This is a Cadillac?!?
 

This is more of a complaint about Cadillac than Avis, but the car came from Avis, so I'll post it here...

So I got to a larger airport this weekend and they didn't have any DTS available, so I took the only Caddy on their lot: A purple CTS with ~3k on the odometer. It was a base car without any options... It even lacked the following:

-Lumbar
-Power passenger seat
-Heated seats
-Remote start
-Parking assist

I don't expect all cars to have all features (especially in the Avis fleet), but how can a "Luxury" car lack all of the previous options? I'm not asking for integrated GPS, blue tooth, massaging seats, cooled seats, or other upscale options that many cars priced lower than this have (Hyundai comes to mind), but come on.

The CTS competes in an industry segment known an near-luxury. Maybe you judge it as not so near as GM would think...

Park assist is pretty rare on vehicles sold in the U.S. Although lots of models have it as an option, it is standard on very few. Rental car cos. (and I tar them all with this brush) seldom spend much on options.

The omission of heated seats - by GM as std equipment - then by Avis in ordering - is very foolish.

As a CHM, I generally get a Cadillac of some sort. I have seen a wide variety though. Some of them have power everything, some of them lack GPS.
I have seen cars with heated/vented seats, but never with park assist.

I've driven around 30,000km in Avis Cadillac's over the last year or so. My favorite is definitely the CTS with the STS being my second choice.

All of the CTS's from Avis I've had were the 1SA package with the only options being the UltraView moonroof and an automatic transmission. I think the Canadian spec CTS's come with the power passenger/heated front seats as standard. Just tried configuring a base model on Cadillac.ca and here's a list of the standard equipment:

Front Heated Reclining Buckets Seats
Front driver seat direction controls - 8-way power
Front passenger seat direction controls - 8-way power
Lumbar support - driver and passenger
Heated front seats - driver and front passenger heated-cushion, heated-seatback

Couldn't find a similar list on the .com site, but it looks like Avis would need to equip the Luxury Collection to get the heated seats and power passenger.

Before this rental, I've probably had about a dozen and they all had rear parking assist (I think front & rear is standard on the DTS) and heated seats. Most have the cooled seats as well, in my experience.

It's amazing how our experiences differ: I've had 3 CTS's and none had a sunroof. They all had either PDR/PDP/PDW package, which was why I was shocked to find this base in the fleet. I'd also have to say that my preferred order of Cadillac's is completely opposite of yours: DTS, STS then CTS. Usually, though, I'm putting a lot of highway miles on the car and the DTS is a cruiser (not for in town) and my back loves the seats on that.

Ya all the DTS's I've ever had came with the front/rear park assist. I find it rather redundant once you get a feel for how big the car is.

The DTS is nice on the highway, but I definitely prefer a rear-wheel drive sedan. That Northstar really eats gas, especially when you cruise over 70 MPH.

The STS equipped with the DI V6 is probably my favorite highway cruiser. (Just did a 1000 mile trip with one) Amazing gas mileage considering the size of the vehicle and there's always ample power on tap.

All around though I really love the CTS. The new interior is amazing and that full length moonroof is a real treat in the summer. Looks and handles better than the DTS/STS and its an absolutely gorgeous car to drive around town with.

I know I always go against the crowd on this, but this is still where the Towncar/GM models are nice - consistent features usually. The Towncar I had this week had heated seats, auto dimming mirror, and not really needed, but trunk release AND latch. Push the button twice and from fully open, the trunk lid dropped and locked.

Now if they just had more vehicles in the fleet with remote start...

Yeah, for my open road drives, I really like the plush ride of the LTC. However, the seats kill my back and neck. I can never find that 'just right' position that prevents my neck from hurting after a 3-hr drive. Also, the interior of the LTC is so dated. And, yeah, all companies but GM could use a lot more remote starts in their fleet of vehicles. I seem to do a lot of travel up north in the winter and south in the summer... it makes it so much nicer to get into a temperature controlled car from the start.

I've had close to two dozen Caddys this year. Zero have had sunroofs. I've had two with navigation (both CTS). I've had three DTSs, all three had park assist, and heated/ventilated seats. Some of the CTSs that I've had had the v6, some had the V8. I think all of the STSs I rented had the v8.

My favorite is the V8 CTS with navi. At one point, I had both a CTS and STS out at the same time. Surprisingly, the CTS has a larger trunk. We had a large cooler, and assumed the STS would be the vehicle to fit it in. When it wouldn't, we popped the CTS trunk, and sure enough it fit right in.

The DTS floats, and is a little more comfortable in the back seat.

The new CTS is by far one of the best cars AVIS currently rents, top 5 at least. As far as the luxury options you were missing on that particular car, how would you feel in Europe when you rent a BMW 3-series, Mercedes C-class, or Audi A4 and have manual windows, cloth seats, and 15in wheels?