Have you ever noticed that sometimes, cars seem to get better with age? The Bentley Continental GT is far less loathed than it once was for being a re-skinned Phaeton, for example. The Cadillac STS-V is another one of those cars that’s aged into intrigue. You probably forgot this 469-horsepower Cadillac super sedan existed, but even though it wasn’t as dynamically accomplished as its German rivals, from an ownership perspective, it seems to be aging like fine wine compared to the competition.
Welcome back to Beige Cars You’re Sleeping On, a weekly series in which we raise the profile of some quiet greats. We’re talking vehicles that are secretly awesome, but go unsung because of either a boring image or the lack of an image altogether.
The Cadillac we know today was born in the late 1990s with the dawn of the Escalade, it was cemented in the mid-2000s with the establishment of V, a high-performance brand taking the fight to the Germans. While today, the flagship CT5-V Blackwing is the one everyone wants, in the beginning, the baby of the range got all the glory. Not only did the CTS-V benefit from the extensive aftermarket scene surrounding its LS engine, it also came with a manual gearbox and was the least expensive of the original V cars. The most expensive? The XLR-V, an SL AMG competitor with a truly obscene price tag. However, I reckon it’s time we give the middle child a second look, because the STS-V could very well hit a sweet spot.
To create the STS-V, Cadillac started with its Northstar quad-cam V8, reduced its displacement down to 4.4 liters, changed a full 40 percent of its internals, dropped its compression down to 9:1, then bolted on a two-liter Eaton M122 supercharger. The result? 469 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 439 lb.-ft. of torque at 3,900 rpm. Hitched to a six-speed 6L80E automatic transmission and driving the rear wheels, it was good enough to get the STS-V from zero-to-60 mph in 4.6 seconds during Car And Driver instrumented testing. That’s rapid even today.
Oh, and Cadillac didn’t just stop with a weapons-grade drivetrain. It also added 14-inch front discs clamped by Brembo monobloc fixed four-piston calipers, Sachs dampers, larger anti-roll bars, a new steering rack from ZF, and double-staggered wheels featuring 255/45R18 front and 275/40R19 rear Pirelli Y-rated tires. The result? A comprehensive improvement over a standard STS, but nothing bordering on uncomfortable. However, this relative softness was part of the STS-V’s problem in the face of the Mercedes-Benz E 55 AMG. This big Cadillac just wasn’t as buttoned-down as the German competition, as Motor Trend put so eloquently:
The STS-V storms around Milford quite happily for a 4343-pound sedan, but it doesn’t feel like all of its mechanical systems are in harmony. It’s missing the fluidity that eludes so many GM products but which is usually present in the best performance cars from, you guessed it, Europe. And the Caddy’s steering is too quick off-center and simply doesn’t light up the lines of communication between the road and the driver.
Alright, so the STS-V wasn’t as brilliant to drive as the competition, but did it at least have a nice interior? Well, while Cadillac contracted German upholstery specialists Dräxlmeier for some beautifully stitched leather components, there was definitely a bit of a clash going on between the upscale V-specific bits and the textbook GM plastics elsewhere in the cabin. Add in the fact that the dashboard looked as nondescript as an ATM, save for the slightly flashy touch of black wood, and it’s easy to understand why the STS-V never built the same sort of reputation as its German competition or its CTS-V little brother. Between the start of production in 2005 for the 2006 model year and the end of production in 2009, Cadillac only sold 2,503 STS-V sedans, ensuring they’d be rare spots in the wild.
However, that was then and this is now. Welcome to 2024, and the used car landscape is a little topsy-turvy. Sure, the Mercedes-Benz E 55 AMG and the V10-powered BMW M5 were more enticing when new, but the BMW proved to lack in reliability, while both of the big-two Germans have largely fallen victim to fifth-owner decay, a process in which people repeatedly buy secondhand cars that they can’t afford to run, and the deferred maintenance just keeps piling up. Meanwhile, the Cadillac uses GM parts, making it an intriguing option today. A quick perusal of the STS-V forums suggests these cars are reasonably reliable, don’t commonly suffer from catastrophic issues, and aren’t nearly as expensive to fix as the German competition. They also escaped the head stud issues that affected earlier Northstar variants, to the point where that common talking point is a non-issue. So, what will a Cadillac STS-V run you today?
Well, if you’re looking for a bit of a high-mileage example, you can find them for between $10,000 and $13,000. Here’s a 2007 STS-V up for sale in Orlando, Fla. for $10,995. Sure, it might have 112,306 miles on the clock and be slightly weathered from the Florida sun, but it has a clean Carfax, and the last owner kept it from 2013 to 2024. Two good signs for a promising used car contender.
