Sold My New Cts Back To The Dealer. Still Major Vibration Issue.

[RhiNoKiLL]

The vibration is not BS. I've asked several dealerships about that and they responded different ways like : Need to rebalance the car , Flat spots on tires, New car, Road feel, and alignment??

Anyways I was surpirsed how come they came up with such a long explanation when I simply asked "do you feel that vibrating?" during the test drive.

Im not here to bash on this car...I love it I want to get one.

[BryantCTS]

What did you go with? I was considering going back to a new CTS from an old 2003 I had. But Im not sure now...

[mkaresh]

I'm concerned for the OP. I personally would have given GM more time to sort the problem out and develop a fix for it. It's still very early in the production run.

Now that he has sold the car back, I don't see how GM would make things right even if they wanted to. They can't buy back a car that's already been sold.

[Cadillacboy]

RAB's point is true in a sense .I don't think GM is silly enough to release such a problematic car w/o resolving the vibs issue . I read some mags as well yet no any of them mention this

[imrf]

Originally Posted by Cadillacboy

I read some mags as well yet no any of them mention this

Just playing Devil's advocate here, could GM supply those publications with a car that they knew didn't have any kind of vibration intentionally? They know everything is on the line with all these new cars that are leaps and bounds better than the previous generation. They can't afford a bad review of them.

[onomrb]

For those of you who responded to my post. Here are a few answers to some of your questions.

I had a 2008 CTS F2 Rear Wheel Drive Vehicle that was fully loaded.

Under the Lemon Law it would be very difficult to try to return a vehicle with a vibration issue. Most of the time the problem would have to be something that could affect the safety of the vehicle. I don't think the steering vibration would have fallen under that catergory.

I easily could have brought the car back every week to the dealership and left the car in the service department complaining about the same issue. I already had the wheels checked and balanced 3 times. I had the tires all checked and the rims. I am more sensitive then the average person when it comes to vibrations, yet I do know what's normal and what's not normal. This vibration was not normal. I am fully aware as to what road feel is as well. I do own a BMW and I experience some road feel in that vehicle ,but my steering wheel does not vibrate or shake at all. There was no way I was going to keep harping on this issue and be aggrevated. I have owned a lot of cars and I understand what is considered normal. Some of you might not be as sencitized as I am to this. I have spoken to several people regarding this issue. It's a possibility that this type of vibration is normal in the vehicle. I don't agree with that consensus and that's why I was not going to keep the car. If I didn't have a vibration in the vehicle, I would have kept the car. I really do like the new CTS. It's the first American car that really called to me. It has great lines, a beautiful interior and really had the potential to stir up the competition. It's unfortunate for me that my car vibrated. I do hope they find a fix for those of you experiencing the same thing I did.

As far as having a dealership unwind a vehicle. If the dealership really want's to they can unwind the car and cancel all paperwork to the DMW. The vehicle would be considered used but, I would then get all my money back on the car. It's really up to the discretion of the dealership. Unfortunately, in my case the dealership didn't want to do that nor did they really care what the outcome would have been. This is why I got so angry as well. General Motors should take a lesson from Lexus, Mercedes, Infiniti and BMW. They would handle an issue immediately. I am not hear trying to bash the new CTS. I'm only telling you about my experience and how I feel about this whole dillema. It did not turn out in a nice way.

[imrf]

Originally Posted by onomrb

General Motors should take a lesson from Lexus, Mercedes, Infiniti and BMW. They would handle an issue immediately.

While I do feel your pain, I completely disagree with this statement. I know quite a few people who have had no such luck with Lexus, MB or BMW. None of them had any issues handled immediately, they were ignored and lied to each time the car was in the shop for service. It took lawyer contact to BMW and Lexus to get a couple vehicles fixes. I don't know anyone who owns an Infiniti so I can't comment on them. None of the vehicle manufacturers are saints, they all have issues.

It's a shame that your dealership did not have the area rep contact you for a better resolution. That dealership should be put into the hall of shame. Would you care to share the name of them so that any potential buyers here could avoid them?

[PAO]

Originally Posted by imrf

While I do agree with you on this, GM should be proactive about the issues with this then. It doesn't take much for someone at GM to make an account here, get in contact with the site owner/admin to get that person access to private messaging, and that GM person contact the people with problems, if the dealers can't fix it.

