When someone buys a luxury car, they’re typically spending a lot of money on it. But, that hasn’t stopped some automakers from making a more affordable luxury vehicle. Sometimes, it works out well, and they create a luxurious SUV that isn’t too expensive. That’s not what happened for the Cadillac XT4, though.

The Cadillac XT4 isn’t that luxurious

While Cadillac does provide a luxurious-looking interior to the XT4, according to Consumer Reports, the XT4 by no means provides a luxurious ride. Not only is it a smaller SUV, and thus, less spacious than it could be, but its engine and suspension system simply provides an uncomfortable ride for a luxury SUV. 

Cadillac has a brand-new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine for the XT4, and Consumer Reports says that it’s a good enough engine in terms of performance. But while its 237-hp provides decent power for the XT4, Consumer Reports says that it fails to provide a comfortable ride. Not only is the engine noisy and loud for a luxury vehicle, but the XT4’s suspension system gives it a stiff ride on the road. 

On top of that, while the XT4 has an infotainment system as standard, Consumer Reports complains that some of its controls were hard to find. Additionally, while the XT4 does have some standard interior features that a luxury SUV should have, it’s also missing a lot of things.

Low reliability and not a lot of smart safety features

While Consumer Reports says that the XT4 received a great five-star rating in its crash tests, Consumer Reports also said that the XT4 doesn’t have a lot of standard safety features for a luxury SUV. The XT4 comes with forward collision warning, partial automatic emergency braking, and a pedestrian detection system as standard. 

But, for other smart safety features that are either very useful, such as adaptive cruise control, or great safety features to have, such as blind-spot monitors, Consumer Reports says that these smart safety features are only optional. Adding these smart safety features to the XT4 will, of course, make it cost more. 

That said, one of the other reasons why Consumer Reports didn’t like the XT4 is because of its expected reliability. Like Consumer Reports said, Cadillacs haven’t been the most reliable cars recently, and that hurts the XT4’s expected reliability rating. In fact, not only did the XT4 get a one out of five rating for its expected reliability, but it’s also in last place for reliability among its competitors. 

For example, the Lexus UX is a comparable luxury SUV, and it had an overall reliability rating of 96 percent. The XT,4 on the other hand, had an overall reliability rating of just 9 percent. 

Just how cheap is the Cadillac XT4?

Consumer Reports says that the XT4 starts at about $37,000, and, depending on its trim and the options on it, it can cost up to $42,000. But, despite this relatively low price for a luxury SUV, Consumer Reports says that it’s the worst luxury SUV in its segment. 

Overall, Consumer Reports gave the XT4 an overall score of 52 out of 100. This low score was mostly due to the fact that despite it performing decently in the road test, the XT4’s lack of features and its predicted reliability rating dragged it down. 

As a result of this low score, the XT4 was in last place among the 10 luxury small SUVs that Consumer Reports rated. The Lexus UX was in first place, followed closely by the Audi Q3 and the BMW X2. Not only were these great luxury SUVs tested as better than the XT4, but some of them are even more affordable.