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2008 Cadillac CTS

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Comments

  • nagarnagar Member Posts: 6
    live in saskatchewan in canada and we get a lot of snow, first winter we did not have winter tires on our 04 cts and the rsa's were scary. next winter put on a set of michelin xice 2, now enjoy driving in winter, totally changed.
  • bekins2bekins2 Member Posts: 29
    1 last ? for you great people.I have the performance pkg in my 2008 their 235/50/18 i live in Chicago with some bad snow and ice,been checking and it seems the Continentel DWS is the best tire for all season performance.Any input on that or other brands? Thanks you people have been very helpful to me
    Al
  • K9WillK9Will Member Posts: 26
    k9will here these cars have way to much horsepower to ever be a good snow driving car, but if snow type tires change it that much you might want to give them a try.( note) I is was a tire dealer for 25 yrs. and these cts's put the power to the back wheels instantly i would think they would over power any type of traction tire they make, our one that you could stand the sound of inside the car. But they sure are great blacktop cars.
  • westernfanwesternfan Member Posts: 1
    The high performance summer tires that typically come standard on sport sedans like the CTS are all going to be lousy in wet/snowy conditions. Check out the reviews and test results for a good, high performance, all weather tire at tirerack.com
    Secondly, seclect a relatively narrow tire. A wider tire, great for clear, dry roads, distributes the weight of the vehicle over a large area. A narrower tire concentrates the weight of the vehicle in a smaller area, increasing traction on wet and slippery roads.
    Lastly, how powerful a car is has very little to do with how it drives in inclement weather, but may have a great deal to do with how your drive it!
  • K9WillK9Will Member Posts: 26
    you could be right i need to ck out the new tread designs for these lower profile tires, than maybe i can get my cts out storage and put my all wheel drive explorer back in its place.
  • paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Yeah a good set of snow tires will change drastically how any car handles in snow, especially an AWD one.

    -mike
  • bekins2bekins2 Member Posts: 29
    i have a 2008 with a extended warranty one of my tailights went out they want 700.00 to replace it the brake and turnsignal work,just not the tailight.The service advisor said this is common and bulbs cant be replaced cause its a sealed unit.Its noy covered under the warr! To me with there being NO damage crack etc...this is outrageous! Cant there be a cheaper way?
    Thanks Al Mandel
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    How many miles do you have on the car, and did you buy it new. Is your extended warranttee from GM or an aftermarket inssurer?

    The brake, turn signal and running lights are one unit of led lights. If only the running lights are out and the other two work it sounds to me like a connector problem, and not the lights.

    I don't know what is covered if you have an aftermarket warranttee but the GM warranttee is advertised as a 4 year bumper to bumper warranttee. If the dealer wont fix it at no cost call the Cadillac district office. If they don't give you satisfaction take them to small claims court.
  • bekins2bekins2 Member Posts: 29
    It has 65000 on it the warranty is a GM aftermarket warr as in can only take it to GM.A friend pulled the light out and water poured out the assembly.Yet there was no crack in the lens itself at all.Bit instead of GMs 700.00 i found a new one on ebay for 125.00 Thanks for your response by connector do you me on the lens plug or the plug the lens goes into.And as said my friend can find no leakage at all.
  • richman64richman64 Member Posts: 15
    I have a CTS luxury collection. How much PSI of air are you all using in your tires?

