I own a 2007 XLR--- they are durable and well engineered, and as James reports, the magnetic ride provides a superb ride.

This car and the CTS-V wagon are two modern Cadillac classics, both are outstanding IMO.

SAAB invented cooled seats. GM inherited that when they bought SAAB. I am glad to see a young fellow interested in Cadillacs. Thanks for the reviews. I bought my first Cadillac when I was 23. It was a 68 Fleetwood, which I still have, 38 years later. I also drive a 2014 CTS sedan, since 2015. In addition, I have a 71 Coupe de Ville, 83 Fleetwood coupe and a 78 de Ville convertible by ACC. I have owned many others over the years. I am glad to see the interest in these Cadillacs. I guess that it is part of the American dream.

To me the XLR is the sportscar companion to a 2000's Chrysler 300C sedan. They both have a sort of "gangster car" look. I don't remember the year but I saw my first Cadillac XLR outside the Cadillac tent at the Amelia Island Concourse de Elegance, which was also the first time I ever sat in one.

Great review- fyi the top was designed and manufacture by a German company called Car Top Systems, who did the same for Mercedes and some Porsche models as well as others. They were bought out by Magna in 2005. Mercedes had nothing to do with the XLR’s top. The Evoq had a top that was designed (I think) in house with assistance from Metalcrafters who built the car. The front part of the roof retracted under the back then the whole thing retracted into the trunk, which opened from the front like the Mercedes. It was finicky and didn’t always work, and wouldn’t have made production since you’d need to practically put your head in your lap when operating it. It didn’t work when MT drove the car and didn’t when I saw it at the LA auto show. Those GM badges were the bright idea of someone in corporate who thought they needed a PR boost, and putting little GM badges on everything would elevate the corporate profile. After a while, they had some coffee, woke up to the fact it was just silly, and dropped it.

Thank you for bringing us your shared passion for the XLR. You did a great job highlighting the features and benefits of the car, and the differences seen in the differemt model years. Your enthusiasm made the test drive fun. Thanks agaim. 😊

I like this updated version. The wheels look similar to the DTS wheels. And that updated exhaust looks sick. I really like it. Great Cadillac gem.

I own a 2008 XLR. Much nicer ride than my previous Corvettes. New Hood and Trunk latches are great.

I'm glad to see another person share the same dream car with me!!!!! Finally, heard something positive about this car, thank you!

I'm a new subscriber to your channel and I think you do your job very well. You're very informative but keep it light at the same time, that's awesome. I did want to mention that the two things I desire are living in a rural area and love to drive all sorts of different cars. You're living the dream brother! 😉

SOLID production skills james. It’s a pleasure to watch your work.

Thank you for showing the concept car, that really helps the video a lot.

my next vehicle purchase

Awesome review. I have always loved this car. Nice to learn more about it.

I really enjoyed this review! Thank you very much.

Nice video James, as always!

Im new to your channel and Im impressed of what I see so far keep up the good work I really like the way you review the Cadillac .I just subscribed 👍

Wow, nice ride man! I also learned something new today, did not know these were made in Bowling Green. I thought only Corvette's were assembled there. I can see why this is a dream car of yours 💯👍

Wow another awesome video - review. Should have 10x the views.

Hi James! I am a new subscriber; really enjoying your videos! I am a Cadillac lover from way back, and the XLR would be my dream car too! Keep up the great work!!

Underrated channel 💯

Outstanding and very thorough review - the 2009 XLR is THE BEST!!👍 😎 🇺🇸

I absolutely love this car!

Nice and interesting review of the car's features! That's great how you demonstrate functions of the car - you study the vehicle in details when watching the review! But also I love Sl-Class :) XLR is one of the unique cars in worldwide automotive history - which hadn't got so many sales, but distinctive and interesting! I'm your new subscriber from Russia and it's the second video that I watched on your youtube channel. Go on and make new videos! :)

Great video on the XLR, I gotta say Cadillac has always been a car division that built cars you want to own, but these days if you aren't making super huge money, you can't afford it, if I could win the lottery it would be a piece of cake, keep bringing out more videos

Hi James, I am new to the channel and I love this car. Great review. It is good to see how the power convertible roof works. Great job on doing this review.

Stunning looking vehicle!

I can hear you now! Sound is much better. I like how you talk about the car’s quirks, very interesting. Speaking of interesting, the green socks with the red shoes…….LOL! Thank you for your work on these videos.