Here is the problem that I have found out with my car. The dealers hands are tied. When a car has a problem that they don't know about they call up GM TAC(TAG), it's a technical support group. They play phone tag with the dealer, and give them limited info on how to fix things. In my experience they passed everything off as normal operating procedure, instead of passing the issues on to the next level. One thing I hope is that this process has now or will be be revamped because of the person at GM who I e-mailed probably didn't like how this was handled.

If after that weak attempt of getting info from TAC they are unable to resolve the issue, the dealership calls up the area Cadillac rep, who will then choose to look into the issue further or not. In the case of the new CTS and this early in the production, there should be no reason why a rep shouldn't call a customer to see what's going on and try and help getting it resolved. The area did help me in the end, although at first he just wanted to get me out of a Cadillac, and then wasn't helpful at all at getting an exact replacement car. So they still have some room for improvement there, IMO.

Then after that, contact the BBB. I actually got a letter from Cadillac because I called and lodged a complaint about my car and the poor service I was getting from GM, and they actually sent me a letter telling me to file a complaint with the BBB and go through arbitration.

But I will say this, this is a ton of work that should have to be done by the consumer for a vehicle of this magnitude for a company in GM's situation. At the first hint of problem with early production CTS', GM should be sending engineers, techs, whatever, all over the place to see what's going on. And not letting it get to the point of people having to come to the internet to voice problems before they start to look into them.

did GM ever do this with the leaking differential issue in the early CTS/CTS-V...they have the same issue with the brand new release of the much hyped 06 Pontiac Solstice roadster....same diff from GETRAG and same leaking problems...the 06 MY has a tendency to have a leaky pinion seal.....yes we own one and yes we had the problem....but GM wasnt knocking our door down to help us......and yes...it got splashed all over the solsticeforum...much like the vibration issue here....but our dealership handled the issue professionally and quickly...

as far as the gentlemans dealership here...I fault the dealership and not GM here personally......I had a issue with another vehicle back in 04 the dealership could never get the check engine light to go out....it was on when I test drove the vehicle and came on about every 50 miles...the dealership could never find the problem, nor the regional tech rep.....was it a safety issue...probably not....but I finally had to go to the owner of the dealership and explain the issue, document my calls, document my service department trips, document all the above with the national customer service number and begin a BBB complaint.....but the owner told me he would make it right and he did by putting me in another vehicle with more options than I had on my original one...no questions asked.......this took about month, but I dealt with the dealership professionally and unemotionally, though I was very frustrated with the whole episode.....I personally believe a different outcome could have been had here instead of selling the car back to the dealership...and I do beleive that a lemon law could have been applied.....a steering wheel should not shake/vibrate at highway speed...not knowing the state this vehicle was located in......its difficult to attest to the specific lemon laws....

[imrf]

Originally Posted by PAO

did GM ever do this with the leaking differential issue in the early CTS/CTS-V...they have the same issue with the brand new release of the much hyped 06 Pontiac Solstice roadster....same diff from GETRAG and same leaking problems...the 06 MY has a tendency to have a leaky pinion seal.....yes we own one and yes we had the problem....but GM wasnt knocking our door down to help us......and yes...it got splashed all over the solsticeforum...much like the vibration issue here....but our dealership handled the issue professionally and quickly...

Neither of those vehicles were turn-around vehicles for GM. The CTS' back then were just re-hashed from the prior year, nothing as big as the new CTS is, that is my point. The seal leak, was known by GM therefore the dealers were able to fix it. The current issues with the CTS were not known at the time that they started happening and GM turned a blind eye on the whole situation. And because of that the dealers couldn't fix anything since they didn't get any info about the issue. Dealerships do not work on cars without knowing for a fact that GM will pay them, which is another reason why your seal leak was fixed.

You're comparing apple to oranges here.

[TheRooster]

I guess my dealer is a little smarter than some or has found the problem. Of the 4 cars I test drove, one had a vibration. They took it back and added 6 oz of wheel weight to the left front. I drove it again and smooth as glass. Masking the issue? No, not if the wheel showed out-of-balance. I think GM is having an issue BALANCING THE WHEELS FROM THE FACTORY. I seriously doubt there is an issue with any drive train components. I submit that there is a vendor problem with wheels or wheel balancing. Maybe to help get to the bottom of this, start a poll. Those that have had the issue please specify the model, suspension, wheel type and tire type.

