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What should I know about a 09 CTS (from the perspective of a STS owner)

1K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  fps_dean 
#1 ·
I currently on a '05 STS. The mileage is approaching 100k, but the trade in value is now much higher than the amount I owe on the vehicle as well, which has me thinking I can either pay it off and then pay off the girlfriend's car and bank my payments and try to my one of our next 2 cars in cash, or I can trade my car in for a newer vehicle, and I think I found the perfect one.

A 2009 CTS, 3.6 DI AWD w/1SB with only 16k, certified. Asking price is $26k so with a small amount of negotiating, I should be able to get my monthly payment to match or be slightly lower than my current payment and have enough left to pay the sales tax due to the fact that my car's trade in value is higher than my pay off amount and I would also get a much better interest rate than I currently have.

I've never actually driven a CTS but I have sat in one before. I appreciate the extra room up front in the newer CTS's.

Has anybody traded in their 05+ STS for a 08+ CTS? What are your thoughts?

Anything else that I should know?

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Also can I expect a slight improvement in gas mileage? I do about 60-70% highway driving on average, so would say 23-26mpg be unreasonable? I've seen some people say they get 29, and EPA is lower but I know never to expect EPA.
 
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#2 ·
My thoughts are that you really should drive that car! :thumbsup:

As far as the certification goes, find out the exact date that expires. Its a 6 year warranty from the date the car was put in service so if it was delivered middle of '08, your warranty is only good for one more year. I believe its $1200 for the certification so if you dont want to pay that much for one more year of warranty, they can drop the certification and lower the asking price $1200. BUT it could have been delivered mid '09 which means you have two more years of warranty, that price isnt as bad in that case. Either way, you know this car has been thoroughly checked and is in great condition!

And, yeah, I wouldn't go by EPA numbers either.
 
#3 ·
I found a few CTS's I'd consider. Two are certified, and one has the hard drive and Nav and 18s but is slightly cheaper. The two certified CTS's both would give me about two years. One has 40k and one has 16k and they're asking less for the one with 16k (long island NY vs Albany, NY is the reason for that).

How's the reliability of the CTS? And repair costs?

Is 29-30mpg highway actually accurate for a AWD model? I do mostly highway driving these days, so I might see a significant mpg increase.
 
#4 ·
Reliability of 08-09 CTS. Let me be polite and call it problematic. A short search here will find plenty of horror stories. I'd never have one without a warranty, so don't know about repair costs. Try this one for short primer on common problems - http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...n/277804-what-can-you-say-about-cadillac.html

29-30 MPG? Not in anyone's wildest dreams. Again, lots of threads here in MPG, but my AWD 08 AT BEST saw 22 on the highway, and 16.5 in mixed traffic. Pages 4 and 14 here seem to have mileage threads to look at, particularly regarding AWD versions.
 
#5 ·
I've read several road tests that said the RWD can get 29-30 highway if you don't floor it too often. Not sure how far behind the AWD is....

Considering that, the RWD model is looking much better and I can just get snows

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I'd have a warranty for two years pretty much. I also know if I look for problems on any car, I'll find them so that's not telling me too much.
 
#6 ·
You will have a very boring time getting 25mpg with the AWD DI. I had to do 60MPH on mostly level terrain @950ft above sea level and 37psi hot with Mobile gas.

I drive normally at 75-85mph and get avg 22mpg 24 if I keep it at under 70.

These are hand calculated at same pump for the past month.
 
#8 ·
I'm currently fine with RWD and snows, which is what I have now. I could have easily survived the past two winters in summers rather easily, as we didn't get all too much snow and when I was driving the roads were clear. But I may be buying a house, and a lot of house in the area I live in are on some pretty steep and long hills, where AWD would be much preferred if that happens.

I'm generally a fairly lax driver on my normal commute -- 2 lane 55 mph highway with little room to pass the person going slower than the speed limit in front of me so I usually put it in cruise and keep my distance (I find getting there 4 cars length sooner and getting pissed off at the slow person in front of me fairly pointless). If I come home late and it's dark and the roads are empty, that's another story.
 
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