Great review; my dream car as well. Thank you for sharing. :)

A really good looking caddy

The big reason people gripe on the North Star over the LS is because it’s duel overhead cam and considerably more complex then the relatively simple pushrod LS with at least twice as many moving parts. This puts the north stars reliability in question and history has shown that this is the case. The XLR to many people was seen by many people as an over priced rebodied corvette with a less powerful, less reliable engine that was more difficult to work on. The XLR was also never offered with a factory manual option which killed the car for many enthusiasts and made it lacking in driving experience compared to its rivals

You had fun, and I did too. You are an awesome host!

not to pigeonhole these wonderful cars, but living in WA and CO I never really saw them, although always liked them, even more than the contemporary Vette. Then, some family moved to the Florida Gulf Coast, and there it was positively littered with them...women of a certain age in all those gated communities really gravitated to them, as well as Corvette roadsters and the final gen TBird roadster. Was great to see these beautiful cars, and how one niche market was really satisfied. However, I, as a man, would also love to have one

It's been a long time since I rocked'n'rolled....That theme song from their adds were real catchy to attract younger buyers into Cadillac showrooms but unfortunately that didn't quite occurred. Just like you I immediately fell in love with the stealth line of that car when it came out but at the time I wasn't there yet. So it stayed a dream car. Now a few years later, I have one of my customers, an 83 years old friendly gentlemen which I see once a year to prepare his income tax report and chit chat a bit, telling me he could no longer be driving because of health issues offers to sell me his car because he knew from our discussions I loved that car so much... Without hesitation I ask him to wait a few hours to let me go to the bank and come back with a check. That was last May and since then I have an ABSOLUTE BLAST with my new toy/old car 2004 XLR just as silver as yours....

As you said, it is much better to have a hard top convertible than a canvas top convertible. That car looks better with the top down. Nice color too.

James, I also LOVE Cadillacs ❤️ 💕 … The XLR is also one of my favorite Caddy’s. I’m surprised how many other car guys didn’t know anything about the E L R (their loss 🥺)…Like how can that be? I own a 2014 Caddy XTS-4, metallic red and it still makes my knees weak when I go out into my garage and see it. Your love of cars is infectious! 😎

strong hints of merc slk/slr/sl on the side and three quarter front and aventador at the back. thanks for mentioning mercedes tech on the rood design. glorious looking in action . would be sorting that exhaust note returning to a quiet boulevard cruiser if i was to purchase one. v desirable vehicle . even the car wizard is smitten.

Perfect video man. I will record it XLR next week here in Czech republic. Friend of mine own it. Its very rare car in Europe and most favurite modern Caddy for me.

Great review James! Beautiful example! Your drone shots are awesome! A friend had a 2004 in Xenon Blue, he loved it, but he ended up selling it due to the fact he could not get parts for it any more. Really sad, it was really cool. He said they were all they same except for the XLR_V. I don't know what folks do who own them. Call Jay Leno and have him manufacture a part I guess...crazy.

I really liked the Allante and your socks are da bomb! 👍

James I have to agree with you on comparison between how the styling of the Mercedes and the Cadillac have aged, I believe the "art and science " design language is the best choice that they made with these modern cars.

I have always loved those cars

One the hunt for one of these.

It's obvious that you and your family have been very blessed and successful (-:

I own a well-sorted '04. Great car.

Gm had heads up display tech in the late 80s and almost regularly implementation in the 90s.

The Cadillac DeVille offered cooled seats for 2004, the same year the XLR came out. I like both of these but I think the DeVille would be more practical by far. It would be pretty interesting to see all my friends in Corollas and Civics then show up in a Cadillac V8 roadster lol

Only a Cadillac,,,,, My first was a 1988 Eldorado Biarittz, Moon roof white /white and maroon interior. I still own this car. Never winter driven. My next Cadillac is the 2011 Escalade Base. Quade black leather interior, very cheap to maintain. The XLR is on my list.

Thanks for showing us this car I didnt know much about them. I thought they should have made them all V-Series because they where special cars 🚗

Wow they really took Ford's concept of the New Edge Mustang to heart

One of the problems is the big wear spot on the left side of the driver's seat back. My 2004 had that replaced 4 times in the 16 years I owned it. Sad to see that didn't get fixed in later years! The seat back coverings are no longer available according to my Cadillac Dealer. There is a Cadillac XLR forum which can provide useful information. That manual door opening lever works good if and when the push button fails!

Nice and informative video. I do have about three questions for you…Do you own all these Cadillac’s? Or, do you borrow these from friends and relatives? Just curious. Any plans on reviewing older Cadillac’s, like from the 50’s and 60’s, or even the early 1970’s?

Excellent video, but it was so long that your beard grew in even thicker by the end! 😂

Nice-a-nice. 😉

The changes they made to the 2009, for the most part, look great. I don't like the front end of either iteration, however. The Cadillac ELR is a more beautiful car.

Hey JW dude I think you made the best review on XLR model, but you used the word "xlr" like fife thousands times. Do a review on latest production XLR-V model .Keep on doing good work.

the only reason I'm here is bc there is someone who lives near me who actually has two! very rare and super cool

Nice review, always liked the XLR from a design point I would have the XLR over a Merc. SL. Only issue is it has a Northstar, at about 90-100K miles it will cost you a bundle for oil and other Nothstar inherited problem's.