    When I brought the new car home from the dealer, the tires has 29 PSI and the ride was very smooth. After noticing from the On-Star report that the tires should have 35 PSI, I added more air and now the ride is somewhat less smooth. I'm wondering if the dealer purposely had the tires underinflated so that the ride was better during the test drive?
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    I find that the mechanics are somewhat low on knowledge of tire pressure. I suspect that they do not compensate the pressure for the temperature of the tires and inflate them to the 35 lbs when they are hot from driving. When the tire is cooled down the pressure drops. I personally have a compressor at home and check the tires before driving for the day and only inflate them cold, to 35 PSI (although I find that the built-in tire monitor system seems to read somewhat low and different from front to back). I seem to remember that the on board system does not light the tire warning light on the dashboard until the pressure in any tire drops below 27 PSI.
  • kurtctskurtcts Member Posts: 1
    My 2008 cadillac cts has been making a rattling noise since about 20,000 miles. I took it to the dealer several times and they could never find anything. It has become quite loud and I waited until it was so loud that they couldn't miss it. It would make a loud pinging noise best heard at about 15mph.
    Now the dealer said that the entire driveshaft is loose and needs to be replaced. I have 55,000 miles so it is still covered under warranty. Overall I am very unhappy with this car. I think it is a piece of junk just like every other gm car I have ever owned.
    So if anyone has had a similar problem and was told they couldn't find anything, think of the driveshaft.
  • plektoplekto Member Posts: 3,738
    edited January 2011
    Also keep a few quarts of oil in the trunk. If the engine dumps its oil suddenly (known defect but GM's not admitting to it), make sure to fill it up before taking it in as they'll blame you for running it with no oil in it. You'll know if this happens when the thing throws a rod or spins the bottom-end bearings. (sounds like an old 1970s Mercedes diesel - can't miss it.)

    NOTE - the oil won't usually go out the exhaust or an the ground but get several quarts worth trapped in the cat and muffler.

    The reason is that the engine oil needs to be replaced at every 3K miles, even though it is synthetic. If the protective agents in the oil give out, the lubrication drops to nearly zero. Traditional oil dies in a more gradual manner and has somewhat of a buffer - it just turns into sludge. Synthetics don't and get thinner as they age. GM's "official" recommendation to its mechanics is to change it at 6K and ignore the oil life sensor/readout. I'd stick to 3 months to be safe, since a new engine is an unbelievable cost versus regular oil changes.
  • maybesomedaymaybesomeday Member Posts: 1
    I don't normally post on message boards but I am doing this to try to save people a tremendous amount of grief and danger

    I have a Cadillac CTS. Rear wheel drive. 35,000 miles and new tires 4 months ago. It is so bad in snow it's absurd and it is very dangerous. I caution anyone who lives where it snows not to buy this car unless you put chains on the wheels. Even an inch of snow and this car is inoperable and highly dangerous. This is a 30k car--in snow I am stuck all the time and 10,000 dollar cars go whizzing by.
    I will get rid of this car asap. I don't know if GM did any testing on this car in snow but they could not possible have done any
  • cdnpinheadcdnpinhead Member Posts: 5,504
    edited February 2011
    What kind of tires were put on the car 4 months ago? If they were "performance" tires, they're set up for very good grip at moderate & higher temperatures and almost none at all when it gets cold. So-called "all season" tires work better in the winter, but nothing beats dedicated winter tires in the (wait for it) winter.

    This sounds to me like a tire issue, not a car issue.

    Plus which, if you're used to FWD or AWD cars, driving a RWD car in the snow is a skill you may not have acquired. Bear in mind that until 20-30 years ago all cars were RWD and people did quite well with them, at least those who knew how to drive them.
    '08 Acura TSX, '17 Subaru Forester
  • sinneriisinnerii Member Posts: 2
    The Cadillac CTS only has about 5 inches of clearance from the ground to the front apron. Any item over 5 inches tall, such as a dead racoon or ice chunk in the road, will cause damage to the vehicle.

    The Cadillac CTS is a rear wheel drive car. These drive systems used to be popular because the front wheel drive system was not yet invented . These became "rare" with the invention and perfection of front wheel drive. Front wheel drive pulls the car and the engine weight on top of the drive system makes a front wheel drive car virtually on level as four wheel drive.

    In addition, the Cadillac CTS has very wide tires. These will float on top of the snow and not dig in as a narrow tire will. So the Cadillac CTS is a very poor choice of a vehicle in winter driving conditions.

