- #36 of 50
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Re: STS Quality, What quality? [BeamerMan]
by larryg6
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Jul 11, 2008 (9:38 am)
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Replying to: BeamerMan (Apr 09, 2007 5:50 am)
I took delivery of a 2008 STS-4 in late December; since then it has had a tire pressure monitor failure, two burned out front lights, a faulty cam monitor, the right cam failed and had to be replaced and they had to replace the fuel tank solenoid. My car has been in the dealer's service bay for a total of 16-days since I leased it. This is my 1ST ever Cadillac and my 1St GM product in 12-years and I am not happy. Dealer is great, STS is a lemon.
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- #37 of 50
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Re: Bad Experience [dlovitt]
by dlovitt
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Jul 11, 2008 (2:13 pm)
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Replying to: dlovitt (Apr 19, 2008 10:45 am)
After tearing the interior out of the car, the service dept. found a loose ground wire. No problem since then except for rattles; probably due to having to remove the interior.
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- #38 of 50
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Can anyone tell me
by m4d_cow
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Jul 12, 2008 (9:54 pm)
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How much routine maintenance usually cost? Is STS really a lemon? This is my 1st time considering a Cadillac. I've heard horror stories about cadillac that just turned me off. But I got my eyes on an '06 STS v6 that's offered for $25k certified (edmunds and kbb give about the same quote). I thought its a cadillac, but the price is seriously tempting. Is it worth it?
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- #39 of 50
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Re: Can anyone tell me [m4d_cow]
by locdoc
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Jul 26, 2008 (5:07 pm)
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Replying to: m4d_cow (Jul 12, 2008 9:54 pm)
Yes, the STS is a lemon, and GM is just not set up to sell luxury cars. Their dealerships remind me of fast food restaurants in terms of decor. Cadillacs are expensive, way too expensive considering the competition. I can tell you that I just traded my 13 month old 2007 STS V-8 with RWD for a 2008 BMW 335i sedan, and the difference in drivability, quality, features, etc is staggering. There is a reason that BMW has a high resale value and the only realistic way to buy a Cadillac is to buy one 1-2 years old. I also have a 2008 GMC Sierra 1500, and it is great! GM makes the world's best pick-ups, but their cars just don't measure up in the over $35000 range.
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- #40 of 50
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Re: Bad Experience [dlovitt]
by honest6
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Jul 26, 2008 (9:07 pm)
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Replying to: dlovitt (Apr 19, 2008 10:45 am)
I have a 2006 sts. The car has been problems since I purchased it. My car starts when it wants to and it stalls when turning corners. Once it just shut down with out me even turning off the ignition or putting it in park. But ever time I take it to the dealer ship, they can't find anything wrong. I have had the car for over two years and it only has twelve thousand miles, becuase it's not safe to drive. Have you ever had these problems??  
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- #41 of 50
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Re: Bad Experience [honest6]
by locdoc
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Jul 27, 2008 (11:04 am)
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Replying to: honest6 (Jul 26, 2008 9:07 pm)
No, the drivetrain performed very well. But I had 6 different problems, not counting the recall, that required servicing. I have never had this experience with BMW or Toyota. And when you take resale in to account, buying new American cars unfortunately does not make much sense.
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- #42 of 50
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Re: Possibly getting an SLS [leonhard]
by larryg6
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Mar 25, 2009 (6:52 am)
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Replying to: leonhard (Feb 27, 2008 10:49 am)
I have a 2oo8 STS that is a three lemon car: cam shaft failure on right bank at 13,000 miles, cam shaft sensor failure at same mileage, driver's seat lumbar failure, key FOB failure, antenna key FOb sensor failure, left front whell bearing failure at 28,000 miles. And on and on. I will never again buy or lease a GM product!
