Cadillac CTS/CTS-V

jemiller

ryoken's point is well taken. An M5 works as a halo car because there's a direct relationship between it and every other 5-series.

The Corvette may be a nice piece of hardware, but it has no relationship whatsoever to any other Chevy except the pickups.

The Viper's distance from the rest of the Dodge lineup is even greater.

johnnycsk

I decided to pull the trigger and buy the CTS today. I got the raven black luxury sport package with navigation and xm radio (even though I'm not really into the whole xm thing). Funny thing happened, when I asked to test the drive the car the sales manager was busy with a customer so he said go ahead. Another salesman pulled the car upfront and then walked away. I was shocked, I could have driven the car home for all they cared. No drivers license... nothing... Anyway, can't wait to pick it up this weekend !!! BTW, I used the GM in the Driveway Certificate, I saved $500 bucks from my best negotiating price... They applied the 1000 for the conquest rebate and my GM card earnings. Total price with tax 38,406.82. Now I'm off to collecting 5 cent cans, so I can pay for this thing : )

wwhite2

Good Luck with it Johhnycsk. You will really like the Nav system after you learn it's EXTENSIVE capablities . .

mannytranny

Congrats on your new purchase!!!!!!!!
ENJOY!!!!!!!

oldsman01

Maybe if Honda and Toyota has a "halo car", people wouldn't think of their products as mere transportation appliances. Actually, Honda has the S2000 and Acura NSX which could be considered halo cars. In Cadillac's case, they no have a solid line-up with a halo car(the XLR not the CTS-V btw) so I guess it's the best of both worlds. Hopefully, things will trickle down to the rest of the GM divisions.

johnnycsk, enjoy the new CTS! If you like music and spend alot of time on the road, you'll love XM radio. FAR more variety than FM can ever dream of. And very few to no commercials. No more screaming cars dealer ads or endless blocks of commercials.

mariner7

You guys are right. Halo cars work better if they're related to non-halo cars. So maybe Caddy's halo division does make sense!

That's what I always thought was wrong with Honda's halo cars, NSX & S2000. They've almost nothing to do with Honda's other models: RWD, different platforms & engines. That has to have something to do with Honda not replacing the NSX in nearly two decades.

bingoman

Hi folks, just got back from a trip up to Canada. Five weeks and 4,000 miles. I now have 21k miles in 15 months. L.A. to Jasper, Alberta and back. The CTS performed magnificently. The only service was stops for gas. Approximately 26 mpg, no oil, no air, no coolant. I missed all the fires. The navigation system worked great, door to door guidance on most days. The biggest problem was that the Canada CD didn't know where Jasper was. We had to use a paper map from Kamloops to Jasper, and back to Banff N.P.

When talking about dealers and other geographically related subjects it would be nice if people included their approximate location such as city and/or state so we could get an idea of the distribution of CTS's. Also, I wonder who has accumulated the most mileage on their CTS.

johnnycsk congratulations on your new CTS. Enjoy your navigation system, it has some amazing features. I've had mine for over a year and I am still learning new things about it.

sonjaab

Congrats...........

Remember you also saved adv. fees ($500?) and DOC fees using that GM cert...............geo

redgtconv

With only 8 days left in the program, I guess I should give up on getting one of your coupons. Please let me know if they extend the program and if you will be able to get anymore. Thanks for trying.

johnnycsk

Is there a break in period for the new cars? I always thought that you should never go pass 60 mph for the first 2,000 miles. I just wanted to know because I really want to see what the car has got.

spike1282

Hey guys, I have been reading the boards for a while but this is my first post. I was wondering if the CTS has a tire pressure monitoring system. Also if it does, does it just display a message on the DIC stating whether the pressure is low or not, or does it give the actual pressure of each tire like the STS…Thanks!

rsteph

Here's the answer to the break in question..direct copy from the owner's manual (2003 Model):

