JJS04

2009 Cadillac CTS V with Recaro seats, no NAV, no sunroof
Auto
Black
22,000 miles
One owner
No Carfax discrepancies in any way

According to the dealer (very high rated dealer on Dealerrater.com) the car was a Cadillac "test" car. It has the remainder of the bumper to bumper warranty but NO powertrain warranty from Cadillac. However, the dealership has already paid for the aftermarket 6yr/75,000 mile powertrain warranty which can be used at any worthy repair facility. This warranty covers everything.
I have not seen the car in person but from the pics it looks to be pristine. I personally do not have a negative "gut feeling" on the car.

What are your thoughts?

JJS04

It is offered at a very competitive price I might add.

Scratch

If price is good, go for it. To me, if spending big dollars, I would want it all optioned.

JJS04

The price is good on the car and what they are giving on my trade. As far as the options, I actually prefer no nav and no sunroof. I have nav on my cell and from what I've read on the forums a good number of the ultraview roofs leak. Although just like any other forum you always here more about the bad than good I did not care one way or the other.

IMXCITD

sounds great. I don't want nav or sunroof. Depending on price....sounds like a winner!

LDB

Hard to say what “test” car might mean, but it certainly implies aggressive use, especially when coupled with no GM powertrain warranty. One possibility --- I participated in one of several CTSV “driving events”, where they invited 100 or so people from a metro area and let them drive the cars on a nearby race track. They used 24 CTSV’s, which toured the metro areas from weekend to weekend. They let us do full throttle accelerations to the redline, max braking standing on the brakes from 100MPH using full antilock, slalom course, and a few laps on road course. As a “gee whiz” to how hard they were used, one of the Caddy engineers in attendance privately told me that tires on the cars normally had to be replaced after each event, and brake pads/rotors after 3 or 4 events. That doesn’t necessarily say “no” to you buying the car. That depends on price and aftermarket warranty. It’s simply one possible explanation for how a car could be pristine in appearance, but at least somewhat questionable mechanically. By the way, I agree with you on sunroof. I specifically ordered my coupe without it due to the combo of Texas sun, headroom for my 6’2”, and leaks. I don’t remember whether the cars I drove at the Caddy race track event had sunroof.

JJS04

If this car was one I could only imagine that it would be "loose" and completely ragged out. The Carfax shows the regular oil change intervals, two new tire replacements, and state inspections, so there really is no way to tell how it was used. Guess I'll find out Monday.

LDB

The thing that would trouble me is that if I understand correctly, GM cancelled the factory powertrain warranty. I can’t imagine why they would do that unless the car had some very severe powertrain service. If it were me, unless they gave me a very clear, concise, and believable reason why the factory powertrain warranty was cancelled, I’d want a whole lot off normal blue book value to make me think about taking that kind of chance. The service I suggested probably isn’t what happened to it. That was only 24 cars, and I don’t even know if they resold them. But something odd happened to get the factory warranty cancelled, and if they couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me what it was, an aftermarket warranty and a few thousand off wouldn’t make me go for it. I’d want truly big bucks off. Just my opinion. I’m not much of a gambler myself, so others may disagree.

JJS04

I spoke to the salesman again and he said that it was a Cadillac events car so it could have been one of those cars?? The more that I think about it the less I like it. They are asking $41,450 for it which is a great price but I guess that one does get what they pay for. I don't really want a car that was "the village bicycle."

KMK454

Cadillac events car? As in loan it to C&D, Motor Trend, Automobile, Top Gear USA, etc., for footage and testing?

Also, the car is missing a clutch pedal.

BluegrassMotorsport

I didn't even know they made CTS-V's without NAV. I know the sunroof delete is an option on the build sheet, but thought they all came with NAV.

I learned something today.

tjZ06

If the Cadillac events are anything like the GM test drive in motion I've done before run away. Basically they setup an AutoX course and people line up to run the car through it all day long. As you might expect they tend to drive it like it's not their car - aka abusive.

