Cadillac CTS/CTS-V

thebug

The method to the madness has begun.

thebug...

32caddy

we have seen that many like the G35 vs CTS. I have been informed that the French owns nissan.

jemiller

Yep, they do - Renault saved Nissan, and their guy is now co-chairman. The Germans, of course, own Chrysler and a significant chunk of Mitsubishi, we know about all the brands Ford owns, GM owns Saab outright, more of Fiat than they'd like to, a chunk of Subaru, etc.

sevenfeet0

Renault does not own Nissan outright, but like Mazda & Ford, Renault does own a significant share of the company, and is in operational control of it.

Having said that, I think that Nissan's comeback has been better for Nissan in Japan and Nissan in the US from an total economic standpoint than Renault in France.

sevenfeet0

Outside of the spare tire rattle, the only gremlin has been an error from the radio saying "Check Gas Gap". I guess the gas cap probably has a small leak, which will matter for the sake of emissions. I've also notices at 10,700 miles that I'm moving into the wear sensors for the front brake pads (I have the high performance LuxSport CTS pads). Is it just me, or is it a little early to be replacing the front brake pads?

bingoman

A hand operated parking brake may be better in a manual transmission car because of the problem with switching between the clutch and the brake, but in an auto transmission car the foot brake is much better. One can apply more pressure both for parking and in an emergency. It is also much easier to release. My wife cannot release the handbrake in her Honda if I apply it with normal force. She cannot pull it up enough to release the catch pawl.

I just had my CTS serviced and detailed (White Sport-Lux.) It looks great. I had the clock serviced and now it sets to the correct time. The service report said that it had to be re-programmed. I had the tires rotated and balanced. One tire had a large cut on the inside and had to be replaced. The tire people seemed to thing that I ran the tire with low air, but I have a tire monitoring system and no tire ever ran under 29 lbs.

Sevenfeet0, I have almost 14,000 miles on the car and the brakes seem fine, I did not even ask the dealer to check the brakes, maybe I had better watch them.

thebug

I always thought that they inspected the brakes and other things at interval maintenance visits. They do on my other cars, and provided a list of problems if any are found.

I just took my CTS in for the first oil change, and they conducted a complete inspection, (I hope) filled other fluid reservoirs, (they should have for the price, geez), and refastened a loose rear mud flap without questioning the cause, they entered it as a warranty item.

Ran over another group of tumbleweeds (a common road hazard here on windy days), which were totally unavoidable as they role out on the highway when cruising at 80+. I'm at 5700 miles and not one problem to be had, and the CTS is getting faster. I love driving this car.

sevenfeet0: Are you driving in a hilly area, or just driving hard? That seems a little early @ 10K.

thebug...

mariner7

I just read about Chrysler LX sedan, RWD, either 5.7 Hemi or 3.5 DOHC, showing up at NY show. Apparently will use some MB tech. That car will be stiff competition to CTS & STS. It's a must Caddy has to stay ahead of domestic premium brands, for the bottom line and prestige. That's not a given anymore once the new Chrysler sedan shows up. Does anyone know how much the Hemi makes, 350hp?

alokin

eaton53

Has an iron block... bad news from a weight distribution standpoint.

bingoman

They may very well have inspected the brakes during maintenance but nothing was said about it, and I failed to ask.

I saw an interesting sight yesterday in Van Nuys, CA. An apparently new detroit model, with a Michigan license plate, which had cloth masks covering the front and rear ends of the car to disguise it. It was apparently a new model being road tested around the country. A rare sight in these parts.

bigdaddycoats

so what car was it????

sevenfeet0

My wife (who is 6 months pregnant) was driving our CTS out to my mother's house today on Briley Parkway in Nashville. It's one of those 2 lane state highways that is much more than a normal street and organized like an Interstate highway. She was in the left lane and in front of her was a dump truck. All of a sudden, a metal shovel came loose and flew off the side of the truck heading right for her.

At first, my wife immediately swerved left toward the breakdown lane to avoid the shovel to the right. But the shovel continued to fly towards her so she immediately decided to change course and swerved right behind the truck. Once in the right lane, a quick burst of accleration insured the shovel would miss her and the car by a few inches to the left. This of course all happened in a matter of seconds.

All the while the Nürburgring-bred agility of our CTS Luxury Sport did its job as it allowed my wife to control the car with lightning speed at over 60 MPH. She tells me that the vehicle did not even come close to losing control. She said it was like having to quickly make a decision to manuveur cones on a high speed highway.

Thanks to Cadillac's engineers for designing such a competent product. From what my wife tells me, I'm convinced that the engineering of this product saved her and our unborn child from injury, perhaps serious. The car also escaped without a scratch. Pmdriver, feel free to pass this note around your group.

