Cadillac CTS/CTS-V

b4z

Don't know the answer to your question but performance linings come with the sport pack in '04.

sevenfeet0

I'm not sure the answer to your question either...

But I'm not sure I would look to get the CTS performance brake pads of you are going to look to upgrade. I'd investigate ceramic pads. The performance brake pads for the CTS are notorious for brake dust, as make similar pads are in other performance vehicles. (I'm CONSTANTLY cleaning my front polished wheels of dust). A friend of mine who owns a Corvette Z-06 went to ceramic pads and says he'll never go back. He also says the price is not as bad these days as you might think. Best of all, ceramics have the best heat dissapation characteristics of any brake pad.

b4z

Americans don't like squealing brakes so rotors are softer now.
They also wear out a lot faster than they used to.

b4z

Lots of cadillac info.
Good preview of the CTS-V. can't wait for the real road test.
Some interesting technical stuff: 70mm driveshaft.
extra cooling fins on the rearend.
Carbon fiber engine cover. Carbon fiber strut brace.
loks like GM has given up on the tape and spoiler specials that they were famous for.
This is a real car.

For those of you who haven't seen the new silver smoke color there is a pic of it on page 116 with the new polished 17" wheels.

golfnut5

Took my CTS to Caddy dealer for oil change and tire rotation today (6700/miles). I mentioned to the service manager about my clocks being out of sync. The service manager said he was aware of the problem and offered to order a new instrument panel for me. I said lets do it, if I get rattles after installation of new panel I may regret this. Will keep you posted.

wwhite2

Hmmm, I had no oil consumption with my 95 Eldorado Touring Coupe that I had for 63K miles . And I have no oil comsumption with my CTS.

Automole what kind of wheels are you looking at . Are there many wheels availble with the CTS bolt pattern ?

sonjaab

These coupons were/are a promo. for GM employees/retirees. It started June 1 till july 30th, now extended till Sept.2.
It is called "gm in the driveway" program.
http://www.gminthedriveway.com
Each employee/retiree was issued 2 coupons each to give to ANY person not elibile (spl) for the GM employee/retiree/family deal.

At first there was NO reissue or extras given out.
Well they must have MOVED some iron because now GM has sent us more ! (NOTE: still waiting for more). I have scrounged a bunch from my mom, uncles, and their GM pals and given them away !

PRICE: The price is the same as GM supplier price.
Which is 4% over employee/retiree/family price.
But the best thing is NO advertising fee (avg. $500) or DOC fee (40 bucks max in NY--$$$$ ripoff in other states!)............geo

sevenfeet0

The replacement process for the instrument cluster is not supposed to be that difficult. Mine was swapped out and the dash is as solid as it always was.

But there was one weird issue. The odometer on my old gauge cluster had about 18300 miles on it. The new one was reading 16800 miles! Somebody goofed and gave me back about 1500 miles. Oh well....

sevenfeet0

Congrats to Pmdriver and his team for what seems to be a great initial media success over the CTS-V. Motor Trend spent a little time talking about this car, but Car and Driver spend more time talking about it and it looks like you've got a winner on your hands. The nitpicks were few (rubbery shifter...maybe something can be done about this) but nothing that would prevent a "buy" recommendation. Automobile has a review already on the newstands (it's on the cover like Autoweek), but it hasn't been delivered to my house yet.

One other thing about the C/D article: C/D's editors seem to be convinced that the new Cadillac is for real after reviewing this car, the SRX in the same issue, and the XLR a little while ago. What a difference that great products, high quality and customer focus makes.

jemiller

My comments on the Motor Trend article are over in the V-Series thread.

When Cadillac's press folks get TopGear to put Tiff Needell in one, that'll be worth seeing.

redgtconv

Can anyone with an '03 CTS, or an '04 without the lumbar support, tell me if this has been a problem on long trips. I have orderd a base model without the lumbar support. So far I have only taken short test drives and the seat feels comfortable, but I'm afraid on my first long trip I might regret not getting the optional power pass seat which comes with lumbar support for the driver. Seems to me that if they did not want to give a power lumbar support as standard equipment, they could have had a manual adjuster.

cu95

redgtconv, I haven't taken my '03 on any all day trips, but have done a few 3+ hour drives in it and found seat comfort and lumbar support to be very good (better than any car that I've spent time in recently). But my wife, riding in the passenger seat, has grumbled about the lumbar, so I guess it's person by person (or the seats are different, but I haven't spent any time in the passenger seat so I can't say whether it feels different than the driver's). For what it is worth, I'm 6' tall; my wife is about 5'8".