New Vehicle “Break-In”
NOTICE:
Your vehicle doesn’t need an elaborate
“break-in.” But it will perform better in the
long run if you follow these guidelines for the
first 500 miles (805 km):
 Don’t drive at any one speed -- fast or slow.
 Do not exceed 70 mph (113 km/h).
 Don’t make full-throttle starts, also refrain
from using the full throttle while driving.
If these procedures are not followed your engine,
axle or other parts could be damaged.
 Avoid making hard stops for the first
200 miles (322 km) or so. During this time
your new brake linings aren’t yet broken
in. Hard stops with new linings can mean
premature wear and earlier replacement.
Follow this breaking-in guideline every
time you get new brake linings.
Don’t tow a trailer during break-in. See “Towing
a Trailer” in the Index for more information.

wwhite2

Have to wonder how many of those "do nots' occur by any car that is test driven before it is sold .

b4z

....Or by the lot monkey who preps the car before it is put on display.

How many times have we been at a dealership and seen an employee start up a car, pull onto the highway and put his foot in it?

sonjaab

Sorry......GM never sent me anymore. I guess 8 was their limit. Raycherry got the LAST one !
Sure hope he uses it on a new CTS! Haven't seen him post either way yes or no.

Well at least 6 outta 8 got a new GM!.......geo

berrycherry

Waiting for GM to send me last $500 for GM in Motion. I drove a 2004 at the GM in motion at Irvine on Aug 14. Gm says it will take 1-2 weeks. Have found several cars in the Calif-OC area that meet my price of about $37000.

Gm says to call every day so if I dont get it by Wed will buy anyway.
Have $4100 MC credits plus $750 loyality and maybe another $500 and the GM in the driveway certificate from sonjabb. I will use it before Sept 2!

BerryCherry

jemiller

Note that most of the break-in issues have little to do with the engine, most relate to break-in of the drivetrain (transmission/rear axle.)

I think there's a fair consensus now that you should NOT 'baby' an engine during the first few hundred miles, as the rings depend on compression pressure to establish their wear pattern and if not adequately loaded they may never seal properly. In other words, not sustained full-throttle but don't putter around at 2000RPM all the time either.

As for the brakes - once again, you may not want to use them too hard at first but don't be too easy on them, either, as you then risk 'glazing' the pads and not getting full grip out of them.

sonjaab

Ya might wanna check that GM card bonus.....
As of Aug.1 employee/family deals can only use/get 1% towards purchase instead of 5%. BUMMER!
Not sure about that cert. deal tho. !
Don't forget to tell the dealer if you have the "OLD" GM card.....Or else they will limit you to $1500 max. I believe.

Berry sure you don't wanna save 7K and get that base one with the 3.6 for under 30k?
Don't forget that GM loyalty bonus too !

At least your gonna use it ! Sorry Red and others !

tetedepierre

Am looking to buy a Nov13/02 build date dealer demo (driven by the dealer general manager. Of course the clocks are out of synch. Have read the posts from the getgo and am confused. Do they somehow adjust them or do they replace the bezel?

golfnut5

Several weeks ago I took my CTS into Cad dealer for oil change and mentioned the clocks being out of sync. The service manager was aware of the problem and offered to order a new instrument cluster. I had the new cluster ordered and installed, so far the clocks are in sync. The installation only took 15 minutes. The mileage on the new cluster has to be set at the factory prior to shipping to dealer. The dealer called me for my current mileage when the cluster was ready to be shipped. In my case the new cluster was shipped to the dealer in 24 hours.

arenn

I would not be so sure that a car like the CTS-V would not be profitable, even at low volumes. Unlike, for example, the M5, the CTS-V will use an existing production engine and will be built on the regular CTS assembly line. I'm guessing a lot of work went into keeping the V-series construction cost differential as low as possible. Of course, the CTS-V is rumored to sell at $30K less than an M5. But that's still about $20K more than the base CTS. Is there $20K more in unique parts for the CTS-V? I haven't heard of anything that would make me think the answer is Yes.