Sincerely,

Rick Ewing
Nashville, TN

bingoman

I wish I knew. The car turned at the corner and I never had a chance to try to figure out what the make was. It was a four door sedan, camouflaged both front and rear with black and white cloth panels and netting over the lights. They obviously did not want anyone to know what it was.

loyaltogm1

I saw in your post #2245 you mentioned you had a loose mud flap fixed at the dealer. Are the mud flaps color coordinated with your CTS or some you bought at an auto store? If color coordinated, where did you get them? Thanks!

richw5

sevenfeet0 - Congrats on your future baby, your wife's driving skills and your CTS.

Rich

sevenfeet0

You know, my wife and I had earlier discussed sending her out to the Bondurant school for training since they now had CTS's in the stable, but decided against it since she was pregnant. I'm just glad that the car performs well enough in the hands of without that level of performance driving training.

cu95

Following up on my message #2208...
I've found another indication of a price increase for the CTS. If you go to the CTS page at the Cadillac website and choose "Build Your Own", the price it shows is $30,595 (base $29,900 + Destination $695). Other places on the Cadillac website still show $30,345 as the price, though.

fjk57702

Cadillac is recalling 51000 CTS's to check the steering out.

beach15

From Autonews.com:
"General Motors on Friday said it is recalling about 52,400 units of the 2003 Cadillac CTS to check for a loose bolt on the steering shaft.

GM knows of two incidents in which customers lost steering control because the bolt loosened and fell out.

The recalled cars were built between October 2001 and Feb. 2, 2003."

Anyone been having trouble with the steering shaft? Sounds like an easy fix, just a new bolt probably.

thebug

What is your source on the recall? My local dealer has no info on this. Was this announced Friday as in today?

thebug...

skubik

It was announced today. Here's GM's press release on the recall:

http://media.gm.com/news/releases/030321_recall.html

wwhite2

Hope I dont have to leave the car for a day .

calicadi

Thanks for posting. That's a great safety head's up for everyone who reads here, especially those who drive hard (necros... you reading this?). I have no problems with mine, but will definitely tell them to check it when I bring it in for an oil change next week.

7'0" props to your honey on driving skills. Now you know your progeny will be in safe, experienced hands when on the road. Stabilitrak 1.0 in my 95 Seville saved my keister once. Version 2.0 in the LuxSport package makes the option package worth every penny by itself.

thebug

I had them installed by a friend who has a custom body shop, and yes they are color coordinated, but I have a black CTS, and they look really authentic.

I'm not sure where they get them though. They restore older cars (mostly Model T's),so I'm sure they have connections, probably all over the country. These old guys do really good work, if you can nail them down for a minute.

I now have it done to all my cars,(a live and learn type thing), because many of my clients live in newly developed areas with unpaved roads, and lots and lots of constructions, and you know the rest of the story.

thebug...

thebug

Thanks for the info.

thebug...

thebug

Happy spring...

thebug...

sevenfeet0

The recall sounds like a manufacturing issue rather than an engineering one. But GM did the right thing by asking for a recall. One incident is an anomoly. Two incidents like this make a trend. And the fix is not expensive versus the option of doing nothing.

My wife and I kicked around the idea of getting the Lux model versus the LuxSport just to get the Stabilitrak feature (we eventually went LuxSport). My only wish is that Cadillac offered it on the other models. It's too important to only offer it on the most expensive model.

oldsman01

Glad to see GM being proactive rather than reactive with this case. I guess the CTS has passed the 50K unit mark now. Not bad for a car that many(even some in the auto press) thought would flop. Even after being on sale for over a year now and with a sluggish economy, Cadillac has not had to resort to big discounts on this car.

bigdaddycoats

I was playing around with the GM online ordering reference site today and found info on the 04 CTS. There is no mention of the CTSv - maybe not out yet. There are some color changes and package changes. One thing that I found is that it looks like the 3.2 will be the base engine with the 3.6 being standard on the 1sb and 1sc packages. It also appears that an automatic will be the only trans available with the 3.6??? I certainly hope that is not true - what the heck are they thinking. PMdriver - can you confirm that this is true???- You have never responded to my past questions, how about this time?? I don't car if only 7-9% of CTS sold have a manual, it is absolutely essential to offer one with the 3.6 in order to better compete. GM and Cadillac have made a great product with the CTS and will get slammed by the press for not offering a manual with the 3.6. I really hope that this information was just omitted and that there will be a manual with the new V6. It would be a shame for the CTS to follow in the LS footsteps and offer a manual only with the smaller engine and then learn that was a mistake and drop them completely.