mannytranny, belated thanks for answering my question about the transmission noise several days back.

necros

So, if ceramic is the way to go, does anyone make ceramic pads for our car? I doubt it, but maybe. In fact, I can't find any aftermarket brake pads for our cars (or many other parts, either), so that's why I was looking at the Sport ones.

batmanscts

We took our 03 CTS on a long trip in May. We spent 13 1/2 hours on the road the last day on our way home. My wife's only compaint was that I like driving the CTS so much that I never want to stop for the night. I think the seats are very comfortable but I'd always select an adjustable lumbar support option if available (not available on the 03).

    I spent many years in Japan where even the low end models had manual lumbar adjustments. Having become accustomed to having that adjustment capability, I really miss it when I don't have it. It is nice to be able to change the feel of the seat on long trips. Power seats allow you to do that, but adjusting the lumbar support provides a different feel (and different support) that helps your body to forget that it has been in the same seat for hours and hours.

    I have the Lux Sport with high performance brake linings. I don't have enough experience with the brakes on the base CTS to make a valid comparison, but I can say that I really like the brakes that I have. I've had to stand on them 3 or 4 times. The CTS with the high performance brakes stops in a shorter distance and with more control than any other car that I've ever driven.
    BTW, I haven't experienced the brake dust accumulation that sevenfeet0 mentioned... probably because I don't have many miles on mine yet and most of my trips are pretty short ones in light rather than heavy traffic. I use mine for weekend pleasure trips rather than as a daily driver.
    My personal philosophy is that you shouldn't skip desired options on a car that costs from $30K -$40K. As long as you are spending that much money, what's a few hundred more?

sonjaab

Has a XLR in the showroom. Wanna go check it out! I called and they said NO joyrides, but you can touch and feel it tho. Its alredy sold too !
SRX you can sign up on the waiting list !

He sez do you still want a CTS? Heck, my 12 &13 yos are out growing my Deville......Bummer !

wwhite2

I havent had a dust problem on my Lux sport . Nothing like the major problem BMW has

dhannahiii

Just arrived home from driving all over Central Texas. I have the luxsport model, put 330 miles on the car today from 12 noon to 7:30pm, visited three headend site. I have no problem with the seat, my back feel very good after driving that long all day. I do have the dust on the front wheels from the brake shoes. Is there any meaning to that, am I too hard on my brakes?

I need some additional information to give to the local Cadillac dealer, regarding the clock change out. The dealer could not find any record of a recall or repair notice about the clock being out of time with the radio.

Today trip I average 24.5 miles to the gallon, at 73 mph most of the time. By the way the outside temperature was around a hundred most of the day, the CTS keep me cooled all of the time.

Best running car I ever owned, holds the road nicely.

rob35cts

Just tell them they need to call cadillac and ask. I got mine changed. It is a simple process but it cost about 800 for the new cluster. So your dealership is not happy about that.

I am getting messed around with with this license plate bezel. Mine has bugs in it. I took it up to see about fixing it and they said it is the way it is designed. I told them that doesn't make it right. No one should have to fish around with a credit card until they get the bug out as it is under glass! What do you guys think?

oldsman01

Just got the latest issue of C&D, nice review of the CTS-V. I think they like it alot. Who knows, maybe in a few years I will be able to afford one. Oh well, I still think I'd be perfectly happy with a base 04 CTS. C&D also had a review of the SRX. As most of you know, I'm not a big SUV fan, but I could certainly tolerate an SRX in the driveway. C&D also seemed very impressed with it as well. I do have to laugh when I read some of their commentary though as they make remarks like, "finally a Cadillac that people will actually want to buy." While yes, Cadillac's product hasn't always been this hot, they still have produced cars that lots of people bought over the years. In fact, if you strip away SUV sales and look at total "car" sales, Cadillac is always the top selling marque. I think the Deville holds the title as best selling luxury sedan and has for the past two decades.

automole

wwhite2: There are lots of different wheels available for the CTS. I'm looking to get something that's 18" diameter and somewhat "modest" in appearance...I might go with chrome (if it doesn't look too pimped-out) or I might get painted silver. I'm also leaning towards a 7 spoke design to keep with the stock Cadillac wheel theme. You can see many wheels at superbuytire.com, tirerack.com, discounttire.com and more pics of CTS's with custom wheels at cardomain.com (Warning: if you visit cardomain you will be subjected to the mindless ramblings of teenage idiots...it's still an entertaining site however).

