I intend to maintain my basic OnStar service for the emergency service. It also makes it easy to get Cadillac roadside service, or they can check out any dashboard warnings to determine if the car is safe to drive. I also bought 30 minutes of phone time for a year so that I can be reached in the car if I forget to turn on my cell phone.
navigator3740 : the point of the commercial is to point out that if the occupants of the car cannot respond after an accident. because they are injured or unconscious the OnStar operator will notify the local 911 authorities to respond to the accident., and will give 911 your exact location from the in car GPS. Having read of many one car accidents in which the car goes off the road and is hidden from traffic, the idea of OnStar being immediately notified and able to pinpoint your location is very reassuring.
If I had a CTS, I would definitely keep the basic service package for the reason of vehicle tracking and also the ability to unlock if keys are left inside. I also like the fact they can locate you in the event of an accident. These are the reasons I kept the basic service package on my Intrigue.
I intend to keep the basic OnStar service; in fact, I prepaid it for the term of my three year lease (though not as a part of the lease). I think the second level is overpriced for what value it provides. Having them make a restaurant reservation is a nice convenience, and before I had a GPS, being able to get directions was very worthwhile, but I don't think it's worth $200 per year, and I don't intend to keep it.
I have it in my 02 DeVille. Never used it once ! Its free for the first year anyway. NEVER have time to drive the car or play with onstar. The BOSS is too greedy with HER car ! LOL.............geo
BTW: She does allow me to wash it or fill it with gas tho! Otherwise I have to drive my Cowboy Cadillac, GTO or Triumph........Just wait till i get my CTS-V8. The tables will be turned !
Congrats on your new CTS. Mine was delivered Oct 1 2002 and now has a whopping 12,000 miles on it. Its regular maintenance trip to the dealer last week got me an oil change, check the brakes for the wear sensor noise (nothing wrong, metallic brake pads sometimes sound like this), and check the steering bolt per recall. Total cost, $32.
The only weird thing recently that's happened to me concerning fit and finish is the headliner on the left side C-pillar that covers the curtain air bag has come loose from it's mounting that borders the window. The dealership has ordered a replacement, rather than trying to rehang it.
Still, this is the nicest car I've ever owned. So I "rewarded" the car's service by spending all day today stripping its wax and putting on a fresh coat (Meguire's 3 step process ending with their Gold Class Liquid Wax). There's nothing like a black CTS that turns heads by how bright it is. :-)
Thanks to gpz1 for pointing out the TSB for the rattle I was getting coming from the rear of the car. Turns out it was the spare tire making noise in the well. I tightened it down as much as I could and the noise partially subsided. But I had the dealership put the sound deadening material in there per the TSB and the car is now dead quiet from the rear.
I agree with you on Onstar's capabilities, but I have always liked the little keypad that Lincolns and high end Ford/Mercurys have. It is a quick and easy way to unlock the doors if they keys have been forgotten. Seems that Nissan and a few others offered this feature back in the 80s.
So glad you made the plunge and got your CTS! You'll love it! We bought ours on November 2nd and have about 3600 miles on it. I really need to take it out for a long drive! It loves to run at speed. It's easy to hit 80 mph (about 2700 RPM) if you don't watch it. -Jerry:>)
I tried my "Mute" (or "talking man") button on the steering wheel. Sure enough, it activates the phone system. But I like that. I'm a big proponent of hands free phones in cars. Here in L.A. the quantity of "Soccer Moms" in SUVs with their cell phones is a GIGANTIC road hazard. When I use my Cell Phone, I pull over so I can concentrate on my dialing. But with Onstar, you only touch the button once to start and once to end. Very easy, especially if you take the time to set-up "Name Tags". The Voice Recognition feature is very cool. YES, I do admit you can't use a Voice Mail system when using Onstar. No number buttons or # symbol to use. That's a bad part. But for quick calls to the wifey, it's super. I will always keep the minimum Onstar system. The built in "Lojack" & other security featrures are well worth the money. I also like the automatic air bag deployment call. Here in L.A. a year or so ago, a fellow crashed his Japanese mini-pickup at 5 am off the side of a major Freeway. He was stuck in some trees & bushes, down the embankment. They didn't find him for three days. He lost his hand from the injuries (he was pinned in the car). No Onstar. So even in a busy place like L.A., it could certainly be a life saver.