    You will place your occupants and yourself in a greater danger situation if you purchase this vehicle and intend to drive in ice or snow conditions. Consider a front wheel drive vehicle with higher road clearance.
  • cadillacmikecadillacmike Member Posts: 543
    Isn't the navigation system on 2008 and later CTS hard disk drive based??? Why would you need an "update disk"???
  • dmathews3dmathews3 Member Posts: 1,739
    How else are you going to get the software onto the hard drive?
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    edited March 2011
    The nav system is hard disk based, but the actual map data is updated yearly to keep up with current roads and add new information. This new and updated information is included on the update disk. In many areas, such as Austin Texas, New roads and developments are being added very quickly. If you want current information on your nav system you need to purchase and install the update disc.
  • bekins2bekins2 Member Posts: 29
    They are now i just got a recall
  • misablemisable Member Posts: 1
    I have owned my 2008 cadillac for 5 mths and I have taken it to the dealer 5 times all Electical problems replaced driver window motor, amplipher, some brake bracket (IDK), passenger side window won't defrost, door lock would not release, and just picked it up today for the rear defroster. I love this car just not committed to having a relationship with Cadillacs service department. It sucks that I lost my hard earned down payment.
    :(
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    What do you mean by 'I lost my hard earned down payment" ?
  • dmathews3dmathews3 Member Posts: 1,739
    Maybe he didn't make his payments and the repo guys got it.
  • marsianmarsian Member Posts: 1
    Obviously you were not reading the other posts. Little knowledge can be dangerous and can confuse a lot of people. Please do not misinform. First of all not all CTS's are rear wheel drives. It comes in AWD. Second the clearance you mentioned is the skirt made of thin soft rubber and a racoon will not damage it as it will bend springs back no problem. CTS is a high performance vehicle and comes with wide tires when bought but the tires are not meant for snow. If you read the other comments above, Winter tires are recommended and if you can afford a cadi you should be able to afford more safety for winter like snow tires.
    Like what other people said dont blame the car. Be a better driver or put on proper gears. You dont go out on winter wearing a summer shirt. You can if you want but its not recomended.
  • pony00pony00 Member Posts: 10
    edited April 2012
    I bought my 2008 CTS DI used in 2009. I have been to the dealership 4 times in the last couple months for different issues.
    1. Sunroof leak
    2. Had to come back b/c Sunroof was making loud noise after their fix
    3. Exhaust was rattling loudly
    4. All 4 rims peeled

    Now my steering wheel is shaking once I hit 50mph. I just got new tires and I had them balance them and then after I got a new tire after hitting road debris I had them balanced again and I still have the issue.

    The car is paid off so I really don't want to have to trade it in. I love the car and the way it drives, but having this kind of relationship with a dealer when the car is only 4 years old is not my idea of fun.

    Does anyone have the same issue? If so PLEASE share your experiences. Do you think it's wise of me to trade it in now? I just hit 50,000 miles on it so the warranty is up.
  • pony00pony00 Member Posts: 10
    Hi Mariah,

    Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I had the problem a few months into owning the car.

    I took it to Moore Cadillac in Chantilly, VA for wind noise in the sunroof and the speakers. The service advisor told me that I didn't tell him the right noise to look for, needless to say I am never going back to Moore Cadillac. They had my car for 2 days and never fixed a thing. I also had to pay taxes for 2 days on a rental car. Completely ridiculous. Lindsay Cadillac in Alexandria, VA are excellent and have helped me with other issues. I gave up on the speaker issue though. I heard it again this morning. It's when some songs on the radio have more bass than others the speakers rattle.
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    Hello pony00,

    It's great to hear you've found a place where you can be taken care of! I'm sorry that the speaker issue wasn't able to be fully remedied for you, though.

    If we can ever be of assistance, please email us at socialmedia@gm.com

    All the best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • plektoplekto Member Posts: 3,738
    All OEM speakers do that at a specific frequency, which is why people who have their stereos loud all the time are probably going to want to install a subwoofer to keep the regular speakers from ratting themselves lose from their mounts over time.

