I'm not sure your dealer's personal are more of the problem, than is Cadillac.Your request for assist. to Cad.Cust.Assist. should have went to whomever is over service dept. the out of warranty "GOODWIIL" REPAIR is up to them. If his hands are tied he can contact AVM (factory guy) for his opinion. CCA can only request concideration, they can't tell dealer to do anything. Unfortunately some- NOT ALL - Service Managers, Advisors, and techs are driven by $$$ not what is right. BUT its easy to blame the manufacturer, not that there weren't many days wished the person who designed it had to fix it in the time they said it could be done in. As I stated I have many questions about the twin leaks.

 

This response from SLOWROLL has reminded me of a thread that should have been started here a while ago.
"good and bad repair shops" (including dearships). Zal/Patrick/.Katz? etc. make note. The suggestion by slowroll to the owner should be in writing (e-mail, etc.) Direct him to this site and see if he WOULD be interested in being the final post of this thread. I like to gamble on most anything (see Bill Coates), and I would bet a whole lot that this guys attorney would not let him make any such post.Having said that, if he read this thread he may change the course of action by HIS dealership more in your favor? Good luck.

G.A.R.Y.

 

slowroll (and G.A.R.Y.),
Your points are well taken - I will probably print this whole thread and hand it to the Service Manager - not my Service Advisor - (I'm supposed to get my car back today) and give him a couple of days to respond.

On the matter of the "twin leaks" - is that the first part of this thread - the oil/coolant system infiltration issue? From what I have been able to glean from various sources, this is similar to an issue the Cateras had a few years back. An oil line goes and the oil somehow gets into the coolant system resulting in contamination that requires flushing the cooling system 2-3 times and replacing all rubber products that might have come in contact with the oil that infiltrated...

FLCaddytech is familiar with the issue and resolution procedure (refer to the 8/10/07 posting on this thread). It was FLCaddytech's suggestion that the costs were a little high (but not entirely unreasonable) that directed me to Cadillac Customer Care rather than escalating through the dealer.

... Or are you suggesting that there is some odd relationship between the first part of the thread (oil/coolant system issue) and this new power steering leak/failed gear event?

By the way, slowroll, you mentioned "checking the sticker to determine what day the car was built" - what sticker and what information on that sticker is relevent? I can check this afternoon when (if?) I get my car back... Since you are curious to know, I am happy to check (I've heard the same "urban legend", but it is Fridays only and on Ducati motorcycles).

Thanks, all... the saga continues. I sincerely appreciate your interest, feedback and suggestions.

 

I havent got a clue how many CTS's are out there. Your number came up, the dealer .. well .. seems to be lacking in makign things right.

Based on the number and types of problems, the '08 CTS continues to be on my list of "the car to own".

I'm the last guy to back up foolish dealers and their biz methods, but dont sell out a whole line for the actions of a few.
Gary has also had serious issues with Chevrolet dealer, and I been there with Chrysler. I had an uncle that actually had custom plates: " GM JUNK " and for the next 6 months did not use the car expect to park it at the curve in front of the dealer and call the local clubs and newspapers to tell them his story .. dealer ended up buying the car back from him and then had it crushed.

You provide little info to see what can be done, what State you live in, whether you have checked into th LEMON laws, or a any of several various recourses. Additionally, some of the car models you did mention are made by GM and that coupon may well be valuable there also.

As anything in this world, the squeak wheel gets the attention - it shouldn't be that way? well, it is.
Make plenty of noise and who knows .. I have seen dealers give a customer another car just to make them go away.
a negative campaign can hurt a dealer much more than the cost of car that they can write off.

 

Stealth, Thanks - you make some good points. I did look into "lemon laws" and this CTS just does not quality (California).

So... all... Hopefully the book can be closed here. The service advisor promised me an 11am call. That did not happen. Called the dealer at about noon for a status. Since the service advisor seems somehow averse to calling me, I asked for the Service Manager. He was on the phone. I waited. Still on the phone.
"Voice mail?"
"No thank you. May I speak with the Service Manager's boss?"
"Um... That would be the Genertal Manager."
"Great - please connect me."
"Uh... One moment."

I shared the shorts story on not getting calls as promised. She said she would speak with the Service manager. Ten minutes later the service advisor called and left me a voice mail. I called the General Manager back and thanked her for getting the Service Advisor to call me.
"Did the Service Manager call you?"
"No."
"He's supposed to - when you come in to pick up you car, before you go to the cashier, could you please meet with the Service Manager?"
"Sure."
We had a nice long chat.
I just got my car back. I paid a portion; the dealer is "paying" a portion and GM is paying a portion (via the AVM - thanks for the acronym, slowroll).

I am cool with the dealer and I no longer have to deal with the service advisor who does not want to call me. He still works there - the Service Manager just told me to contact him when I'm coming in and he'll be happy to take care of it. Plus there are several others to deal with. Heck, I am even ok to talk to the service advisor who does not want to call me - I just need to remember that he does not like to call me.

The only thing left is for this car to be reliable for at least six or so months... I wonder if THAT will happen.

Thanks, everyone for sticking with me through this. I hope it helps you. I know you have helped me.

If there are any more updates to this, I'll be posting here.

 

[sm=icon_cheers.gif] happy to see this story may have happy ending.

 

Keep it rolling.

Let the Serv Mgr that we are following the saga here and crossing our fingers for a good ending, maybe not a great one, but at least a good one.

 

Well, the work commute today was just fine - a bit of a "burning oil" smell on the way, but not on the return home. I figure there was some power steering fluid left in a place where it was close enough to the engine block to get *that* hot. But since the smell was not there this evening, it's all burned off.

In case you want to know according to the work order:

TECH RACKED VEHICLE AND INSPECTED - FOUND POWER STEERING FLUID
LEAKING. TECH SPOT CLLEANED AND FOUND POWER STEERING RACK AND
PINION GEAR LEAKING AND RECOMMENDS REPLACING GEAR FLUSHING
SYSTEM AND REALIGNING WHEELS

As it was explained to me the whole front end was dropped to get this done - and the front and rear wheels were aligned. The rear wheel alignment surprised me - though I suspect it won't suprise you techs...

One day does not reliability make - so today is the first day of the rest of this car's life... and so far, so good.

I hope it is a long and uneventful one...

 

Good luck my man. There isn't too much that is more frustrating then dealing with the situation you were in. Hope it's all worked out now. Still wouldn't be a bad idea to show this thread to the GM of the dealership. Might even be to his benefit now, since your problem seems resolved.

G.A.R.Y.

 

G.A.R.Y.,

Since I handed the printout of this thread to the Service Manager (and the url is on all of the pages) and I suggested he consider setting up an account, I would *hope* he took it to the GM - as I told him he should do... But "hope" is not a good strategy. You are right - I will call the General Manager next week and follow up with her. Good idea.

Thank you.