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Why I hate my XTS VSport Platinum

25K views 49 replies 37 participants last post by  m_eaton53 
#1 ·
I'm a car guy. Over the last few years I've averaged two new cars a year between my wife and I, I just love my cars and trucks. Also, I've never owned anything other than GM, Ford and some Chryslers. I also collect motorcycles but that's another forum :)

Right now I have a 2013 Shelby GT500, 2013 F150 Ecoboost, 2013 Flex and my 2014 XTS. I bought the XTS because it was the largest and nicest car made by an american company. Call me silly, but born and raised in Detroit I still care. Or at least I did until now. This platinum edition was to be my 'nice' car, my daily driver. I've never regretted a new car purchase more than this one.

It started on the ride home. The headliner wasn't clipped in all the way and rattled over every bump. No problem, push it back in right? It would stop for a few miles then on a big bump pop loose again and start rattling. After a couple weeks of this I payed a local shop to silicon the headliner clips together as it was clear this would never stay clipped in place. Now after a few hundred more miles something inside the headliner is starting to rattle over the driver seat. I fear this will never end

This is starting to be a pattern, things working loose and rattling. Next up is the dash, which sounds like dead center has something rattling around. Then the glove box refused to open. Took it to the dealer for this one, more on that later, and now it opens but also rattles continuously as I drive down the road. Something in the rear deck is starting to rattle too, wow this car is a huge piece of $%!T. The right hand mirror blind spot indicator intermittently cuts in and out, bump here and it's out, bump there and it comes back.

Over the winter the wheels build up with ice and snow worse than any other car I've ever owned in my 38 years living in Detroit. There were times I could not operate the car over 25 miles an hour until I melted the ice trapped in the wheels. At least four times this past winter I had to park the car until it melted and drive something else.

So when things thawed this spring and I still had this horrible speed wobble plus the change oil message is on I took it to the dealer. If you've never done business with Suburban Cadillac in Troy, don't. Wife drops it off and gives them part of the list.

He told me all four wheels were bent and to call another company to straighten them. Yep, all four and take it somewhere else for repairs. In all my years driving in Detroit I've replaced a tire here and wheel there, but never all four wheels on a car. None of my other cars have any problem from driving down the same roads with the same driver at the same speeds. Go GM!! Build a car you can't drive if you live in Detroit.

So I pick it up and still have a wobbly car, but now I have three rows of new favorite radio stations and oil on the windshield. I also needed a new key as one was washed. This new key will start the car, but has no memory presets for the seats. Joy. The glove box opens but rattles really bad. Great. Given the choice I would rather have it not work than rattle like this.

The only thing that actually was fixed correctly and completely at the dealer was changing the oil but they managed to give me a few new headaches to deal with in the process.

So now I have the latest and greatest GM can build with all the squeaks and rattles you would want with a ride that would make a truck driver jealous. This is the end for you and me GM, fool me once...

Robert Sanders
Former GM owner and enthusiast
 
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#34 ·
Cadillac had no business making 19s std equipment on the XTS. They did it for style point and not practically for the consumer. All it has done is create headaches for all of us who want cars to ride like a Cadillac. Stupid. I'm strongly considering buying 18s for my 16 AWD to get some sidewall back.
 
#36 ·
To everyone complaining about the 20" wheels - sell them on ebay, get the 19's or even 18's. 20x10s with 40-series performance tires on a 4000lb car, no matter the badge, means you have to be REAL careful picking your lines or you will be repairing/replacing wheels and tires on the regular. It sounds to me like you are not interested in that type of life so just bail and get smaller wheels.

I've owned a long line of cars with big wheels and 35/40-series tires, so i'm used to it and have absolutely no problems with mine...but it does take a level of dedication. I like the look, especially on this car, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it - if mine came with the 19's, i'd just live with the 19's.

To all the "rattle" complainers - step back, take a deep breath, and appreciate your first world "problems". Geez. To write off a car as incredible as the XTS because the headliner rattles?! Really?! Ain't nobody got time fo 'dat.
 
#38 ·
My 2014 XTS VSPORT has 57k miles and I live in northern New York State. I guess I’ve been extremely lucky as I have had none of the rim or or other issues described above in the six years since my new car purchase. It’s really been the best car and most pleasant car to drive I have ever owned.

However, the ride with the original 20” OEM Bridgestone tires was horrible. I installed
CONTINENTAL
EXTREMECONTACT DWS 06
  • 245/40ZR20 99Y
  • Load Range: XL
  • UTQG: 560 AA A
What a wonderful solution! Great ride and handling from a high performance tire. The ride is so smooth that I can keep the pressure at 40 PSI rather that the specified 36 PSI to add a margin of safety in case of a pothole strike and did not notice any reduction in ride quality. Tires have a max pressure rating of 51 PSI.
You will not be sorry with this purchase as it will enhance your Cadillac driving experience. Bonus- no need to drop down to 19” rims with that big expense.
 
#39 ·
My 2014 XTS VSPORT has 57k miles and I live in northern New York State. I guess I’ve been extremely lucky as I have had none of the rim or or other issues described above in the six years since my new car purchase. It’s really been the best car and most pleasant car to drive I have ever owned.

However, the ride with the original 20” OEM Bridgestone tires was horrible. I installed
CONTINENTAL
EXTREMECONTACT DWS 06
  • 245/40ZR20 99Y
  • Load Range: XL
  • UTQG: 560 AA A
What a wonderful solution! Great ride and handling from a high performance tire. The ride is so smooth that I can keep the pressure at 40 PSI rather that the specified 36 PSI to add a margin of safety in case of a pothole strike and did not notice any reduction in ride quality. Tires have a max pressure rating of 51 PSI.
You will not be sorry with this purchase as it will enhance your Cadillac driving experience. Bonus- no need to drop down to 19” rims with that big expense.
Great advice, thanks. How long did the factory tires last on your car? I have the same car, and find the factory tire/rim package (Platinum model) to be irritatingly rough. It is a miracle, living in Vermont, that I have not bent a rim!
 