    Fixing it is usually as simple as taking off the cover or getting into the trunk, putting a lock washer on the bolts/screws holding it in place, and adding a drop of low-strength (not permanent type) loc-tite.

    As for the wind noise, all sunroofs eventually do that as the gaskets distort and age from the repeated cycling between hot and cold during the day. Also, the tracks and mounts on these extra-large panoramic sunroofs can sag and distort a bit with age, just like, say, your doors will from wear and tear. The "fix" is usually a small amount of black gasket sealer at the right location - usually it takes just a thin painted-on layer not much thicker than a 3x5 card in a couple of inch area. It might take you a long time to figure out the exact location, though. Sometimes you get lucky and can feel a hole or gap with a piece of paper or similar. Sometimes you have to just get a bit lucky.
  • paopao Member Posts: 1,867
    did they do a road force balance....beleive that is what its called...on a Hunter balancing machine........that would be a proper balance...using more expensive...but better overall....
  • pony00pony00 Member Posts: 10
    Hi pao,

    Someone else told me that they might not have done a proper balance of the tires. I think I'm going to take it to a tire place so they can do it the right way like you said.

    Thanks for your post!
  • pony00pony00 Member Posts: 10
    Hi pao,

    I actually just found out my dealership did use a hunter balancing machine, so it must be another issue. I just hope it's not the entire steering column. I did notice it shaking more after I had a tire patched, but I had all 4 tires balanced after that.

    This is so frustrating!
  • pony00pony00 Member Posts: 10
    I had a GT Mustang for 10 years and never had my speakers rattle like this and of course the system in a mustang is much less quality than a Cadillac (I would think). I also heard others with a similar issue (the dealer said people were complaining about it). I would think a Bose system would work better than that. I'm not blaring my radio, it also happened on just a normal talk radio station so there's something definitely wrong with the way the speakers are installed or some casing around it that's causing it to rattle. It's not a big enough deal to keep getting it checked out for though.

    The sunroof was leaking, the drain pipes were clogged so once they unclogged them that fixed the leak issue, but they must have broken the seal in the meantime. This wasn't a normal wind noise, it sounded like the door was open. They fixed the problem though with a new seal like you said, so I was happy :)

    The first year of owning my 08 CTS I had the timing belt replaced too which isn't a normal wear and tear item it was a known problem. There are definite defects in this car, which is understandable since 2008 was the first year the newer body style was out. I just didn't expect to have this many issues with the car this soon. I take care of my CTS and love it so I don't want to see anymore major issues wrong with it. I'm worried I might need a new exhaust if the new hangers they installed don't work over time. I guess I'll keep the car for now :)
  • temj12temj12 Member Posts: 450
    I have an '09 CTS. I don't have the problem with the speakers rattling, but I doubt it is a better system than your Mustang GT. It does have the Bose name and I think highly of their at home systems. I am not sure that their car systems are any better than anything else.
  • plektoplekto Member Posts: 3,738
    One thing about the CTS to be aware of is that the oil life sensor in them is half as sensitive as it should be. It's a known problem and most mechanics recommend changing the oil when it gets to 50%. If the oil additives fail, the engine has a tendency to eat its bottom end. Since synthetic oil has no natural anti-wear properties, there is no margin for error once the oil fails.

    Change the synthetic every 6K miles or 6 months. Don't let it go lower than 50%. It costs twice what normal oil does, but at half the frequency, it equals out.
  • paopao Member Posts: 1,867
    just one point...there is no sensor in the oil life monitor.....the calculation is simply based on an algorithm run from the ECM, the computer uses some of the vehicle operating conditions to supply data, but there is no sensor measuring the oil condition.....

