I am thinking of buying a 2005 CTS with 36,000 miles on it.

I has lux & performance package what kind of a difference in ride,handling.comfort etc... is there between this and base model which I have driven several of those.

And what about tires for this car would be using factory tire sizes but different brand was thinking of using Yokohama AVID V4S but would want recomendations.

thanx stillen

wondering the same

Ya some feedback here straightforward question.

i havent driven a 05, but ive driven a few 03's.....i drove a 03 base model and was not impressed with it at all...this was the first 1 that i drove, i was just expecting more out of the car, dont get me wrong, it was still nice but just didnt seem to hold up to the reviews i read, also the previous owner did not take care of it. then i drove a couple lux, sport packs and they do handle a little different, it wasnt gonna be a deal breaker if i couldnt find the lux sport pack but i did like it better, just seemed to handle a little better. after reading up a little the stabiitrac is apparently only in the lux sport i think. 05 might have it in all of them.
if you have the option get the lux sport. and take her for a spin i think you will like it a little better...
hope thiss may help you a little.
gl on getting a CTS...you wont be disapointed..i looked at about 20 before i could find one that i settled on. wanted a 04 but the 03 i found was absolutly MINT, couldnt pass it up.

Thanx for the reply I am looking for an 05 CTS and town I am in is small so will have to go to city to try out the lux/sport package tires make quite a difference on ride and handling.

> How much more should you pay for the lux/sport package above the base model

Stabilitrak is a really good improvement in safety next to ABS brakes.

in a 05 ...maybe 500-1000 more if anything...but you gotta remember these cars have dropped in price like crazy recently. if you arent in a rush look around, set up as manny appointments to see cars you are interested in that are close together and be firm on your requirements. this is a buyers market!!!! if you miss 1 you will find another...i missed out on a few, i would go look at it, it would check out great, then ide go back the next day and it would be gone (not just the cts, i was looking at a few diff types of cars/trucks..ive only had mine for a week)
try to get the vin and go 2 a gm dealer and ask for a vehicle build, it will tell you every option the car has (rims,suspension,abs,stabilitrac), dont go based on what the seller says (unless its a certified gm dealer then they should b ok)
im still not to clear on what stabilitrac does exactly but i know i have it LOL

ghettomike the info is much appreciated.


I will be looking for a White Diamond or a Crimson pearl color exterior color we had a 1990 Caddy Deville with the special Gold paint job and it held up and looked great for a long time.

The tires I like are Michelin sport A/s , BF-goodrich g-force Supersport A/S and Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS Pole position tires.

I will be sticking to factory sizes the Michelin's and bridgestones are $170 each while the goodrichare $130 each.

any comments on these.

On pricing I am looking at KBB.com Kelly blue book and NADAguides.com National Auto Dealers Association.

NADA pricing is a couple thousand dollars more than Kelly blue book; kinda hard to tell guees will get somewhere between the two price listings.

you mean you want a cts that looks like this :) (took forever 2 find it..its a 03)
if you want to know what the dealer most likely paid for the car google blackbook web tool. now keep in mind this price is what they paid if it was a trade in and before they did any services on it. so the cost does go up.
remember to run car fax. if you need it ran within the next 5-10 days i can do it free...mine runs out soon i got the unlimited for 30 days. but if you want the buy back guarentee you gotta get your own account for itt to qualify.
i was really lookin for a 04+ but i came across this 1 and its in amazing condition...im the 3rd owner, it was dealer serviced since new (my dad got me the whole vehicle service history from his work) and hardly anything has gone wrong with it. it hink just the power steering pump..cant remember off hand. but it was in for oil every time it was due.
the Diamond/Perl White looks amazing when its clean, i havent got around to waxing mine yet, that is gonna be tomorrow or tuesday along with a couple other little things.
i cant help u much on tires sorry. i just get whatever i can get a deal on at the time. i go through them 2 fast. lol

I have an 03 CTS (2nd hand) Sport Lux package. As far as I know some significant differences are: the suspension (load leveling shocks in the rear), the wheels (17" vs 16"), the headlights (HID with washers/squirters), brake upgrade (?), and a possible upgrade with additional wood and chrome trim. Mine also had the Bose upgrade and sunroof, but I'm not sure how much that has to do with the sport/lux package?...
Per my experience, you'll be happy with a CTS. (Had a Maxima as a rental the other week and couldn't wait to get back to the CTS...)

