Backing up a bit, when we flew into Albuquerque IAP and checked in at Hertz, all we were looking for was a car large enough to comfortably haul the Mother-in-Law of Morganstein around for a few days, with enough room in the trunk for three large suitcases plus a few smaller items.

The guy at the Hertz counter initially offered up a Chevy Impala, which would’ve worked fine.  Then he noted we were doing a one-way rental (first and undoubtedly the last time I do that) to Reno.

“Hey, I have a Cadillac XTS which needs to get back to Nevada, how ’bout you take that?”

“Thanks, but I’m not interested in driving a Cadillac and I definitely am not in the mood to pay more per day for a vehicle I don’t want.”

Haggling ensued…he begged, cajoled, pleaded and finally found a couple of online specials which reduced the price substantially.  Okay, we’ll take it; loaded the car and immediately headed north for Santa Fe.

Two days later, my opinion of the car?  On the plus side it has adequate pickup (250-plus HP from the V6) and yes, it certainly rides smoothly, much to ma-in-law’s delight.

On the negative side, methinks Cadillac’s been designated by GM to take on BMW and this is the company’s answer to the BMW 7-series…and, like the 7-series, this thing is loaded with electronic this and digital that to a fare-thee-well.  One multi-function-display handles all of the HVAC, radio, nav, etc but the switchology is not intuitive so we’re limited in what we can call up.  We did figure out the AC and managed to get the Sirius/XM comms to work, but the trip computer is MIA and getting the nav system to come up in a useful fashion is impossible.  And no, we can’t refer to the owner’s manual, because the car doesn’t have one (although I will check online to see what I can find).

This is the first vehicle I’ve ever driven that has power steering wheel adjustment (fore-aft, up-down) and (TINS) a power glove box.  To get access to the storage compartment with the USB port?  You guessed it; push a button and the door will electrically open.

This car is ridiculous…too much electronics and technology crammed into it to be actually useful, large – the terms “land yacht” and “luxobarge” come to mind – and I understand they start at $45K and move up quickly.  As the presumed descendant of the old Sedan DeVille, I’m not impressed.  Again, it’s providing adequate transportation, but I’m looking forward to turning it back to Hertz next week.