Brakes: I have the stock base model brakes and they're excellent. I can't imagine a need for better performance than the stock pads. Also, the brake dust is minimal...nothing compared to the brake dust from my wife's new car.

Clock: I'm going to the dealer this week and will check to see if they will replace my instrument cluster...I've already mentioned it once but gotten no response from the service dept.

rob35cts/Bezel: I agree with the service dept AND I agree with you. YES, that's the way it's designed and NO you shouldn't have to fish around with a credit card to get the bugs out. Like the cheesey clock fix (Replace the clock with a temp gauge = no more clock problem) I predict Cadillac's "fix" will be to paint the bezel to match the body color thereby making it impossible to see the buildup of bugs behind it. FWIW, I have a bunch of pine trees near my house that drop needles which eventually end up behind my license bezel...the "fix" is to spray it out with high pressure water from the hose when washing the car. I've had good success with the spray method and (knock on wood) I haven't had any problems with my bezel leaking.

Lumbar Support: IMO the lumbar support on the 2003's is terrible. My lower back hurts after extended drives. I'm going to testdrive a 2004 this week...hopefully the seats are a big improvement over the previous year's. If I don't end up with a 2004 I'm going to have to get my wife to sew me a small lumbar pillow that will match the interior of my car for use on long roadtrips.

automole

FINALLY!!!! The Cadillac website has been updated with an inventory search for the 2004 models. There's a 'trick' though...if you click on the CTS link you'll only be able to search 2003's.

If you click on the SRX first and select "search inventory" then pick "new vehicle search" at the top of the popup window you can select the 2004 CTS from the dropdown menu. Now if only I had that coupon...

mcgreenx

I missed lumbar support when I first got my CTS because I had it on two or three prior cars, but after close to a year and 18k miles, I have to say that the drivers seat is quite comfortable for my frame. Most of my "long" drives don't exceed 2-3 hours, but I've taken a few all day drives with no complaint. But if I had my choice I'd opt for the lumbar support, if only for the ability to change from time to time.

Question: When the dash unit is changed (to get a synchronized clock), what happens to the odometer. In the pre-digital days, I got a zero odometer and a sticker on the door jamb. Is the odometer now reset to the "real" mileage?

sevenfeet0

They are supposed to set the new digital odometer you get to whatever your old odometer was. But in my case, somebody goofed and "gave" me back 1500 miles. I guess I'll have to disclose this whenever I sell the vehicle since the mileage figures on the service records won't add up if you look at them closely.

necros

I reall, really like the stock brakes on my base model, too...BUT, that said, in September I'm going to be bringing the car out for Solo Trials to a road course. I've been thinking about flushing the brake system and loading up on some Motul fluid, and replacing the pads.

For normal driving, I agree that the normal pads are great. For road racing, however, you can never have enough braking power or consistency.

fjk57702

Another way is to go to gm.com and choose vehicle shopping and then, under that, choose buypower - this will then get you to where you can do a vehicle search for any 2003/2004 car (I think). At least this will get to CTS. They have changed this somewhat from what it was like before.

jemiller

Motul 600 is good stuff for track use, but in my experience if you leave it in the car it goes 'off' after six months or so, resulting in a spongy pedal.

Does the CTS share calipers with any other car? Might want to start checking with Hawk Brake, Porterfield, etc. on pad availability. The Hawk Blue is a pretty aggressive pad, the Porterfield R4 maybe one tick less so. Depends on how much you think you need.

necros

I would be absolutely willing to go with some Porterfield R4s, or Hawk, or AXXIS pads. I have no idea if the calipers are shared with other GM products, though.

jemiller

Necros needs an FMSI # for the pads for the CTS front calipers!

wwhite2

Mcgreenx cant they set the mileage . that sticker wiil raise red flags with some people . and if the run a car fax in the future it will show an event .
 Maybe Cadillac went to the body color bezel not for style purposes and some think but to hide the leaks as AutoMole stated
Automole have you seen the "opal" finished wheels that Konig has. Great color I like the look
Rob35CTS Why would the dealer car about the cost of the cluster it is paid by Cadillac and the dealer gets paid the labor to install it .

tablanke

Here is my previous post on the clock fix used by my dealer. Still in sync...

