Wheel Hop, How much would you pay? Here is the LETTER

[homer403]

I will do the next edit tonight so please keep the comments coming.

[M5eatr]

I don't mean to steal anyone's thunder, but I offer a revision to the basic letter. I think that threats aren't needed at this point. Let's first see if they admit the problem and see if there is a fix in the works. If they don't want to admit the issue, then the only way that they will want to fix it is if they are forced to by someone getting hurt or by the NTSF/DOT federal agencies. Complaints to these govt agencies can be filed, but let's hope it doesn't come to that and that Caddy will give us the fix we all feel safer with.


As an owner of a Cadillac 2005 CTS-V, VIN # ………., I am experiencing severe case of wheel hop. I believe that you are aware of the condition and hope that GM engineers are currently working to correct this issue. After talking with other CTS-V owners, I find that this is prevalent with other owners, both 2004 and 2005 models. Visits to my dealer’s service department have provided no satisfactory resolution. There are numerous aftermarket companies that have made an attempt to correct this known issue but have not been 100% successful. This leads me to believe that GM should be the one to devise a solution, as they are the ones who have developed the vehicle and should also be the ones to represent their products.

Although this condition can be induced by what you may call improper or abusive driving, I as well as others have experienced this phenomenon under routine driving conditions such as merging onto the freeways and under normal acceleration. A concern of the current and future CTS-V owners is the safety of this situation when it occurs to the passengers and others on the roadways. Could this situation cause catastrophic failure which could be a direct factor to the driver losing control? It would be unfortunate if this situation was to cause harm to any person or to property. All too often, big business will only correct issues when something unfortunate occurs and are forced to admit the negligence. Obviously the Ford-Firestone situation is still fresh in all our minds.

We, the CTS-V owners respectfully request a formal acknowledgement to this issue from GM. In addition, any information should be made available regarding this issue in regards to what has been done and what the future plans are for the situation. A report as to what detrimental effects could be expected with this condition over a long term period would also be helpful.

Thank you for your time and cooperation in this matter. We anxiously await your response.


Cordially,


M5eatr

[DgtalPimp]

M5Eater,

I like the letter as well as the work that Homer403 put into his letter. I personally would like to collectively edit your letter so that by Monday we have a collective agreement and can get this process moving.

What do the rest of you think?

[lasstss]

I like it!

[urbanski]

good luck guys.

last letter i sent there referencing a problem got a canned reply letter, not signed by anybody, saying "Contact the BBB Auto Line".

[Koooop]

After owning a CTS-V for a few months now I understand why the dealers are not allowing test drives. The wheel hop is pretty bad, it occurs in normal driving conditions on take off on wet pavement when turning right, whenever dirt or gravel is present at take off, but most embarrasing is hard 1-2 shift and the wheel hop occurs in the face of the driver of the M3 that is falling behind you...Or when trying like hell to keep up with an old fart in a S55 Kompressor.

I can't say I wouldn't have bought the car if I knew of the wheel hop, but it would have made me wait to drive the SRT8. So at this point I do feel that Cadillac is kind of turning a blind eye to this issue and that they should be assuring us that they are attempting to correct it completely or reduce the hop significantly.

Cadillac is trying to reinvent themselves, satisfactory resolution of this Wheel Hop is manditory if they really want to compete with BMW and MBZ in this performance catagory.

The letters look good, I hope there are enough V owners in this forum to get the Generals attention. When you guys have the letter complete, I'll sign it and forward it off. I would even pay for a dealer installed correction to keep my warranty in tact. Warranty issues are the only reason I have not tried the BRM kit.

[Rickerbucks]

I'll sign this "petition" when the consensus makes the final draft.

[DgtalPimp]

Originally Posted by koop

I would even pay for a dealer installed correction to keep my warranty in tact. Warranty issues are the only reason I have not tried the BRM kit.

I expect the dealer installed solution to be included in the price I already paid for the car.

[erp2863]

The letter should include something about safety concerns during un-expected manuevers that require accelerating abruptly to avoid danger or even standard highway merging.
Our comfort level during routine acceleration will be trumped by any safety related concern. The letter could also be forwarded to NTSA.

Eric

[DgtalPimp]

Agreed, safty will get this fixed well before our desire to have a working car.