#40 · (Edited)
I have owned my 2019 XTS AWD Premium Lux AWD with MRC for 1 year and 5,125 miles. In no way am I a fan of 20" wheels, but after I dumped the Bridgestone's Potenza RE97AS 245-40-20 V for the GoodYear Eagle Touring AS 245-40-20 W I have found the ride on the 20" wheels to be much more bearable.
I had 19" wheels on my previously own 2017 CT6 Premium Lux AWD with the same GoodYear Eagle Touring tire 245-45-19 V and out of all honesty IMO the ride 19" on the 20" is really not that much different. I have also tried the 19" wheels on a couple of 2019 XTS that come with the 245-45-19 V tire size.
The biggest problem I see with all low profile wheels and tires is that a lot of streets and highways are in such bad shape the low profile wheels and tires and the cars that they are on oftentimes get a bad and undeserved wrap.
I do not care if you are talking 18"- 20" wheels if you are not careful you can lose a tire, wheel our both to any nice size pothole.
My wife has lost two 18" wheels and tires to potholes on our Malibu and I lost one tire when I had the CT6 with 19" wheels. So far so good with the 20" on the XTS, but I know that somewhere there is a pothole with my name on it:eek:
I am still enjoying my XTS and have had far less problems with it than I had with the CT6. IMO I still say the XTS is the better car and even in its demise was still out selling the CT6, but Cadillac had to get the XTS out of the way of the CT6 in hopes of increasing its sells, but even with the XTS now no longer in production the CT6 is still a slow seller whose fate is still up in the air:confused:
 
#42 ·
I’ve had my eye on a few XTS Vsports. I test drove a 14, and it had a noticeable shimmy in the steering wheel and seat. The salesman tried to say the tires needed balancing, but I knew the score.

I’d own a VSport right now if it wasn’t for the wheels and tires, the uncertainty of damage with them, and the crappy ride they give. Unlike in “Wayne’s World” the Aurora, IL I live in has no Stan Mikita’s Donut shop and the roads are a war zone.

Did Cadillac sort out some of the rim issues by the 2016 model year for the 20’s? I’ve had my eye on a 16 Vsport platinum that’s been languishing at a local dealership for quite awhile now, but I can’t seem to find any info pointing to rim improvements from the 2014 cars...
 
#43 ·
I’ve had my eye on a few XTS Vsports. I test drove a 14, and it had a noticeable shimmy in the steering wheel and seat. The salesman tried to say the tires needed balancing, but I knew the score.

I’d own a VSport right now if it wasn’t for the wheels and tires, the uncertainty of damage with them, and the crappy ride they give. Unlike in “Wayne’s World” the Aurora, IL I live in has no Stan Mikita’s Donut shop and the roads are a war zone.

Did Cadillac sort out some of the rim issues by the 2016 model year for the 20’s? I’ve had my eye on a 16 Vsport platinum that’s been languishing at a local dealership for quite awhile now, but I can’t seem to find any info pointing to rim improvements from the 2014 cars...
If you are referring to the issue of the chrome insert that caused corrosion, Cadillac uses the same style wheel but the 20" wheel no longer comes with that insert. The 2019 XTS V Sport also comes with a different style wheel.
I have actually had no tire balance, wheels out of round nor any vibration issues with any wheels or tires that were on my previously owned 2017 CT6 or on my 2019 XTS.
I had thought about changing to 19" wheels but Cadillac did not advise me doing so. I did change my wheels for the dressier looking wheels that come the Platinum Trim and my tires to the GoodYear Eagle Touring. If Michelin would come out with the Premier A/S in a 245-40-20 V I think that would make my day.
I prefer the looks and handling expects of the 20" wheels but impact over some rough patches of road can be a little on the rough side but the 1/2" more difference you get in sidewall with the 245-45-19 V tires on the 19" wheel really does not make that much difference.
A lot of roads and highways that I travel have been resurfaced so there are times that the 20" wheels ok, but in the city where some of the roads and highways look like a war zone I know I am riding on 20s and the enjoyment of the drive turns into fright night as I try my best to avoid anything that looks like it will take out a wheel tire or both.
For me taking less features that I desired in a car and to drop down to a trim with less feature to get 19" wheels was not an option.
 
#45 ·
Thanks for the replies guys. The only thing I would argue with is the ride quality difference between the 19's and the 20's. In the test drives I've taken it's been night and day, but that probably has more to do with all the 20 inch rim cars being shod with the Brickstones. The 19 inch cars have been on the Goodyear touring
 
#46 ·
I was going to buy the original 2014 XTS,but didn’t want a regular V-6. When the V-Sport came out, I did a Test Drive, and was disappointed with the ride quality and the tires following grooves in the street. They were low profile tires, and didn’t have the ride quality that I expected, and I knew that they would have a problem on the pothole streets in Michigan. I begged the dealership and change the tires to the regular profile tires, and they refused! They wanted $73,000+, which was $20,000 more than my 2006 DTS, wouldn’t negotiate with me at all, and recently the sales fell-off so much that they felt the need to discontinue it. I feel that this is a mistake, too. It is not unusual for drivers to have bent wheels, busted tires, blowouts, and there is an entire industry of wheel and tire shops built up around these iss yes. I tell Young drivers all the time, that you’re going to have tire and wheel problems with Low-profile tires and expensive wheels! MRC will give you the best ride and handling under different conditions, but has had some reliability issues.
 
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