Wow! Looks great!! And ONLY $50,000. I say ONLY because it makes it sound better to swallow. But what a nice evolutionary model change. I appreciate Cadillac doing that. Maybe I'll turn my 2003 CTS in for a used 2004 in 2005. But then again, maybe I should wait till at least it's paid for? Ha! Wonder how the resale value will hold up on these cars? I've heard so far they are doing well. -Jerry:>)
Thanks for all your kinds words!!! The car is back at the dealer--- but to get a center ( fake ) wood trim package. My wife likes the look. In smokingover the car I am passing on this info. I found the spare tire LOW on pressure. I have been checking these tires since many years ago at nite in the mountains of PA I had major blow out in my Edo.Have you checked yours??!! Yes I had for 40 years a 1932 caddy ( 2nd owner) and just sold it last year as I have a health problem and cannot get under it any more. Drove NY- Cal in 63 at 58 MPH. A 4 door 6 wheel 355 V-8. Rebuilt the engine twice!! A great fun car. Pixs when I get my scanner set up. Have fun behind the wheel!!!!
The first thing I noticed in the picture in article linked by b4z was the changed license plate area. Sure enough,the article comments on it: "...while in back, the oversized license plate insert is now body color-coded, a much-needed change, several insiders concede." I suspect that all 2004 CTS's will have that. The insert is one of the reasons I prefer the black paint on the 2003's; the insert blends in much better and doesn't seem as out of place.
Tonight I'm visiting the dealer to do the paperwork and will pick up the car (base, with automatic, sable black w/ ebony interior) Thursday night or Friday morning! Trying to amass a checklist of things that I want them to check on while they prep it. Here's what I have (culled from the helpful posts here), any additions that folks can suggest would be welcome: - steering bolt checked per recall - sync analog and digital clock - tighten down spare tire (and check pressure while at it) and add dampening material - activate Onstar, including free 30 minutes
The recall was widely publicized, so I'm sure their service department will know what to do, but for the clock syncing and the spare tire dampening, is there anything official or instructional that I could point to (or better yet print out and bring) in case they are clueless?
Okay, it gets the good engine but apparently they've removed 5 'marketing horsepower' so that it doesn't match the Z06 'Vette.
It, of course, will never be as quick as the Z06 purely because of weight, but then that's not its market; its bang-for-buck ratio should be better than most of its competition.
The wheels and the body-color license-plate hole helps the shape. IMO it'll never qualify as attractive until they get the beltline down.
The cluster and its aluminum rings around the gauges looks like an E39 M5, which is fine with me; can't tell much about the shape of the seats other than they appear to have some sort of gripper-than-standard-leather insert.
Not sure if I like the brushed-metal-look surfaces on the steering wheel - looks good, but if they're metal they're going to get bloody hot in the sun, and if they're plastic they're going to wear and look nasty from hand contact over time.
Personally I really like the brushed-metal or chrome accents! I find them far more attractive then the wood trim in the CTS. The steering wheel configeration looks similar to the XLR steering wheel. But I do agree with jemiller that the metal or chrome on the steering wheel would get hot in the summer or might tarnish or get scratched over time. If you compair the XLR and CTS-V steering wheel's the XLR one looks to have real chrome or brushed metal and CTS-V looks to have plastic looking metal, or at least thats the way it appears when compaired to the XLR steering wheel.
The extra price for the v must be all engine because the wheels are nice looking, but not expensive looking like on an M3, the seats don't appear to be any different than a regular CTS. The grille treatment while interesting, I think I like the 'eggcrate' look instead of the really fine mesh. If the mesh had been more coarse maybe it would be more attractive. The extra bodywork is nothing to write home about.
The overall effect is attractive I guess, but it doesn't seem to appear to be worthy of a 10 grand price increase.
some are saying it will be out this year while other sources are saying early 2004. I think it looks good on the outside. I really like the rims and the new grille. No one should be surprised if it costs $50K considering what it offers. The M3 costs more and its not made for family use considering its a small coupe. I dont even like the styling of the current M3 so I would take the CTSv any day. I think I'll have to settle for a 255hp version in the future though. I cant find fault with the CTSv though, its definitely the best American sedan in many years.
$50K sounds about right to me, though I don't think any price number has been confirmed yet.
I think I posted this before, but...the engine is probably little or no more expensive than the V6. I'm pretty sure the LS6 goes down the same line as the LS1 and the truck V8s - unlike, say, the BMW S62 from the M5 that's hand-built. In horsepower-per-dollar terms (and horsepower-per-pound, and horsepower-per-cubic-foot-of-space-needed) the LS6 is a bargain.
