2012 Cadillac Escalade Overview Change Vehicle

This 2012 Cadillac Escalade review explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2012 Escalade, and includes Cadillac Escalade safety, reliability, and fuel economy ratings.

The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV. The Escalade family includes the standard model, covered in this review, the extended-length ESV model, the EXT pickup truck model, and the Hybrid model. You can read about each of these Escalades in separate reviews.

It has been six years since Cadillac redesigned the Escalade, and a new one isn’t due until 2014 at the earliest. As such, changes for 2012 are minimal. The biggest news relates to the steps Cadillac has taken to thwart vehicle thieves. New wheel locks, shock sensors, inclination sensors, and a more robust steering column lock combine to make it much more difficult to steal an Escalade – or the contents inside. The upgrades are in addition to OnStar Stolen Vehicle Tracking, which can remotely find an Escalade and even slow it down so that criminals can be apprehended.

Additional changes for 2012 include an upgraded navigation system, which now includes guidance lines for the reversing camera display, upgraded point-of-interest search capability, new satellite radio services, and a low fuel warning light display. A new center console lid design also debuts for 2012, Platinum Collection models can be equipped with an Ebony-on-Ebony interior treatment, and the Escalade can be painted in a couple of new colors called Radiant Silver Metallic and Crystal Red Tintcoat.

Four different Cadillac Escalades are on sale: Base, Luxury, Premium and Platinum. Sometimes they are referred to as “Editions,” sometimes they are referred to as “Collections,” and sometimes they simply tell the story on their own. We’ll adhere to that latter method of representation.

To that end, the first model up for discussion is the Escalade. With a starting price roughly that of a Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon – one of the coolest machines on the planet – the most basic Escalade makes a poor case for itself. You must really want the Escalade’s tiny, cramped, uncomfortable third-row seat to skip the CTS Wagon in favor of this beast.

Be that as it may, the Escalade’s feature highlights include leather, triple-zone automatic climate control, heated and cooled front seats, a Bose 5.1 Surround Sound premium audio system with satellite radio and a USB port, a reversing camera, rear park assist, remote engine starting, a power tailgate, LED taillights, and 18-inch aluminum wheels that look way too small on this truck. There’s a bunch of other stuff, too, including a power tilt steering wheel (not telescopic, unfortunately), power adjustable pedals, a navigation system, and Bluetooth hands-free connectivity. One free year of OnStar service is also tossed into the deal, as well as automatic HID headlights, automatic suspension leveling, and power heated outside mirrors with puddle lamps and integrated turn signal indicators. Aside from all-wheel drive, the dealer installs options for this model.

For a longer list of standard equipment, it’s necessary to upgrade to the Escalade Luxury, which rolls out the door for close to $68,000. The Luxury model rewards you with a heated steering wheel, a power sunroof, a side blind-zone alert system, a power second-row seat release, IntelliBeam auto-dimming high-beam headlights, a Magnetic Ride Control suspension, and really attractive 22-inch chrome aluminum wheels. Options include AWD, a rear-seat entertainment system, power retractable running boards, and a variety of 22-inch wheels designs from which to choose.

The Escalade Premium is priced in the low $70,000 range. It adds rear-seat entertainment, power retractable side steps, special polished and painted alloy wheels, stainless steel exhaust outlets, and a tire inflation kit instead of a spare. Extra-cost items include AWD and a set of LED headlights.

If you might think the Escalade couldn’t be better equipped, guess again. The Platinum model is fully loaded and exits the showroom for more than $80,000. Standard features include everything that comes standard on the Premium model plus LED headlights, luxurious aniline leather coating the first two rows of seats (the third-row is upholstered in Nuance leather), a leather-wrapped interior treatment, genuine wood and aluminum cabin accents, heated and cooled cupholders, and a DVD rear entertainment system with dual independent second-row headrest screens in addition to the usual single overhead screen. AWD is optional.

Every Escalade is equipped with a 6.2-liter V8 engine with Active Fuel Management technology that shuts down half of the cylinders under low-load conditions in an effort to conserve fuel. This E85-compatible V8 is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission driving the rear or all four wheels, makes 403 horsepower at 5,700 rpm and 417 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 rpm, and boasts a trailer-tow rating of 8,300 pounds (8,100 lbs. with AWD).

Fuel economy ratings, as you might expect, are horrifying if you’re not used to driving a large SUV like this one. The Escalade gets 14 mpg in the city and 18 mpg on the highway with rear-wheel drive. With AWD, that city rating drops to 13 mpg. Good thing premium fuel is only recommended and not required.

Cadillac installs six airbags, a StabiliTrak traction and stability control system with rollover mitigation technology, four-wheel-disc antilock brakes, a reversing camera, and rear park assist sensors on every 2012 Cadillac Escalade. An OnStar telematics system is also standard, and comes with one free year of Automatic Crash Notification, Emergency Services, and Crisis Assist. Each of these services is intended to put the Escalade’s driver in touch with a live operator in cases of emergency so that help can be rushed to the SUV’s location if necessary. Additional safety features include side blind-zone assist and IntelliBeam headlights; these items are standard on Luxury, Premium, and Platinum models.

If you’re interested in the Cadillac Escalade’s crash-test scores, we’re sorry to report that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) haven’t performed assessments on this luxury SUV.

When it comes to quality and dependability, Consumer Reports and J.D. Power and Associates tell divergent stories. The latter gave Cadillac an award for the 2011 Escalade’s performance in its Initial Quality Study, and J.D. Power predicted that last year’s Escalade would provide better than average long-term dependability. Consumer Reports disagrees, saying that the Escalade’s reliability is likely to prove below average.

Just in case you need reassurance, the Escalade comes with Cadillac Shield, a comprehensive warranty, maintenance, and roadside assistance program. It includes a basic four-year/50,000-mile warranty, a five-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, free maintenance for selected scheduled services for the duration of the basic warranty, and free roadside assistance for the first five years of ownership.

The Cadillac Escalade comes standard with rear bucket seats. Buyers can select, at no additional cost, a second-row bench seat that brings total passenger capacity to eight. However, we strongly recommend reserving the third-row seat for kids 12 and under.

Though it’s not designed for serious off-roading, the Cadillac Escalade boasts 9.3 inches of ground clearance. Combined with optional AWD and a 52/48 front-to-rear weight distribution, this SUV ought to be fun to drive in the slippery stuff. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

The Escalade offers 16.9 cubic-feet of cargo space behind the third-row seat, about as much as a midsize sedan. If you yank the third-row seats out and toss them into the garage, the Escalade seat four or five people (depending on rear seat configuration) and can carry 60.3 cu-ft of cargo. Fold the second-row seats down, and an Escalade can swallow 108.9 cu-ft of stuff.

The Escalade can tow 8,300 pounds and carry a 1,555-lb payload with rear-wheel drive. AWD models have a towing rating of 8,100 lbs. and can handle 1,577 lbs. of payload.

The 2012 Cadillac Escalade is built in Arlington, Texas.

We realize that many people regard the Cadillac Escalade as a rolling exhibit of cultural bankruptcy. But when you’re spending this kind of money on a new set of wheels, you probably don’t care. As blinged-out as this truck is, and despite knowing that it’s basically a Chevy Tahoe with all the trimmings, we can’t help but like the brash, bold, ballin’ Cadillac Escalade.

By Christian Wardlaw