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2025 Cadillac CT5

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The Cadillac Ct5 is a car I always want to like. I test-drove one a few years ago and liked it, but didn’t love it. It was a bit too sporty and not plush enough to really be a Cadillac.

The styling, inside and out was just OK, and again, not something special.

For the 2025 model year, the CT5 is getting some improvements, but after 5 years on the market, I was expecting more. Much more.

The front end is an improvement. But that’s about it for the exterior, the cheap-looking black plastic masquerading for a 3rd side window is still there. After 5 years.

And inside, it seems they’ve only changed the screen, again after 5 years. The interior is otherwise exactly the same. Which is a shame. There’s a bit more tech inside and the engines are the same with a choice of a 2.0 Liter standard or a 3.0 Liter Turbo as an option. AWD is still an option.

This is really the bare minimum changes and a missed opportunity…

Conversation 5 comments

  1. I don’t think it is a fair assessment of the changes. I watched a bunch of videos yesterday on this mid-cycle change and the visual changes might be small in number, but they make an already great looking car even more modern. The design changes on some of the more sporty trim packages are more dramatic – there was a video of a white painted one with blacked-out chrome and it looked especially futuristic. For the inside, that huge screen dominates the interior, but in a good way while still retaining buttons. That’s how interiors should be. And one of the reviewers said the materials seemed more premium than they had remembered them to be even if the design for the seats didn’t actually change.

  2. I like the changes to the front end and small additions to the interior. Still feel like GM miscalculated when they put all their eggs in the Ultium basket. They should have also engineered a way to do a half-battery skid for the frame and incorporated hybrid or PHEV options. Honda and Toyota are cleaning up on the hybrid market and I think this is going to be the real growth sector in the next 10 yr, particularly as battery tech improves, bcuz charging and charge-stability in the vehicle will still be an issue for a long time.

  3. A great big “meh”. The front is a tidied up a bit, but the window treatment on the C-pillar and the taillights are still ugly and cheap looking.

    I’m one of the many people who still wonder why the Escala concept couldn’t have been made real. Was there some technical problem in making it or did GM just cheap out? That car would have made Cadillac an aspirational brand again. Instead, we get more SUVs and a bizarre looking “ultra-luxury” electric sedan at a ridiculous price.

  4. The Tesla Model 3 changes are way more minor. Why are so many folks gushing over the mildest 5 year mid cycle update ever ?

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