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- #43 of 50
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Re: Possibly getting an SLS [larryg6]
by kqqlv
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Apr 12, 2009 (6:25 am)
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Replying to: larryg6 (Mar 25, 2009 6:52 am)
As long as we have people who rely on outdated talking points and myths that are demonstratably false we will continue to have discussions like this where North American car quality is belittled as if it were still 1985. Anyone who REALLY is into performance cars that are in the class of M's, R's, AMG's and V's and has followed any number of quality and reliability metrics that are published would know that Cadillac is equal to or superior to Audi, BMW, and until recently was miles ahead of Mercedes (as was everyone), when it comes to reliability and quality. BMW and Merc rely heavily on buyer loyalty and the got-a-have-it prestige factor. Just check out the JD Powers run down on quality over the last few years. In 2008 BMW was well below the industry average as was Mercedes for MANY years prior. Mercedes for years suffered from VERY poor quality. They have clawed their way back recently. So why are we talking as if that is not the case? Being a mechanical engineer myself I can tell you that the reason Cadillac doesn't put $20K worth of leather in the interior of the V is because they don't want to. They want to undercut the price of those M's, R's and AMG's by $20K-$30K. The reason they only sell 5K V's a year is because that is all they want to build. In 2008 only 2.5K M5's were sold. Why?....that's all they built !! V's don't even get a chance to get to the sales floor before they are gobbled up. I own a 2005 V and when compared to the M5 it can more than hold its own in any performance catagory on any day and do it it for $35,000 less. The guy in the 2005 M5 I passed at Nelson Ledges Race Track in Ohio last summer spent $85K because he wanted lots of leather on the inside, the BMW tag on the outside and probably thought the quality was superior to my V....but he was wrong.....and JD powers said so. Please spare us all your stories about friends who owned a Caddy and had transmission trouble. Because I'm bored with repeating the story of my office buddy's 2006 M3 that has cost him thousand's of dollars in mechanic bills since his warranty ran out. Hint to future car buyers: It is NO LONGER considered fashionable, vogue or a sign of snobby Eurocentric sophistication to belittle North American car quality. As we used to say down in Texas....That dog don't hunt!
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- #44 of 50
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2009 STS V8
by jming
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Apr 13, 2009 (7:05 pm)
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I recently bought a 2009 STS V8 pre-certified in the north Texas area. This is my first GM product but is certainly not my first American car. As of today it has about 14,000 miles on the clock. Here is my experience so far:
Pros: Outstanding powertrain - powerful and quiet. Decent fuel economy for a car of this size and horsepower. Comfortable interior for tall drivers & passengers (I am 6'5"). Responsive steering. Strong brakes. Good quality materials used in interior, good finish overall (but see caveats below). Styling is a matter of opinion but I find it pleasing.
Cons: Many driver controls are too complex and confusing to use, particularly while driving. Examples: nav system, rainsense feature, multi function headlight / turn signal / cruise control stalk. Noticeable rattles in both driver and front passenger arm rest controls, as well as passenger side dashboard - absolutely unacceptable in any 2009 automobile, and certainly in one of this price category. These annoying rattles and creaks mar the otherwise decent assembly. Trunk is deceptively small given the massive look of this car's rear-end. Interior storage is almost nil other than small glovebox (swallowed by gigantic owner's manual / nav manual brick - which you will need) and undersized console. Dealer experience was un-impressive for a car at $57k MSRP.
Overall I am happy with the car but the interior assembly is hardly up to the standards of the imports. Again, I am no American-car hater but it is what it is.
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- #45 of 50
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Re: 2009 STS V8 [jming]
by bunkie21
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Apr 16, 2009 (5:56 pm)
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Replying to: jming (Apr 13, 2009 7:05 pm)
I recently bought a 2006 STS V8. As a used car, it's a screaming deal. It replaced an '03 CTS. The CTS was also bought used. I put 65K miles on the CTS without any problems.
The STS has no rattles and the Northstar is a real treat after the 3.2 in the CTS. We'll see about quality, but based upon my experience with the CTS I'm not that concerned.
I agree that the nav system has issues. The user interface isn't very good and more than once, it has led me on a wild goose chase. I happen to like the rainsense wipers and the intellibeam features. The car is much quieter than the CTS and for a large car, it handles nicely. I do miss the fold-down rear seats.
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