Reading the GM press release, there's a lot of new bits in the car, and everything from the cooling system to the exhaust system to the axle shafts and driveshaft are probably 25-60% more expensive than the base CTS parts especially considering the smaller production volumes. The transmission is more expensive (though GM got the T56 price down far enough to use it in $27K Camarobirds, so it ought not be too pricey), the big Brembo brakes are probably a $2500/unit increment all by themselves. The wheels/tires whatever you think of their appearance (personally, I think they're great - understated, thankfully NOT chromed - I find the M3 wheels too busy) probably add $400/unit. All those model-specific exterior and interior bits are going to be more expensive in 2000-unit production quantities than the base CTS bits are in 20000-unit orders. And so forth.
Z06 is about 3300lb. The US M5 curb weight specs at 4024lb but BMW there's some dispute as to what that number includes.
Most of the people on this thread seem to like it it quite a bit.I was expecting a bigger response in the form of a lot of posts. Isn't this news what most of us have been waiting for for most of the year? I would have expected 30-40 posts today. We must be getting jaded.
In some respects, I agree with regfootball. I don't like the CTS shape. I much prefer the shape of the Monaro/GTO and its four-door sibling the Commodore SS.
That said, the CTSv seems to be, in every other respect, a very nice package. It's got exactly the mechanical spec I'd have asked for if I were nailing together a sedan out of the GM parts bins.
It's got the right engine, the right transmission, the gearing looks good (assuming trans ratios similar to past T56s), they didn't cheese out and skip the limited slip diff like Jag and Mercedes have done. The chassis is right (at least on paper), it's got enough tire (though they didn't go to staggered wheel sizes like the Germans), it's got a whole lot of brake (maybe best in class.) That comment in the press release about having a trackday setting in the Stabilitrak is interesting.
They've at least got the mechanical spec to a point where I might consider one, despite the shape. I hope the seats are as good as BMW's, and that they got the chassis tuning right, and that they price it reasonably.
Interesting car this CTSv, but like always Cadillac fans are quick to say that everyone else is already outdone before the car has been driven, or that Cadillac is proving the critics wrong.
jemiller,
Care to explain this: "they didn't cheese out and skip the limited slip diff like Jag and Mercedes have done." I'm aware the S-Type R doesn't have one, but which Mercedes are you talking about?
Postings here provided great info convincing me that the CTS was a good buy. Thanks to all.
A month ago, I bought the Sable Black/Ebony Lux Sport with about everything except the Nav system. Added matching window tinting. Buddies commented that it looks like what Batman would choose for the Batmobile if he had another chance. Haven't had a car that draws so much attention since I had a candy apple red 62 Impala convertible in Tokyo in the 60s.
I think it was ctsjerry who talked about driving his in Colorado. I took mine on a short trip into the mountains from Colorado Springs last weekend. Performed great! I got the automatic so the wife can drive it... Right!... Like I'm ever gonna let that happen. As great as the automatic does in the mountains, my mind was full of thoughts of shifting a manual through the winding mountain curves.
Still... I love it! I'm too old to wait for more power or other improvements. I'll take what it has now and trade for a new one if I'm lucky enough to be ripping through the gears when a better one is available. Cheers!
after lurking around here for a month or so I took the plunge, traded my 97 black Eldo Caddy and got me a sable black CTS Lux Sport a few weeks back... 1,000 miles and doing great...
this discussion group is a great read and was very instrumental in my decision-making steps... from comments about service bulletins, MSRPs, appearance upkeep, and on and on and on... an excellent forum to say the least...
I can't offer any additional feedback or observations about the car other than what has already been posted (glovebox, seat belts, lumbar, etc.) but I've advanced from "lurker" to "contributor"...
one question though: I had the black interior in the Eldo but went with the tan for the CTS... I have been very fastedious (sp?) about wiping my shoes before getting in the car but the floor mat is starting to show some evidence of (dare I say?) dirt where my shoe heel comes in contact with the mat near the accelerator pedal... any suggestions on mat cleaning or better yet preventive maintenance?
The new E55, for one...haven't yet driven one, but so far as I'm given to understand from road tests it's not so equipped. ASR is not a suitable substitute.
I live in Colorado, and took the CTS from Denver to Winter Park and back this weekend. I have the MT, too, and it's the base model, without the sport suspension.
