Long time lurker. As a matter of fact I made an account about a year ago and posted in the WTB thread because I was really trying to go the private sale route than dealing with a dealership.
Background:
I've had my fair share of vehicles in the past, but my most recent and cherished vehicle was a 2015 Nissan 370Z Nismo with some tasteful mods. It was and always will be one of my favorite cars. A lot of people complain about how heavy the car is. Sure, it's heavy, but the VQ37 motor was potent, reliable, and the NA characteristic made it a smooth drive. She was my garage queen and maintained meticulously. What I loved most, other than the design, was how simple of a car it was. There were no settings or hundreds of buttons or complicated systems or various drive modes. It was easy to work on and you just started the car and drove.
As the story goes...kids came along and the car was sitting. I realized I would never really drive it again and that was OK with me as I made a lot of memories in it, met a lot of great people from it, experienced the car culture, and learned to wrench on cars. Fortunately, I sold it for more than what I bought it for to another enthusiast. So I went about 2/3 years without a "fun" car. I've always been a JDM guy, but the blackwings caught my attention when they originally came out. I never thought I'd own a Cadillac and they were more than what I would want to spend on a fun garage car. However, I'm sure most car guys in my position can agree there aren't many options when it comes to a fun, 4 door car with a manual transmission. Furthermore, if I were to get something, I would want something better than my Z. So, WRX, SI, GTI, etc. were out. Plus, I wanted something a little more mature and exclusive. I appreciate AMGs, Audi's RS line, and BMW's M line, but not all of them are manual and for the most part they are expensive to maintain and unreliable - plus I think I see about 5 M3s a day. It came down to the Type R, Integra Type S (ITS), Corolla GR, and the CT4V BW (4). I of course love the CT5V BW, but it's above what I want to spend...for now. I picked the ITS over the Type R because it seemed more mature and the Corolla GR was just way too tight and small. That left me between the ITS and the 4. For about a year I would go back and forth between which one I'd want even though they are very different cars and the ITS can be had for almost 10k less. I really liked both of them for what they were, but one day after test driving both back to back, I realized I just couldn't buy a 4cl FWD car lol. So, that was it.
The Purchase:
I was looking for about a year. I told myself I wanted to be under 65k (preowned). I wanted either Radiant Tint Red or Argent Silver Metallic / tech bronze wheels / sky cool gray seats/ 6MT / PDR - apparently this is close to impossible, with the exception of ordering, but even then dealers didn't want to entertain ordering and tried to sell what they had on the lot instead. Of course a new one with the spec I wanted would probably be close to 80k. I like CF, but I was fine without it. Anyways, I backed out of pursuing some deals for one reason or another. One deal even fell through because the guy changed his mind and wanted to keep the car. This was after driving over two states to see him and cash in hand - maybe I hyped up the car too much lol.
I guess after a year of talking about getting a 4 BW, my brother got the itch for a 5 BW. He was in the same boat I was. He had a Porsche GT4 years ago, but has been driving SUVs ever since kids. About 3 weeks ago, one night, he sends me a link to one at a dealer in VA (I'm in MD). It was a new 2026 white 5 BW with tech bronze wheels, the carbon backed tan bucket seats, and every single option. While I was on the site, I decided to check their preowned inventory. Lo and behold there was a 2023 CT4V BW 6MT in Argent Silver Metallic with PDR for sale at 52k with only 9k miles. It also had sunroof, cold weather/climate package, and tech package (HUD). There were no pictures, but the carfax was clean and it seemed to be a local trade in. The two drawbacks were the regular seats and the anthracite wheels. I figured I could always change the wheels, and regarding the seats...well, did you see the price I typed?! I can live with that! To be honest, I thought it was either a scam or some serious error, especially since there were no pictures. I also started wondering why this car never popped up on any of my saved searches on all the different car websites. I just assumed the car came into their possession recently and they didn't properly list it fully yet. In any case, I woke my wife up in the middle of the night and asked her if we could go see it first thing in the morning. She's a trooper, so she said yes (or maybe she was sick of me talking about this car for a year lol).
