The first Cadillac Celestiq to show up at auction almost found a new owner after being listed on Bring a Trailer; however, the reserve was not met despite being bid to $381,111. A small bidding war broke out in the last 2 minutes of the week-long auction after sitting at $300,000 for almost an hour. Each time a bidder ups the price, the 2-minute timer restarts. This went on for 40 minutes. It would’ve become the third-highest selling Cadillac on the site, topped only by the 1959 Eldorado Biarritz Convertible and a 1930 Series 452 V-16 Convertible Coupe.
Base Trim Engine
Electric
Base Trim Transmission
Single-speed Automatic
Base Trim Drivetrain
All-Wheel Drive
Base Trim Horsepower
600 hp
Base Trim Torque
640 lb-ft
Fuel Economy
TBC
0-60 MPH
3.8 seconds
What would have been the highest-selling hardtop Cadillac had an original MSRP of $439,020. The Backen Black over Opera Red leather Celestiq was one of 25 Invitational models built for 2025 and has just 119 miles on the odometer. In case you haven’t picked up on it, this isn’t some pristine Cadillac DeVille we’re fawning over, this is one of the rarest Cadillacs ever made and the first hand-built coach since the 1957 Eldorado Brougham, a vehicle Cadillac supposedly lost $10,000 on each despite its $13,074 MSRP (that’s $156,000 today).
The Cadillac of Cadillacs
2025 Cadillac Celestiq EV Front Angle SunsetCadillac
2025 Cadillac Celestiq
Base MSRP
$356,995
Powertrain
Dual-motor AWD
Power
655 combined horsepower, 646 lb-ft of torque
Battery Capacity
111 kWh
Range
303 miles
Each Celestiq is personally specified by clients at Cadillac House Vanderbilt, a building dedicated to automotive designer Suzanne Vanderbilt, a pioneering member of General Motors’ Damsel’s of Design. Located on GM’s Global Technical Center campus, Cadillac set up a studio for clients to meet with the design team and walk through the entire process with help from the experts who made their car a reality. If it’s starting to sound a bit Rolls-Royce, that’s because it’s supposed to.
At one point, the Cadillac name was spoken in the same breath as Rolls and Bentley, just as Lincoln once was, too. During this period of ultra-luxurious coach-built Cadillacs, the engines of choice could be V12 or V16 engines, but this time around, Cadillac has opted for silent running. Not unlike Rolls-Royce, which crafts the electric two-door Spectre that replaced the Wraith as its 2+2 personal luxury coupe. The 4-door hatchback Celestiq starts at $356,995 and the Spectre charges an entry fee of $397,750.
2027 Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II dynamic photography.Rolls-Royce
Both are eye-watering to begin with, although that’s before owners get to add their own personal touches. The Celestiq up for grabs on Bring a Trailer had $76,330 in options, all of which went toward the carbon fiber interior trim, red leather interior, and Dolby Atmos surround sound. As for the Spectre, used examples can fetch between $350,000 to $400,000, which the Caddy was right in line with before the auction closed.
Many of the commentors assumed the reserve was set high enough to forgo a complete sale, arguing the owner just received a “free appraisal” of sorts. What this teaches us about the future of the Celestiq market won’t fill a blue book, but it does provide a little insight into what options cost and how much people are willing to pay for a brand-new $400,000 Cadillac.
Related
Cadillac’s $300k Answer To The Rolls-Royce Spectre Will Be Even Rarer Than Expected
Cadillac’s dreams of offering an electric Rolls-Royce competitor are off to a very slow start.
This Celestiq has $76,330 in Options, but that didn’t Help it Sell
2025 Cadillac Celestiq Cost Breakdown
Base MSRP
$356,995
Bespoke Interior
$26,710
Carbon Fiber Seatbacks
$25,700
Rear Folding Tray Tables
$8,400
Carbon Fiber Center Console
$4,000
High Gloss 23” Carbon Fiber Wheels
$4,000
Leather Headliner
$3,000
Smart Glass Roof w. Pattern
$2,000
Eucalyn Floor Mats
$1,520
Color-Matched Storage Compartments
$1,000
Destination
$5,695
Total MSRP
$439,020
This is our first real look into how easy it is to run up the bill on a Celestiq. The listing included a picture of the window sticker which outlined the price of all the options fitted to the car. For comparison, the most expensive option on the CT5-V Blackwing is the Deep Ocean Appearance Package ($26,995), so even if you aren’t one of the lucky 25 owners of a 2025 Celestiq Invitational, you can at least get the same thrill of optioning a CT-5 V Blackwing for similar money. Which, if you specify one just right, it’ll hold its value for years to come.
The V-series Escalades and Blackwing sedans—especially the ones equipped with manual gearboxes—retain roughly all their value when they change hands. And that’s not including the special editions that can fetch almost twice as much as the starting MSRP for base models even on the used market. If it’s well-equipped and packs three pedals, it’ll almost certainly fetch six figures. The Celestiq is a slight diversion from the recipe that makes the others expensive, even as leftovers.
