Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I bought it at Russ Darrow Cadillac in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and on delivery it had two problems, that should have been rather minor and quickly fixed. The steering wheel was off center, and there is a rattle inside the dash on the pasenger side.
I first took it in on April 7th...they returned the car later that day...with neither problem addressed at all. After argueing with my service writer, he agreed to try to center the steering wheel again...same result...no difference at all. On the third attempt...they got it centered. Why couldn't they have done that the first time? And without the arguing.
The dash rattle is still unresolved. The service manager told me on tuesday, that it would take them too long to track down the rattle, and I should just live with it. Can you imagine a Lexus dealer telling you that? I can't.
I talked to the dealership general manager on tuesday after the service managers comments. He seemd like a reasonable guy and he said he would check it out and call me on wednesday. He never called.
I'll be calling the cadillac 800 number in the morning to see if they can get the problem resolved. It's obvious that I made a mistake putting my faith and money in Russ Darrow, I just hope I didn't make a mistake choosing Cadillac. I'll find that out soon.
What has service been like for other owners?
Scott
That's one good thing about Caddy... they have a lot of dealers. With a lot of luxury brands, if you get bad service you're stuck.
I stopped in to find out about their service department, since it looked like the Olds/GMC dealership across the street, where I've had my Aurora serviced for the past three years, was going to fold (as it turns out, they were just sold this week and they're staying in business and getting another franchise - my bet is the aforementioned Pontiac dealership, whose facilities are sorely neglected). I wanted to know about their service department (since the Northstar, tranny, and G-body of my Aurora is more comparable to a Cadillac than any other GM vehicle). It turns out they sent their Chrysler techs to GM training for 6 weeks and pronounced them ready to service Caddies - well, needless to say, this didn't exactly inspire my confidence in the service department. And, you're right, the amount of Vogue/et. al. accessory junk slathered onto the cars turned me off (I've been possibly interested in the CTS to replace my Aurora).
A lot of sales reps at my employer in New Berlin purchase/lease/service their vehicles from the Caddy dealership in West Allis. Suggest you give them a try. There's also one in Brookfield (Capitol Dr.) and in Glendale (Port Washington Road) - not as convenient as locally, I know, but I've learned my lesson (I now look at service first, rather than just convenience/location, when buying a new car - then again, there's little to no negotiation on my new car purchases since I sell my old vehicles outright and get GMS pricing, which is pretty much cut-and-dried).
Hope this helps,
-Robert
I just got off the phone with Cadillac and they seemed very helpful. They will be calling me back tomorrow morning and letting me know how to proceed from here.
I had never had experience with a Russ Darrow Dealership before, so had no idea about thier reputation. I've been a loyal GM buyer though for the last 15 years...buying two Corvettes, two Astro vans and two Silverados. The Chevy dealers I've worked with have been excellent...mainly Brookside Chevrolet in Brookfield. I guess I expected Cadillac service to at least equal what I have received from my chevy dealer.
I did shop for my CTS at Metropolitan Cadillac , the West Allis Dealership you mentioned, as well as Crest, the one on Capitol drive in Brookfield. If only I had known what I know now, then. Thanks again.
Scott
I have lifetime alignment and balance. I had it aligned every 4000-5000 miles up to 14,000 (three times already) and began to notice excessive tire noise. All four tires were starting to feather a lot. Asked the tire dealer that did the alignment and balance if there was any reason for the abnormal wear. No, the car has never been out of alignment by much, just minor corrections. Took it back to the Cadillac dealer and they verified the CTS is aligned exactly to specification. They said they had seen a lot of CTS vehicles with that problem. They said the problem is that the CTS is aligned like the European cars, which exhibit the same tire wear problem. Cadillac would not do any thing for me and could not advise me on any corrective action to stop it from continuing to worsen. Tire pressure was right on at 32 psi.
I took it a Goodyear dealer as the tires were Eagle RS-A. Quoting "good will", they prorated the tires based on the remaining tread. These tires are not warranted for wear, so I thought I got a break there. Goodyear said it was not the fault of the tires, rather it is the factory front end specification that is at fault. I also believe this is the cause. I have about 3000 miles on the new tires and have not seen any wear yet, but I am going to realign it again in a week or so.
Anybody else have abnormal wear showing up early?
I'd suggest you leave things be, until and if you see a wear problem again.
The BFGoodrich's I have experience with wore much more evenly, though they had to be rebalanced every 10k miles or so.
$0.02.
Anyway, the CTS-V looked gorgeous. The real V-series grill looks quite similar to the Vogue knockoff except that the CTS-V's Cadillac logo is actually larger than the Vogue. The interior was very familar but the instrument gauge, and suede seat inserts instantly told me that I was in a different place. I was given the key to start the car and was greeted by a very different sound....the rumble of a big V-8. My 2003 CTS's 3.2L V6 all of a sudden seemed very inadequate.
