I had the chance to look at a 2021 Escalade “Sport”. It gave me a reason to get out of the house and go for a drive. The particular Escalade was heavily optioned with RES and in the $102k msrp. I looked at it because of being educated and a friend was dead serious in the vehicle and asked me to look at it. I don’t know where to begin. The only reason I could imagine a X7 owner cross shopping this would be because they need more cargo room??
I drive a Ram Power Wagon as my daily and I would say the Escalade feels a lot closer in build quality to my Ram than my BMW. The second row captain chairs are not in the same zip code in luxury and quality feel as my BMW. I can go down the list item for item on where the Escalade is not on a $100k level. The GM level of plastic in the Cadillac feels exactly the same as in a GM pickup and its everywhere. Door handles and buttons feel like a Chevy and that is the take away I had with the entire vehicle. Leather is very average and poor compared to Merino. The plastic chrome trim in the headrest, plastic manual levers for the second row captains chair all feel like a mid level GM vehicle. I will go out and even say a Ram 1500 Limited trim pick-up is far more luxurious in its execution. Not to get into the driving difference but a 6.2L with only 420hp?? How is that possible to have a engine this big and only yield 420hp?
I am a realist and can keep in perspective what different level of vehicles are built like. I know my Power Wagon was not built to feel as luxurious as even a X3. Keeping all that as a base line I would say if you really need more room than the X7 and are looking at the Escalade, go for a mid tier Yukon and call it a day. The build quality is the same and so are the materials used. I could tell the difference between a X7 to a Escalade even if you blindfolded me and told me to just sit inside and feel the quality of the buttons, materials, and controls. The Escalade is very good for a $50k-$65k vehicle as the tech and luxury is very similar to a top level trim GM 1/2 ton pickup but horrific quality for a $100k+ vehicle. IMO it makes a base level BMW X7 40i at $80k look like a bargain.
