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Cadillac CTS/CTS-V

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Comments

  • riskybusinessriskybusiness Member Posts: 58
    Shadow, sorry for the delay in reply .. just getting back after a few days away. My 2003 3.2L/Auto has the same howl/whine ... very faint most of the time, worse on flat or very slight downgrade with very light accelerator load.

    Dealer's mechanic (not just the service advisor) drove with me, heard and acknowledged the noise, and drove 2 other CTS (a used 2003 he had on the lot and a new late-build 2004) .. all had the same "characteristic" under the same conditions. I'm at 63,000 km on an 80,000 km GM Canada warranty and dealer assures that since complaint is noted and documented, there will be no issues if it becomes an acute problem after warranty expiry.

    I'd rather live with it for now than have the diff replaced, 'cause you never know what other probs might appear as a result. If it was truly a mechanical problem that could cause premature failure, don't you think they'd have issued a TSB or recall by now rather than facing a huge liability later on? This is not a new problem .. seen at least 2 other threads in this group at different times on the subject.
  • sls002sls002 Member Posts: 2,788
    I think that the 2.8 V6 comes with plastic seats instead of leather too.
  • eaton53eaton53 Member Posts: 356
    "I think that the 2.8 V6 comes with plastic seats instead of leather too."

    Yes... between that and the motor, that's giving away too much to save too little, IMO.
  • lesstl1lesstl1 Member Posts: 21
    You should examine my experience (#3355) and resolution (#3864), or search for "whine". I had the whine at 35 to 40 mph under light or no acceleration. It also disappeared at 45-50. I had to go along as a passenger to get them to hear it. But they replaced the differential and at 23,000 miles it has not re-occured.
  • jhl4jhl4 Member Posts: 18
    Have '04 base 3.6, noticed that the car alarm does not work. Has anyone else noticed a problem or had fixed? How long did it take to correct?
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    What exactly doesn't work?
  • jhl4jhl4 Member Posts: 18
    The car alarm. If I follow the manual to 'test' the alarm, it does not blow the horn and flash the lights.
    Actually, the alarm light on the dash does not remain lit after removing the key, as per the manual.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Sounds like a malfunction. Have the dealer check it.
  • cu95cu95 Member Posts: 96
    Did you lock the car with the remote or with the door switch? Me recollection (it's been awhile since I read it) is that the manual made some comment that locking the car via the remote activated the alarm system, the implication that locking by other means did not.

    Btw, who else thinks that the STS "Party Crasher" tv ad is one of the best car ads in a long time?
  • bporter1bporter1 Member Posts: 229
    I think that the STS ads are very good. I think all the Cadillac ads are pretty good.
  • goofagoofa Member Posts: 2
    Me too!
    The adds are the reason I bought my car.
  • tmacguytmacguy Member Posts: 37
    Hi again

    The driver mirror has double angles, that is the edge of the mirror is convex and in addition it bent out more tward the edge hence extending the view coverage. Is this another export variation?

    I am still waiting to see what 2005 will bring to the export market. For your info, the 3.6L engin was not offered for export for 2004 (only the 3.2L and a 2.6L engine were available), and a fire extinguisher under the passenger seat that was down right ugly was also new for 2004.
  • tmacguytmacguy Member Posts: 37
    I will again have to relace the front left shock absorber, again for the 3rd time. And this is a very wide spread problem here. I wonder how come it is not so common in the US? Are they using different shocks for US and Expoert? I have just completed 2 years with my 2003 CTS Lux Sport, and have 50,000 Km of the 100,000 km warranty (about 62,000 Mi warranty).

    More news, only now is GM Mideast is issuing the Good Year tire recall. good, I was about to change my tires any way. My dealer scheduled me for next week to replace all 5 tires, along with the free 50,000 km service.

    bye for now.
  • exalteddragon1exalteddragon1 Member Posts: 729
    "what is the basis of your exalted knowledge of automobile sales that you know better than the professionals at Cadillac what sales tactics to use?"