There are really two questions. One, will the CTS-V be gross margin profitable? Two, will its profits generate an ROI in excess of GM's WACC or internal ROI targets. My guess is that in the current environment, the car would never have been built without the answer to question one being Yes. As for question two, that's much harder to judge without access to proprietary information.

jemiller

Not arguing your overall point, but a few detail corrections:

a) The M5 was built on the line at Dingolfing with the rest of the E39s, the need to 'deck' the car without slowing down the line was why it uses the same exhaust manifolds as the 540i (reputedly costing ~25HP.) The engines were hand-built at Garching.

b) If we assume CTS-V pricing at $48K, that's realistically $16K above base CTS pricing and $25K less than E39 M5 pricing.

c) I'd guess (and this is *only* a guess) that the net cost difference between the base 3.6 CTS and the CTS-V is around $10K. There are a lot of model-specific parts in that car, some (wheels/tires, brakes, final drive) are going to be much more expensive because they're more costly designs, some (exhaust, cooling, subframes)are going to be somewhat more expensive because they're beefier, and everything will be pricier just by virtue of low purchase quantities.

d) The LS6 is quite a cheap engine to build, though that 3.6 is apparently cheap enough to build for GM to use them in US$20K Aussie Holdens.

b4z

My guess would be that the parts on the CTS-V
are costing about $3000 more.
If the old retail rule of 4 times cost is used that would account for a $12,000 difference.
But I am sure the V will have a higher level of equipment vs. a base 3.6L.
I am not factoring any development costs into the 3K, just the cost difference of substituting different parts.

tetedepierre

Thanks for the information. Will try to go that route. As a matter of information, has anyone had the clocks recalibrated and the fix remained good?

msgreen

just for general FYI, I emailed Cadillac and asked when they would update their website to reflect the '04 CTS which is already on sale (you can't order a "new" 03 to be factory built any more). They promptly answered that the website was scheduled to be updated to reflect the '04 CTS information on August 29, so those interested in reading the "official" details on this car can do so then...

tetedepierre

Thanks for the info. I was going to buy a 03 demo but the deal fell through. So it will be an 04 after I get back to the States in October. Anyone have an opinion as to best time to buy? It can be anytime between November and April which is when I come back to Canada for the summer.

rsteph

If there's any truth to the "old wive's tale", end of the month is good time to buy because dealers supposedly are looking to beef up their monthly quota. (I'm sure there will be disagreement on that.) I'd be more interested in what kind of GM financing incentive (interest rate, etc.) was in place at the time I purchased.

berrycherry

Thanks to George for his certificate bought today MSRP $37795 1SB with fold dn seat and Bose.Price was $34738 which was close to what George said. Then I had $4139 old MC credits, $750 loyality and $500 for driving GM cars at the GM Auto Show in Motion at Irvine CA.With licence & tax 7.75% $32318.

A great price.

BUT now I know how they make money, at the end, before I wrote the check,the FINANCE officer wanted $2000 for a 3 year warrenty extension, still 50000 miles, and $800 for a teflon coating, then $800 for LoJack.

I said NO for all the extras. Later might consider Lojack.

California apparently charges tax on the credits/rebates, not sure why. Is this common?

Some large LA dealers only charge invoice plus $150 on the 2004 CTS, but not sure what invoice it was, probally had advertising in it.

Spent the last several weeks going through the LA/OC dealers on the 2004 trying to find what I wanted. Looked at a site similar to GM Buy Power but can look at the 2004 like the dealers.

By this week I found many of the ones I liked were sold, and dissappeared from the screen. So I got desperate today and found a local dealer who had just got one in that I liked, then bought it RUSH.

On CarsDirect.com then charge in this area plus $750 over invoice, with advertising, so this was a great buy for us.

Will drive to Canada later and will report on how it worked.

BerryCherry

bingoman

Why would you want LoJack? OnStar can track your car anywhere and report its location to the local police. LoJack only works where the local police have the tracking equipment, and if it is taken outside of the local police area you don't know where it is.

