skiphreac
Member
Hi everyone - I'm new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself and briefly tell my story. I've been a car enthusiast forever and have been driving Audis for 22 years (2 A4 Avants w/ the V6 and the 6 sp, then 2 S4s, both 6 sp, and then an S6). I live in the SF Bay Area and went to the IMSA race at Laguna Seca in May. I was impressed by the presence Cadillac had there - especially the fact that they offered test drives for both BWs (in auto and 6 sp variants) as well as the 'Slade V. I was familiar with the BWs from reading C&D, but it wasn't until driving a BW-4 (6 sp) that I realized how amazing these cars are. I decided that I'd replace the 2018 S6 with a BW-4 as a "last hurrah" for a gas-powered sports sedan with a manual.
My original plan was to order one with my preferred specs (coastal blue, 6 sp, upgraded seats in black, black wheels, red calipers, sunroof, red belts). As I did my research and realized that this combination would only exist as an ordered vehicle, and on an allocation basis, I reached out to a local dealer who had a few in stock (naturally all were Mondrians at an MSRP of $88K+). I realized that the number of people in line for an order was 2x their MY2024 sales, so the odds were not in my favor. They had an Elevation edition (6 sp naturally) that blew me away, but at $88K there was no way I was going to pony up for that. On my first visit, best I could do was $7K off, which still wasn't enough for me to bite.
Then, through this forum, I came across Dustin at Sewell and had a very helpful conversation where I came to realize that there was a lot of negotiation room for the Mondrians, and if I wanted to order one, I would not be in a situation at Sewell where I wouldn't ultimately get an allocation. So I went back to my local dealer to see if they could sweeten the pot, and they did - to the tune of 12% off MSRP. At this price, the Elevation edition would be <$5K more than what I would have paid to spec one out (MY25) to my liking, and for the CF packages, + the sweet (to me) red/black interior and the CF seatbacks, it was enough to pull the trigger. So I begged my wife for forgiveness to buy the BW before selling the S6, and as a result it appeared in my garage....next to my 2014 C7 torch red 7 sp Z51.
Really loving this car - the nimbleness, the handling, the driveability, the transmission, the linear response, the power delivery, all of it. I'm going to hold onto this for a long while. Did a full front PPF treatment on it a cpl wks ago. With the "myCadillac" points earned on the purchase, I acquired the black exterior emblems, + the CF license plate frame (almost free for both). I was feeling pretty good abt that until I went to another local dealer closer to my home in the east bay and was told it would cost me 2 hrs of labor to install them ($500). So I wasn't as smart as I thought I was...but wasn't willing to monkey around with YT videos to attempt it myself and risk misalignment. Oh well...am pleased with it.
So...what I would say to the community is that IF you do like the Mondrians, you can acquire one for a pretty decent price. There are still plenty of them to be had! Much respect to Dustin as well - I surely would have gone to him if my local dealer didn't show me the love. I was bummed to learn that Dustin is leaving the biz, but I can understand...surely it's a grind. Not like my job isn't, but hey...I get it.
My original plan was to order one with my preferred specs (coastal blue, 6 sp, upgraded seats in black, black wheels, red calipers, sunroof, red belts). As I did my research and realized that this combination would only exist as an ordered vehicle, and on an allocation basis, I reached out to a local dealer who had a few in stock (naturally all were Mondrians at an MSRP of $88K+). I realized that the number of people in line for an order was 2x their MY2024 sales, so the odds were not in my favor. They had an Elevation edition (6 sp naturally) that blew me away, but at $88K there was no way I was going to pony up for that. On my first visit, best I could do was $7K off, which still wasn't enough for me to bite.
Then, through this forum, I came across Dustin at Sewell and had a very helpful conversation where I came to realize that there was a lot of negotiation room for the Mondrians, and if I wanted to order one, I would not be in a situation at Sewell where I wouldn't ultimately get an allocation. So I went back to my local dealer to see if they could sweeten the pot, and they did - to the tune of 12% off MSRP. At this price, the Elevation edition would be <$5K more than what I would have paid to spec one out (MY25) to my liking, and for the CF packages, + the sweet (to me) red/black interior and the CF seatbacks, it was enough to pull the trigger. So I begged my wife for forgiveness to buy the BW before selling the S6, and as a result it appeared in my garage....next to my 2014 C7 torch red 7 sp Z51.
Really loving this car - the nimbleness, the handling, the driveability, the transmission, the linear response, the power delivery, all of it. I'm going to hold onto this for a long while. Did a full front PPF treatment on it a cpl wks ago. With the "myCadillac" points earned on the purchase, I acquired the black exterior emblems, + the CF license plate frame (almost free for both). I was feeling pretty good abt that until I went to another local dealer closer to my home in the east bay and was told it would cost me 2 hrs of labor to install them ($500). So I wasn't as smart as I thought I was...but wasn't willing to monkey around with YT videos to attempt it myself and risk misalignment. Oh well...am pleased with it.
So...what I would say to the community is that IF you do like the Mondrians, you can acquire one for a pretty decent price. There are still plenty of them to be had! Much respect to Dustin as well - I surely would have gone to him if my local dealer didn't show me the love. I was bummed to learn that Dustin is leaving the biz, but I can understand...surely it's a grind. Not like my job isn't, but hey...I get it.
