Cadillac Escalade – Christian Wardlaw’s Opinion of Quality:
Give kudos to Cadillac for ditching the Chevy-grade interior from the previous Escalade for the 2007’s lush environment. Soft touch surfaces dominate; even the sides of the center console between the seats dimple when you press on them. The Nuance leather is smooth, soft, and strongly scented. Wood and aluminum trim the dash, and the headliner is a padded woven fabric. Most controls are softly dampened, too, for more refined operation. Yeah, there are a few of those wafer-thin, hollow-sounding plastic panels in the Escalade, most notably the glove box door, but most of that cheap stuff is tucked away and hidden from sight.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that build quality is much better than it used to be. Sure, the gaps between panels are much tighter than before, but that just makes it easier to spot the problems. Inside, the passenger airbag cover didn’t fit flush with the upper dash pad, which inspires me to ask why this luxed-up truck doesn’t have a seamless passenger airbag in the first place. In our test sample, the only pillar trim that fit properly was for the passenger’s side windshield post, and on rough pavement the cabin filled with a cacophony of rattles. Lift the center console lid and wiggle it – how long do you think that’s gonna last before it snaps apart? The lower dash panel on the driver’s side was poorly fit, the plastic and vinyl seam on the base of the front passenger’s seat was splitting apart, the plastic inserts that hide screw heads behind all four door releases had sloppy seams, and with the navigation screen tilted inward to reduce glare it caved a bit when pressing on the lower left corner. This stuff might sound like small nits to pick, but when you’re playing in Lexus’s backyard, you’d better have some bite behind that bark.

Our test Escalade’s exterior wasn’t any better. Skipping over the minor variances in fit and finish that almost every car on the planet has, I noted a front bumper cover that was bowing out on both sides just forward of the wheel wells, like it had been forced into place to align with the fasteners that attach it to the truck. The tailgate was obviously tweaked to the right leaving a large gap on the left side, and the cover that fit over the trailer hitch was installed far off-center. Other issues were mainly limited to flushness of fit at the chrome window trim and inconsistent gap tolerances for the front doors.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that the “Built with Pride in Arlington, Texas” sticker on the driver’s door jamb was already peeling off.

Cadillac Escalade – James Fabin’s Opinion of Quality:
Cadillac knew it had high expectations to meet with the 2007 Escalade and it did a good job of meeting those expectations, but not in all areas. The buttons, switches and gauges are all high quality – many of which would not feel out of place in a European luxury sedan. The gauges are large and easy to see at night, but during the day the dark blue pointers on a black background get lost. The center dashboard section is made of quality parts, making it unfortunate that many of the most frequently accessed buttons and controls are located too low on the dash, with less frequently used features using valuable space up top.

Fit-and-finish wasn’t up to par with other luxury vehicles. During my test drive I noticed several squeaks and rattles coming from the roof-mounted DVD player and sunroof. There were also noticeably uneven gaps between some of the interior trim pieces. In addition, the front seatbelt mounts had exposed metal u-rings that looked as out of place in a luxury car as Paris Hilton at a Mensa meeting.

Cadillac Escalade – Ron Perry’s Opinion of Quality:
Our Cadillac Escalade’s biggest downfall was the now legendary low-quality plastics GM uses in its products, and the poor panel fit that abounds in many of its vehicles. Outside, the gaps and seams of the body panels showed uneven fitment. Inside, the leather was nice but the surrounding plastic brought down the look of the whole interior. Plus, the Escalade was full of ill-fitted panels. The A- and B-pillars had large, uneven gaps where they met the headliner, and the A-pillar covers were also loose and flipped outward at the corners. The panel under the steering wheel didn’t sit flush with the piece next to it, and the wobbly hinges on the center console were another issue that needed attention. It seems I write the same things over and over regarding GM quality; maybe someday things will improve.