oldsman01

If your listening, a manual with the 3.6 is a MUST!!! In fact, I think the 3.6 should be standard ACROSS THE BOARD on the CTS!!

bigdaddycoats

I AGREE!!!!!

b4z

Why keep the 3.2L??? It's made overseas and has to be shipped here. Don't think that is cost effective, even though the 3.6L might be a little more expensive to manufacture with it's variable valve timing.

wwhite2

I have noticed condensation INSIDE the reverse light /Lic plate plastic assembly . I have noticed suds in there to after recently washing the car. Anybody else have this problem ???

clpurnell

Sounds like a leaky lic plate gasket. take it to the dealer.

vcjumper

Disappointing news... Why not pull a Nissan/Infiniti and just use the 3.6L in many vehicles.

tyler80

Bigdaddycoats where did you find the 2004 CTS info? Was it on the GM buy power website? I just checked that site and they have rearranged the package selections and elimated some and or changed some options. I have never heard of the GM online ordering reference site. I'm looking to buy a CTS when the 2004 models come out and I'm searchin' the web over for 2004 CTS information. Thanks for your help.

vcjumper

Apparently the 04 3.2L model will come with bench front seats.

hehe j/k

bingoman

Only in the Canadian models. lol.

bigdaddycoats

http://eogld.ecomm.gm.com/NASApp/domestic/brandsel.jsp?year=2004&- amp;regionID=1

I can not remember how exactly I got to this site or what address I used by I think if you copy the above and paste it in you will get to the site. After there just go to Cadillac and look up the CTS. Kind of fun to play around on this site. I think I originally found out about this site from someone on the 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix discussion.

mcgreenx

After having driven enough miles for a long enough time, I think I have a pretty good feel for my LuxSport. Bottom line: it's a wonderful car to drive.

I've reported here before on the few problems I've had: twisted fuel filler hose (easy fix), cooling system leak (also easy fix, although the tech left off the overflow tank cap, requiring a second trip to the shop), and a Bose radio that was eventually replaced. The radio was a minor pain because they insisted on fiddling with the antenna before finally concluding the radio needed replacement. The good news is that the replacement was the newer model, with the digital clock, and the small button on the right of the steering wheel mutes the audio, both of which I prefer, so all in all it worked out for the best. But it was still aggravation getting it right. And, of course, I received the steering bolt recall notice in today's mail.

The LuxSport ride is somewhat harsh, but I knew that when I got it, trading the more comfortable Lux ride for StabiliTrak. I've been using regular fuel with no perception of a loss of performance, so I'm saving a few pennies of the current gas price hikes.

BTW, I installed a SkyFi XM radio and am loving it. I'm a news junkie and am enjoying the 5+ news channels, the humor channels, and old-time radio, not to mention a wide selection of music channels. I don't know what the OEM XM costs, but if it's available on my next car, I will give it a hard look.

The CTS is a great road car, solid, responsive, and comfortable (although I miss the lumbar support). I'd recommend it to anyone wanting a car in its size and price category. I think it's an excellent value.

bigdaddycoats

Maybe they are keeping the 3.2 until they develop a manual for the 3.6, that would be typical of GM not to have everything ready at the same time. I I sure hope that this does not happen.

vcjumper

Do they develop many of their own?

wwhite2

That site has lots of interesting info ...so the 3.6( 260 H.P.)is auto trans only

dindak

You are correct, they may be waiting on a new manual for the new engine. Lets hope that's the case. That said, I'd buy an auto anyway as I live in a traffic grid locked area.

wwhite2

I would consider the 3.6 with a 6 spd . My 5 spd feels like to could use an extra gear

sonjaab

http://www.cadillac.com
There is a link on this GM site to the upcoming
CTS V-8. Look under the CTS thread for the V
series. My 'puter won't respond to it when trying
to link up on it ! Is it my 'puter or is
the link messed up ?
Post and let us all know !.................geo

eaton53

Pictures of the SRX show an automanual. I would prefer this setup, as my wife has no interest in shifting.

If the 3.2 can be made for less money, perhaps keeping the current console instead of the new wood and metal one that is coming or even offer cloth seats, why shouldn't they? BMW sells the 325i with a smaller engine and plastic seats.

mariner7

Offering multiple engines in a luxury model is a classic move from the German playbook. It helps the resale value of 3.2's already sold. Now Caddy has two price levels for CTS, instead of having to hike the price if 3.6 is the base. I think it's a smart move, one which I didn't expect myself!

tyler80

You da man! Thanks for the website address. Some really interesting 2004 information.