On the other hand, if you want a creampuff, expect to pay in the neighborhood of $20,000 for a low-mileage Cadillac STS-V. Here’s one up for sale in Washington for $19,980 with just 67,728 miles on the clock. The low-res photos taken inside of a parking garage aren’t immediately confidence-inspiring, I’ll admit, but with low mileage and a location in the Pacific Northwest, it feels like a car that might be worth taking a chance on.
So, for the same money as a likely somewhat abused BMW M5 or Mercedes-Benz E 55 AMG, you can get into a reasonably reliable (at least compared to the competition) Cadillac that, although not quite as sharp, still hauls the mail and is likely decent to daily drive. That doesn’t sound like a consolation prize, that just seems like where the smart money’s at.
Add in how Car And Driver noted that the Cadillac STS-V “thrives on high-speed cruising” and that “power oversteer is readily achievable, something to keep in mind when applying throttle at corner exits,” and this frequently forgotten super sedan sounds like it might actually be brilliant in the sort of real-world driving many of us experience. How’s that for a left-field choice?
(Photo credits: Cadillac, Autotrader sellers)
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I like these STS V but not having a limited slip would be annoying I bet. Same as having my M540i without one was.
I LOL’ed at “weapons grade drivetrain”…BOOM!
I drove one of these at a GM test drive track experience at the Sahara Hotel in Vegas in 2007 or 2008? I remember it being a pretty nice car to drive, but incredibly sedate if you kept your foot out of it. Wasn’t as fun around the track as the stick shift C6, but definitely more livable day to day.
My bonus mom has one of these, a 2006 that she’s had since she bought it CPO in 2010. It is silver-over-grey, and–other than eating a few fuel pumps–it’s been bulletproof.
I think the Northstar is a little unfairly judged given how advanced it was, and I have heard that the supercharged versions are sufficiently revised to be much more reliable. The STS and XLR both had kind of boring interior designs, but I believe the STS-V is the best looking sedan of the art and science era.
Frankly, by the time they began installing Northstars in longitude applications, they had fixed the issues with the Northstar in general. I believe that was around 2004. So the non-supercharged Northstar cars like the STS V8 and SRX V8 benefitted from the improvements. And even the transverse Northstar cars like the DTS and Lucerne V8 were just fine by then.
I find that American cars can gain unreliable reputations far more easily than their European competitors, because the buyer expectation is to abuse the vehicle and pay pennies for maintenance. Especially the older buyers of late-90’s Cadillac, whose idea of a reliable drivetrain is a 200hp, 8-liter, cast-iron, pushrod mill with spare parts available in the back of the average kitchen drawer, mated to a 3-speed that, in the absence of ATF, can be topped off with some positive thoughts and can-do attitude.
I agree with your sentiment, but the fact remains, early Northstars are a ticking timebomb. It’s not a matter of if, but when that HG is going to go. It’s a shame, I really like Northstar powered cars, but the repairs are such a PITA, I’ll stick with my panther grandpa car.
I’m by no means an expert on Northstars, but I was under the impression that one could preemptively replace the head gasket and head studs to avoid trouble. It’s a substantial amount of labor and certainly not confidence-inspiring, but among BMW’s main bearings, Mercedes’ cam lobes, Audi’s timing chains and Jaguar’s cars, it seems to be par for the course. They’re all time bombs compared to a smallblock.
Feel free to stop reading here, I wrote the rest of this comment in a semi-conscious trance as an extra-dimensional being made of pure timing-chain-guide-shavings spoke through me.
That leaves me with 2 hypotheses: Either the Northstar was judged by smallblock standards, which set it up to fail from the start, or it was judged by the same standards as the European ones and was deemed too boring for the maintenance. Both could very well be true, especially as they were first sold in FWD executive sedans while everyone else was RWD or AWD. A target market with hip joints made of asbestos probably isn’t conducive to thrilling performance, either.
But besides the Northstar, there are a lot of cars with great reputations in the rest of the world that are lambasted in the US as unserviceable. Where I’m from, Volkswagen is synonymous with quality and reliability, and brands like Fiat, Peugeot, Renault and Citroen are perfectly logical purchases with no associated stigma or fear of mechanical issues.
I suspect the US market is just particularly brutal with its demand of cars because we see them as a necessary, accessible appliance. In many countries with older cities or lower GDP, a personal car was a luxury until 2, maybe 3 generations ago, so people are more culturally willing to spend money on maintenance or lose money scrapping a neglected 10 year old car without complaining, because it’s a luxury to them. My parents tell stories of having to go on grand journeys (uphill both ways in a flood) to borrow the singular family car for an evening in Brazil. My uncle still has my grandfather’s 2.3L 1975 Ford Maverick sedan with a 4-speed column shifter, and it’s treated like a massive, classic gas-guzzling luxury car, with a spare-no-expense maintenance approach.
Basicall, car-as-necessity thinking goes “400 for a water pump? In a COMPACT?! Preposterous, I already paid 20 grand! This is a POS and I will tell anyone with ears not to buy one!”.