    First of all I love the CTS. I have sat in many and driven one around. It is a great car, but IMO it is not worth 42K even fully loaded for two reasons:
    1.) You could get a more powerful (even more powerful next year) G35 for like 37K fully loaded and
    2.)When i said about the whole more incentives thing, it diddnt come out of thin air, according to Edmunds:
    Of all brands, Mini spent the least on incentives in September, $13 per vehicle sold, while Scion spent only $89 and Acura spent just $251. At the other end of the spectrum, Cadillac spent the most on incentives, $6,281 per vehicle sold, followed by Lincoln at $5,566 and Mercury at $5,434. click here

    I know that it could have been DTS and escallade doing all that, but what i'm saying is that they aggresively raised the price this time, and didn't add any meaningful new content like more hp or revamped interrior or something. THis could lead in incentives, I hope not but they need to be careful with this. I leive they raied the entry price $3,500 now.
  • cdnpinheadcdnpinhead Member Posts: 5,495
    Gotta love possessing an American vehicle in the lux-sports-sedan (or whatever) category.

    If they're discounted enough, they'll move.

    Imagine.

    I guess the bright spot for the CTS people is to realize that the people who possess Lincoln LS's are in even worse shape.

    What do you want to bet that my next vehicle will be "American?"
    '08 Acura TSX, '17 Subaru Forester
  • bigdaddycoatsbigdaddycoats Member Posts: 1,058
    the entry price for the CTS is actually lower now with the arrival of the 2.8. I would much rather have a CTS over a G35 any day. Yes, the G does have slightly more power - 0-60 time is maybe a half second better at best. If you can actually tell the difference I would be surprised.
  • eaton53eaton53 Member Posts: 356
    "It is a great car, but IMO it is not worth 42K even fully loaded for two reasons:

    1.) You could get a more powerful (even more powerful next year) G35 for like 37K fully loaded"

    I'd have said for $42K you can get into a base STS, a nicer car than either the CTS or G35.

    Most of the incentives are on the DeVille, which has huge dollars on the hood. The CTS has never had big incentives and I don't expect that to change.

    As for resale, be happy you didn't buy an X-type.

    "If you can actually tell the difference I would be surprised."

    I haven't driven a G35, but if it's similar in ride quality to the BMW's I've driven there would be a big difference between it and the CTS and not in the Infiniti's favor. The ride/handling compromise on the new Caddys is just outstanding.
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    Driving south on route one here in California I would much rather have the handleing of my Lux Sport CTS than a few extra hp. On a two lane curvy cliffside road with a couple of hundred foot drop into the Pacific Ocean speed aint goin to get you anywhere but handlin will keep you on the road.

    As to the incentives Cadillac may be providing big incentives to get rid of last years Sevilles and Devilles and Escalades but they aren't giving much on CTS's. And if you really need to race G35's you can always get a CTSv.
  • bigdaddycoatsbigdaddycoats Member Posts: 1,058
    I was trying to say that if any of us could tell the difference in acceleration between a G35 and a 3.6 CTS I would be surprised.

    I have driven both and would choose a CTS with a 6-spd all day long.
  • exalteddragon1exalteddragon1 Member Posts: 729
    Could you tell us please what the difference is betwen the G35 and the CTS? To my knowledge they are very similar, but the CTS costs more when comparatively equipped, but the 3.6L amazingly can be used with regular fuel.

    I live the CTS interrior much more then G35, but next year the G35 is getting 18 inch wheels and i think more power. This is a big deal IMO.

    The CTS-V is not in the same market as CTS and G35, if I wanna race a G35, I should be able to use a CTS.

    The one thing keeping me from worshipping the car: the absence of a manumatic transmission. I heard something about it bieng avainable within a few years. That and the pricing...
  • scott1scott1 Member Posts: 50
    Sorry to say, but they have not fioxed the rear differential whine on the 2005's. People with 2005 CTS's are still complaining about the problem. My 2004 Blue chip lux/sport CTS developed the whine at about 3,000 miles. It happened with my foot lightly on the gas between 25 and 35 mph. I also noticed a louder grinding noise coming from the rear end while turning corners at the same speeds and conditions.

    I picked up my new CTS on 3/31/04 and spent over two months and many trips to two different dealers to get all of the rattles taken care of. Once that was done, I had about a month to drive the car defect free until the rear differential whine started. I just said screw it at that point and started shopping for a different car. I traded it in on a new Lexus 3 weeks ago. The Lexus has had no rattles or noises at all, and zero problems.

