CTS Owners Survey: Headlights cracking/peeling problems

[DDS rollin a CTS]

I dont have much time in my schedule to be fighting this fight right now, but due to the recent interest on the forum, I'll go ahead and do it. I want to find out how many of our cars are suffering from the problem of cracking and/or peeling of the clearcoat on the headlights. To those of you who have this problem, please post pictures if possible, along with the following information:

Where you live:
The year of your car:
The build date of your car:
- (can be found on a sticker on the drivers door)
The last 5 digits of your vin #:
Where, and how often you wash your car:

This sort of info may help to identify if this is a problem with a certain lot of headlights, or if its just some sort of other random occurance.

If you had this problem and your dealership approved the repair or replacement of your headlights under waranty, please provide us with the following info, again along with pictures if possible:

Where you live:
The name of your dealership where the repair/replacement was performed:
The name of the person who approved the repair or replacement:
A contact number where the above person can be reached:
Your name, the date of the repairs, and/or an invoice number from the repair ticket so the appropriate people can look up this repair ticket if necessary:

If any of you are uncomfortable with posting any of this information on the open forum, you can send it to me via pm or email (btwelch@iupui.edu). I will only share any important information with other forum members who can demonstrate proof that they have the same problems with their headlights and need the info to negotiate repairs with their dealerships.

The problem I've run into in trying to get the repair or replacement of my own headlights under waranty has come from the fact that my car is the only one anyone at my dealership has seen with this problem. I'm hoping if I can show them that it is not such an isolated issue, they will be more receptive to approving the work. Thank you to everyone who can help, this is the type of thing this forum is here for!

[DDS rollin a CTS]

Ok, I guess I'll start out by posting pics and info about my car. I first noticed the problem about 8 or 10 months ago, and have spent the last 6 months actively persuing repair or replacement under waranty. My service advisor agreed that this should fall under waranty, but the service department manager denied the service. He claimed he'd never seen this problem before and that it must be due to road debris, a car wash, or something I'd done (he actually accused me of washing my headlights with a brillo pad). I have tried to fight my way up the ladder but have also recieved refusals (according to the service dept manager, since he wont let me talk to any of these people directly) from the regional gm rep, as well as the regional "quality standards" or something or other manager. I also tried calling the gm "customer satisfaction" hotline seeking help with this issue but they were not able to make any headway. I have all of my service performed at this dealership, but purchased the car from a different cadillac dealership. When I bought my car, I purchased an extended "bumper to bumper" waranty through the dealership that should keep me covered through 100K miles.

Everything started with the cracking and peeling on the top surface of the lights as seen in pictures 1 and 3, as well as the large peeling sections in picture 4. More recently the front surface is beginning to show pitting and such, as can be seen in picture 2 especially, as well as 4.

Ok, here are the pics:









And heres my other info:

Where you live: Indianapolis, IN
The year of your car: 2003
The build date of your car: 12/03
- (can be found on a sticker on the drivers door)
The last 5 digits of your vin #: (I'll look tomorrow and update then)
Where, and how often you wash your car: Dirt Stripper "laser" car wash (no touch) about once a week

[B Hoth]

Thats the exact issue that I had, and I was told that they deal with that issue about 1 car a week(Not just CTS's). My dealer has been exceptional dealing with these kinds of issue's for me. My dealer is Massey Cadillac in Orlando, Fl. My service tech (Troy) has allways been there for me. The process to fix it came from an outside source. This guy apparently buffs them down to take off the peel and then adds a coating. They ask me not to wash it for a few day's and not wax it for a month. Good job and well done and under warranty. Happy so far with it.Have about 6 month's and 6K since the work was completed.

[kali_cts03]

I have the same problem... close photos 1 and 3 on mine from "DDS rollin a CTS" gallery of photos.....

SoCal
2003
4/03
64501
Try to at least every other week, maybe once a month (touchless wash)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Going to see my dealership in the next week or so and will ask my service rep. about this and if it's covered or not under warranty - will post results at that time....

[RobertCTS]

Damn Doc..your car looks like Sh!t man"

I would have went ballistic over that! I went out and inspected my '04 very closely. 2 1/2 years & 27,000 mile without a sign of any damage. You gotta get that resolved. Has a factory Rep seen it yet? Those pics really tell the story. I thought maybe you were being picky.

P.S. I use the Lazer Wash in the cold months.