    http://assets.cobaltnitra.com/teams/repository/export/975/c7820afba1004895010145- efa6b30/975c7820afba1004895010145efa6b30.pdf
  • gottaviogottavio Member Posts: 4
  • pony00pony00 Member Posts: 10
  • paopao Member Posts: 1,867
    but the question that needs to be asked is whether they did a road force balance.......and not just a simple spin balance...
  • plektoplekto Member Posts: 3,738
    The mechanic said "sensor" to me, but it if it's a program or whatever, the advice still stands. The car shouldn't be run for 12-15K miles between changes. I've heard this directly from a Cadillac Dealership mechanic, so basically ignore the PR and what it says for these cars and change it at no more than 50%. I don't know if it's like the Toyota engines where they were less tolerant of missed oil changes (sludge/etc), or if it's just a programming error, but this seems to only be an issue with the new VVT engines.

    There are many cases of engines destroying themselves due to the oil failing. Almost always the person says something like "it had 20% life left". According to mechanics on a several of the Cadillac forums, what is the main culprit is that the engines apparently have a lot of grit and fine debris that comes off of the internal parts when the engine is new (this is common with all new cars), but that people wait for 8K or even 10-12K before getting the first oil change. The oil life sensors will not report 0% until they are nearly at 15K miles, and most people think 0% means "time to change" (instead of your oil is now 100% dead and providing as much protection as water) By then, they're damaging the engine and sure enough, they start burning a quart of oil a month by 20-30K miles. Then the engine eats itself around 50-60K.

    The oil changes should be done at 1K the first time to get that junk out of the engine, then at 3K. By then the engine should be good to go and you can resume doing it at every 5-6K (5K would be better, of course, esepcaily if you live in a major city). Mechanics who have had customers follow this advice simply don't see people have problems with their engines. Yes, the oil change is expensive. Well so is a BMW or Mercedes - you can't run a $40K Cadillac on a shoe-string budget any more. These are not your grandfather's Northstars.

    Also, if your engine does fail, be sure to put oil in it before taking it to the dealership or they will blame you for not running it with oil in it and not honor the warranty. So what happened to the oil? It's sitting in the cat and muffler, most likely - all 4 or 5 quarts of it.

    http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2246797/gm-customer-satisfaction-program- -recall-of-3-6l-v6-engine
    It seems as if GM is trying to do a Toyota type back-door computer "fix" for the oil life monitor in these engines by claiming that it's a timing chain issue.

    Just something to be aware of.
  • paopao Member Posts: 1,867
    having had the GMOLMS in 4 GM cars now...I have honestly nevered used it as a sole data point to change oil......using synthetic in all of them....I changed it ever 5-6K......the 04 Chevy got stretched to 7K on occasion and is still running fine at 220K now........

    I agree on 12-15 k between an oil change is way too long for this particular car......I must admit I waited almost a year to change the oil in my 09 CTS here recently, but with that said it also was driven less than 4K during that time frame...Its not a daily driver and mostly gets used on the weekends now........it just rolled over 39K here recently and will be 4 years old this October....
  • tooeagletooeagle Member Posts: 1
    Marsian's comments are basically correct except I don't know why some people have to "talk down" to other people making posts and giving opinions, when they might be better informed or more experienced than another poster. With his apparent experience with the CTS, he (or she) could have just started off with "i disagree" and go on. Further, I wouldn't consider anything sinerii said as "dangerous" as he implied.

    I'm just here looking for reasons to buy, or not to buy a CTS. If they really are comparatively bad in snow and/or slippery conditions compared to other AWD cars, then as an existing owner of an older AWD Acura TL which IS exceptionally good in snow, I'll probably pass and get another Acura AWD TL or RL. Sorry, I'm off topic. But just had to throw my 2 cents in.
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    edited April 2012
    With snow tires, RWD cars can be fine in snow except for the ground-clearance issues.
    In city-snow, proper tires allow the RWD driver more flexibility getting into on-street/half-ice parking spots. But FWD is better, all else being equal... Best to have a FWD Chevy Cruze for winter use if one owns a CTS-V. The snow tires & snow-rims for CTS-V would probably cost as much as an entire Chevy Cruze, if they are even available for it ;):| .