    Cadillac has known about these problems for two years, and instead of doing somthing to fix it, they just keep churning out defective ones. It makes no sense to me at all why they would do that. It costs them customers, me for one.
  • exalteddragon1exalteddragon1 Member Posts: 729
    Someone should send GM a letter or something. They are shooting themselves in the foot again...
  • golfnut5golfnut5 Member Posts: 202
    Your first paragraph sums up what I have experienced in my 2003 CTS including the grinding noise which was disturbing to say the least. I have also had problems with rattles which my Caddy dealer did take care of. I have a hard time duplicating the differential whine with my Caddy dealer because my CTS needs to be driven for approx. thirty minutes before the whine appears. You also need to be on a proper stretch of road where you can apply light acceleration between speeds of 35 to 50 MPH. I can tell my Caddy dealer is really not interested in solving the whine problem and my warranty will be expiring soon. I am convinced that GM is aware of this problem and either has no fix or just doesn't care. I must add that with the exception of the whine problem I really like my CTS and think it is fun to drive, love the handling and peppy engine. I also think the transmission (my is auto) is a great trans. I plan to trade cars next spring, I usually trade every two years as I put many miles on a car in my work. I am not sure at this time what I am going to do. Good luck with your Lexus.
  • scott1scott1 Member Posts: 50
    "Someone should send GM a letter or something. They are shooting themselves in the foot again... "

    Yea, that is on my list of things to do. All car makers experience problems with their vehicles from time to time, its how the manufacturer reacts to those problems that shows the differences between them.
    Lexus had some problems with a drive line thump in some early production GX470's, which is the one I replaced the CTS with. They instituted running changes on the production line to fix the problem on later builds. My 2004 Lexus GX470 is coded as a "9700G" build. They started the model year with "9700a", so there have been enough improvements during the model year to have 6 differnt build designations.
    Cadillac doesn't do that,they just keep churning out the defective ones, even when they know there is a problem. That's a whole different corporate culture between Lexus and Cadillac.
  • scott1scott1 Member Posts: 50
    Thanks, I have about 500 miles on the Lexus so far, and not one rattle or anything at all has gone wrong with it.

    I agree with you that the CTS is a fun car to drive when it's working right. The rattles drove me crazy the first two months, and my dealer's service manager told me "it would take too long for us to track them down, just live with it". I talked to the General Manager of the dealership, and he seemed helpful and said he would check into it and call me the next day. He never called. After the Cadillac help line gave lots of sympathy, and absolutely no help (they should be renamed the Cadillac sympathy line), I tried another Cadillac dealer and found one that was great to work with and knew how to fix Cadillacs.

    Ater experienceing all the problems getting sonething as obvious as dashboard rattles fixed, I had no wish to go through the aggrevation of trying to get them to fix the whine. If they even have a fix for it.

    The 3.6 L engine and that 5 speed Hydramatic transmission were exceptionally nice though, fully world class.

    BTW, credit where credit is due. The really bad Cadillac dealer that I bought my CTS from, and who had no interest in fixing all the rattles was... RUSS DARROW CADILLAC in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

    The MUCH better dealer who was great to work with and fixed the rattles was .. CREST CADILLAC in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
  • RobberbarronRobberbarron Member Posts: 39
    Just hit 10,000 trouble free miles on my '04 Lux.

    The VP of Operations got his 525 <previous body> about 2 months before I got my CTS. He keeps challenging me to a race, but backs down whenever I respond with:

    "Good thing I just had the back end of the car washed for you to see it"

    "Are you comfortable with the idea that a Cadillac will beat your 'Ultimate Driving Machine'?"

    "Bring it"
  • eaton53eaton53 Member Posts: 356
    Challenging your CTS with a 525 would be like bringing a knife to a gunfight.... or being a one-legged man in an [non-permissible content removed]-kicking contest.
  • tetedepierretetedepierre Member Posts: 62
    They sure have dropped off. I sometimes think that all the eager posters at the beginning were people who are interested in new model luxury cars but never buy them. Would sure be nice to see more postings positive and negative from CTS OWNERS.
  • eaton53eaton53 Member Posts: 356
    "I sometimes think that all the eager posters at the beginning were people who are interested in new model luxury cars but never buy them."

    I'm only interested in used model luxury cars and the CTS hasn't been around long enough. The 3.6's will need to get below $20K first.
  • exalteddragon1exalteddragon1 Member Posts: 729
    would beat the living crap out of the 525! The CTS is defenetly a powerhouse. But you got a Lux, why not a LuxSport? the Lux does not handle aswell (to my understanding) due to a softer suspension. What model 525 does he have?
  • RobberbarronRobberbarron Member Posts: 39
    I got the Lux and not the Lux Sport first for cost reasons. Secondly, I live in Pittsburgh. Our roads are so bad here that even a Seville slams around on the roads. I can't imagine what driving something like an M3 or M5 is like around here. So, sure the Lux Sports handles better, but their Pittsburgh owners have the back aches to prove it.