Props to you if you've made it this far into my story. I'll cut to the chase now. We got to the dealership right before it opened, but a salesman came out of their morning huddle and brought us in anyway. I asked about the car....and it was there...it was real. He told me it was a local trade in from a guy who traded it in for a CT5V BW. The salesman was the one who sold him both BWs, so he knows the guy because apparently he's a somewhat well known author and even showed me the CT4V BW sitting in the author's garage when he had it. Inside looked like no one ever drove it. Outside was a 9/10 (the two front canards were pretty banged up and the right side skirt was sagging ever so slightly - apparently a tab was broken off). Went for the test drive and it drove like a dream. At this point, I wasn't even trying to negotiate and was willing to blindly sign the paperwork to get out with the car lol! I told him I was good with the price and that's when he told me there was a mistake. I made a joke and said someone is about to get fired and replied, "can't really fire the GM." He stepped out to talk to some of the managers and he came back in and basically told me I could buy the car at the price they mistakenly listed it at to honor the transaction, but the managers rather not sell the car to me for obvious reasons. I checked the price online again on my phone and it was relisted at 63k (I even took a screenshot). I felt like I was in a weird predicament because it seemed like a classic pressure tactic, but it also felt genuine. What world are we living in where a dealership is willing to eat 10k and honor a deal?? I was for sure there had to be a catch. During this time, two other people came to check on the car and both times they were told it's temporarily spoken for.
Fellas, I bought the car. They even CPOd it and after signing all the paperwork, the salesman came back to me and said he spoke to the service dept and they ordered a new side skirt for me (I went back a week later when it was delivered and they installed it - all for free).
The kicker is my brother ended up coming an hour later and purchased the 5 BW, so we drove off with two BWs. The only thing I hate is when he starts his car up next to mine because damn that supercharged V8 sounds glorious lol.
I will say even though I love the look of the upgraded bucket seats (Cadillac really hit the design out of the park), I find the normal seats way more comfortable. Similarly, as awesome as the tech bronze wheels are, the anthracite wheels have really grown on me and they contrast well with the silver metallic paint.
All that being said, SHOUT OUT TO LINDSAY CADILLAC in VA. By far the best dealership experience I've had and I really hate dealerships. I definitely got lucky, but could it be that I got the best BW deal ever?!?!?!
Lastly, I will be posting a separate thread on how to fix/refinish the canards (or whatever they're called) for the non CF equipped models. They're actually 400 a piece which is why I thought of another solution. It's a little tricky to take them off, but I found another thread on the forum that has a member mentioning it when removing his bumper. Hopefully this helps others as I know those pieces naturally get beaten up from normal driving.
Thanks for reading and see you around!
Background:
I've had my fair share of vehicles in the past, but my most recent and cherished vehicle was a 2015 Nissan 370Z Nismo with some tasteful mods. It was and always will be one of my favorite cars. A lot of people complain about how heavy the car is. Sure, it's heavy, but the VQ37 motor was potent, reliable, and the NA characteristic made it a smooth drive. She was my garage queen and maintained meticulously. What I loved most, other than the design, was how simple of a car it was. There were no settings or hundreds of buttons or complicated systems or various drive modes. It was easy to work on and you just started the car and drove.
As the story goes...kids came along and the car was sitting. I realized I would never really drive it again and that was OK with me as I made a lot of memories in it, met a lot of great people from it, experienced the car culture, and learned to wrench on cars. Fortunately, I sold it for more than what I bought it for to another enthusiast. So I went about 2/3 years without a "fun" car. I've always been a JDM guy, but the blackwings caught my attention when they originally came out. I never thought I'd own a Cadillac and they were more than what I would want to spend on a fun garage car. However, I'm sure most car guys in my position can agree there aren't many options when it comes to a fun, 4 door car with a manual transmission. Furthermore, if I were to get something, I would want something better than my Z. So, WRX, SI, GTI, etc. were out. Plus, I wanted something a little more mature and exclusive. I appreciate AMGs, Audi's RS line, and BMW's M line, but not all of them are manual and for the most part they are expensive to maintain and unreliable - plus I think I see about 5 M3s a day. It came down to the Type R, Integra Type S (ITS), Corolla GR, and the CT4V BW (4). I of course love the CT5V BW, but it's above what I want to spend...for now. I picked the ITS over the Type R because it seemed more mature and the Corolla GR was just way too tight and small. That left me between the ITS and the 4. For about a year I would go back and forth between which one I'd want even though they are very different cars and the ITS can be had for almost 10k less. I really liked both of them for what they were, but one day after test driving both back to back, I realized I just couldn't buy a 4cl FWD car lol. So, that was it.