My name is Trantham. Pronounced "tran-thumb" (-; I have always liked the XLR as well as the Corvette(owned two). Both built on the same assembly line in Bowling Green, Ky.

Well James your video gave us the impression this was your car. Until I read some comments. I was about to ask you if you intended to keep the car. I know that I would. Like you I have always been impressed with this car. One of the features on all Cadillacs that I really like is the magnetic suspension. I think that the missing backup camera is a mistake. So how many miles were on the car that you tested? There are some features that you seem to think were only on this car. When in fact that is not the case. I own a 2006 STS 4. The heads up display was available but I don't have it. The navigation system for example has an awful design. I use the GPS on my cellphone because of it. My last car had the North star which I loved with one exception, it was prone to leaking oil. It actually got better gas mileage than the 6 cylinder that I have now. Well thank you for the tour.

An excellent review of a great car however… Got to disagree with you on the LS motor. It would’ve been A marriage made in engineering heaven. Powerful versatile and best of all tunable and I think a lot more people would’ve probably bought the car because of that fact alone.… Keep on rockin

I was debating on this vs sc430....I choose the Lexus ,only reason was because if the complaints on the roof flying off the car when your driving because of the glue they used and gm isn't recalling it ,it's a shame cause the car is so nice

I know Buick had heads up displays in the early 80s

It is a beautiful car I love it! Did GM fix all the issues with the North Star motor?

I wish windshields were more vertical - the edge is so close to the driver's head.

I really wish you had wagged it hard when that branch was there.. or even without it. One of the first things I would do on a test drive is a couple hard turns.. like avoiding something.

James another nice video. I have a question, are these Cadillacs on loan to you for your video or are they owned by your family? A bid unusual for a young man to like Caddies. They are great cars, even though I moved from Cadillacs to MB, now have the S class coupé. Also many young men don’t wear watches, you have an Apple Watch on your right arm and don’t recognize the watch on your left arm….Fred

42:25 mid engine xlr would probably look like cadillac cien which is another great looking cadillac

3:43 - Cadillac made the same mistakes Plymouth and Chrysler made with the Prowler. They produced one hell of a beautiful car that was underpowered, not too practical and as a result, low production run and didn't sell as well.

You can put the top down with a remote control, while you are outside the car.

I never knew of these still being built in 2009 and needless to say, I never seen one of these.

“ I love this car there isn’t anything like it”. Corvette :😢

I think it does have power folding mirrors, there is a trick to doing it. You have to stick the mirror control in the middle I'm pressed down twice.

Nice. They were Luxury Corvettes.

I thought the XRL was a most beautiful Cadillac that was made I wish I could own one

The one time GM made a Corvette off-spring...for production.

Can you please give your height? I’m 6’ and would love to know how I would fit in the vehicle. I do not find the corvette comfortable

They took care of it.....makes a big difference., wasn't suppose to be a luxury Corvette?

This car is rare, I've always liked cadillac, I have a 2009 cts and have had several caddilacs period, this I'd rather have than a corvette

The mirrors are power folding on the European export model.

I can tell from the wear on the drivers seat that the previous owner/owners wore western belts.

🤠

What do I have to do to get this car?

Beautiful cars, and can be found cheap, but price of parts scares me.

How much is the asking price on this vehicle?

Does it have the crappy North Star motor?

Too expensive to maintain not worth it in the long run no matter how rich you are, beautiful car and a good attempt on Cadillac’s part. Really wish they would try something like this again

I have mixed feelings about the 2009 updates. I like the side vents, but the grille in person looks cheap to me, like the chrome bits are too stuck on. Ialso like the Bulgari instrument cluster and metal interior trim better. The font on the Bulgari gauges was unique. The 2009 font looks like too many other cars on the road.

The fake vents on the fenders look like a horrible after thought, totally ruins the smooth look of the side.

I want 20 Cadillac xlr

I too, understand that feeling of the love U feel for this 2009 XLR! I fell in 😍 with the XLR when I laid 👀 on the 2004. I refer to the XLR as, “It makes my baby leap”! 🥰. I’ve owned an Escalade since 2004, and would love to add this 2009 to calm my leaping baby down inside of me, but I’m concerned about the availability and high cost of parts. Don’t you think this is something any potential buyer should seriously consider?

I heard a story similar to that one on inside edition but the man had a corvette with an electric door handle that died bc of the battery and he and his dog died in the car ☹️

How much?

I would of ls swap that in a heartbeat.

If they have produced the car exactly like they show car, it would have been a big hit. On the production car they really messed up the grill and whole front end.

More viewers as you get hotter!!! Woof!! 😜

What’s an ngine???

Should have made a manual

Didn’t show or tell about the button for the top . So I guess you JUST PUSH IT.

Nice car Nice legs!!!