    The Lux is still pretty decent though, just doesn't have magnaride.
  • bagsbags Member Posts: 12
    I'm really enjoying the CTS. My wife has never cared about any car we owned in the past. This is the first one that she talks about and makes excuses to go driving in. Only negative comment I can make is that you can't put 2 sets of golf clubs in the trunk without manipulating and squeezing them in. I never checked it before buying it because the dealer said that it would hold them easily.
  • tetedepierretetedepierre Member Posts: 62
    After about 8 miles of driving whine from drive train starts. Any input appreciated.
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    Don't drive over seven miles at a time?

    Sorry, the devil made me do it.
  • thebugthebug Member Posts: 294
    Bingoman post #5863, now that's mean, 8o). Anyway, just the other day my battery in the 03 CTS died for no apparent reason. When I called onstar, the respondent told me that many 03 CTS's had same problem and they could only offer a loaner battery because they had replaced some many over the last few days.The CTS battery is on back order due to the all of a sudden demand. It will be exchanged (under warranty) when the when they get more batteries.

    I'm at exactly two years and 26000 miles. The tech also mentioned that the other batteries were leaking from the positive terminal (mine wasn't). This may be related to the intense desert heat with daily temps of 105-110. Has anyone else (other than in the desert southwest) experienced this problem, or heard of a recall in this regard? Aside from this, I have had absolutely no other problems with my 03 CTS.

    thebug...
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Is the battery in the engine compartment or the trunk?
  • scott1scott1 Member Posts: 50
    "After about 8 miles of driving whine from drive train starts. Any input appreciated."

    I'm assuming you are referring to the infamous CTS , and SRX for that matter, rear differential whine. My 04 had it too, like yours, it wasn't there when the car was cold, it had to warm up first. The whine on mine was between about 25 and 35 mph, and was when I gave it a bit of gas at that speed. Take my foot off the accelerator, and the whine stopped. Many others have had the problem, on 2003, 2004, and even 2005 models. Cadillac knows about it, but has not really done anything about fixing it that I've heard of.

    Some dealers will try replacing the rear differential with another, it may or may not work, based on others feedback. Other dealers will just tell you there is nothing wrong with it, and for you to just live with the whine.

    For a problem like this to continue over three model years without a fix is inexcusable. For some dealers to not even acknowledge the problem is like throwing gasoline on a fire. When the whine started on mine, I chose to cut my losses and traded my CTS with 4,700 miles on it, in on a new Lexus.

     After the first month of ownership on my CTS, I was already in a full fledged battle with my Cadillac dealer over defects that they couldn't or wouldn't repair. I've been driving my Lexus for about a month now, and have never needed to take it back to the dealer for repairs. Nothing has gone wrong with it.

    Good luck with the whine on your CTS, you're going to need it.
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    The battery is in the engine compartment on the passenger side back against the firewall and covered with a sort of blanket with a small hole to observe the green eye.
  • bporter1bporter1 Member Posts: 229
    GM/ Cadillac never cease to amaze me. To know about a problem for the past two model years and do nothing about it is very inexcusable! The other luxury car makers would fix the problem. Anyway typical GM.
  • slopoke1slopoke1 Member Posts: 5
    I had battery failure in 2003 CTS with approximately 1,000 miles and within 60 days of purchase. It was due to fluid leakage but do not know additional details. This was in Maryland and was replaced under warranty.
  • tmacguytmacguy Member Posts: 37
    I am surprised about this sudden surge of complains about the differential whine. i bought my '03 Lux/Sport CTS back in OCT 2002. I looked at this list regularly before I buy and till then and till only a short time ago no one talked about the whinie at all.

    Only very few isolated problems were mentioned back then The most major one was the restricted fuel filler neck; and that is about it. And over the past 2 years I had never experienced the whining problem.

    The problem that keeps repeating for me and for almost all lux sport owners here in saudi (and is never mentioned on this list) is the repeated failiur of the front left shock absorber. Otherwise the car is problem free (oh and I also replaced a battery and the right side power folding mirror), i.e., no major problems other than the shock absorber. I will be delivering the car to the dealer to fix the shock by Sunday, this will be the 3rd frt LH shock.
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    You might be even more amazed if you actually owned and drove a CTS.
  • scott1scott1 Member Posts: 50
    I owned and drove one for six months. A loaded 04, blue chip lux/sport package, with the nav system. The sticker was over 43,000. The dealer treated me like crap, and the car had multiple defects, including lots of rattles, and the rear differential whine. I got sick of dealing with it and traded it in on a new Lexus a month ago. My Lexus has needed no repairs at all, and nothing in it rattles or whines.

