Cadillac DTS

dispencer2

What model did you rent?

nvbanker

if only Enterprise wasn't too cheap to pay for the satellite radio fee since the car came standard with XM radio! I expected satellite radio in renting a Cadillac, and didn't get it with Enterprise.

Next time try Hertz. They usually buy slightly upgraded cars from what the other companies buy. At least they have consistently in the past. When I buy cars at the auction, I always go to the Hertz sale, because their Tauruses for example, are often the SEL model, with leather, Sunroofs and power seats - whereas the Enterprise cars will always be SE models, with manual seats and no options at all.

My last Hertz rental was a Durango in Montana. It has XM radio in it.

nvbanker

What model did you rent?

Several rentals over the past couple of years, but I assume they were all the basic DTS with XM.

bremertong

Just as I was beginning to like owning this car after several problems in my first months of ownership it would not start up at all today. Of course I called Cadillac and they are arranging a for a roadside effort to start the car or a tow to a near by dealership. This is my third Cadillac and have never had this many problems with the other two combined. Considering that this one was bought new and the others used I am of course very disappointed. The car only has 2500 miles on it.
Depending on the outcome of all of this I will have to make some choices as to what to do about this. I have what has been a very reliable Lincoln Town Car as were most of my previous cars including the now defunct Plymouth Acclaims,
Chrysler LHS and of course my two previous Cadillacs. Have other DTS owners at this forum had repeated electrical problems with their DTS models? What have you done and what was the outcome. Any suggestions as to how to get maximum help from Cadillac corporate will also be much appreciated.

sls002

Was the battery dead? You just got a new battery and this suggests more serious problems than a defective battery. I will point out that on the used Cadillacs that you had, the first owner probably went through the agony of fixing all the problems so you got trouble free cars.

jasper60103

I've heard of some owners having electrical problems relating to poor grounding. Hope it's not too serious. Please keep us posted.

bremertong

The battery was dead when the tow truck arrived but they were able to jump start the engine so I could drive to the nearest dealership. It turns out that there is a TSB on this issue, relating to this issue. Document number given to me was ID# 1866186 Subject Battery goes dead (re program door modules) Key words DDM intermittent load module parasitic PDM # pic 4264-10/10/2006 and is referenced to 2006 DTS models. Condition Concern: The vehicle discharges or becomes dead while vehicle is parked. Recommendations/Instructions: Re program the door modules using the most current calibratation available. This problem is potentially present in models built before October 1, 2005. Above is a summary of the TSB. Dealer kept the car over night and it now seems fine BUT am not holding my breadth as this in milder form (hard starts and stall outs)
has occurred in the first month of ownership. I am working with Cadillac corporate to try to resolve this issue in that while NOW corrected I am concerned it will happen intermittently in the future. One really bad aspect of this is that Onstar goes dead so can not be diagnosed from the satellite and can't use the phone to summon help. Fortunately the car was parked in my garage when the most recent incident occurred. I had hoped to use this vehicle for longer trips but with this issue now a question I may use my Town Car in that I have not had any problems and my cell phone operates independently from the vehicle. It would be a good idea for Onstar to have a separate battery for its system for emergencies of this sort. Thank you very much for your interest and concern. I will continue to post significant updates and welcome follow up questions and information from other DTS owners.

sls002

Would you explain what you mean by stall out?

If they have cleared up the problem that was draining the battery, you should not have any furthur problems. However, taking a wait and see point of view is right.

As far as hard starts and an engine that stalls goes, if the battery is able to turn the engine over as it should, then that is some other problem.

gabby10

my 2003 d h s failed me 3 months after i got it , started car no head lights just engine running so i shut it down mistake that it was then nothing , no on star and had not program any cadillac number in my cell because i got on star , i figure i had a fail safe system , i was thinking about coming back to cadillac but after reading this not sure

bremertong

Your absolutely right! And oddly enough it does but it is only good for a short time (a few hours at most) after main battery goes dead. In my case I drive the DTS every other day generally alternating with my Lincoln Town Car. The DTS had been idle for about 46 hours and the defect causing the power drain had also caused the Onstar battery to go dead.
I was just working on an Onstar survey of customer satisfaction online and it was so long, ponderous and irrelevant that I zapped it about 40% of completion. I have a feeling that my power issue may not have not been resolved and that I may be slightly surprised when the car is again dead at start up some morning. Needless to say unless I start getting better results from this car it will in fact be my last Cadillac. My experience with Cadillac has been going downhill, my 98 Deville was a trouble free car, 2004 Deville had a quirky cruise control and oil leak,
this car has had three in shop repairs to the electrical system. I do like the appearance of these cars and they are good performers when they are working as they were meant to but the 2006 DTS with only 2600 miles on it has been a huge disappointment so far. If you buy a car other than DTS which cars and models are you considering? Many thanks for your reply and keep in touch so we as buyers and owners can help each other to get the best value and reliability for our money.