Let me tell you, this car is just so...wow...in the mountains. Coming up the mountain I was passing everyone, coming down the other side, there was a newer Porsche 911 and I fighting for supremacy. Don't tell any LEOs, but coming down from Berthoud Pass (about 11,000 feet), I was following a Subaru Outback at about 30 mph. In the passing zone, I pulled out, rocketed up to about 90, passed, pulled in, modulated the brakes, and took a sharp 90-degree, off-camber right turn at over 65. The car completely shrugged it off. The Porsche and I dueled a bit down the mountain until we hit I-70, he ran it up to 100, and I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and gave up.
Go to gmtv.feedroom.com and watch the screen for a couple of minutes and there will be a report on the CTS-V at the New York auto show. In the background you can almost see the engine.
This is interesting. From my office window I can see the larger-than-life CTS front end and fenders that Cadillac has in Times Square. I just noticed that they've erected scaffolding all around it. Makes me wonder if they are going to give it a face lift to look like the CTS-V.
Comments
navigator3740 : the point of the commercial is to point out that if the occupants of the car cannot respond after an accident. because they are injured or unconscious the OnStar operator will notify the local 911 authorities to respond to the accident., and will give 911 your exact location from the in car GPS. Having read of many one car accidents in which the car goes off the road and is hidden from traffic, the idea of OnStar being immediately notified and able to pinpoint your location is very reassuring.
Its free for the first year anyway.
NEVER have time to drive the car or play with
onstar. The BOSS is too greedy with HER car !
LOL.............geo
BTW: She does allow me to wash it or fill it with
gas tho! Otherwise I have to drive my Cowboy Cadillac,
GTO or Triumph........Just wait till i get my CTS-V8.
The tables will be turned !
The only weird thing recently that's happened to me concerning fit and finish is the headliner on the left side C-pillar that covers the curtain air bag has come loose from it's mounting that borders the window. The dealership has ordered a replacement, rather than trying to rehang it.
Still, this is the nicest car I've ever owned. So I "rewarded" the car's service by spending all day today stripping its wax and putting on a fresh coat (Meguire's 3 step process ending with their Gold Class Liquid Wax). There's nothing like a black CTS that turns heads by how bright it is. :-)
http://www.media.gm.com/news/releases/030414_NYautoshow_overview.- html
Now I definitely have to get myself over to the NY show after work one day.
0 to 60 in less than 5 seconds. It beats my old Vette.
http://popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars_trucks/2003/4/200- 3_ny_auto_show_1/
Rich
I will always keep the minimum Onstar system. The built in "Lojack" & other security featrures are well worth the money. I also like the automatic air bag deployment call. Here in L.A. a year or so ago, a fellow crashed his Japanese mini-pickup at 5 am off the side of a major Freeway. He was stuck in some trees & bushes, down the embankment. They didn't find him for three days. He lost his hand from the injuries (he was pinned in the car). No Onstar. So even in a busy place like L.A., it could certainly be a life saver.
0-60 impressive
styling not impressive
curb wieght not impressive
Think about it...
3.73 rearend!
8.5" wide wheels w 245 tires!
carconnection article and new pic!
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5941
"...while in back, the oversized license plate insert is now body color-coded, a much-needed change, several insiders concede."
I suspect that all 2004 CTS's will have that. The insert is one of the reasons I prefer the black paint on the 2003's; the insert blends in much better and doesn't seem as out of place.
- steering bolt checked per recall
- sync analog and digital clock
- tighten down spare tire (and check pressure while at it) and add dampening material
- activate Onstar, including free 30 minutes
The recall was widely publicized, so I'm sure their service department will know what to do, but for the clock syncing and the spare tire dampening, is there anything official or instructional that I could point to (or better yet print out and bring) in case they are clueless?
It, of course, will never be as quick as the Z06 purely because of weight, but then that's not its market; its bang-for-buck ratio should be better than most of its competition.
The wheels and the body-color license-plate hole helps the shape. IMO it'll never qualify as attractive until they get the beltline down.
Not sure if I like the brushed-metal-look surfaces on the steering wheel - looks good, but if they're metal they're going to get bloody hot in the sun, and if they're plastic they're going to wear and look nasty from hand contact over time.
The overall effect is attractive I guess, but it doesn't seem to appear to be worthy of a 10 grand price increase.
400hp is nice though.
CTS-V will be shown tomorrow.
I think I posted this before, but...the engine is probably little or no more expensive than the V6. I'm pretty sure the LS6 goes down the same line as the LS1 and the truck V8s - unlike, say, the BMW S62 from the M5 that's hand-built. In horsepower-per-dollar terms (and horsepower-per-pound, and horsepower-per-cubic-foot-of-space-needed) the LS6 is a bargain.