    I was a loyal GM buyer for many years, owning 94 and 99 Corvettes, 94 and 97 Astros, 2000 and 2003 Silverados, etc. GM really let me down with this Cadillac, and they lost a customer because of it. That's the bottom line. It's lots easier to keep a customer you already have, then it is to win one from another brand. It's next to impossible to get one back after you've dumped on them. GM should know that already, but they don't seem to care.
  • bporter1bporter1 Member Posts: 229
    The CTS is one car I would like to buy, after reading all of these problems I don't know now. There really is no other near luxury car that interests me, except maybe a G35. Oh well, this is all probably a dream for me, as I cannot afforrd either car. Oh well, back to the Buicks, Chevys and Pontiacs.
  • eaton53eaton53 Member Posts: 356
    "The dealer treated me like crap and the car had multiple defects, including lots of rattles"

    You said the 2nd dealer treated you well and fixed the rattles... so what's the issue again? Doesn't sound like you had one.

    "and the rear differential whine."

    Which you never gave the good dealer an opportunity to fix.

    "My Lexus has needed no repairs at all, and nothing in it rattles or whines."

    Yet. You gonna dump it after the first thing comes up, too? Anyway, you traded a minor issue for a 100% crap driving experience, something I'd certainly never, ever do. Enjoy lumbering down the road in that Lexus.
  • RobberbarronRobberbarron Member Posts: 39
    Like Benz with frequent HVAC problems. Acura with transmission problems "Out of warrenty? Out of luck". Lexus with sludge problems. Audi with wipers and power door locks that quit working.... etc.

    Every car company has issues. I have 11,000 99.9% trouble free miles on my CTS. I had one fussy sunroof switch at 3,000 miles that was replaced during an oil change.

    The differential whine seems to be rare and random. Dealers are replacing the differential when needed, but it doesn't appear that a nationwide recall is called for.
  • RobberbarronRobberbarron Member Posts: 39
    "GM should know that already, but they don't seem to care."

    You should change that to "the dealer doesn't seem to care"

    My biggest problem in buying my CTS was finding a dealer that would take me seriously. I'm a 25 year old, unmarried, network administrator that owns his own home. I'd go into dealers in jeans, t-shirt, and ball cap. The first two dealers wouldn't let me test drive the car <even though I was already certain I wanted the car>. The second dealer offered to show me a Pontiac or Saturn.

    I told him where he could park his Saturn and went to the third dealer. The third dealer treated me as a customer and ended up selling a $40k car.

    I took great pride in driving my new CTS back to those other dealers to show their salesmen.

    BTW.... The Lexus dealer was far too snooty for my taste. One does not open a sales session by deriding the customer's current car when the customer says "I really like my current car, but it is time to replace it."

    Scott, I think your biggest problem is not brand experience, but dealership experience.
  • hammen2hammen2 Member Posts: 1,284
    ...from Scott's Cadillac dealer, and can confirm that they are a real bunch of you-know-whats. Set foot in there once, never again.
  • bporter1bporter1 Member Posts: 229
    A good dealer is sometimes hard to find, I am still amazed though that the Cadillac dealers are still thinking old school. Treat everybody like crap and they will keep coming back for more. Sounds alot like the Honda dealers. As for problems with every car? Sure every make has problems, but this is where GM needs to get it right the first time, and if there are problems that arise, have them taken care of in a timely manner. Just my take on the whole thing, I still would like to buy a CTS, because I like the look and it is now "cool" to be driving a Cadillac.
  • bingomanbingoman Member Posts: 373
    Here in the Los Angeles area there are few 'bad' dealers left. I guess the competition has driven the bad dealers out. My wife's Honda dealer takes excellent care of her car with no hassles. We bring the car in and they take care of any problems.

    My Cadillac dealer is just as good. I took my Catera in at 60,000 miles for a small transmission leak. They determined that the transmission oil was burnt and replaced the whole transmission with a brand new unit under the extended warranty. All my other problems (mostly minor) have also been taken care of similarly. And when a service person gives me any problem I go to my saleslady and she reads them the riot act.

    On the other hand when I had problems getting proper service on my 86 cadillac and complained to the district I got set up with another dealer who took care of the problems with no hassle, and the next year the selling dealer lost their franchise to new management.

    So I think GM does care and does something aboout problems when they can.
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