The San Fernando valley is full of CTS's today, I saw one Black and three White Diamonds. At one point we had my car and two other White Diamonds across three lanes of I5. I don't know who the other cars belonged to, but one of the owners is reading this please let me know. I saw the Black and the other White car at Lowes in Burbank.

raybear

Good deal on the 04, congrats. Sales tax is computed on rebates almost everywhere, you're not alone.

sevenfeet0

Lojack on an OnStar equipped vehicle really isn't necessary. OnStar is already being used everyday to track stolen vehicles. I was reading an article the other day about a bunch stolen Escalades (the most popular stolen vehicle these days) from a dealership. Apparently it was a part of a gang initiation (they stole the keys from the dealership key chest). All vehicles were tracked and recovered by the police via OnStar.

I don't even have to comment on how much a ripoff Teflon coating is. You're better off buying Mother's or Mequire's car wax and spending a nice weekend day taking care of your car.

Whether you want an extended warranty or not is up to you. You also have to consider how long you are going to keep the car, who's offering the warrenty and who will honor it.

redgtconv

I was notified that my ordered cts was built and will be in any day. If anyone has an extra coupon, I sure could use it right away. Please let me know here or you can e-mail me at jmschwager1@aol.com. Thanks!

berrycherry

On Star is really not very good to locate stolen vehicles. Anybody smart just knocks the antenna off. Then it does not work!

LoJank is hidden in the vehicle but people who steal a vehicle will just rip it apart and find it. Experts can probally find it in 15 minutes after all the seats or car engine compartment is ripped apart.May prevent some problems if kids take it. And LoJack has many other options that cost more money.

Not sure about the area coverage that that LoJack has, or do all police deperments in the USA and Canada use it?

The brochure I have read does not say any thing about coverage.

It's all a RIP OFF.

Hope some body who really knows about this will respond.

Yes I am worried about theft, it is a beautiful car.

BerryCherry

sonjaab

Congrats !!! A NICE present for your wife and your anniversary !
Glad that coupon deal worked out for you.......

Did you get black? My favorite !

Yup..The same deal in NY ....The tax is computed on the deal price of the car...minus trade if any...Then rebates etc. are deducted.

Did they charge you adv. fees or DOC ? Hope not..
They aren't supposed too........

ENJOY it ! IF the BOSS lets you drive it! LOL!
.......geo

oldsman01

The Onstar antenna that you see on the back window of the car is the cellular antenna. The GPS antenna is mounted somewhere inside the car(on my Intrigue it is beneath the rear window package tray). While knocking the cellular antenna off may affect reception some, the system should still be able to communicate if there is a tower nearby.

necros

Hey all, this company is supposedly getting on the bandwagon, aftermarketwise: http://www.rsmracing.com/cts.htm

Supposedly a supercharger is coming withing 6-8 months,and other parts soon...

cu95

I was wondering if anyone had an opinion of the Eagle One Wax As U Dry spray. After finding a couple of fine scratches on my hood that I think I got at the automated car wash, I'm looking for a relatively quick do-it-myself way to get a respectable looking clean CTS (by the way, I have the black paint). My plan is to use Turtle Wax's car cleaner (they have one where the bottle has an incorporated nozzle that fits onto your hose and draws up the cleaner as you spray) followed by the aforementioned Eagle One spray. I don't expect miracles --I'm sure the scratches and swirls will still be evident on close inspection-- but as long as I don't do more harm than good and the car looks clean, I'll be happy.

What do people use for cleaning the dash and insides of the doors? I'm thinking about trying a wipe, such as Meguiar's Gold Class Protectant Wipes, for speed and ease, but I'm always leery about putting anything on interior plastics (my wife once used a household cleaner on part of her car's dash and thereafter you could always see where the droplets landed when she sprayed it on). I want to avoid leaving a shine, dull when dry is good --less glare (maybe I should just use a Swiffer or other dry cloth to lift the dust?).

Finally, does anyone have a spray-and-forget tire cleaner they can recommend? I have the base model CTS with the regular issue painted wheels, so my concern would be avoiding anything that adversely reacts with those wheels.

Thanks.

By the way, I've had my CTS since April and I still get excited each time I get a chance to drive it. Even enjoy my daily short drive to and from the park-n-ride commuter station. Just a wonderful car to drive.

mannytranny

Congrats on your new 2004 CTS! Enjoy!

