Major issues with my newly purchased '05 CTS 3.6

nscali · #1 (**permalink**) 10-15-08, 10:24 PM

I bought my '05 3.6L CTS on July 12th of this year. The dealership said they were unable to certify it and because I had bought an extended warranty on my last car that was a lot older and never used it I did not opt to buy one this time. The dealership did give me a 90-day 3000mi warranty though.

I really love this car, but about two weeks after I purchased it I started hearing an acceleration sensitive whine coming from the rear of the car. I thought nothing of it until it started getting worse. That is when I started searching the forums and came across the multiple posts of people having problems with their rear diffs.

I took it into my dealership and they changed out the diff fluid and added the additive that everyone gets on their first visit. (a pretty futile fix if you ask me. But I agreed and started to drive it only to find that the noise started right back up again. Meanwhile I have been calling cadillac customer service and the dealership to get this fixed. The service manager is still not returning my calls and everytime I go to the dealership he is not there.

Finally, I was driving my car to work the other day and the check engine light starts coming on, and it starts missing. I pulled over and checked the oil and sure enough there was absolutely NO oil in my car. Keep in mind that I had just purchased it two months ago, and they said they had serviced it right before I bought it and not to worry about the oil until the DIC showed that oil life was at 10%. Now I am wondering if they forgot to put oil in it when they serviced it, or if I have a manifold leak somewhere that is eating the oil up.

I am really just tired of this, and am wondering if anyone has suggestions as to where I go from here. From the time all of this started to now I have gone past my 3000mi warranty, and it seems like I am going around and around in circles with cadillac.

CTSV_510 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-15-08, 10:38 PM

How many miles on the car when you bought it? If this issue started and you had it back to the dealer before the 3000 mile warranty expired, they should continue to honor the warranty for this problem, since they did not fix it.

Their initial "fix" was a cheap way to possibly get rid of the whining so they didn't have to give you a new differential. Keep fighting.

The differential issue is very common. If you're can't get a new one for free and don't want to shell out $3k to get a new differential, the best thing to do it drain the GM fluid and put some quality fluid in it - I use Amsoil Severe Gear Oil 75w90 and it definitely lessened the whining noise.

ride_002000 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-15-08, 11:39 PM

I have that whine too and it annoys the hell out of me, I never knew what it was and never took it in because there was no loss of power or lights on. Maybe I should take it in before winter. And I had the same problem where I bought the car, they said they serviced it and the DIC said 75% oil life left. I took it in shortly after to walmart oil lube and they said there was no oil on the dip stick. I was pissed but it never had any lights on or loss of power or anything. I have been driving it since (pretty hard) and no issues. I have a 2 year bumper to bumper warranty with mine so if it blows Im getting a new motor.

**Rolex** · #4 (**permalink**) 10-16-08, 12:27 AM

Sorry to hear about your used car woes. As always it's caveat emptor when buying used. Maybe a red flag should have gone up when they refused to certify the car!?! It's always better to do research BEFORE hand, then to find out about common issues to a specific model after you buy.

I imagine you're kicking yourself that you didn't buy an extended warranty. That's going to turn out to be an expensive mistake. I have never owned a used vehicle without a warranty. I see them as an insurance policy, and you get a pro-rated refund when you sell the vehicle. It's a win-win IMO, when cost of repairs is so very high on vehicles.....especially luxury vehicles.

Best of luck to you my friend.

sterling · #5 (**permalink**) 10-16-08, 01:32 AM

Is the differential pretty much guaranteed to go out eventually?

concorso · #6 (**permalink**) 10-16-08, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sterling

Is the differential pretty much guaranteed to go out eventually?

There is 2 types of failure in the CTS differentials. One is a complete grenading...IE leaving parts of your car behind you on the road. The second would be whining or grinding or clunking in the rear end. The first seldomly happens, and Ive never heard of it happening on the CTS (non-V). The 2nd is happens occassionally, but I couldnt guess on percentages. My 03 had 2 failures (whining), but the 06 has been trouble free. So no, I wouldnt say the differential is gaurenteed to go out...