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3K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  Kael 
#1 ·
#2 · (Edited)
Having started my driving world with Triumph TR3A, I have an undying soft-spot for British automobiles and Top Gear is one of the few shows I ever watch on the TV as I loath TV. This is a great segment and leave it to the Brits to "tell like it is." The old guy is the bad cop (always) and the younger guy is the good cop, but I do have to say the younger guy has my taste in virtually everything, and is a truly passionate automobile enthusiast. My wife and I purchased our CTS as a third vehicle for those times when company is present, but we have come to both love it for what it is--a true enthusiast automobile. The CTS is the saving vehicle of the Cadillac lineup in our eyes--the rest of the lineup is fluff.
 
#3 · (Edited)
SoCadillac said:
Having started my driving world with Triumph TR3A, I have an undying soft-spot for British automobiles and Top Gear is one of the few shows I ever watch on the TV as I loath TV. My wife and I purchased our CTS as a third vehicle
Well, I learned to drive in farm fields piloting a 47 or 48 International pickup... First car of my own was a 49 Ford V8, 3-spd w/od. Had 56 Chevy into which I dumped the 57 FI engine, & a 57 with the 2-4 barrel 283 (talk about a car that was nearly impossible to get off line w/o bogging down!). Quite a bit later, when going to college, had a Triumph TR4, which I absolutely loved.

A bit over ten years later, when living in England, purchased a Lotus Elan & a Jag S-Type, both of which were great cars, but very labor intensive motoring indeed... But it was fun... Made the mistake of shipping the Jag back to Iowa where I was teaching at Iowa State - that car detested Iowa winters & would start on its own only when temp got up around 40/45 degrees - or, let's say around April:crying:

Even at that, I'd love to have any or all of the three Brits, with their collective foibles, today...

Our CTS is also our third vehicle, for different reasons... Fragility - now on 4th differential & babying until we get 'er sold...
 
#4 ·
wait4me6920 said:
Our CTS is also our third vehicle, for different reasons... Fragility - now on 4th differential & babying until we get 'er sold...
Are you selling due to the differential issue? I hope that differential is made into a NHTSA recall. A recall has no time limit or mileage to be adhered to, it simply must be corrected irrespective how many owners or miles the car has.

And I know what you mean about British cars as I went on to own several more--loved them all, no matter what went wrong with them. I am eyeing the new Lotus Europa S and hope it makes it to the States:

http://www.carpages.co.uk/lotus/lotus-europa-s-10-12-05.asp?switched=on&echo=982499704
 
#5 · (Edited)
SoCadillac said:
Are you selling due to the differential issue? I hope that differential is made into a NHTSA recall. A recall has no time limit or mileage to be adhered to, it simply must be corrected irrespective how many owners or miles the car has.
And I know what you mean about British cars as I went on to own several more--loved them all, no matter what went wrong with them. I am eyeing the new Lotus Europa S and hope it makes it to the States:
http://www.carpages.co.uk/lotus/lotus-europa-s-10-12-05.asp?switched=on&echo=982499704
Yes, because of the differential... We've only about 24K on this car & just don't trust it any longer... Others have had better luck, but there are quite a few that have had & continue to have problems with the diff... We managed to get 10yr/100K coverage on the differential, but I just don't feel comfortable with a car with, in my view, such serious issues. I did report the failures to safety authorities - trust others have/will as well...

We both enjoy driving it, although our new A6 seems to be a heck of a replacement... Have had several Audis, Beemers, & a Boxster in the past - we just liked the looks of the CTS & wanted to buy American... :)

I too have been checking out the new Lotus offerings - we lived in England in late 70s/early 80s & each year made a pilgrimage to Norwich to watch Colin Chapman's best on parade (& the F-1 cars ripping around the track) during open house weekends. We lived near Cambridge, so it was a relatively short drive...
 
#6 ·
wait4me6920 said:
Yes, because of the differential... We've only about 24K on this car & just don't trust it any longer... Others have had better luck, but there are quite a few that have had & continue to have problems with the diff... We managed to get 10yr/100K coverage on the differential, but I just don't feel comfortable with a car with, in my view, such serious issues. I did report the failures to safety authorities - trust others have/will as well...
We both enjoy driving it, although our new A6 seems to be a heck of a replacement... Have had several Audis, Beemers, & a Boxster in the past - we just liked the looks of the CTS & wanted to buy American... :)
I too have been checking out the new Lotus offerings - we lived in England in late 70s/early 80s & each year made an annual pilgrimage to Norwich to watch Colin Chapman's best during open house weekends. We lived near Cambridge, so it was a relatively short drive...
This just bugs me to no end as I fully understand what you are saying. We bought our CTS as we truly wanted to buy American, and so far we have been lucky, but then again its a 2004 with a little over 9K on it. If Cadillac is to survive, it needs to address customer needs as in the differential. I read the CTS-V board too and there some very unhappy campers over there, and again it just plain bugs me and I sympathize with their frustrations as well. If our CTS starts acting up my wife will never drive it again (ARE YOU READING THIS CADILLAC?), she will simply hand over her key and state she is done--the party will be over and the car will be sold. I cannot blame her as the more experienced you become in life you realize that life is too short for nagging issues, it is better to quickly move on.
 