There's a reason they're asking way below what I've heard for any second gen CTS-V.

-TJ

690 HP V

Look at it like this. If you do have issues with it in 18-24 months and want to unload it, what will you tell the potential buyer re: the history of the car?

LDB

Just a quick look at Edmunds suggests a dealer retail of about $46000 for that car. $5000 off isn't pocket change, but if "events car" means it is like the ones I described earlier, it wouldn't be nearly enough off to make me consider it. And "Cadillac Driving Event" is what they called the thing I attended.

LDB

After posting the last reply, I remembered that I took a few pictures at the event. The coupes were thunder gray, but the sedans were indeed black. I could tell in the pictures that the coupes had sunroofs. I only had one sedan picture and could not tell, and do not remember whether the sedans had sunroofs. They both had Recaro seats, wood trim strips on the dash and doors, and the suede steering wheels and shifters. Whether they had nav was probably the last thing on my mind that day. Most were automatics, but there were a few 6-speeds which I asked to drive since that’s where my interests lie. I didn’t truly abuse the cars. A professional driver was always in the passenger seat. But I did push them much harder than I’ve ever pushed my own car. For example, except for that day, I’ve never stood on the brakes in full antilock mode from 100 mph. They specifically asked us to do that, I didn’t do it on my own as an experiment. It was an amazing experience, and probably took a few thousand miles off the tires right there. They didn’t lock, but you could smell the hot rubber and pads. I also took all shifts close to the red line, and after asking the accompanying pro driver whether I could, I even intentionally took it past red line once to see if the rev limiter really worked (it did) and how it felt. They didn’t by the way, let us turn off the stability control and anti wheel spin stuff, so nobody was doing burn outs or doughnuts. But bottom line, those cars got some hard use, and the little tidbits of info you’ve been given are making it sound more and more like the car they are trying to sell you may have been one of them.

JerriVette

I really enjoyed the CTS V coupe I also had driven at montecello raceway. If you need 4 or 5 seats but want Corvette performance...nothing better than the CTS V coupe or sedan adn the wagons pretty cool too.....

JerriVette

I didn't see where you mentioned the price..

if you don't mind sharing a few of the details of the excellent pricing you mentioned...that would be cool...

Not that I would trade my c6 in for one...because I really like the lift off roof capability of the vette...and the more sports car like driving experience...

I thought the Sunroofs are worthless in the CTS..(I also own an 08 CTS awd 300hp sedan) and I love. The sunroof is nonsense in the CTS though.. I didn't care for the screen in the sedan..and the coupe sunroof doesn't even open up..it just tilts which is a why bother in my opinion...I would not bother getting a sunroof with the CTS V if I were you...unless it was already on the car..but one way or the other...not a big deal killer either way...JMO

That said...the CTS V ROCKS and if you want 4 or 5 seats....nothing better than a CTS V in my opinion...(for under a 100 grand at least)

JJS04

After giving this some thought and after reading everyone's input here I'm going to pass on it. If it was one of the cars that LDB and others have described then it has had a rough life. Hundreds of people have had their turn at wringing it out.

LDB

I’m sure it was a tough call for you. I can attest to the fact that the CTSV is a great car to drive, and a low price on one would be a temptation. I hope I didn’t scare you away from a good deal. It’s always possible that the car would do perfectly ok even if it was a car in the program I described, with very hard prior use. They are well built cars. But on balance, the risk seemed unduly high. If they’d been talking 10 grand under market, the risk might have started to sound tempting. But at only 5 grand under market, I think you made the prudent choice.

JJS04

Yes, a tough call but I'm always saying that you get what you pay for. For a few grand more I can get one that GM still stands behind with their warranty. Like you said, there has to be a very good reason why they would no longer offer the warranty. And I'm not 100% set on having a V, I'm digging into the new Boss Mustang and am seriously considering one.

Thanks to all that contributed.