sorry to hear about 2005 cadillac. gm in my opinion gm hasn't had lot of luck with small v-6 engines. the 3.8 an 4.3 are more reliable v-6 motors. now v-8 are a different story. i have always had good luck with them. but lemons are out there. be careful. the best thing to do is take the escalade to a garage you trust an have it checked out. the seller should allow you to do it. if not BEWARE!!! if they don't want it checked out . there is probley something wrong with it. as far as cadillac escalades reliability. check on line consumer reports. like JD POWER. there is tons of info. that you can find on this vehicle an others you may be interested in. 26,000 miles is low miles for a v-8. it will probley last a while if you take good care of it. please don't write off american made cars just yet. find one that has been treated well. ask for service records.2007 should have these records. also use car facts report. you will need vehicles VIN. number, year ,make, Model, an engine size. well good luck to you. hope i was of some help to ya.