Well when I bought my 05 STS premium luxury Nav,ACC,NAV,V8,HUD from the original owner with 16 000 mile on it 2 years ago for $30000 and he bought it new for he claims $60000 I thought it would be worth spending the money on keeping it fine tuned. At my first oil change at the dealer at 22k for $100 he told me my rear tires had only 3/32 tread left and I needed brakes brakes $450, tires $500, left there with a washed car and $1000 in the hole. 5000 miles later another oil change and front tires needed to be replaced because wheels out of alignment and worn out "toed in badly" $100 oil change, front tires replaced and alignment done, out of there with a washed car and $1000 in the whole. Few oil changes later around 40000 mile mark brakes screaking went to dealer he said brakes need to be replaced etc and oil change out the door washed car and another $1000 in the whole. Well now at 44000 mile one front tire has "toed in" again its needs a alignment and another new front tire! "WHAT THE" is anyone else spending these high bucks to maintain these finally tined machines.

I was looking forward to having the proper maintenance done such as dealer recommends fuel injector cleaning, trans fluid changed etc. but for the money I have been putting into it already those were skipped. Any recommendations before 50 000 miles warranty expires. Needless to say warranty has paid for anything yet

Find another dealer, do your own oil changes or find a trusted quickly lube place. I had a front end alignment at my favorite tire place, they did not charge me but gave me a print out saying I was out of alignment and needed to go to the dealer. The dealer told me the car was fine, no alignment needed. ( No print out. ) 15K later, tires are still fine and have normal wear. So, for the past 19K/7 months. Dealer only got 100 bucks for a front end alignment that was not needed. I have done all the oil changes, diff fluid, atf fluid changes, brake pads and rotors, power steering, air filter and still have spent less than 500 and about 9 hours of what I call "quality time" with my car.

Either your exagerating the prices or the dealer is taking advantage of you. I would definaly find another dealer because there prices are very high? Also, Dont these card have Mobile1? If so you need to get an oil change when the car tells you to get one and not every 5000 miles.

Rule of thumb: if it's not warranty work avoid dealers and find a good garage/mechanic.

Brakes are easy, do it yourself. Spinning wrenches builds character, increases your car knowledge, and gives you something to brag to your woman about.

Yeah I have to say, your prices seem a little high. I did take mine to the dealer for the "first" oil change and it did run $90 I think, from then on, I made the decision to do it myself. Brake pads are not that difficult to change either but if you are not comfortable with it then you'll need to go to the dealer or find another sorce that you can trust. (I do believe it is one of the more "over priced" services out there unless you get into caliper replacement etc..) As far as tires go, never would have bought them from the dealer... $500 for two tires? and I'm assumeing they were oem replacements? you could get better aftermarket tires through tire discounters or NTB for half that price. I suggest doing some more homework before your next trip to the dealer or "stealership" from the sounds of it... But unfortunately these cars are known for poor tire wear and fast wearing brake pads from what I've learned here (20k seems to be the norm). There are better replacement parts out there that will last longer than what the dealer is going to use though..

I pay about $60 for an oil change using mobil 1. I would never buy tires from the dealer unless they gave you a killer deal. Best bet is Discount tire, or tire rack.com. Good luck. Oh and if you want the fuel cleaning done... go to the parts counter and ask for Valvoline fuel injection cleaner. Its what they use, it costs $6.00 and does a great job.

Those prices are crazy but not out of line for a dealer. A month ago I hit a pothole (chronic in Chi-Town this year) and blew a tire and completely bent the wheel beyond repair. The dealer charged 1000+ for new tire and wheel. I could have done much better, but the insurance company authorized the dealer so what the heck. If it wasn't a lease I would have spent the money and replaced wheels and tires on all 4. They wanted 120 for an oil change, that was not happening. Find a garage you trust and take the non-warranty business there.