It only seems like yesterday that I bought my CTS and now to think that it's OLD. Keep us informed as you drive and cruise in it.

wwhite2

You dont know why calif. charges sales tax on rebates and credits ?????? That is part of the reason you are having a recall election , Taxes taxes taxes AND MORE TAXES !

johnnycsk

You think 7.75% is bad. In New York City thanks to Bloomberg its 8.625%. Also, I was told by the person in DMV that we have to pay an extra $15 for registration just to drive in NYC's streets. Now that is ridiculous. Congrats on your new CTS. Im still waiting to pick mine up on Saturday !!!

b4z

Not to make you guys feel bad, but we have a $300 maximum sales tax in South Carolina.

However, we do have property taxes on automobiles.

bingoman

Well folks I guess you've got to pay for government one way or another.

jemiller

The problem is when you end up paying for government in one way, AND another, AND another, AND another...

dindak

Property tax on automobiles? Sounds so European.

Don't feel bad guys, we pay 15% sales tax up here on new cars, 8% prov tax and 7% federal.

sevenfeet0

I would avoid the single wipe use wax products for your car unless it's just to augment a previously applied wax (not a car wash wax job).

For your scratches and swirles, use Mequire's ScratchX. It does a good job on most minor scratches and can be found at most auto parts supply stores like Pet Boys or Autozone. It won't get everything out (sometimes professional care is needed), but it does a good job.

For long term care, I'd recommend that you wax the car yourself or find a detailer that you trust that will do it right. Most automatic car washers will damage your vehicle's finish over time. My CTS has never seen a wash machine and probably never will while I own it. I just take it down to the coin op place and do it myself.

automole

I agree with what sevenfeet0 had to say.

NEVER take your black car through an automated car wash! The dealer gave my black CTS the "courtesy wash" (I didn't realize beforehand they were going to wash it) and it took me over an hour to buff out the surface scratches.

I've tried almost ALL the auto care products and like Mother's the best. They have a cleaner pre-wax that will remove surface scratches which should be followed up by their pure carnuba wax w/or w/out cleaner. Mcguire's is also decent stuff as is Zymol...and for inexpensive wax I actually like Turtle Wax. The best shine can be obtained by using Zaino products but they are so non-abrasive they won't take out surface scratches and provide almost no protection against rain and dirt.

As for cleaning the interior...as crazy as it may seem all you need to do is use a mild soap (even hand soap works) and water then dry with a towel. The 3M microfiber cloths work good to pick up dust and there's a non-amonia glass cleaner that you can get at Costco that works well. Avoid using ArmourAll...I've never seen it ruin anything (like people claim it does) but it adds a shine that's hard to get rid of and there's really no reason to use anything other than soap and water.

Lastly, don't let ANYTHING with synthetic fibers (wash mitts, brushes, etc.) to touch the finish of your car. Costco also has real sheepskin wash mitts and chamios that work great to wash/dry your car.

rsteph

Searched the topic and found a few comments from a while back about LED tail lights and such. (Did "we" ever decide if the 3rd brake light was LED or neon???) Anyway, has anyone found any LED bulbs (if that's what you call them) that can be installed aftermarket for the brake lights and turn signals? Thoughts and/or comments on this!

sonjaab

A guy at another site named logandiagnostics in Nashville has the answers.

This guy rebuilds LED brake light bars and taillights for most newer Caddies. I am sure he will have a fix for the CTS soon.....

E-mail me for contact sonjaab@aol.com (Won't post here cuz it will anger the host) I have shot him a e-mail so he might stop by!

Note the applications on his web site are NOT updated tho. with all his new goodies ...
So its best to call direct!..........geo

eaton53

His prices are reasonable, too.
Definitely the guy to contact if your LED's take a dump.

oldsman01

The CTS's third brake light looks to be neon, much like the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Mark VIII's was neon in the late 90s. The taillights do not appear to be LEDs but typical incandescent bulbs. While it looks okay, I do think that LED taillights(like the Deville has) would make the CTS look even better. They certainly would be fitting with the car's ultra modern styling approach.