Cadillac Escalade the Cadillac Escalade Platinum let's get right to it starting with some of my favorite things about this big full-size luxury SUV the first thing I love about the Escalade is that it is a pop culture icon it's the only Cadillac left that has a real name in just like the Corvette does for Chevrolet the Escalade communicates the Cadillac brand to the world it's a brand ambassador and this vehicle actually transcends critique your gonna buy it no matter what anybody has to say about it just like you by the Corvette and I think that's cool another great thing about the Escalade is that it is big bold and badass Cadillac redesigned this SUV for and it's got a sharp creased tailored appearance when you look at it you can barely see the Chevy Tahoe that's lurking beneath the sheet metal then right around back something that is sure to inspire envy at the Country Club This little "P" badge right here denoting platinum tells the world you spent almost Grand on your big SUV even though the Escalade is kind of old tech in terms of its design and engineering this thing is loaded with technology from the G LTE wifi hotspot to this smartphone inductive charging pad to the massaging driver seat to this Cadillac user experience system which has its critics I've made my peace with it it does collect a lot of fingerprints and dust it is a little bit slow to respond but you know whatever it's a lot easier than it used to be to use but really i mean this truck is absolutely loaded with technology that can be a good thing that can be a bad thing you gotta think about what it's going to cost to fix that stuff later on down the line but you know by the time those things start breaking your probably not going to still own this thing right so those are a few of the obvious things that are positive about the Escalade but there are also a lot of things to criticize it we're going to take a look at three of the things I like least about the Escalade right now. Now you'd think that an SUV that's this big on the outside would also be big on the inside and that's not really the case when it comes to the Escalade front seat occupants are gonna be perfectly comfortable especially the driver because of that massaging front seat rear seat occupants will be ok the bucket seats is just a little bit low but its dished so that it gives good thigh support and you've got decent foot and leg room but there's no way to really slide the seat back to create like limousine levels of legroom back here right now the Platinum has these power folding captains chairs as god forbid you have to do that with your arms and it's got a third row seat but if you try to put adults back here they're probably going to unfriend you on facebook because once this seat is back in place and you have adjusted that back up so its not poking you in the of the neck once you're back here if you're a bigger guy like me especially there's there's no place under the front of the second-row seat put your feet first of all so they're just kinda wedged in crammed back here in your almost eating your knees you can stretch your other way got here through the middle of the SUV which is fine but really I mean this is a spot that you'd probably use only for kids the problem with that is if you stick your kids back here they are only two and a half feet away from the tailgate they're basically sitting in the SUV's crush space if a big semi or something hits the back of this so I'm not sure that that makes a whole heck of a lot of sense and given the size of the Escalade really surprising that it's so compact on the inside and if you think out if you think you're going to get the extended ESV model and you're going to get a lot more room in terms of passenger space that's not necessarily true the third row seat in the extended version is also kind of cramped just getting a lot more cargo space behind the third row seat now check this out the reality is that the Escalade has just barely more space inside than your typical midsize crossover SUV as you can see behind third row seat there's room for a compact folding stroller maybe a few bags of groceries not much else if you're planning to take a road trip and you've got those captains chairs you want to carry more than four people in this behemoth you either leave all the luggage at home or you leave some of the people at home because to get a full sized suitcase in here that's what you've got to do if you're planning to carry more than or people in an Escalade plus cargo you have to get the extended version (ESV) now the other issue is that this cargo floor as you can see is really high I mean I'm six feet tall and I mean it's almost waist height the reason for all of these compromises is because this SUV is a traditional body-on-frame style and it uses a live rear axle solid rear axle rear suspension design and that basically pushes everything in the vehicle up higher plus with the redesign Cadillac installed these folding third row seats instead of the ones that you used to have to remove that thefts love to steal so that's good you don't have to remove the seats to maximize cargo room anymore but because they fold everything is higher and because the roof is actually a little bit lower with this redesign the space has actually gotten smaller if you wanna full-size luxury SUV that's got a functional third row seat and lots of cargo space try the Lincoln Navigator and here's why it has a more sophisticated and compact independent rear suspension design that creates a whole lot more room inside of the vehicle now if you decide to buy an Escalade platinum prepared to shell out an extra seven thousand eight hundred and five dollars over the Escalade premium up that brings the starting price for two wheel drive and no options to just over $, now what are you getting for the extra money we're getting a lot of upgraded interior materials that are designed to class up the joint you've got a sueded microfiber on the lower parts of the dashboard on the seatbacks the whole instrument panel is wrapped in leather the upper door panels the leather on the seats is a premium semi aniline leather it's all really nice stuff but part of the problem with that of course is that it draws sharper contrast with some of the Chevy grade plastics are also inside this SUV now what that starting price does not include is the power retractable side steps you can see them deployed here now that's a $, option even on the Platinum model and without them it's really tough to get in and out of this truck I recently heard a report that said that LA actually has the worst roads in the country I grew up in Michigan I know what bad roads are like and I don't feel like I always got the worst roads in the country but you know whatever no matter where you live though the inch wheels and serious tires that come on the Escalade platinum destroy the ride quality this vehicles got a magnetic ride control suspension which automatically adjusts to road conditions and it's got two different settings there's tour and there's sport so this Escalade was delivered to me with tour setting on and I though man this is kind of a rough ride and then I click the little button on the dashboard and pulled up the menu and I switched it to sport it felt like I was suddenly in like a horse drawn wagon glad that the lane departure warning system just went off because that kind of leads me into my next segment this is a big vehicle and I don't usually drive big vehicles like this I suppose that you get used to it but here in LA we have a lot of freeways with very narrow lanes and we have a lot of very compact parking lots with tiny little spaces and I found maneuvering this vehicle to be a complete pain in the you know what visibility issues despite the fact that it's got parking sensors and a reversing camera to just you know trying to maneuver around really tight turns in various parking areas just driving down the freeway I mean normally I hope turn lane departure warning system off but in the Escalade I kept it on the entire time because I actually felt like I needed it if you're going to buy one of these just know that there is going to be an acclimation period especially if you live in an urban environment so what's the verdict when it comes to the Cadillac Escalade Platinum should you go test drive one right away is a work in progress or should you just cross right off your list look the reality is is your gonna buy one no matter what I have to say so just go ahead and do it