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tires. If you have a set check the NHTSA web site
to see if yours are part of the recall.............
I had the instrument panel on my '03 replaced twice under warranty for the clock sync problem (analog progressively slower than digital). Then, after having decided to live with the problem, I had some major AC service done (compressor disintegrated inside and spewed debris throughout the system ... another story altogether). When I picked up the car, the clock was way slow, so I figured the battery had been disconnected during service. When I reset the clock using the digital setting, miraculously, the clock synched up perfectly.
A couple of months later, the clock got slightly out of sync once again, and then I had a dead battery problem (not even the auto door openers worked and the key got stuck in the ignition since the security chip wouldn't activate the solenoid). When the battery was replaced, once again, presto, clock was fixed.
I have a theory that there must be some kind of a "system ready check" that happens when power is restored after battery has been disconnected (or fully discharged). All the personalization settings are retained in a complete power down situation (flash memory?) but under normal circumstances, there is a small battery draw at all times that keeps things like the security features, etc. alive.
Next time the clock thing happens, I'm going to try the "disconnect battery terminals" trick on purpose to see if it works! If so, I'm surprised GM hasn't figured this out yet, since they've R&R'd thousands of IP's under warranty. :confuse:
Thanks allot for your advice.
Thank you for your advice.
I saw in a post that this is fixed in the 2005 model year. I must be wrong. Thanks arby1.
How do address the tight place for the drian plug? The wench won't fit? Did you get a special tool from dealer?
Advice appreciate!
After reading the messages, it seems I'm in big trouble. I'm going to have to buy new tires every other week. I won't be able to hear the radio over the rear end noise. The entire interior is going to come lose. The shocks will wear out causing me to lose control while trying to get the DIC screen to work...etc.
Oh well, on my way home tonight I'll be looking again to whip some Euro or Asian car's butt and will be enjoying the short time I have left before my motor vibrates too much at the stop light. Oh well, until then, I LOVE MY CADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!
You should know that my CTS will be 4 years old in May and I'm really disappointed. It's my wife's daily driver and we've had this same set of tires for over 25K miles without problems. They should last another 20 to 25K. They were replacements for the originals (Goodyear recall) at 18K.
The only time I hear noise is when I drive over grooved concrete roads and the Goodyears tires sing and the only interior problem was a seat back retaining clip that broke.
I feel bad that the only time I go in for service is when the oil life indicator tells me it's time. I must have gotten a lemon since I don't have any problems.
Still, I do get pleasure blowing the doors off German and Asian cars ...... when my wife lets me have the CTS. Now if only I had the 3.6L engine instead of the 3.2.
Seriously, our CTS has been super and it will be replaced with another CTS in the future.
I guess I saved the best for last. A short test drive sold me on the CTS. It handled great, surprisingly much better than I expected it to. There was plenty of motor with the 3.6, not as quick as the wife’s GXP, but still plenty of power for everyday driving. The interior looked great, leather soft, seats comfortable. It rides exceptionally smooth on my everyday drive to work, a 25 mile drive across I-40 each day, it absorbs the bumps and they are almost unnoticeable. I didn’t think it would ride would be that good. It surpassed the Yukon and the GXP is not even compareable. The fuel economy on this first tank is hovering around the 22mpg mark, which is a large improvement over the Yukon. I anticipate it should easily get 25mpg in the near future on a regular basis.
A couple of things I noticed which I would change if I could, the console setup needs an overhaul. I don’t like the small console glove box and the hinged setup to get to the tray underneath. The small door at the front which holds the accessory plug and ashtray could be eliminated all together and replaced with just an open pocket which things could be stored in, like a cell phone, etc. My cell phone will fit in the ashtray, just not well. It is a absolutely terrible vehicle, all I can find to complain about is the center console!
So I guess I will look forward to joining the rest of you in buying tires every six months and spending all my free moments at the dealership getting all my mechanical issues taken care of. I can hardly wait for the fun to begin! I sure hope it isn’t like the rest of the GM products I have purchased, or I am going to be greatly disappointed also when I only visit for an oil change and a tire rotation! What fun is that!!
Mike
I’m a new to Cadillac owner (been a BMW owner in the past). I would like to congratulate your organization for finally providing a quality vehicle that is well on it’s way to competing with the best the world has to offer. I have grown tired of driving foreign vehicles (wanting to be proud to own an American car again), and had been looking for a new vehicle for several months. In reading reviews in Autoweek, Motor Trend, Car and Driver, etc I couldn’t help but notice that Cadillac was finally getting good press. I compared many vehicles and found Cadillac finally making a package that completes well with BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Jaguar, etc.
Since my purchase of a CTS (I have received more positive comments about it from friends, co-workers than I ever received about my other vehicles) last Monday, I have visited two Cadillac Dealerships in the area where I live (Richmond, Va.), to enquire about the purchase of several accessories (a simple set of sever weather floor mats and exhaust tips) for my new Caddy. I offer a few impressions about my visits to these dealerships.
As I drove into the first dealership, the first thing I noticed was there is no large signage directing me to the parts department and customer parking. As I drove around the dealership looking for parking, the first thing I noticed was several older Cadillac vehicles parked across from the service department entrance with flat tires, damaged grills etc (not a great conveyer of Cadillac quality upon entry to the dealership). These vehicles should be parked in the rear of the dealership out of view until they are repaired.
Once I located a parking space, I entered the showroom and was directed to the parts department in the rear of the dealership. As I passed through the showroom I noticed a large amount of the showroom had empty sales cubicles which could have been better utilized either for car, accessory, or demonstration space. I also passed by the service waiting area, and found the area to be lacking good comfortable furniture, no framed pictures depicting future Cadillac cars, etc.