The Purchase:
I was looking for about a year. I told myself I wanted to be under 65k (preowned). I wanted either Radiant Tint Red or Argent Silver Metallic / tech bronze wheels / sky cool gray seats/ 6MT / PDR - apparently this is close to impossible, with the exception of ordering, but even then dealers didn't want to entertain ordering and tried to sell what they had on the lot instead. Of course a new one with the spec I wanted would probably be close to 80k. I like CF, but I was fine without it. Anyways, I backed out of pursuing some deals for one reason or another. One deal even fell through because the guy changed his mind and wanted to keep the car. This was after driving over two states to see him and cash in hand - maybe I hyped up the car too much lol.
I guess after a year of talking about getting a 4 BW, my brother got the itch for a 5 BW. He was in the same boat I was. He had a Porsche GT4 years ago, but has been driving SUVs ever since kids. About 3 weeks ago, one night, he sends me a link to one at a dealer in VA (I'm in MD). It was a new 2026 white 5 BW with tech bronze wheels, the carbon backed tan bucket seats, and every single option. While I was on the site, I decided to check their preowned inventory. Lo and behold there was a 2023 CT4V BW 6MT in Argent Silver Metallic with PDR for sale at 52k with only 9k miles. It also had sunroof, cold weather/climate package, and tech package (HUD). There were no pictures, but the carfax was clean and it seemed to be a local trade in. The two drawbacks were the regular seats and the anthracite wheels. I figured I could always change the wheels, and regarding the seats...well, did you see the price I typed?! I can live with that! To be honest, I thought it was either a scam or some serious error, especially since there were no pictures. I also started wondering why this car never popped up on any of my saved searches on all the different car websites. I just assumed the car came into their possession recently and they didn't properly list it fully yet. In any case, I woke my wife up in the middle of the night and asked her if we could go see it first thing in the morning. She's a trooper, so she said yes (or maybe she was sick of me talking about this car for a year lol).
Props to you if you've made it this far into my story. I'll cut to the chase now. We got to the dealership right before it opened, but a salesman came out of their morning huddle and brought us in anyway. I asked about the car....and it was there...it was real. He told me it was a local trade in from a guy who traded it in for a CT5V BW. The salesman was the one who sold him both BWs, so he knows the guy because apparently he's a somewhat well known author and even showed me the CT4V BW sitting in the author's garage when he had it. Inside looked like no one ever drove it. Outside was a 9/10 (the two front canards were pretty banged up and the right side skirt was sagging ever so slightly - apparently a tab was broken off). Went for the test drive and it drove like a dream. At this point, I wasn't even trying to negotiate and was willing to blindly sign the paperwork to get out with the car lol! I told him I was good with the price and that's when he told me there was a mistake. I made a joke and said someone is about to get fired and replied, "can't really fire the GM." He stepped out to talk to some of the managers and he came back in and basically told me I could buy the car at the price they mistakenly listed it at to honor the transaction, but the managers rather not sell the car to me for obvious reasons. I checked the price online again on my phone and it was relisted at 63k (I even took a screenshot). I felt like I was in a weird predicament because it seemed like a classic pressure tactic, but it also felt genuine. What world are we living in where a dealership is willing to eat 10k and honor a deal?? I was for sure there had to be a catch. During this time, two other people came to check on the car and both times they were told it's temporarily spoken for.
Fellas, I bought the car. They even CPOd it and after signing all the paperwork, the salesman came back to me and said he spoke to the service dept and they ordered a new side skirt for me (I went back a week later when it was delivered and they installed it - all for free).
The kicker is my brother ended up coming an hour later and purchased the 5 BW, so we drove off with two BWs. The only thing I hate is when he starts his car up next to mine because damn that supercharged V8 sounds glorious lol.
I will say even though I love the look of the upgraded bucket seats (Cadillac really hit the design out of the park), I find the normal seats way more comfortable. Similarly, as awesome as the tech bronze wheels are, the anthracite wheels have really grown on me and they contrast well with the silver metallic paint.
All that being said, SHOUT OUT TO LINDSAY CADILLAC in VA. By far the best dealership experience I've had and I really hate dealerships. I definitely got lucky, but could it be that I got the best BW deal ever?!?!?!
Lastly, I will be posting a separate thread on how to fix/refinish the canards (or whatever they're called) for the non CF equipped models. They're actually 400 a piece which is why I thought of another solution. It's a little tricky to take them off, but I found another thread on the forum that has a member mentioning it when removing his bumper. Hopefully this helps others as I know those pieces naturally get beaten up from normal driving.
Thanks for reading and see you around!
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