2010 Cadillac DTS - Styling Review

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The 2010 Cadillac DTS is Cadillac's largest vehicle, one that's traditionally been the basis for Presidential limousines and all sorts of "black cars"-from airport transportation to, er, hearses. Nonetheless, it has some retail fans that appreciate its immense room, luxurious interior, and formal styling. With a base price of around $47,000, it's not a competitor for similar sedans from Germany or Japan at all. Instead, the few cross-shoppers who look elsewhere will probably study the Lincoln Town Car and the Chrysler 300.

In keeping with its conservative shape and its old-school seating, the 2010 DTS appeals to buyers who want a large, cushy sedan. It's "a traditional large America luxury sedan," Edmunds says. The look is formal, but it does wear some of the cues of more recent Cadillacs-like the enormous grille and wreath-and-crest badge, hints of "a subdued version of Cadillac's edgy new styling," according to Car and Driver. While Cars.com thinks the DTS "evokes Cadillac's STS sedan," Kelley Blue Book "ties it to the DeVilles of the past." The "light dose of new-wave Caddy styling" is pleasingly angular, says Motor Trend, but it's beginning to look a bit out of date. Automedia points out details like the "vertical headlights and taillamps, accompanied by an egg-crate-pattern grille" as adding up to a "more architectural, linear" style. LED taillamps are standard, they add, but a traditional stand-up wreath-and-crest hood ornament is an option.

Inside the 2010 DTS, the cabin seems fairly modern to the eyes and to the touch. It was redesigned relatively recently, and Edmunds praises its "greatly improved interior design and quality" that has "more curves in the right places." Big gauges are framed by a wood-trimmed steering wheel in some editions, and there's wood trim across the dash and door panels. The tall center stack of controls sports a big touch-screen LCD for navigation and audio functions. Touches of metallic trim glint around the cabin, and in all, the DTS' cabin is distinctly more tasteful than you might expect in the class. Motor Trend observes the DTS "benefits from the use of more premium materials." Large gauges and a tall center stack on the dashboard with a touch-screen video display are the hallmarks of the dash, along with lots of wood veneer. Edmunds concludes, "Overall, the cabin is handsome and most controls are simple to use-no small feat given the large number of high-tech features."