Reading the GM press release, there's a lot of new bits in the car, and everything from the cooling system to the exhaust system to the axle shafts and driveshaft are probably 25-60% more expensive than the base CTS parts especially considering the smaller production volumes. The transmission is more expensive (though GM got the T56 price down far enough to use it in $27K Camarobirds, so it ought not be too pricey), the big Brembo brakes are probably a $2500/unit increment all by themselves. The wheels/tires whatever you think of their appearance (personally, I think they're great - understated, thankfully NOT chromed - I find the M3 wheels too busy) probably add $400/unit. All those model-specific exterior and interior bits are going to be more expensive in 2000-unit production quantities than the base CTS bits are in 20000-unit orders. And so forth.
Z06 is about 3300lb. The US M5 curb weight specs at 4024lb but BMW there's some dispute as to what that number includes.
Isn't this news what most of us have been waiting for for most of the year?
I would have expected 30-40 posts today.
We must be getting jaded.
That said, the CTSv seems to be, in every other respect, a very nice package. It's got exactly the mechanical spec I'd have asked for if I were nailing together a sedan out of the GM parts bins.
It's got the right engine, the right transmission, the gearing looks good (assuming trans ratios similar to past T56s), they didn't cheese out and skip the limited slip diff like Jag and Mercedes have done. The chassis is right (at least on paper), it's got enough tire (though they didn't go to staggered wheel sizes like the Germans), it's got a whole lot of brake (maybe best in class.) That comment in the press release about having a trackday setting in the Stabilitrak is interesting.
They've at least got the mechanical spec to a point where I might consider one, despite the shape. I hope the seats are as good as BMW's, and that they got the chassis tuning right, and that they price it reasonably.
Started breaking studs after twenty laps on the Nordschleife?
I can't imagine that the CTSv shares hubs or rotors with a pickup.
The only other 'passenger car' I can think of that uses six-lug wheels is the Viper.
jemiller,
Care to explain this: "they didn't cheese out and skip the limited slip diff like Jag and Mercedes
have done." I'm aware the S-Type R doesn't have one, but which Mercedes are you talking about?
M
A month ago, I bought the Sable Black/Ebony Lux Sport with about everything except the Nav system. Added matching window tinting. Buddies commented that it looks like what Batman would choose for the Batmobile if he had another chance. Haven't had a car that draws so much attention since I had a candy apple red 62 Impala convertible in Tokyo in the 60s.
I think it was ctsjerry who talked about driving his in Colorado. I took mine on a short trip into the mountains from Colorado Springs last weekend. Performed great! I got the automatic so the wife can drive it... Right!... Like I'm ever gonna let that happen. As great as the automatic does in the mountains, my mind was full of thoughts of shifting a manual through the winding mountain curves.
Still... I love it! I'm too old to wait for more power or other improvements. I'll take what it has now and trade for a new one if I'm lucky enough to be ripping through the gears when a better one is available. Cheers!
this discussion group is a great read and was very instrumental in my decision-making steps... from comments about service bulletins, MSRPs, appearance upkeep, and on and on and on... an excellent forum to say the least...
I can't offer any additional feedback or observations about the car other than what has already been posted (glovebox, seat belts, lumbar, etc.) but I've advanced from "lurker" to "contributor"...
one question though: I had the black interior in the Eldo but went with the tan for the CTS... I have been very fastedious (sp?) about wiping my shoes before getting in the car but the floor mat is starting to show some evidence of (dare I say?) dirt where my shoe heel comes in contact with the mat near the accelerator pedal... any suggestions on mat cleaning or better yet preventive maintenance?
God Bless each and every CTS owner...
Let me tell you, this car is just so...wow...in the mountains. Coming up the mountain I was passing everyone, coming down the other side, there was a newer Porsche 911 and I fighting for supremacy. Don't tell any LEOs, but coming down from Berthoud Pass (about 11,000 feet), I was following a Subaru Outback at about 30 mph. In the passing zone, I pulled out, rocketed up to about 90, passed, pulled in, modulated the brakes, and took a sharp 90-degree, off-camber right turn at over 65. The car completely shrugged it off. The Porsche and I dueled a bit down the mountain until we hit I-70, he ran it up to 100, and I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and gave up.
It was much fun, though.
In the background you can almost see the engine.