Cadillac's midsize luxury crossover delivers on space and quietness but trails the segment in cabin refinement and tech polish. The exterior still looks sharp, and if you need three rows of seating with a premium badge, it checks that box without fuss. The interior materials and infotainment, though, feel a generation behind Lexus and the Germans, acceptable for daily hauling, underwhelming if you're cross-shopping aggressively. The 2024 transmission hiccups have been addressed, but the XT5's bigger problem is that it's standing still while competitors sprint ahead. Buy it if you're a Cadillac loyalist who values space over cutting-edge design. Skip it if you expect your luxury SUV to feel modern past the first lease cycle.
There's a reason used-car shoppers hunt the 2020-2022 RX like treasure: those V6 models are the last of a breed that could cruise to 300k miles on oil changes alone, with interiors that still felt worth the luxury badge. The current generation split the fanbase, sharper styling and better tech, sure, but the four-cylinder turbo sounds coarse under throttle and the cabin took a step down in material quality, swapping soft-touch surfaces for more hard plastics. Worse, the hybrid variants have a documented 12V battery defect that leaves owners stranded often enough that keeping a jump pack onboard is now common practice among RX350h and RX450h+ drivers. If you want the bulletproof Lexus experience, buy a late V6 model. If the new look calls to you, skip the hybrids or accept you're beta-testing a fix.