Those prices are crazy but not out of line for a dealer. A month ago I hit a pothole (chronic in Chi-Town this year) and blew a tire and completely bent the wheel beyond repair. The dealer charged 1000+ for new tire and wheel. I could have done much better, but the insurance company authorized the dealer so what the heck. If it wasn't a lease I would have spent the money and replaced wheels and tires on all 4. They wanted 120 for an oil change, that was not happening. Find a garage you trust and take the non-warranty business there.

I'm not feeling so alone anymore.
I hit a pothole a month ago, cracked both rims on the drivers side...$1600 replaced by the dealer, including the $100 alignment. gmpartsdirect had the rims for $478, but I couldn't wait on the delivery.
and yeah, oil changes are the local garage, with the Mobil1 - $49 compared to the $115 at the dealer.

Those prices are ok for a dealer, might even be cheaper than our prices. STS's and SRX's are kinda hard on brakes and tires. We do a lot of them here,once the get over 15,000 miles. OEM tires with the TCP number spcified for that vehicle are about $225-$250 retail installed. Some of the things that are priced crazy in a dealership are brakes,batteries and alignments. If an alignment is done right it should be over $150. But if only the toe is set f/r it is only worth $50.

Those prices are ok for a dealer,... If an alignment is done right it should be over $150. But if only the toe is set f/r it is only worth $50.

I was kinda suprised about the alignment price, since it's an AWD I had assumed a 4 wheel alignment was needed, as I would on my previous off-road vehicles.
Those usually ran me around $200-$250, but I certainly wasn't about to complain they weren't charging me enough :)

my dealer prices are just the same, when they changed all my brakes and semi annual maintence it came to 2300CAD. i have spent $4500+ on service related things in the last 11 months.. i think starting from wednesday i am no longer gonna take my car to the dealer for any servicing anymore... they are way to expensive, one good thing with my dealer is allingments are always free, so i get an allignment every 3 months, since my car is there every 3 months for warranty issues. i think from now on, my car is going to Canadian tire for servicing.

STS's and SRX's are kinda hard on brakes and tires. We do a lot of them here,once the get over 15,000 miles.


That is crazy.... brakes only lasting 15,000 to 20,000 miles on a top of the line CADILLAC.

Mine now has 30,000 on it and the brakes are fine... so far. :) I looked at the pads the last time the tires were rotated (about a month ago) and they still looked to have well over half of the pad thickness left.

My last Cadillac went about 100,000 between brake jobs. I sold it at over 250,000 miles and brakes had only been done twice.

Texas Jim

my car had less than 15K miles on it when I bought it, and the rotors were unusually worn. they replaced all 4 rotors & pads on it as a condition of sale and they said it might have been a $1000 brake job otherwise...

I like working on cars myself and only go to the dealer if I really need to, so I invested in the factory service manual.

I am getting less than 20k miles on the front break pads and less than 40k miles for the back break pads on my 2005 STS4 1SG. My dealer quotes for front and back would have totaled about $1000 so I just do it myself. Both pads and rotors are easy to change and the car stops very well so I can't complain.

If your brakes are not lasting long, 2 things need to be done. 1. ) Check out a different type of pad. 2. ) Change your driving style. I see so many folks charge to a stop sign or red light then hammer the brakes. How bout maybe coast to the stop sign.

I press the brakes 3 times. 2 to slow down and the last time to stop. Then I roll forward a few inches so I do not have a hot spot under the pads. I see so many people going from gas to brake gas brake gas brake. While I am behind them feathering the gas and trying not to use the brake. Know what I mean ? I think it is just attention to detail when driving. Smooooth strokes... Paint it ! Don't tickle it !

That is crazy.... brakes only lasting 15,000 to 20,000 miles on a top of the line CADILLAC.

Mine now has 30,000 on it and the brakes are fine... so far. :) I looked at the pads the last time the tires were rotated (about a month ago) and they still looked to have well over half of the pad thickness left.

My last Cadillac went about 100,000 between brake jobs. I sold it at over 250,000 miles and brakes had only been done twice.

Texas Jim
I did my brakes at 16,000 miles and it's a V.

Big heavy cars can be hard on brakes. My old BMW 750 ate a set of front rotors every 15,000 miles for the 85,000 miles I had it. My wife and I don't drive our V like Willy and his wife do, so I'm hoping for at least twice that on those big, pricey brembos.