#7 ·
I hate that guy. Sure the interior isnt the best, but what dash is not plastic?!?! My freinds sister has a 2003 BMW 325i and it has one of the most cheap looking interiors ive seen. They are hating on the car for the most stupid reasons. He bangs the side and says it sounds cheap??? ALL CARS SOUND LIKE THAT!!! ITS FREAKIN METAL FOR GOD'S SAKE. They seem to have a lot of hate for America. Last time I looked, Land Rover and Jaguar were rated as some of the lowest in reliability. Way to go Great Britian. :thepan:



And Im not sure what the differntial issue is with everyone. I have a very early 2003 with 45,000 miles with no issues, and Im a young guy, I drive my car pretty rough now and then.
 
#8 ·
Caddy Man said:
I hate that guy. Sure the interior isnt the best, but what dash is not plastic?!?! My freinds sister has a 2003 BMW 325i and it has one of the most cheap looking interiors ive seen. They are hating on the car for the most stupid reasons. He bangs the side and says it sounds cheap??? ALL CARS SOUND LIKE THAT!!! ITS FREAKIN METAL FOR GOD'S SAKE. They seem to have a lot of hate for America. Last time I looked, Land Rover and Jaguar were rated as some of the lowest in reliability. Way to go Great Britian. :thepan:



And Im not sure what the differntial issue is with everyone. I have a very early 2003 with 45,000 miles with no issues, and Im a young guy, I drive my car pretty rough now and then.
Actually, I think it's a pretty darned positive review - the Brits can be mighty tough to please when it comes to cars & these guys were impressed by the CTS. There aren't many, if any, other American cars they'd rate so highly.

You should hear them rant about their own products (okay, not many left & if GM & Ford don't get their act together, they'll soon be in same boat). Hate for America? The British have been our best friend for many, many years. Maybe you just have to live with 'em for awhile to have a full appreciation...

Congratulations on having a good differential - look around - many aren't so fortunate...:ill:
 
#11 ·
The guys in the show have a clear problem with American cars, probably hard feelings that LandRover and Jaguar are no longer with them..
Easy to complain and find bad things about a car when the intention is to be nagging, that is part of their show.
I don't think of Jeremy as a serious car critic especially when he has said that he's biased because ferrari is God made car and Porsche is the rich man VW.

Enough said..
In NorthAmerica we should have a TV show like that.

-Gaspar
 
#13 ·
I'm very fimilar with "Top Gear", and in a nutshell, that old dude bashes everything that isn't a Ferrari, or an 50k pound-sterling auto. Hey, the young guy put it into a corner and had some good things to say.....

I did like like comment by the old dude when he said Cadillacs are for "pimps" considering all the "pimped" Caddy's that some members own!
 
#15 ·
I thought it was funny. I didn't care for the old dude at the end and his unequivocal bashing but screw him - wait until we send the pimps over in a V to teach him a lesson.

My wife actually made the comment about the hood release last night - she has driven the car twice and twice popped the hood.
 
#16 ·
FSU_Noles said:
I thought it was funny. I didn't care for the old dude at the end and his unequivocal bashing but screw him - wait until we send the pimps over in a V to teach him a lesson.

My wife actually made the comment about the hood release last night - she has driven the car twice and twice popped the hood.
I don't get it, I drive an auto, so I don't use the parking brake that often, but I have NEVER popped the hood. The parking brake and hood release are close yes, but the hood release is farther down, reach, feel for the first one, move up and you have the parking brake.

Cadillac will never let this one down, there will be an brake handle in the console, or at the very least an Electronic Parking brake next time around lol
 
#17 ·
Really old vid, but Jeremy and Hammond are great, and they don't make arguments for nothing; they do have a point. Cadillac should be watching this cause the guys at Top Gear are right, and that's where we need to beat them, which is something I would like to see them do very much. I liked the vid they did when we sent over a V alot better.
 
#19 ·
I think overall it was rather very positive. It gave pluses where pluses were needed: cornering and handling of the car. Sure we all agree that the interior can be made better and that the brake and the hood levers are too close...but that's all they could really say negative about it.

The old guy was not serious... I mean, he simply made an ad hominem attack. I doubt anyone would take him seriously. The young guy gave it a shot, drove the car, tested it... his opinion carries way more weight and it was an overall positive opinion. He also seemed to wonder why the CTS is not sold in GB... which is a good question.
 
#21 ·
nbtesq said:
I think overall it was rather very positive. It gave pluses where pluses were needed: cornering and handling of the car. Sure we all agree that the interior can be made better and that the brake and the hood levers are too close...but that's all they could really say negative about it.

The old guy was not serious... I mean, he simply made an ad hominem attack. I doubt anyone would take him seriously. The young guy gave it a shot, drove the car, tested it... his opinion carries way more weight and it was an overall positive opinion. He also seemed to wonder why the CTS is not sold in GB... which is a good question.
Does it come with right hand drive? UK is left side of the road, if I recall?
 
#22 ·
actually it doesnt, they sighted that as an issue with the V as well (go to cadillac faq and to the videos section to find it) they also thought that havign the buttons in english was a bad idea since some of the world doesnt speak english.


watch the V video, the cts-v driven by old codger destroys their AWD V8 audi supercar being driven by a professional
 
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