The manager of the sales rep I was with allowed me to take it for a quick spin, which I couldn't pass up. Now for those of you who have read my previous posts, I am not a small guy. At nearly seven feet tall, I just squeeze into my CTS. It was this reason that my wife and I chose to get the automatic instead of the stick shift, which would have been her preference. So I don't normally drive stick shifts. As much fun as I was going to have, I was praying I wasn't going to do something stupid with the drivetrain of this car.
I slowly eased the car out of its space (without stalling it!) and headed for the street. There's a network of wide streets in a nearby office park which I decided to take. The first thing I noticed was that I'm a lousy shifter...but you knew that already. But the obvious asset of this car brings a big smail to your face. It really doesn't matter if you're in the wrong gear....this engine just rolls with it and provide all the torque you'd ever want. I didn't want to peel the tires of a car that wasn't out of its break-in period, but it's not really hard to do.
The other thing that stood out was the handling. My CTS 2003 LuxSport is no slouch in this department, and is a lot of fun to drive every day. But the CTS-V with the larger tires and firmer suspension felt like it was on rails. The extra weight in the front resulted in a little more understeer than I'm used to, but nothing out of the ordinary. But the overall nature of the car is still CTS..only better.
Of course, I then managed to stall the thing at the next stoplight....heh, nobody's perfect. I still don't think I could own one with a manual transmission (although the shifting wasn't as bad on my left leg's room as I thought). But I wouldn't kick out out of my garage by a wide margin. If you've got 50K lying around, you could do a lot worse than this car.
The same dealership also had an XLR on the showroom floor. Well, I can stop lusting after this car. Anyone who has a pants inseam of greater than 36" shouldn't even look at this vehicle. It's another one of those "impossible for me to drive" cars.
As some here know, I threw in big-time with the Lincoln LS concept four years or so ago. They've since dropped the ball, but it looks like Cadillac is actually doing what Lincoln thought they wanted to do, in terms of developing the original model.
I really enjoy my LS, but when I think of moving on to something with more power and a manual, I used to be stuck, unless I wanted to pay for a BMW.
Now we have real options. Looks like Audi is eliminating their manual, and the BMW's styling and electronic situation leave me cold.
It's interesting to see what happens when a real car guy runs a car company. I'm stuck with the wannabe with little or no money.
Oh boy.
In a couple of years (sooner, if the LS craps out) I'll probably be joining you.
Can you hear it outside of the car or just inside?
Also where does the sound seem to be loudest? Does it sound like it is resonating near the instrument cluster or elsewhere?
See if you can hear it with the car in neutral (brake on) or P and just run the rpms up to 2000 to 2400. Make sure that the radio and the climate controls are off when you try it.
Only got to do a small sampling of the high whir (I have a short commute), but here's what I observed:
- No whir when in park or neutral.
- The whir only seems to occur between 1700-1800rpm and 2000rpms (the "range") when I'm already at a steady 40-60mph cruise and just giving a little gas. If I let off the gas, the whir stops even though the rpms are still in the range, or if I'm giving medium or more gas there isn't any whir when passing through the range. If I maintain the light gas and stay within the range, the whir is constant, not intermittent. If whirring and I just slightly increase gas a fraction, the whir gets a little stronger/higher.
- The whir occurs regardless of whether climate control is on or off (so I don't think it's related to the A/C).
- I didn't observe the whir much above 2000-2100rpms, I think due to the fact that when I tried to creep paste that point the engine would apparently shift (the rpms would jump up to about 24-2500rpms).
- The sound doesn't sound like it's in the cabin with me, rather that I'm hearing something beyond the cabin in front of me from the engine area like other engine noises (I should have opened the window to see what I could hear, although I suspect the wind noise would make it impossible to conclude anything).
Since I can't get a whir when in park or neutral and that a little throttle is necessary to hear it, my guess is that it has to do with the specific gear (4th?) engaged (if I let completely of the gas, the whir goes away) when the CTS is cruising at highway speed. But I'm quite a novice when it comes to automotive mechanics, so I'm only wildly speculating. Is it something a simple oil change might help with? I go quite a long time between changes since I put so few miles on my CTS (I've had it over a year and it only has 5600 miles on it).
Thanks for giving my problem your time.
Make sure that the engine is hot when listeneing.
Also it could be a vacuum leak which you wouldn't hear under the hood.
Final guess that it is an harmonic sound in the exhaust pipe that you are hearing.
Check under the hood first.
Talked with my service manager yesterday about the rearend whine in my SRX.
He says most of them are doing it around 27-29 mph.
Mine starts at 29 mph and goes all the way up to 70 mph.
He has had another SRX in that is much louder than mine.
They could always install another gear set, but he wouldn't guarantee that it would solve it.
He wants me to wait until Cadillac comes up with a fix before he does anything.
Which I am okay with.