[DDS rollin a CTS]

Originally Posted by RobertCTS

Damn Doc..your car looks like Sh!t man"

I would have went ballistic over that! I went out and inspected my '04 very closely. 2 1/2 years & 27,000 mile without a sign of any damage. You gotta get that resolved. Has a factory Rep seen it yet? Those pics really tell the story. I thought maybe you were being picky.

P.S. I use the Lazer Wash in the cold months.

Yeah Bob, I'm definately NOT happy about it but so far my dealership has refused to budge. I have asked the service dept manager NO LESS than 10 times to call me the next time the regional rep is in but so far he has ignored my pleas. I will be printing out this thread though and taking it in for him to see. If he still wont budge, I'll make an appointment with the general manager of the dealership to discuss exactly why he has lost my future business (not only service, but also the likely purchase of a CTS-V or similar vehicle in about 3.5 years, after I graduate).

[RobertCTS]

Originally Posted by DDS rollin a CTS

Yeah Bob, I'm definately NOT happy about it but so far my dealership has refused to budge. I have asked the service dept manager NO LESS than 10 times to call me the next time the regional rep is in but so far he has ignored my pleas. I will be printing out this thread though and taking it in for him to see. If he still wont budge, I'll make an appointment with the general manager of the dealership to discuss exactly why he has lost my future business (not only service, but also the likely purchase of a CTS-V or similar vehicle in about 3.5 years, after I graduate).

Have you attempted to contact Cadillac Customer Service? Have you received an evaluation form after your service? A poor rating by you really makes them look bad as this is a Factory reviewed rating system. They also get rewards for good marks. My Service guy begs me for good marks in all areas.

[Devil_concours]

yay!!! one problem that a lot of you have but i don't have on my car. w00t!!! this is first

[B Hoth]

DDS, mines an early 04, build date 06-03 (7-07 delivery), Last 5 digits 03407 and I only weekly hand wash. The dealer did not hesitate to fix the problem. Good Luck!

[DDS rollin a CTS]

*Update*

Ok, I dropped by the dealership today with about 30 pages of printouts from this and one other thread. As I walked in the door I could see the "aw shit, its you again" look in the service manager's eyes. He spoke for a few minutes with the other service dept manager, then they both took a look at my car. This other guy told me that he has weekly conference calls with the "regional brand-quality" rep and managers from all the other cadillac dealerships in the area where they discuss current waranty issues. According to him he's never seen or heard of this problem. Anyways, after talking with him for a while, and flipping through my printouts to point out the four other people so far who have had their headlights repaired or replaced for this exact problem, he went and got some "rubbing compound" to see if it would help. It didnt. He informed me he would call the regional rep tomorrow (well now today) to discuss the issue with him. I offered to leave a copy of my print-outs for reference durring that call, but he said he had internet access so they could always come on here and check for themselves.

Something that kind of irked me about the whole thing, as the one guy was using the "rubbing compound" on my headlights, I started talking to the other manager present and he said I might have better luck with the dealership where I bought the car. His reasoning was that since I bought the car from them, they already have more of my money, so they'd be more willing to go out on a limb and risk authorizing a repair that may be refused by Cadillac. I replied that while I purchased the car in Lafayette, I now attend school here in Indy and I'm never back in Lafayette during the week when the service department is open. I went on to say that while I hadnt bought the car from this dealership, I am their customer now. Therefore how they treat me in this sort of situation determines whether I remember "those guys were helpful and nice" and come to them when I'm ready to purchase my next car, or if I remember "those guys treated me like crap" and go somewhere else. Basically, now that I'm their customer, I dont accept being treated differently based on whether or not I purchased the car from them because I WILL be purchasing another car eventually and future business should be worth a whole lot more than past business.

I dont know if I should be mentioning this here since they might read it, but I've noticed recently that my brakes have started making a lot of noise. I was going to let it go until the car was due for the next oil change, but thats still a couple thousand miles off and the sounds seem to be getting worse. I didnt want to have to use the possibility of me needing major brake service as an incentive for them to help me out but maybe I will. I guess I'll drop by tomorrow to have my brakes checked out and see what they have to say about the headlights. Maybe I'll wander by the general managers office too and have a chat. If the car needs service but they still turn down the headlights I'll give them the ultimatum; fix my headlights, or lose my business altogether.

[kali_cts03]

Great leg work Doc!!!

This site provides very useful information and so far has been right on the money with what others experience and have problems with when it comes to my CTS....