sls002

I would recommend a Lexus based on J. D. Powers. I suspect that the quirky cruise control was more your accidental pushing the coast button than anything. I can say that my 2002 Seville was very trouble free and so far my 2007 SRX has not been troublesome. I did run the battery down on it once playing with the rear seat, but since then it has been OK.

fmoeller

I recently posted the following:

"There is a fix for the KNOCKING sound. Cadillac has a TSB out on this. They replaced my EVAP Canister Part Number 15941577 under warranty. Too early to tell if the replacement corrected the problem - will have to wait till the weather cools off to test."

Well, so much for the fix. Had a couple of cooler days (70s) and the knocking noise is still there. Back to the drawing board.

nvbanker

I too, like my Cadillac (Escalade). However, Sunday, it blew out the A/C Compressor while I was leisurely trolling through my neighborhood. Not happy about that. I feel I get better overall design from Ford, better overall dependability from Toyota - but I'm trying to keep a GM truck in my fleet, mostly for loyalty.....stupid, I know. Still, the Escalade does very little better than my Navigators did - seats maybe, exterior beauty.....not much else.

robw64

So it's been a year (and one month) since purchasing my '06 DTS Lux III. Since hitting the 1 year mark, we've been experiencing some problems, one of which is a recurring drivability issue.

The trunk lid brake light was cracked and was replaced under warranty. The rear window-mounted subwoofer developed a very loud rattle, which turned out to be a loose electronics mount (also fixed under warranty). The constant display "replace battery in remote key" turned out to be a bad key fob which had to be replaced.

The wobble in the tires at highway speed is back again. We replaced one tire with the dealership, but that didn't stop it. We've taken it back twice since then (having to drop it off and carpool), but the service folks can't seem to "replicate the problem". I will now have to take an afternoon off work to make an appointment with the service manager because my dealership doesn't offer loaner cars for tire vibration issues.

While it's there I'll also have them fix the power driver's seat which has stopped lifting altogether. I will ask them about the B-pillar seat belt guides....the nylon seat belt has has sawed into the plastic on both the driver and the passenger sides. The plastic now looks just like a stick of cold butter that has had a knife dragged across it.

We also had the stereo replaced when it was new because the display gave out.

I still love the car and don't regret buying it (yet) but I'm becoming concerned about build quality.

Any suggestions on the tire wobble would be greatly appreciated.

jasper60103

robw64,

but the service folks can't seem to "replicate the problem".

sorry to hear about your problems.

Regarding the tire wobble.
It's nothing worse than picking up a car from the shop and being told they didn't notice a problem.

Next visit, maybe take the mechanic for a ride? It could help save time and frustration if you could demonstrate the problem.

Hope all goes well on your next appt.

-jasper

bremertong

When my 2006 DTS was in the dealership overnight for the fourth electrical problem, I was given the same model for a loaner as my 2004, Deville, same cruise buttons, same system. The difference was that this cruise system worked like the cruise system in every other car I have owned, push the button and the cruise sets within a mile or two of the set speed. My 2004 Deville, unlike any other car I have ever owned would lose up to six miles an hour before setting. Some car companies want to build their reputation by blaming the owner rather than their own inability to diagnose and fix a defect. The same thing is now happening with the 2006 DTS in that they have had the car in the shop four times each time saying that the problem is corrected only to happen again. I believe that improved diagnostics and improved build quality are the key to a better Cadillac. I also strongly believe that Cadillac and its employees can do better in the diagnostics area and initial build quality.

bremertong

Thanks very much for sharing all this information at the site. It is much more helpful to have owner experience posts
like yours to help resolve problems. Do you have a good dealership service department? Are you satisfied with their work? With the problems on both my 2004 and 2006 Cadillacs I've had to work with more than one dealer service department to try to resolve problems. I am still not sure that the electrical failures issue is resolved. Fortunately, I keep my cars an average of three years and bought the 2006 new so I will have a full four years of complete coverage, reading your post it looks like I may need it. Unless I have better results in the future this may be my last Cadillac. I also like the car but expect better in build quality and service department competance.

sls002

Something you need to understand is that Cadillac does not own the dealerships and the dealership employees are not Cadillac employees. Diagnosing problems is up to the dealership, however, Cadillac does send out representativies from time to time. As I recall, your dealership asked you to come in with your 2004 when such representative was visiting and you refused.

