At $8,500, Is This 2008 Cadillac DTS A Stretch Limo That's Not A Stretch To Buy?

While three-row SUVs and Crossovers are commonplace, today's Nice Price or No Dice Cadillac DTS has them all beat hands down because it has six doors to go with its three rows. Let's find out what such convenience might just reasonably cost.

A pickup truck can offer versatility, comfort, and perhaps even a home away from home if a camper or trailer is fitted. It's little wonder that the pickup category, and the Ford F-Series in particular, top the sales charts year after year. It's also fitting that FoMoCo should take that top-dog honor since it was the company that invented the category with the 1925 introduction of the Model T Runabout Pickup. Just shy of a quarter century later, Ford introduced a new line of pickups, dubbed the F-Series, beginning, appropriately enough, with the 1948 F-1.

The 1964 Ford F-100 standard-bed pickup we looked at on Monday represents an evolution of Ford's ethos in pickup truck design. Still a hard worker, it showed some concessions to comfort and, in our particular truck's case, a modern five-speed out of a Mustang for better highway behavior. Unfortunately for the seller, far too few of you found any comfort in paying the truck's $12,500 asking price. That was obvious in the comments and doomed the truck to a 62% "No Dice" loss.

While yesterday's F-100 may have initially been intended as a work truck, there was no specific job for it to handle. Today's 2008 Cadillac DTS stretch Limousine, on the other hand, has been coach-built for Livery service, meaning it's primed and ready to get down to business. This six-door, three-row stretched limo isn't set up for debauched bachelorette parties or awkward prom date entrances, however. Instead, it's designed more for airport shuttle service or for funeral processionals serving big but close families. Alternatively, it would be the perfect transport for twin sets of conjoined triplets if such a thing exists.

The car is based on Cadillac's DTS (DeVille Touring Sedan) platform: a lightly rehashed version of the older DeVille G-platform. That's FWD and unibody, which means it's both a good and a poor candidate for becoming stretch Armstrong. Regardless of the challenges of cutting and lengthening a unibody car, this one looks to have been very well done, as the added doors are blended into the overall look extremely cleanly.

Those six doors open onto an eight-passenger cabin comprised of three rows of seats. It actually might offer room for nine if that's a seat belt poking out from under the fat folding armrest between two wide front thrones. Still, at eight, the cabin is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

It all looks to be in great condition, too, and features climate control for all three rows.

Craigslist

The ad describes the interior as having only light wear. There's little obvious in the pictures, save for some broken weatherstripping on the driver's door jamb (darn those chauffeur's shoes!) and a bit of a slack-jawed look to the back of the front-seat storage pockets.

The appeal continues on the outside, with clean, unmarred limo-black paint and a weld-masking patterned vinyl roof. A V-series grille and chromed factory alloys offer some bling. If any complaint could be leveled at the car's condition, it's that the headlamp covers are a bit yellowed and cloudy, though, to be fair, even that's not too bad.

Adding doors and the necessary strengthening to the Caddy to prevent it from folding in half over the first speed bump will naturally also add weight. That shouldn't be too much of a hassle for the car's FWD drivetrain as the DTS is powered by Caddy's 4.6-liter Northstar V8 and a 4T80 four-speed automatic transaxle. As fitted in the standard DTS, that combo sent 275 horsepower and a healthy 295 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels. Everything behind that is just along for the ride. It should also be noted that this later edition of the Northstar isn't as problem-plagued as were the earlier engines.

According to the ad, the car has done 52,000 miles and now "runs and drives smooth, with no issues." Also, per the seller, they have a "Clean title in hand" for the car, and describe the Caddy as a "Turnkey luxury limo ready to make money or enjoy privately."

The seller makes a case for the car, stating in the ad, "Why this one: Low-mile DTS limos like this are getting harder to find—especially in this condition." They also aver that it is ready to go make money immediately. That's not quite the case, though, as pressing it into livery service would require obtaining a license. Of course, one could always flout the law and offer airport pick-ups and drop-offs on the sly.

For any of those options, there's the small matter of paying the seller $8,500 for the Caddy's title. That appears to be a $2,000 drop as they list $10,500 at the bottom of the ad.

What's your take on this money-maker at that $8,500 asking price? Does that feel like a deal to get into the limo business or just smugly take up multiple parking spaces wherever you go? Or is that price a long way from a bargain?

You decide!

Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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