    Also i must nitpick marsian's comment about the 'perfection' of Front Wheel Drive. Front Wheel Drive is nowhere close to perfect. It's major flaw will always torque-steer, not due to a design issue, but due to Newtonian physics.
    Designs with different-sized halfshafts/balanceshafts/blahblah can only mitigate mother-nature's insistence that front-wheel-drive sucks for performance vehicle applications.

    sincerely,

    one of the top 3000 likely USA buyers of a new CTS-V, according to detailed market research!
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    Blizzak or similar... get the best... you won't regret it when you hit the brakes...
  • jpfjpf Member Posts: 496
    Front wheel drive may not be perfect, but front wheel drive with snow tires and adequate ground clearance is suitable for most severe winter situations. I live in northern Ontario and was travelling in a severe snow storm about 2 months ago. It was early Sunday evening, many of the roads had not been plowed, and the parking lot to our apartment building certainly had not been plowed. I was returning from Duluth, MN. There was about 8 to 9 inches of snow on the ground. I had no problem navigating the snow. I drive a front wheel drive Chevy Uplander with snow tires in the winter. The next day at work, my work colleagues were describing how their 4 wheel drive vehicles were getting stuck in the snow. They did not have snow tires.
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    agree 100% JPF... one time I've found AWD/4WD is absolutely required in addition to snow/ice tires - is on steep/ice/snow driveways - with at least one switchback turns - so you can't use momentum to compensate for lack of traction. gotta have 4WD/AWD for that application!

    another big win for traction in winter is: MANUAL TRANSMISSION - much better than automatic.
    It's nice that Cadillac offers manuals in so many CTS. A manual transmission with AWD could be veeeery nice, maybe nicer than a CTS-V with manual. (!?)
  • tdbmdtdbmd Member Posts: 20
    It has been my experience, living in a snowy climate, that the tires on your car make the biggest difference regarding performance in the snow. If you have summer or even high performance all-season, they really are not geared for snow, whether in FWD, RWD or AWD. Going to a set of dedicated snow tires makes all of these drive modes much better in snowy conditions. Not to mention much better STOPPING and TURNING, which is even more important. So if you really need to go out in snow with your car and your get much snow at all, get a set of true snow tires.
  • gersgers Member Posts: 2
    It took a month to figure out why the drivers seat in my new CTS Lux. was giving me a back ache. I get no support. The seat is like sitting on a BALL, with pressure applied to the middle of my bottom. The seat back is the same with pressure against my spine. When I take corners I flop from side to side for I am not sinking into the seat, not being supported like a bucket seat should provide. My last vehicles since my 1999 Volvo, 2005 Acura TL, 2007 Infiniti M35 and 2009 Maxima were so comfortable I never thought to pay attention to the CTS seat when test driving. I should have read the Edmunds review which points this problem out. Has any one with this problem gotten a resolution from Cadillac? Thanks, GiGi
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    Where any of these past cars purchased new?
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    Good evening gers,
    I'm sorry that your seats are leaving you uncomfortable. Does your CTS have power seats, and if so have you already tried adjusting the different components of the seat? You can find more information on this on page 3-4 of your manual.
    Sarah, GM Customer Service
  • yankman04yankman04 Member Posts: 14
    I've had my CTS luxury for 7 weeks now and my biggest complaint is the stiffness and lack of seat comfort. (second is the mpg). I have herniated discs in my neck and lower back (will be needing cervical surgery in the fall) and unfortunately didn't notice the seat issue the three times that I test drove the car. Next time I want to change automobile manufacturers, I will rent the vehicle for at least a week so that I can really get a feel for the car). I came from a 2009 Volvo S80 and 2006 S60 and never had any problems with seat comfort. I don't sway like (gers), but have adjusted the seat to every possible angle and just can't get comfortable. Sad that such a nice car, does not have a rounder and softer seat.
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