CTS back in Shop
 

I just thought I'd share my story. I figured it might help someone else who is trusting.

I bought my used CTS from a dealer. it's a 2004 3.2L with 5sp man. It had 89,000mi. I test drove the car and it was nice. I asked the sales rep to put it on the rack so I could see under it. He did. I noticed that the tail pin seal was leaking from the trans, I said fix it and you have a deal. They fixed it, 2 weeks later it was leaking again. Took the car back and said fix it please. They said they'd have to send it to Cadillac this time. Well they didn't send it to Cadillac they sent it to a Chevy dealer. Yes they did fix the trans with new shifter and tail seals but the removed the exhaust to do it. Now here's the strange part. Upon putting the exhaust back together, they must have stripped the bolts on the left side exhaust manifold. So instead of cutting the bolts drilling the flange and replacing the gasket, they took a torch to one bolt and melted through the flange enough to get a bolt through it, leaving the remainder of the old bolt flipped over on top of the flange. The other bolt the jammed a smaller nut onto it and must have drove it up with an air ratchet bending the flange on the exhaust manifold. They completely left out the gasket that goes between the manifold and the cat and used what was estimated as about 1/2 of a tube of muffler putty or liquid gasket maker. So now back in the summer I start getting all of these different emission codes and I start going to work on them one at a time, replacing sensors checking wiring and vacuum leaks ect. While doing all this I notice that the car seems to be getting louder and louder, well I don't have a garage and now it's cold outside and I'm not laying on the ground for a new muffler so I take it to a shop that my buddy owns, he's ASE certified and he's just an all around good mechanic IMO. So he get's it up in the air and he discovers that the flanges have been FUBARED and tells me he won't touch it because it'll cost me a lot....the price of a new manifold plus gaskets and labor. He said take it back to the dealer and make them fix it right....I'm like well it's been around 8 months since they worked on it...He said doesn't matter, " They did a butcher job on it now they have to fix it or take them to court. I drove straight from his garage to the dealer. I explained what my mechanic said about the exhaust. Gave them his paperwork on the job. They asked my what I wanted them to do?? I said fix it the way it's supposed to be. I bought the car with the understanding that the work would be performed at the Cadillac dealer and you sent it to Chevy. They hacked the car up now you fix it...Oh and I want a loaner car to drive while mines being fixed at no charge to me....They gave me a loaner, the car sat at the dealer through Thanksgiving until this past Tuesday and it's now supposedly at Cadillac getting worked on. The dealer has not argued any of the work Not being their responsibility so far. So they may just be someone I would consider doing business with again. It's not to often you find a dealer that stands behind what they sell these days.

@Kik, I’m sorry to read about your experience with the dealerships and your Cadillac CTS. It’s great to read they are taking care of everything for you with no questions asked. Please, let me know how things go when you get the CRS back. I’m curious to know if the dealership you bought it from was a General Motors dealer.

Michelle, Cadillac Customer Service

Hi Michelle, Actually I bought the car From a Kia dealership. They sent it to a Chevy dealer (former Cadillac Dealer) to have it fixed for the trans leak. I was informed yesterday that they contacted the dealer that did the work and (Naturally) they said they didn't do the damage.The Kia dealership had the car brought back to them. They ordered the parts from Cadillac and they are going to do the repairs themselves. This is one of the reason I always tried to stay away from GM products, NOT because the product is bad,,,It's a machine and machines break, but because of the attitude of the mechanics and the service members. They know they did something wrong but yet they deny it and basically say prove it. Maybe it's different in different parts of the country but here in my area independent mechanics get the majority of the repair business while most of the work done at the dealers are warranty. So now that I have dealt with both Chevy dealers in my area and I've been done wrong by both of them, I think I'll give the Kia dealer the first shot at a new car for the wife next year. So far they have gone above and beyond trying to make this right.

@Kik, I apologize on behalf of Cadillac for the experience you have gone through with the Chevrolet dealerships in your area. We, at General Motors, take you comments very seriously and rely on our customers. I understand you point of view, but I hope one day we can regain your trust.

Happy Holidays!

Michelle, Cadillac Customer Service

Michelle, I still would like to check out the new ATS. I might have to drive a little farther. The closest Cadillac dealer is about 20 miles from me, they've been shutting them down around here. The one thing that might stop me from buying another Cadillac though is if it's true that starting next year...ALL Cadillacs are going to be made in China. Is this true??

I have read an article on the gm.com site about this and I apologize for the confusion. From my understanding the plant that is going to be built in China is for making vehicles for that country so what vehicles they make are for the China citizens as this is for our General Motors of China group.

SAIC-GM-Wuling to Build Third Manufacturing Base in Chongqing

Otherwise, I haven’t heard or read anything about the Cadillac ATS being produced overseas and then brought back to the United States.

If you would like any assistance with test driving the ATS or other Cadillac vehicle please, let me know how I can assist.

Michelle, Cadillac Customer Service

Up date on my CTS repair. As stated before, GM dealer wouldn't take responsibility for the damage to the exhaust manifold. The Kia dealer brought the car back and said they were going to repair it. So what has happened is, the Kia dealer Had me wait another week, "They had to order parts". What they did was they replaced a bolt through the bent flange. They chased the stud on the flange that was stripped and they used 2 Catera exhaust flange gaskets instead of the metal crush gasket that's supposed to be there. The engine light was still on when I picked the car up, oh and the completely removed the support bracket for the catalytic converter and they tie wrapped the oxygen sensor wire harness up against the exhaust pipe. But I didn't find out about that until I took it to an independent ASE certified garage. I took it to the garage because I could hear it was still leaking near the engine. Before I drove off the dealer lot with the car I told them it was not fixed correctly and they said "We made a good faith effort and we're not doing anything more." Fast forward another week of sitting in the Car shop. The Owner of the shop was very nice, He took pictures for do***entation of the work the dealer had done, and what needed to be done correctly. He ordered through Cadillac and new LT side Exhaust manifold and gasket, A new flange gasket, he had to custom make a new SS cat bracket and tig weld it back onto the cat and he had to rewire the oxygen sensor and reattach it to where it was suppose to be mounted at. The car is Done, running well and no codes are being thrown. My out of pocket expenses on this were $782.00 parts and labor. Now I'll see if I can collect some of the money back through small claims. I really hope this thread helps someone in the future not get jammed like I did. Any comments are welcome, Pro or Con.
Thank you.