Also as I recall, your cruise control problems with the 2004 only occurred part of the time, so I think you are jumping to conclusions regarding whether the loaner did or did not have the same problem. Your story about just how the cruise control did or did not work has shifted.

sls002

Are you certain that it is the tires and not the road? I do know that some FWD GM cars are very difficult to get balanced. I have not experienced this with my 95 Riviera, 98 Aurora or 2002 Seville, so I am not able to help. My 2002 Seville went about 60,000 miles on the factory balancing. I never had them re-balanced while I owned the car, I just rotated the tires (myself) every 7-8,000 miles.

beardie

I'll be in the market in a few months, and the DTS has been #1 on my list of possibilities. I must say that having followed these boards for a while, I am becomming nervous about it. Having said that, I must tell you that I'm coming out of a Lexus ES330. I can't wait for the lease to be up. The transmission lag is terrible and is an accident waiting to happen, the seats are much firmer than my previous domestics and make more stops on trips with a bad back a must, the memory seats don't remember for long etc. So if you're looking for the "Cadillac ride", I don't think you'll find it with Lexus unless you move up to the LS, which is in another price category. So what to do? I guess there are no easy answers!

sls002

All I can say is that my 2002 Seville was a very good car, only one problem fixed under warranty. My 2007 SRX, with a six speed transmission is very responsive. J. D. Power rates Lexus at the top for quality and have for some time. I know a lot of people complain about how bad GM cars are, or domestics in general. I have found my GM cars to be reasonably good, but then I do not expect zero defects as some do, and I let the service department do what they need to, to get things fixed. The biggest problem was with my 1995 Riviera, when they could not figure out that the gasket was leaking around the supercharger. The factory came to their rescue though, and this was a new problem that had just surfaced, so the fix was a better gasket, which never failed while I had the car.

What I do not like about the DTS is the aging 4 speed transmission, and the aging northstar engine. My SRX has a newer version of the northstar with VVT and does not seem to use as much oil. I think that both the Lucerne and DTS are the last big FWD cars that GM will build. I think both will be replaced by RWD platforms in a few years (around 2010).

bremertong

After four visits to two dealerships I declined any further efforts by Cadillac on something they could not diagnose or fix. THE CRUISE ON THE 2004 CADILLAC DEVILLE WAS DEFECTIVE AND AFTER FOUR VISITS USED AS IT WAS!!! Can you guess who will reply to this post even though they have no answers that are worth posting here???

dispencer2

These posts about problems on the 2006/2007 DTS's are bothersome. I have an '03 Deville with 56,000 miles (a Program Car I bought in Jan.'04 with 30k miles) that has required virtually nothing in warranty repairs except for a wind noise around the rear passenger window. Everything works perfectly and there is no oil usage between oil changes. I'm just about relegated to buying a new Avalon vice another Program Cadillac next year. Resale value is far better and I rented one for a 1,000 mile trip in Florida last year. Lots of wind and road noise but plenty of room, much more impressive interior than the DTS, and great gas mileage -constantly over 30 MPG on the road. I'm going to be using the next Cadillac for around town driving as well as trips. I'm selling my 2006 Impala -seats are horrible and anything over about an hour hurts my back. I can drive the Cadillac all day and walk upright when I get out. Does anyone on this forum have a 2006 or 7 DTS which has NOT had problems? The LS Lexus costs too much -used or new - and there is no dealer closer than 100 miles so that's out. The Town Car has huge discounts but is an antiquated design. I actually like FWD. Hopefully someone will come up with a positive recommendation for a DTS. Doesn't look good thus far from what I've read.

bremertong

Your post raises very relevant questions and the type a prospective buyer should be asking in choosing a car. It is still to early for me to decide whether I am satisfied with my 2006 DTS but I can say that if I continue to have the type of problems I've had so far (posted at this forum) I will also go to Avalon, Lexus or Mercedes for my next car. As you may be aware I also own a Lincoln Town Car which in my opinion is one of the most underrated cars on the market. I like the Avalon very much and think you should definitely consider it in making your choice. Dealers try to minimize the problems with first model years but it may be that if you choose a DTS it would be better to buy a 2007 which of course is the second model year for the nameplate.
While DTS is similar to Deville there are enough differences that it is fair to say that the 2006 DTS is a new model. One of the disappointments for me has been the poor gas mileage I get on the DTS vs the 2004 Deville: about 26 avg highway and 20 around town on DTS and over 29 on the highway and 21.5 around town for the 2004 Deville. If I can answer any other specific questions regarding my own experience with these two cars please post here and will try to help you make a choice that will satisfy you. Best wishes.