At the parts department, I was very surprised to discover that I could not see or direct purchase the aforementioned items without ordering and waiting 5-7 days for delivery, but I could direct purchase a hat, license plate frame or a Dub scale model.
I then went to the second dealership and found they had signage that could easily direct me to the different areas of the dealership. The dealership was well designed, the vehicles awaiting service were not seen as I drove to the parts department, parking was ample, and the dealership was cleaner and cheerful. This dealership provided a better experience when service or parts were needed, but I was again disappointed to discover that I could not direct purchase the accessory items that I desired.
I’m sure that Cadillac has a benchmark design or attempts to get dealerships to comply with a minimum remodeling standard when expanding or remodeling. I would offer a few suggestions to improve your customer experience such as:
a. Make sure there are parking spaces in front of the parts department for customers instead of vehicles awaiting service or employee parking.
b. Improve the signage both on the storefronts and entry’s for visitors.
c. Locate vehicles like the new XLR inside the showroom and not outside in the weather.
d. Provide better seating, displays such as framed pictures, sales brochures, free telephone, cable TV with a good quality TV, snack and beverage dispensers for people who are waiting for service.
e. Provide display items for interior vehicle accessories (exhaust tips, floor mats, vehicle history books, and other popular accessories along with the hats, models, license plate frames) that can purchased while at the dealership. Why should customers have to order general items that are at all other manufactures dealerships?
f. Owning a Cadillac is special. Make the customers feel special. Make all the dealerships clean up the entire (outside/inside) facility. Cadillac is top of the line for GM, so don’t let it look like another Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, dealer. MAKE IT SPECIAL!
I really want to stay in the Cadillac line. The Cadillac motor division is really starting to make a statement again. Don’t let the ball drop. Many people like me want you to succeed. Continue to improve both your vehicles and your entire ownership experience. Don’t let dealerships that don’t understand there’s only one chance to make an impression remain in their present operations. You can become the standard of the world again!
If so, who.
My new salesrep just bought a 2006 CTS and she wanted "park distance control" and to get it she would have had to have purchased another " "TS, an "S"TS -- she thought it wasn't worth the upcharge :surprise: but I thought this forum might know where to get such an add-on that would not appear to be aftermarket.
Thanks.
:shades:
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
By the way, the CTS rubber mats are really nice, much nicer than the WeatherTech ones. Although my dealer had a set in stock when I stopped by to get them, the parts guy was shocked to find them on the shelves. This amazes me too. You would think they would sell the hell out of them and have it as a constant stock item, at least in Colorado. I know this dealer moved at least 30 CTS' in the month of July 2005.
Note to dealer in Richmond. If he wants to make a lasting impression on the customer, how about if he has a lot boy drop the mats off at your office or home when they come in.
http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/tsb/data/pi1014a.pdf
http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/tsb/data/pip3051.pdf
Moody's lowered GM's $30 billion in debt one level to B2 from B1, five rungs below investment grade. It also assigned the company a negative outlook, actions that will make it harder for the world's largest automaker to borrow money. Moody's had placed GM under review for a possible downgrade Jan. 26."
Will GM be owned by Toyota next?
3/16/06
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I checked on it today, it has a faulty seal and the part had to be ordered. Per the service manager, they are using a different part than what was installed at the factory and there have been 3 or 4 of them at their shop with this problem. Part will be in tomorrow, repair completed tomorrow.
Sure will be glad to get the CTS back and give them back their DTS! But the DTS sure beats walking!
I wish it hadn't have happened in the first place, but it was great to see how the dealer treated me after the sale.
Mike
I dumped the car at $35k. Yes, I was a member of Cadillacforums and I loved the car. But now I love staying away from the dealership more.
Cadillac won't admit that there is a rear end whine problem on the CTS (regular CTS uses the same rear end). Unfortately they send out the District Service Manager on your second rear end failure. He then determines that you abused the car because no car should have a rear end fail in its first few miles, definitely not two.
There is a 200-300 post chat about this problem on cadillacforums.com. I guess we all must of had a "bad batch".
1st rule-Vehicle engineers get paid (well) during development and testing to determine the best tire for many different things (ride, noise, wear, traction etc). They have test tracks, yrs of data, experience etc when it comes to installing the right tire for a specific model.
What I learned:
1. If a owner changes tires from what was OEM, be aware that those changes can result in more/less, wear, noise, traction, and affect the ride. Make sure when you change tires, you can live with more or less of the above. Many times I have bought tires based on advice from friends, magazine articles, etc only to be disappointed in one or all of the above and end up going back to the OEM tire. Other times I have purchased tires to increase performance/wear, but have to trade off by tolerating more noise, less traction in the rain etc.
2. There are basically Three Tire Manufacturers in the world-Mitchelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone. All other "quote" Brands are made by the above 3 companies or their sub contractors under contract. So if your buying Yokohama, General, Winston etc you're buying from the "Big" 3, so it makes no difference what the name on the side says, your money is going to one of the big 3.
In summary, Rule 1 above-The tire that's on your car now is probably the best "Compromise" of all tire features. Most of the time, the engineer did their homework. Changing to a lower profile, bigger wheel, wider tire, etc all have impacts on how your vehicle performs. BE VERY CAREFUL and think the whole process through.
http://eogld.ecomm.gm.com/
- Ray
And of course, in cold weather states, switching to a proper winter tire is essential. Nowadays, that winter tire doesn't have to be a non-performance tire.
I'd vote for the CTS with fewer miles....more warranty left...check the tires . A previous entry said the CTS was a "race car"; don't know if I'd go so far as to say that, but the get-up-and-go and the handling ability of the CTS is fabulous! What color choices do you have? Is that even a factor? Our '03 CTS is black and it still turns heads after 3 years. Keep us all posted.