#2467 of 4212 Clock Fix !! by tablanke Apr 01, 2003 (9:02 pm)

I took my CTS into the dealer for the recall check and 6000 mile oil change (10% life remaining). I also asked them to check out the problem of the time difference between the digital and analog. To my surprise, the clocks now match in time!

The service report says, "Technician discharged clock capacitors. Technician reconnected battery, reset clock, performs to OEM specifications".

Don't know how long the fix will last, but at least there is a fix.

rob35cts

I didn't know that cadillac paid for it.

rsteph

Try this link...do a search on Cad CTS. Check out the MSRP listed for the last one on the list.
Am I missing something, or is that a bit on the high side?????

http://kunicadillac.com/location/beaverton-cadillac/frame.jsp?pag- eId=search&url=http%3A//backwebs.homenetinc.com/kunicadillacs- aab/index.asp%3Fforce_make%3DCadillac%26type%3DNEW&sectionId=- 2

automole

First off, you have to consider the source! Those MSRPs are from Kuni not GM. You've got to add a few thousand after they pimp out the wheels and add a custom grill. Then there's the "additional dealer markup" for "market adjustment". Kuni also has a knack for getting cars that are loaded with options.

It's ironic you'd post the Kuni link. I was just there tonight trying to dig up a brochure for the 2004 CTS so I could check out the new available colors. I wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes with my 1.5yr old and wasn't helped by anyone...in fact I would go so far as to say I was flat out ignored. It didn't appear that they had any new info anyway. After tonight's experience combined with the experience I had trying to purchase a 2003 at Kuni last year I would say there isn't a snowball's chance in Hell I would ever buy a car there.

rsteph

I hear ya. Although I did purchase from them. But that was only after Alfonso, Copps (In Vancouver) and Clary (in Longview) couldn't come up with the car I wanted. Kuni had it (or close enough) in inventory. Funny though, soon as I pulled onto their lot, I was descended upon by half a dozen salesmen. Maybe it was a slow day. As for the "buying experience", I wasn't overly impressed. They tried to give me a class-A royal screw'n on my trade (which, I suppose, is to be expected) and weren't very amenable to talking much under $1,500 over "their" invoiced price (which, in all fairness, was exactly what both Edmunds and Kelly showed it should be, not including their $600 markup for advertising). In the end, I paid a little more than I intended to pay, but not a lot. And, I did get the 0% financing that was being offered so I guess it's water under the bridge. Don't think I'd recommend them though.

automole

rsteph: It sounds like your experience was similar to mine. I had a good clean trade (300M)with low miles in PERFECT shape that I wanted to get Edmund's dealer trade-in price out of towards a CTS. First off, they didn't have a car on the lot that I was interested in. They pulled the old 'dealer trade' sales pitch (tried to locate one but couldn't...funny, I found another in Portland that I bought later THAT DAY) and then offered to order me one. I said it would be fine to order one but when it came to negotiate a price they would not name a fixed price quote because of the "possibility of my trade having many more miles or scratches and dents" by the time of delivery. They also wanted to give me $10K for my perfect car w/ 18K miles and tried to pitch the "additional dealer markup" to me since the CTS is such a "rare car"...a complete joke. After sitting around and wasting 3 hours out of my day I got pissed and left. I drove straight to VicAlfonso and bought the car I wanted off the lot. They gave me a fair price on trade and I was only mildly screwed on the price of the new car (a couple hundred under sticker). The next day Kuni called to ask if we'd "thought anymore about the CTS". "Yes, we think it's great" said my wife..."we really love driving it". "Oh, you found one?" asked Kuni..."Yes, just what we wanted and VA made us a great deal"..."click".

richw5: The CTS is a great handling and braking car. It's helped me out during at least one incident in which I had to quickly swerve and brake in order to avoid a car pulling out from a parking lot that tried to T-bone me. I was able to avoid collision, pull a quick U-Turn, and give the offending driver the finger, all while not even breaking a sweat or waking up my sleeping baby. The problem I have with the seats is my lower back and left leg...I could just use a little more support in the lower back area of the seat. Also, I don't like the lack of padding in the butt area of the seat. Besides the fact that my rear end leaves permanent stretch marks in the leather (I weigh 160) I also have a sinking feeling like the seat bottom could use more firmer padding. Still, the seats are pretty decent and although they could be improved I've driven worse...also it all depends on the driver. I had a Mustang Cobra with adjustable lumbar support and I always pumped up the seats on long trips; if my wife drove she would have to let the air out otherwise the lumbar support would kill her back.