While car-as-luxury thinking is “$400 for a water pump? Makes sense to protect a $20,000 investment”.
It was not really forgot about, because if it were then way more people would be shouting about what a steal they got on a supercharged Caddy, and then realized it was a Northstar.
I nominate the Jag S-Type R for this series!
What a great car! I am not a huge fan of this gens design, like not love, but a SC V8 is always good.
Ah man, when I lived in Redondo there was someone who kept a terrific lily clean silver one of these I’d see often. I can never put my finger on it, but there is some appeal there. The V grilles really did just look good too
I like these. Always was worried about head gaskets but sounds like they may have solved that finally.
We have my parent’s former 08 STS in the family and it’s held up to 2 teenage drivers over the past 6 years and has given me hardly any troubles. It’s no V, but it’s comfortable and has held up great. These were shocking expensive cars but had some great tech for the time. The MSRP on ours was like 60k. A V was like 75K (not adjusted for inflation!). My only complaint is how much gas it takes to feed thst Northstar. It’s great on the interstate and gets in the high 20’s, but it does about 14 mpg around town.
Moving 4300# from stoplight to stoplight requires a certain minimum amount of fuel. My 335is E93 weighs 4000# and gets 14mpg around town. On the highway, it’s happy to cruise at 80mph & get 26-28 mpg.
My GTI gets 22-24mpg around town, but 36+ on the highway. (It’s a bit porky for a small hatchback). No point in mentioning the TT F-150 and fuel mileage in the same breath.
The interiors on these are legitimately worse than the outgoing Seville STS that they replaced. Put together to tighter tolerances for sure but absolutely cheaper and chintizier feeling and just ugly in layout. Why oh why did GM never give these the updated interior that the SRX got? The Chinese market STS even got a new interior.
“The Bentley Continental GT is far less loathed than it once was…”
Wait – What?!?
Nobody I know hated the Bentley Continental GT.
All the Oil/Hotel Heiresses, Real Estate Agents, TV actors who play Attorneys, and Parking Valets I have known LOVE the Bentley Continental GT.
…and have never heard of the VW Phaeton.
(Except for the one Real Estate Agent who used to be married to a drummer from a band named after a certain city – because her 2nd husband owned a Phaeton, used)
I looked at used 2006 STS-V back in 2007/2008. They depreciated QUICK back then, as the one I looked at (which was a sweet metallic red) had few enough miles to still be under the factory warranty and the dealer was asking around $41k for it (I think the MSRP on these was like $70k). Ultimately, I wasn’t in a phase of life where the STS-V made sense, but aside from the Cadillac-by-Fisher-Price interior, it wasn’t too bad. The dealer also had a 6-speed CTS-V next to it that I still kick myself for not buying, but what’s life for if not regrets?
That CTS-V would be in and out of the shop getting motor mounts and fresh tires twice a year.
Indeed, not to mention differential rebuilds.
My cousin bought one a few years ago, I even got to take it for a spin. It’s big and fast. I’m no interior snob, but man was the interior bad. Cheap cheap plastics, everything creaked and groaned shutting the door or just going down the road. Overall I think he likes it, but it would be a little hard to accept that on a Cadillac for me
I dated a guy who bought an STS shortly before he died.
That interior was complete crap.
The Taurus had a better quality interior.
I most certainly didn’t forget about it. There’s an alternate universe where I got one of those instead of my 2005 GTO last year.
The main factor in my choice was I wanted a manual car while my deteriorating clutching knee could still manage it.
Cadillac STS-V: the Official Car of your rich, childless uncle who owns a bunch of rental properties. You’ve let him know you like the car, though, and so far none of your cousins have talked to him about it at all. This will end up being the most ridiculous Uber Black car in your city once he can’t drive anymore.
I always assumed the STS was a ridiculous front wheel drive burnout machine, especially in V trim.
You probably just remember the STS name from when started as trim on the previous generation FWD Seville (it originally stood for Seville Touring Sedan, with an Eldorado Touring Coupe counterpart), before it then just became the whole name when every luxury brand felt the need to use alpha(numeric) model names.
The problem with the STS to me is that IMO it’s the least attractive of the modern Art & Science design language Cadillac, and the -V changes can only help so much.
I love me some used Cadillacs. Bought a CTS for my wife a few years ago and got myself an ATS Coupe a few months ago. They drive nice, the prices are great, and they are fairly reliable and cheap to fix. And you get to look down on all your friends who still drive Toyotas and Hondas. Me? I’ve got a Cadillac. Because I’m a fancy man.
Now that is a sleeper!
Definitely cool cars, in 2012 a friend of mine and I drove from Chicago to the Woodward dream cruise, I was in my G8 GXP, he in his silver STS-V, what a good thing to look at all weekend, while driving responsibly of course. His car was actually the car Spectre used to make the open air intakes for those 4.4 SC engines, they really scream when you open it up.