The upshot of this post is to let you guys know that Cadillac is well aware of the problem and as of yet does not have a fix, but he expects there will be one soon.
I was looking at a loaded leftover '03 luxsport a few weeks back, $41K sticker, less than 100 miles on it. Very hard bargaining had this going almost $10K off.
Didn't take it, but that's the deal I could've gotten.
My early 2003 CTS (build date March 4, 2002) is the original Sterling exterior with Dark Pewter (i.e. dark gray) monochrome interior. The two-tone interiors during the same period were Light Neutral on Dark Pewter. GM discontinued Sterling exterior and replaced with Light Platinum a couple of months after full production began. They also replaced the Dark Pewter interior leather with Ebony, which I personally find too black.
I ordered from the dealer's original allotment of 4 vehicles in early February 2002. On delivery, he told me that had I ordered in March, aside from a much longer production delay, I'd have to pick from the new colour options.
I also had a whine that I thought was coming from the differential. It would occur under very light throttle at constant speed only in the speed ranges from 20-40 mph. Under more throttle or no throttle, it would disappear. I first noticed it around 700 miles and it kept getting worse. I took it to my dealer and they test drove it and could not hear it. So I took them for ride and they sat in back and distinctly hear it. The dealer replaced the differential and it completely and immediately silenced it. I now have 15,000 miles on my car with no reoccurance. They said it was an improper lash setting in the differential gear set. See my post #3355 for discussion of the problem and #3864 for the solution. Your recent discussions would suggest you have the same problem. Have someone sit in the back seat and listen for the noise. Then visit you dealer with my posts in hand.
They did offer $1,500 as a "conquest rebate" since I was bringing in a non-GM as a trade but that was all they offered off the sticker price of $43K for the 1SC and UAV loaded model Then they tell me the interest rate is 5% and I now know that 3.9% is available for 60 mos. So my payment would be $720.00/mo. after a $10,000 down payment!! Needless to say, I am buying the car from a reputable dealer who has offered me $2,500 for my car and will shave $6,000 off the sticker price of the same optioned car. That will bring my monthly pmt. at or near $500.00/month with a somewhat lower down pmt. Just a word of caution. The car buying experience is always challenging and can be fun when you are well armed with the info found on this board. It can also be very costly if you step into the greedy, unprofessional arms of the Crest group.
Go to list of releases for 6-2-04 and you will find the one related to incentives.
The dealership at Sewell Cadillac was very professional. The car was waiting for me all clean and perfect. I plan of keeping it that way!
One question for those of you that opted for the spoiler. I was told that if not installed properly, it can cause wind noise and vibration. Have any of you experienced that? And to think, I was about to buy a Chrysler 300C. I'm betting the CTS was the better choice.
M
A CTS with the manual, sport suspension, 2.8 V6 and an ultralux interior could be a real drivers' bargain, especially for people who drive mainly in urban areas and do not often get to use the higher hp with the 3.6 (and do not want to risk parking a fully optioned Cadillac on city streets).
Synthetic leather in Ebony or Light Gray. Available on 1SA with 2.8L engine only (Available October, 2004)
New (B19) Wood Trim Package will offer Burl trim on shifter trim plate, center stack and door handles. Wood on steering wheel and shifter knob. Available on 1SA with (PDL) Luxury Package and 1SB with (PDL) option. (Available October, 2004)
from the "new for 2005" at this site -
http://eogld.ecomm.gm.com/NASApp/domestic/proddesc.jsp?year=2005&- amp;- amp;regionID=1&divisionID=5&type=0&vehicleID=736&- - section=modelhome&page=&butID=1#
Wind noise, vibration?
GM again turned me down. I gave the dealership fair warning I was turning this over to SC Dept. of Consumer Affairs. I did so. I also wrote GM's Customer Assistance Center and also asked the dealership to work something out with me. They said they were so sorry but could do nothing. I have no faith the car can be fixed and I don't want to trade it to an unsuspecting dealership. That is assuming I will one day get it back "fixed". Is there anything else I can do?
The lemon law applies only to 12,000 miles or 1 year whichever comes first. It did go in at 8135 miles for seat memory malfunction. Could this have been caused my moisture. I have been told it could so maybe I have the lemon law on my side.
Lindsey
I would get a Cadillac are rep to come down and look at it.
When the '03s first came out there was a problem with the rear door gaskets letting water into the rear footwell.
I have heard of other CTSs with windshield leaks.
Also there are SRX's (basically same vehicle) that have had a part that fits into the front wheelwell left out at the factory that will allow spray from the front tires to get inside the car.
If they can't get the leaks fixed I think you have a pretty strong case. You could at least go against the dealership.
I had a Camaro bought back 17 years ago by the dealership. They simply could not fix it. The factory was not involved.
I am surprised they have not tried to make you happier. Are you in a town that is big enough to go to another Cadillac dealer?