wwhite2: The Opal wheels do look nice. The Konig "Tantrum" wheels also look great and the name would go along great with the angry mood I've been experiencing lately!

rsteph

It's not my intent to make excuses for Kuni...but, again in all fairness...I was told by the other three (Alfonso, Copps, Clary) as well as Kuni that they don't do dealer trades inside their own marketing area (the greater Portland-Vancouver area). They all basically told me the same thing..why should they trade away a car so one of their competitors can make a sale when you could just come to them and buy it. Right or wrong, I see the logic there. Unfortunately, in my case, only Kuni had what I wanted in stock (CTS w/luxury package and auto tranny) and I was after the 0% financing that expired the following day. Everyone else either had the base model, or luxury with manual trans, or luxury sports. So, Kuni got my business.

tyler80

Does anyone know the explanation for why the cruise control buttons have been moved from the steering wheel to a directional stalk?

dindak

Saw a little piece in a magazine about the 3.6L and they mentioned it's made down the road from here in the St Catherines facility. Anyone know if that's true? I always thought it was sourced in Michigan.

fjk57702

The global V6 will be built at two facilities: St. Catherines and Melborne.

b4z

My Autoweek finally arrived and the CTS-V is on the cover.
We have been talking about it for a week.
Article is similiar to the Automobile article.
Hoping that they don't get too much buzz going on this car.
The markups will stop me from buying one in 2-3 years.

fjk57702

that the CTS-V is going to be the CTS that goes into everyones long term test fleet.

wwhite2

I thought it was well known for something else .

johnnycsk

I went to Potamkin Caddillac in New York City today and had a terrible experience. I was treated with such disrespect.... I told them I had the GM in the Driveway certificate and they asked me where I got it from. Why does that matter? Then they asked me to show it to them (which I didn't have on me because I didn't want to lose it). Also, when I asked about the 24 hour test drive, they said don't even bother because there were thousands of people on the list... talk about age discrimination. Oh well... Guess I won't be buying from them.

redgtconv

While shopping for my '04 CTS, which I recently ordered, I noticed that every used CTS that I saw had front seats in which the leather seemed to be stretched out on the seating surface. The material seemed to be bunched up. Is the wear of the seating surface a problem, and if so, does anyone know if this has been addressed on the '04 model?

sevenfeet0

The CTS uses a thinner (and I believe better) leather than say, my last Deville. On the upside, it's more comfortable. But I suppose it could stretch a bit more than other thicker leather surfaces. I'm 295 lbs, but I haven't seen any excessive wear from my seats. Then again, I use Meguire's Gold Class leather treatment regularly.

raybear

I'm looking at one right now-MSRP $30,835.

wwhite2

I think the leather in my CTS is much thinner than was in my 95 Eldorado touring coupe . I noticed that if I reach across the seat placing one hand on the seat my hand leaves an impression that took its time going away . I hope I never press to hard .

  todays Boston Globe has an ad for Cadillac Village( a GM owned store) Norwood Ma, 04 CTS MSRP 30385 you pay 28888. as an aside they have 50 H2's on the lot it's quite a sight

golfnut5

I have 7000/miles on my 03 CTS and noticed the bottom of the seat on the driver's side getting a little stretched out. This is the first car that I have owned with leather seats so I thought this was normal. I weigh 165 pounds, guess time will tell as to the durability of the seats. I have never seen a used car say over three years old where the leather seats look brand new.

lanzz

<rant>

Johnnycsk - there is no worse group of people in NYC to deal with on any car matter than Potamkin. They just about laughed at me when I inquired about getting the GMS price for a DTS - 'we don't do GMS on high demand cars'

Also, they treated me very badly on a service matter. I ended up escalating to the Better Business Bureau.

In the end, I gave up. I now own an Infiniti - I gave up on GM products because even if you can stomach the sales experience, the service is a fraudulent joke.

The one decent dealer for a Cadillac around here appears to be Towne Cadillac, small place with a 4 car showroom, but really nice people (can't vouch for the service) in Union, NJ. Right outside the Lincoln Tunnel.

(sorry, I am off topic)

</rant>

golfnut5

This is a little off the topic, but there was an interesting article in last Wednesday's Money section of USA Today. The article stated that the big three American auto makers (they included Chrysler) labor cost per vehicle is $8,655 versus $6,052 for the Japanese transplants. No wonder GM and Ford are losing market share. I have always bought either Ford or GM, I like to buy American. I am not sure how much longer I am willing to support inefficiency.