Book by Cadillac offers unlimited vehicle access for $1,800 per month
Insurance is included, there's no minimum membership length and users have access to a wide variety of Cadillac vehicles.
Would you like to (technically) command a whole fleet of cars, with paid insurance, for a flat monthly fee? If so, Book by Cadillac might be right up your alley.
Book by Cadillac is a new subscription vehicle service. For $1,800 per month, users get access to an entire fleet of Platinum-trim Cadillac vehicles, including Escalade, XT5 and CT6 (including the plug-in hybrid and models with Super Cruise). The fleet also includes Cadillac's super-fun V Series, likely including the 640-horsepower CTS-V, and you can drive up to 2,000 miles a month. Aww yeah.
Fancy pants.
You don't have to go anywhere to pick the cars up, either. They will be delivered and retrieved by "white-glove concierge," and I will be supremely let down if they don't actually wear white gloves. The concierge service is included in the cost, as is maintenance, insurance and cleaning.
There's no set time limit for the cars, either. Cadillac's release discusses how users might want to take out an Escalade for the whole freaking winter, only to swap it for a V Series car once the weather is better for driving.
A subscription vehicle service isn't necessarily new. The idea has been around for years. Back in 2005, Sun Microsystem's CEO tossed around the idea of a service where car ownership shifts to a subscription-type model without the large upfront cost typical with car ownership.
It's quite the sweet deal, but $1,800 a month (plus a one-time $500 initiation fee) is a tough pill to swallow, especially when gas and parking are not covered in that price. That's probably why Book by Cadillac's pilot started in the metro New York area. When $1,800 gets you a studio the size of a broom closet, sleeping in an Escalade sounds appealing.
As of November 2017, after a successful trial in New York, the Book by Cadillac program is being expanded to the Dallas and Los Angeles area.
Update, Nov. 29: Book by Cadillac has increased its subscription fee by $300 to $1,800 a month, but it's also added new vehicles and new cities where the service is available. The article above as been revised to reflect these developments.