For "sport" spec cars the wheels go to 17", the front spring and strut rates go up and the rear stabizer bar gets a bit stiffer to balance the increased roll resistance provided by the stiffer front springs. About half of the improvement in roll resistance is due to the suspension changes and the rest is from the shorter side walls of the 17 inch rims. Sadly, from a body roll perspective, they stuck with Goodyear RSA tires. Going with Yoko Avids would improve that further without killing the ride. They're good tires for the CTS.

To the best of my knowledge, the sport spec also adds Stabilitrak, variable assist steering and a limited-slip differential. Unfortunately, the Stablitrak seems slow to react and isn't a very good incarnation of that technology.

The change to load leveling rear shocks occurs anytime you have HID low beam headlights but there should be no change in rear damping rates as compared to any of the other suspension specs.

The difference in resale from the sport specification varies with the location of the sale and is hard to separate from the other variables of the car but, as mentioned earlier, $1000 seems reasonable.

If I've erred in any of this, I'm sure some of the forum's heavy hitters will set me straight. Good luck and good shopping.

Strud

I have an 03 CTS (2nd hand) Sport Lux package. As far as I know some significant differences are: the suspension (load leveling shocks in the rear), the wheels (17" vs 16"), the headlights (HID with washers/squirters), brake upgrade (?), and a possible upgrade with additional wood and chrome trim. Mine also had the Bose upgrade and sunroof, but I'm not sure how much that has to do with the sport/lux package?...
Per my experience, you'll be happy with a CTS. (Had a Maxima as a rental the other week and couldn't wait to get back to the CTS...)

i had a 03 maxima as a rental winter of 07 might have been 04 i dont remember, i liked the car but its biggest problem was the handiling on the highway. just felt sloppy, however i loved that heated steering wheel on the cold drives to horseshoe in the winter at 8am to go snowboarding.
i was considering buying a 06 maxima but my dad couldnt get me the price i wanted on it so i got the CTS...and im more than happy with it...

For "sport" spec cars the wheels go to 17", the front spring and strut rates go up and the rear stabizer bar gets a bit stiffer to balance the increased roll resistance provided by the stiffer front springs. About half of the improvement in roll resistance is due to the suspension changes and the rest is from the shorter side walls of the 17 inch rims. Sadly, from a body roll perspective, they stuck with Goodyear RSA tires. Going with Yoko Avids would improve that further without killing the ride. They're good tires for the CTS.

To the best of my knowledge, the sport spec also adds Stabilitrak, variable assist steering and a limited-slip differential. Unfortunately, the Stablitrak seems slow to react and isn't a very good incarnation of that technology.

The change to load leveling rear shocks occurs anytime you have HID low beam headlights but there should be no change in rear damping rates as compared to any of the other suspension specs.

The difference in resale from the sport specification varies with the location of the sale and is hard to separate from the other variables of the car but, as mentioned earlier, $1000 seems reasonable.

If I've erred in any of this, I'm sure some of the forum's heavy hitters will set me straight. Good luck and good shopping.

StrudJust one quick point. The Limited slip diff was still an option in 05. It was only available with the Sport pack, but im pretty sure it was still an option. Not until 06 did it become a standard part of a package.

Aight sumsit up pretty good with all the info gleened here.

the black book web tool is from Canada so it kilometers intead of miles which is longer than kilometers lol.

a CTS awaits me.