It looks like I have my 2000 STS sold *knock on wood* and I just happened to look at a 2006 DTS on Friday that was pretty nice. It seemed to be in pretty good shape cosmetically and drove out really nice except for around 70mph it had a pretty violent shake. The dealer had it checked and thinks the tires just need to be balanced which they are going to do in the morning...

It seems to be a "base" model...meaning it doesn't have heated/cooled seats, wood steering wheel, wood shift knob, or a sunroof. It does have an aftermarket dvd/navigation system as well as custom wheels and is a sharp looking car. It has 64k miles. I can pick it up for $13,400+ TTYL = $14,700 OTD which seems like a decent price. What do you guys think?

Also, as far as the oil pan gasket problem... is it something that a person can live with for a while or does it leak so much oil that it absolutely needs to be fixed? Are there any suggested aftermarket warranties I should look into?

Does anyone know if the leather parts on the steering wheel can be replaced with the wood version very easily or is that a huge process?

Any other info or advice would be appreciated...

Thanks in advance!

:welcome: to the forum.

That does seem to be a real good price...but from the tone of your post...it seems like you were wanting a more "UPSCALE" DTS than a base model.

ie.. sunroof, cooled seats, etc.

To replace the leather on the steering wheel...the entire wheel will need to be replaced.

Aftermarket nav systems can cause a lot of issues, if not installed properly, because the factory head unit is tied into the actual LAN in the car.

If it has an oil pan leak, It would be fixed before I bought it or I "WOULD NOT" buy it. PERIOD.
I probably wouldn't buy it at all if it had a leak.
There are way too many out there to choose from to buy one with known problems.

As for aftermarket warranties... the only one I would even consider is the GMPP..by General Motors.

So...to sum up your post...
It has an oil leak...
It has aftermarket NAV...
It has a VIOLENT SHAKE at 70...
It has no cooled seats...
It has no sunroof...
It has a steering wheel you don't like...

My recommendation is keep looking till you find one with less things wrong with it and more to your liking.
If you are anything like me...If you just "SETTLE FOR" one... because it has a cheap price...you will never be happy with it.

Been there... done that. :cool2:

Texas Jim

ps...either the oil leak or the VIOLENT SHAKING would kill the deal for me.
Having both of them on the same car...no way would I buy it.

moabxj01 :welcome: IMO from what you have described I would wait till you find a car that you like. Sounds like more issues than I would deal with. If you get a good price, your lucky. If you get a real good price chances are you have some real problems to deal with. Look around.

Bob

I would have to agree. The price is not SOOOO good that I would accept a vehicle that was not my first choice. Heated seats are a biggie to me. Leather can get REALLY cold. If it was CPO, that might have tilted it. The vibration is likely easily fixed. Very common problem at 70-72 MPH in many Caddy models (including your current vehicle - 98-04 SLS/STS). Tires have to be very well balanced. Oil leak is a concern and I would not pay almost 15 large for any car with a known oil leak. It would have to be fixed first.

I'm sorry, I didn't write my first post very well. The car does NOT currently have an oil leak. From what I have read it is a very common problem so I have to assume there is a good possibility that at some point in time it will develop a leak. My question is that IF it does have this problem in the future is it something that will need to be fixed right away(quarts of oil in a short time period) or is it something that you could live with?

The options aren't a big deal to me... the main thing that I would want to do is replace the shift knob and steering wheel because they just look out of place. Especially when I'm used to my STS. Obviously those options would be nice to have but I mainly listed them out to get your opinions on the price. Maybe this is an average price for a car that doesn't have as many options as most of the others that you see... The wheel and knob can be had on ebay for a reasonable price. Any ideas on how much the labor would be to switch the steering wheel?

Hopefully that clears things up a little bit... I talked to the dealer this morning and they have an aftermarket warranty for $900 that supposedly will cover the oil pan gasket. I need to do some research to verify but if it does and if the vibration is gone I'll be leaning towards purchasing the vehicle...

To replace the steering wheel, if you were to get it from Cadillac is not very cheap. Figure on at least $700 plus perhaps installation. I would do some more searching until you found a car that is better suited for you. Go on Autotrader.com.

Good luck

Depending on where you live, cooled seats are definitely worth having. If you're above the Artic circle, you can give them a pass.

Depending on where you live, cooled seats are definitely worth having. If you're above the Artic circle, you can give them a pass.


I love the cooled seats down here in Texas. :) :) :)

Jim

Yeah the cooled seats in my BMW Sucked but the ones I tried in my STS loaner were awesome!!

I bought my 2006 DTS Performance Edition for $18'500(Texas car), it had only 19k miles on it. You should be able to find a better model(Perf.Edition) for around the same price($14700) with that much mileage on it. Keep looking this is one the best cars I've ever owned.

I bought my 2006 DTS Performance Edition for $18'500(Texas car), it had only 19k miles on it. You should be able to find a better model(Perf.Edition) for around the same price($14700) with that much mileage on it. Keep looking this is one the best cars I've ever owned.

Are those USD prices? They seem very low compared to what I'm seeing around Michigan.

Are those USD prices? They seem very low compared to what I'm seeing around Michigan.

Yes, that's US prices. Shop further down south if you can, the cars get cheaper for some reason. Mine was purchased out of Texas last September.