[urbanski]

Originally Posted by Dubbed Stealth

What do you do for a living?

You make the return sound so easy, its not like going to Nordstrom and returning a pair of jeans. Lexus, Mercedes, Infiniti and BMW dealers wouldn't have unwound the deal and just givin you your money back! Your issue is with the manufacturer and I know for a fact any of the above manufacturers simply wouldnt say "Ok, MR. Onomrb heres your money back have a nice day". Ask any of the initial BMW X5.7-Series owners that bought the first one! The X5 was the highest recalled vehicle in automotive history. Your obviously not very business savvy to think that, and to also not retail your car on your own to get maximum return. Especially considering how "hot" this car is in the market place.

right on DS.
i really wonder if the OP "sold back" the car for a nice 10K hit....hell, i wish he would have given me the 10K. If he lemoned it, he should say so. Selling back implies he took a wash PT Barnum style

[NotVeryNice]

Originally Posted by imrf

You can't say shifter. The shifter vibrates as per the design, that is completely normal.

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That may be, but it vibrates much MORE between 60 and 75 than it does any other time.

[NotVeryNice]

Originally Posted by Hildy

hmmm...I'm going to pick the car up on Wednesday..so I should definitely take it out for a long spin before, right? I know me, and a shaking will drive me crazy. I asked my salesguy to test it on the freeway, and, of course, he says everything is great. I wonder if this is something that has been corrected in the new builds. OY. Notverynice: How long have you had your car??

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I bought it on October 3. Somebody mentioned something about pre-October builds. Mine probably falls into that bucket.

[NotVeryNice]

Originally Posted by NorCalCTS

I've been following the vibration threads for a while now. FWIW, I've driven mine at all the speeds listed and the steering wheel, shifter, etc are all rock solid. I own a DI, auto with the FE3 package. Having said this, I think it's all a matter of perspective. There absolutely WILL be a few lemons out there, but the large majority of cars will be fine. What we're all reading is one or two threads in a couple of forums for Cadillac enthusiasts buried somewhere out in the Internet. These are the places where this kind of stuff shows up because the people who frequent these sites are passionate - one way or the other. I used to follow the audi forums and you should hear them complain. The turbos on the B5 S4 were a constant source of grief. When they worked, as they did for the large majority of owners, they were great. But for the few in which they failed, the complaints on the forums were deafening. We're all free to exercise our first amendment right. Please do! Having said this, please refrain from the sensational thead titles. I get enough sensationalism from CNN, FoxNews and the like. IMO, the 3.6 DI engine does not have a SERIOUS design flaw just like the bi-turbo audi engine did not have a serious design flaw due to a few turbo failures. I have donned my flame-proof suit, so have at it. Note - I am in no way peaved, ticked, angry, etc. I just want some level-headed feedback, good or bad, about the CTS.

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Here's my level-headed feedback. I have the vibration issue, and I'm convinced that I'm among the few with the issue. So far, I'm also confident my dealer will work it out or perhaps even swap it out.

Even with the vibration, I LOVE this car. It was not on my list of cars to even drive. I just stopped in to get the payout on my H2 after having driven 2 Infiniti and 4 Lexus models. BMW was next, but they have a bad service reputation in my town. We were going to get the Lexus GS350. I drove the CTS because we were waiting around anyway, and I made up my mind after the one drive.

This car feels right to me in every way (in several ways the Lexus didn't). My wife really wanted the Lexus (she's loyal to them), but gave in when she saw how enthused I was about this one.

I could drone on, but suffice it to say that, if they can't fix this vibration issue, I will still LOVE this car.

[Cadillacboy]

Originally Posted by imrf

Just playing Devil's advocate here, could GM supply those publications with a car that they knew didn't have any kind of vibration intentionally? They know everything is on the line with all these new cars that are leaps and bounds better than the previous generation. They can't afford a bad review of them.

The very thought of this scary for me ...Well, let's say you're right then this should defeat the main purpose of the review as well.