As it turns out, the Celestiq up for grabs was part of Cadillac’s Invitational series, setting that car far apart from the rest of the Celestiq bunch. Cars built as part of the Invitational series are crafted using a bespoke collection of options gathered by the in-house design team. Usually, something like that fairs better than one person’s eye for design, but in this case, it still failed to meet the seller’s expectations for what they thought their bespoke Celestiq was worth. If a Rolls-Royce Spectre can fetch close to MSRP on the used market, surely the more useable Cadillac can match its worth, right?
The Spectre, which Rolls is just as cagey when it comes to disclosing the MSRP of its cars, starts around $397,750 before options. A 2024 Spectre Launch Package was listed on Bring a Trailer in February 2024 and was bid to $451,000 despite an MSRP of $521,650 after options. 2024—2025 models for sale at dealerships range between $350,000—400,000, with new 2026 models reaching deeper into the $400,000’s. Ultra-luxury electric sedans are younger than Love Island USA, so there hasn’t been enough time or data points to figure out the exact numbers they’ll fetch on the used market. Granted, Cadillac and Rolls-Royce are the only two in the game right now, though the players down-market might have some notes to pass along.
The Used EV Market Offers Some Insight
2024 Porsche Taycan Turbo front 3/4 viewPorsche
No matter the segment, any new car powered by electrons commands higher prices than its gas or hybrid equivalent. On the used market, people are less willing to front the premium required to have cheaper average running costs than the ones with more moving parts. The Porsche Taycan, Tesla Model 3, and Hyundai Kona Electric all retain about 55 percent of their value after 5 years. Taycans from 2021—the most expensive of the bunch—sit at an average of $61,000 today. When new, The Taycan 4S AWD was $103,800 before options. The $44,990 Model 3 Standard Range Plus RWD plunged to an average of $22,790 after five years.
Related
EVs Ranked By How Much They Depreciate Over 5 Years
If you’re looking for EVs that are way more affordable now than they were half a decade ago, here’s a list.
The next time a Celestiq comes up for sale and doesn’t fetch MSRP, it won’t be because it wasn’t luxurious enough, or it missed the mark on becoming the standard of the world again. It’s because of what’s under the hood. In the early 2000s, GM held a mirror up to itself and ripped the sheet off the Sixteen, a concept built to return some semblance of its former self back to the brand and move it up a few notches against its rivals. Under its landing strip of a hood sits a 13.6-liter V16 power plant churning out 1,000 horsepower from its conjoined small-block V8’s. Why couldn’t this have been the return of Cadillac’s coach-building era since the 1950s?
2003 Cadillac SixteenCadillac
Two words: brand image. Cadillac was on track to be the first marque in GM’s portfolio to go all-electric, and while the timeline ebbs and flows, it will happen sometime soon. To usher in the next generation of Cadillacs, the flagship model has to represent the star the whole brand is pointed towards. That means, important elements of that flagship need to trickle down into the rest of the model lineup, something Cadillac is gearing up for with a shimmering fleet of formidable electric SUVs. Just because the Celestiq is the shiniest luxury limousine in the arsenal, it’s not exempt from EV depreciation that afflicts all cars with a charge port, something this listing has revealed.
Does This Celestiq Set Precedent for Future Sales?
Cadillac Celestiq InvitationalBring a Trailer
One auction listing ending in a no-sell doesn’t tell the future like tea leaves might. However, it sets the bar for forthcoming listings to meet. Will scarcity be the driving factor upholding resale values of the Celestiq? We don’t know. But from the looks of the comments on the auction, most people claim they would’ve put their money where their mouths are if it packed a V12 or V16 like the Caddy Cruella De Vil would’ve driven if it weren’t for her puttering Panther De Ville.
What it will do is offer perspective. Well before it sets precedent for future Celestiq sales, it’s a test bed for how this one Cadillac is perceived on the used market compared to others. Where the V models retain their value, or even appreciate, every electric model Cadillac has beaten the plummet others face. The Celestiq is on the right track, but what’s surprising isn’t the electric powertrain underpinning this Cadillac. It’s that it is still a Cadillac.
It has OnStar capability and was rolled out of the showroom on three-year-old Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires. Celestiq owners will still be dealing with Cadillac dealerships where they, even if they bought a Rolls-Royce-level automobile, are getting a loaner vehicle sprinkled with loose Cheerios when their Celestiq goes in for service. If, and only if, their local dealer is authorized to pick up the phone when an owner of its flagship sedan rings to schedule a service. If you’re in the market for a Celestiq, don’t worry. The first Celestiq up for auction has proved it’s still a Cadillac. Not only does it have GM’s suite of emergency connectivity, it comes with other Cadillac signifiers, too, like emergency braking, parking sensors, and a clean Florida title.
Sources: Cadillac, Bring a Trailer, GM News