dispencer2

I get around 28-31 on the road in the Deville. I knew that the DTS was a little less. We don't do a lot of trips -it is far cheaper to fly most places -but I've enjoyed the ones I've taken in the Cadillac. There is another option -I may just keep it beyond the warranty period (10/08). It is only worth about $10,000 now anyway - I doubt that it will depreciate much more in a year or two. It has been so trouble free that I hate to get rid of it and gamble on something else.I won't keep it more than 100k though. I will look at the Town Car as well as the Avalon. Town Cars are so heavily discounted that you can buy a new one for the price of a program DTS and I might just do it. How does your Town Car ride as compared to the DTS? How are the seats in the Town Car? I'm definately steering clear of a Mercedes. The reliability has been awful. I had enough experience with an Audi to never buy another German car.

bremertong

Thanks for the information on Mercedes, having had the problems I've had with the DTS reliability is very important
to me. The fact that your car is trouble free is a very important factor and should weigh heavily in your decision.
The 2006 DTS rides well is less likely to lean in turns, the T.C. is very quiet on the road, handles very well for a car of its size, gets about 29 MPG on the highway and 22.5
in the city. The interior materials are more pleasing to me than the DTS, the seats are very large and comfortable. There was a recent customer satisfaction survey that ranked it among the highest in customer satisfaction (don't remember the source). The US plant was recently closed but the car will come back in 2008 and will be made in Canada I am told. Lincoln technology is not as modern as Cadillac but for ride and comfort I am very pleased and strongly suggest you rent one even if it means going out of your way to find a rental company that has them available. And yes the value is one of the strongest advantages for this car. I bought mine, a Signature Limited with sun/moon roof and in dash CD stacker with a little under 17,000 miles on it
in excellent condition, 14 months old and for less than half the new price. It is in Gold and turns heads all the time. Amusing aside is that for the big car it is it handles extremely well on the road especially in winding and steep grades, often the folks in small sports coups can't keep up with it in that many sports coupes don't have the road holding capability of T.C. . The transmission has real braking power on steep grades where as my Cadillacs have required much more braking to keep the car in good control. Suggest you rent one for a week and see what you think. Please let me know if you have other questions and will help as much as I can.

dispencer2

Thanks for the help you've already given. I'll check out a rental on our next trip. One rental car company is owned by Ford -is it Avis? Whichever one it is should have a Lincoln.
You might check Consumer Reports reliability pages in their annual booklet. I don't place much stock in their test drives and opinions but the reliability pages reflect input from owners.

bremertong

Thanks for the information about C.R. After thought, the Town Car will not handle anything like the German cars you referred to in a previous post, it has a more floaty ride. They did make a small but significant change to the suspension system beginning with the 2003 models that greatly
improved the handling of the newer cars. Only way you will
know is to drive one and see. Probably as suggested for a moderate to long trip. I find I have difficulty in evaluating a car if driven for a few hours or less. Think it is Budget Rent a car that is connected to Ford but not certain. Best wishes, keep me posted and feel free to ask additional questions as needed.

robw64

Just returned from the dealer where they replaced another tire.....I now have 2 new and 2 original Continentals. The car rides much better, but it doesn't seem perfect to me. I might just be sensitive to any minor vibration after all of this. The service manager rode with me (both before and after replacing the tire) and told me about the difficulty fixing wheel vibrations with several Cadillac models, including the DTS and CTS.

Parts have been ordered to repair the power seat and replace the seat belt guides, so another trip to the dealer will be required to fix those issues.

gabby10

Hey rob , put 500 miles on them and then if you still have problem go to a TIRE store in my area in baltimore i go to a MR Tire , but go and have the tires Road Force Balance ask them if they have it , that will either correct it or probably get the other 2 tires replace , i have a ford excursion that i put new perille tires on there 10 ply i went back after 1000 miles had them road force balance they replace one tire and i can put coffee in my cup holder and truck runs smooth i try and see what kind of machine they have and post it , what year is your dts i was out looking today at one