I talked with my service rep. today about this and it didn't seem like he had a problem getting this added on to the list of my warranty to do things when I go in to get my cluster replaced within the next week or so!!!

I also took a closer look at my headlights and there is no way all that could be done with flying rocks.... maybe sun has something to do with it peeling like that??? I don't know, just throwing it out there.... I'll try to take a photo of my headlights tomorrow and post them here as well for reference!!!

[DDS rollin a CTS]

Originally Posted by kali_cts03

Great leg work Doc!!!

This site provides very useful information and so far has been right on the money with what others experience and have problems with when it comes to my CTS....

I talked with my service rep. today about this and it didn't seem like he had a problem getting this added on to the list of my warranty to do things when I go in to get my cluster replaced within the next week or so!!!

I also took a closer look at my headlights and there is no way all that could be done with flying rocks.... maybe sun has something to do with it peeling like that??? I don't know, just throwing it out there.... I'll try to take a photo of my headlights tomorrow and post them here as well for reference!!!

Kali - thanks for offering to post a pic of your headlights. Since there werent any other pictures up, my service manager was questioning whether or not other people were really talking about the same thing.

You mentioned getting your cluster replaced...is that the funky 03 cluster with the clock that doesnt keep time? If so are you just getting a new 03 cluster or a newer one with the temp instead of the clock? Is that covered under waranty or are you paying for the swap? Just curious because the instrument cluster swap is one of the things on my "to do" list.

[kali_cts03]

Originally Posted by DDS rollin a CTS

Kali - thanks for offering to post a pic of your headlights. Since there werent any other pictures up, my service manager was questioning whether or not other people were really talking about the same thing.

You mentioned getting your cluster replaced...is that the funky 03 cluster with the clock that doesnt keep time? If so are you just getting a new 03 cluster or a newer one with the temp instead of the clock? Is that covered under waranty or are you paying for the swap? Just curious because the instrument cluster swap is one of the things on my "to do" list.

I know the visuals are important for people to understand and belive that things are out there happening.... some of these SM's are very nerrow minded and should really be more into helping out the customer and not trying to act like they know it all.... just my 2cents on that!!!

Attached are the 2 pics of my headlights, as you will see it's pretty bad peeling on them both!!!

As to the cluster, I'm supposed to get an 05 cluster put on my 03 CTS for the damn clock thing is still wrong and the 03 cluster has been replaced I think 4 or 5 times now without any sucess!!! So from what I found out on this forum (I belive it was Caddy Man) some have done the swap with a newer cluster and works perfect and looks better as well..... As to warranty for it, yes it will be covered under warranty for they obviously can't fix it by replacing to the 03 Cluster!!! Definatly talk to your service rep. about this!!!

[DDS rollin a CTS]

Originally Posted by kali_cts03

I know the visuals are important for people to understand and belive that things are out there happening.... some of these SM's are very nerrow minded and should really be more into helping out the customer and not trying to act like they know it all.... just my 2cents on that!!!

Attached are the 2 pics of my headlights, as you will see it's pretty bad peeling on them both!!!

As to the cluster, I'm supposed to get an 05 cluster put on my 03 CTS for the damn clock thing is still wrong and the 03 cluster has been replaced I think 4 or 5 times now without any sucess!!! So from what I found out on this forum (I belive it was Caddy Man) some have done the swap with a newer cluster and works perfect and looks better as well..... As to warranty for it, yes it will be covered under warranty for they obviously can't fix it by replacing to the 03 Cluster!!! Definatly talk to your service rep. about this!!!

Wow Kali, your headlights look even worse than mine! I think I'll just concentrate on the headlight issue for now with my dealer and worry about the dash more later. I have actually brought it up before, but the guy said they never replace the dashes for this clock issue, they just remove the battery cables, touch them together, then hook the battery back up and the clock will reset.

[DDS rollin a CTS]

Thanks guys for all your input!!! I called the dealership today and talked to the "service director" that I met with on Tuesday. He said he'd spoken to the regional rep and that I was going to be the "guinea pig" for their first headlight refinishing. He said that he was given the instructions on how to refinish the headlights (which means that somebody knew about the problem) so I've set up an appointment to take my car in early next week. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Oh, since I've heard from different members here who've had thier headlights refinished with varying success, I'll definately check and make sure that they arent going to consider this "problem already solved" if mine start to crack and peel again.