After the lease on her second BMW X3 ended this winter, my mom replaced it with a 2010 Cadillac SRX AWD. I sat down with her to get her every-mom review. —Ed.
Each category is ranked on our special Jewish mom-o-meter. The more Jewish mothers, the more kvetching kvelling over the car.
I get compliments. I think it's attractive. Several people have said "I like your car." One guy said "I like your truck... or SUV... or whatever."
Attractive and comfortable. It'd be nice in the winter if it had a heated steering wheel like my BMW X3 had. But it does have heated seats, so I can't complain too much.
Uh, that I'm not crazy about. At times there's hesitation — you know, where you don't get that speedy acceleration you think you should get. But it's only from a stop. God, I hope nobody who worked on my car reads this and gets upset. I'm just saying it could use some more oomph. There's a bigger engine version? Why didn't you tell me about that, honey? It was how much more? Never mind then.
The brakes don't feel quite as sensitive as the ones on my BMW — you have to push it a little bit more than I'd like, but they seem to stop the car. Or at least they have so far. Could you imagine what would happen if they didn't? I can. I'd imagine it would be very bad.
It's smooth. It's comfortable. It certainly rides more like a car than a truck. Not that I know what a truck feels like, really, but it's smoother than my old Jeep. It feels much more like a car of substance.
The SRX handles very well. I had no problem driving it in Michigan winters. I don't know how it would handle Colorado winters, though, but that's alright. I don't go there, ever.
Ray, it's an automatic, so the nice thing is I don't have to think about whether the shifts are matching the revs or whatever. Isn't that, like, the point of an automatic? The definition, even? Don't you know anything about cars, Ray? Do your little friends who come to your Jalopnik know you don't know the difference between a car with a stick and an automatic? Isn't that something you're supposed to know? Learn these things, please... it's embarrassing.
I can certainly hear it, so I guess it's loud enough. If I ever figure out how to adjust the bass and treble, that'd be great, because right now I'm not that impressed. The sound's not as rich as it could be. It's a Bose, right? Maybe if I ever figure out how to work all the buttons... then who knows, it could be a five.
Oh, the toys are wonderful. I think. I don't know, I'm technologically impaired. But it certainly looks really neat. I'm very impressed. Except the garage door opener thingie is really complicated. But it's like that in a lot of cars, so I don't think it's Cadillac's fault. Maybe it's my garage door. I don't know, it's old.
It's a really good value. A lovely vehicle. It's certainly impressive to look at. It's fun to drive. It's a beautiful car. I don't remember if it's cheaper than my BMW X3 — no, I don't know if it's cheaper than other cars, but it might be. You know, you should really look that up. How should I know?
One thing is it doesn't have is a spare. That just seems silly. Cars are supposed to have spares, right? Oh, overall? Yes, I like it a lot. It's a very fine car, and it feels more substantial than my old BMW. But can Cadillac get those heated steering wheels? That was very nice.
Full Disclosure: My mother paid for a three-year lease on a Cadillac SRX AWD with her own damn money, thank you very much. Also, that photo above is not my mom's car. She didn't want me taking pictures of her black SRX because "it's all dusty. I don't want your people who read this thinking I don't wash it." Thanks, Mom!