Incidentally, my thougts on the original post is that his dealer likely is being a little too aggressive with the "recommended" work, but the bottom line with cars is that you either learn enough about 'em to be comfortable with your own work, or you take your chances depending on somebody else.

I can't believe weight has anything to do with it. I traded my Yukon with 130,000 miles for the STS and it still had the original brakes and rotors. I bought a set of pads, but they never wore out. I know a Yukon weighs a lot more than a STS. The Michelin LTX tires would last about 80,000 miles compared to 20,000 to 30,000 miles for the Michelin's on the STS. I think it has to do more with performance. High performance brakes and tires do not last long. Since I don't push my STS to it's limits I think I can stand a little less performance for longer life from these components. With 25,000 miles coming up on the odometer that is what I am looking for now. I know the pads on the Yukon were ceramic so that may have something to do with their long life. I am still trying to figure out what tires to buy. The treadwear rating on the tire should have some bearing on their life.

I can't believe weight has anything to do with it. \ I think it has to do more with performance. High performance brakes and tires do not last long. Since I don't push my STS to it's limits I think I can stand a little less performance for longer life from these components.

That is what I was thinking. I drive 70 miles a day to and from work 35 miles one way 25 miles of a which is a straight highway stretch that I cruise at 95 miles an hour. That is the only "performance" driving I do. No fast accelerating, no hard cornering, below the speed limit in the city. I thought these cars were built for cruising and that's what I do, that's why I bought this baby, so now I find out it can't be driven fast and pushed a little without wearing itself out. If I would have known this before I would have bought a Toyota, drive in the slow lane and visit the gas station every two weeks.

All I all I have been satisfied with the prices and service from my dealer. You want an expensive service experience try Lexus or Accura ownership. :(

... My wife and I don't drive our V like Willy and his wife do, so I'm hoping for at least twice that on those big, pricey brembos.
I was waiting for that from someone...:histeric:

A couple comments regarding some of the posts I have read in this thread:

-I'm about to change my front and rear brakes for the first time at 87k on an '02 STS, so I've definitely had my use out of them...if the rotors are ok, should I leave 'em alone or replace them with the brakes at this mileage?

-As far as going to the dealer, I don't unless it's absolutely necessary. Mine charges me practically just for pulling into their service garage! Call around to small local shops, they usually always give free estimates and then you can go from there. Dealer wanted $700 for front and rear brake job, local shop $550, screw that! I paid Napa $88 for front and rear mid-grade brakes and will gladly do it myself.

-Is it safe to add fuel injector cleaner? The owner's manual says to never add anything, but isn't this necessary? How often?

-I've read a lot about WOT on this forum, and I remember in the technical archive reading to do it in 2nd gear...I assume you have to start in 2nd gear and work your way up on the freeway, right? Not shift into 2nd while going 50 mph on the freeway? I couldn't imagine what that would do while going that fast, but I could be wrong...Then after you're finished in 2nd, can you shift into D while going 50+ mph? Please help, I don't wanna ruin my engine...or start another WOT war!

1st off, you are in the wrong forum...but it ain't my job to tell you.

2nd, you are obviously very easy on brakes, I had a '99 STS, sold it at 80k and had replaced the front brakes 3 times, rear brakes once. I used OEM brakes one time and that was to get new sensors. The other 2 times I used an aftermarket ceramic pad. I machined the rotors once and never replaced them the whole time I had the car.

3rd, It's true the owners manual says not to add anything but I do, on all of my cars. Your owners manual probably also advises against using synthetic oil, but guess what they say now?

4th, I don't understand what you are saying about WOT, my cars get WOT every day, I guess you're talking about blowing it out?!?...just floor it and let the tranny do its thing...it's a Cadillac 'fer christs sakes...!

Sorry I didn't realize I had found my way into the 2005 and newer STS forum, I am new to the site and mostly read threads from the Northstar performance group...thanks for letting me know, and thanks for the info!