwary. I should mention that McLaughlin hadn’t yet prepped and prettied this car up yet; it had just been traded in on a new Cadillac.

So I passed. But I did enjoy the car. The final gen CTS was the last really pretty Cadillac sedan. The current CT5 has grown on me, but it still isn’t half as attractive as one of these. But at least Caddy still makes sedans—for now.

Lincoln is dead to me since they’re now all combover, all the time. And I don’t need something as huge as a Navigator, though they’re attractive conveyances.

But if one of these comes in in red, blue or pearl white with a light-colored interior and sub 50K miles on the clock, Brian will be shooting me a text. I really love the looks. And the V6!