Good luck with making the deal! It sounds like a car you would be very happy to own.

For me the Tesla Model 3 and CTS aren't in the same choice set and although the Model 3 isn't complete vaporware it is one of the most over-promised products to come out of the auto industry and apparently is suffering quite a few additional production quality issues as they try to ramp up the volume. Given that Tesla is no longer unique it is going to have a very difficult time competing with the products now coming into production from other players who are less showmen and more focused upon actual manufacturing.

 

I'd go for it!! Sounds like a great deal! I remember a similar circumstance in which I stole my 2006 STS some years ago. Never regretted the purchase!

 

Very cool! Maybe you can get them to put an 18" wheel set to save some more cash on the deal (not sure Ohio is as bad as Michigan, but :shudder: the potholes). Were you planning on trading in your car or selling private party? Don't think I know anyone looking for an ATS, but it can't hurt to put it more out there.

Hopefully by the time you want to get out of the CTS the Model 3 production will have the bugs worked out of it. :rofl: Was seriously considering one of those in the next few years, but based on their quality issues and ramp-up trouble (when are AWD variants arriving again?) I wouldn't feel comfortable until they get at least 5 years of experience under their belts on that car.

 

Interesting thought on that, but the 19" wheels looked so good if they're the ones I'm thinking. I suppose I'll have to wait until I see it to make a call.

I plan on trading my ATS in if the price is right. I still owe on it so if they buy me out of my loan I'll be happy with that. The car is still worth more than I owe on it and it's an AWD ATS Premium that's been absolutely babied so it shouldn't have any problem selling.

By CTA you mean the loaner program, typically these cars have 2500-3000 mi on them, early Feb a dealer in NJ had some very big discounts on a few 2017 ATSs and CTSs 16-18k off stickers,there are some good deals to be made if you are in the market at the right time.

Exactly. The car has 2,500 miles on it and is still considered new by the dealer. I was advised by my dealer to look over the tires/wheels with a fine tooth comb because of all the people potentially driving it.

 

By CTA you mean the loaner program, typically these cars have 2500-3000 mi on them, early Feb a dealer in NJ had some very big discounts on a few 2017 ATSs and CTSs 16-18k off stickers,there are some good deals to be made if you are in the market at the right time.

 

Thats what the dealer service dept is supposed to do as they are selling the car like new, just saying!

 

As it turns out the CTS wasn’t loaded after all. Apparently the premium luxury no longer includes the driver assist package as standard and this car didn’t have the package that included it. That was a make or break feature for me so I walked.

Very disappointed but I’m sure my CTS is out there somewhere.

 

It's the only option that it doesn't come with...it comes with everything else you ticked off. Adaptive cruise ain't all that. I'm surprised you didn't go for it. Like you said, for you it's a must have.

 

ACC is something I might be able to develop a liking for but when I am in heavy traffic that is moving erratically I am going to be using manual speed control and on full alert. On the open road if I am following someone who cannot or will not maintain a stable speed I will go around them rather than become part of the stupid train.

When I was in driver's ed one of the coach's final requirements to pass was to hold the speed steady for several miles in the rolling hills just north of the coast without using cruise control. I use cruise very often now even on drives of a few miles because setting to 63 on the two lane rural roads works well with little traffic and helps to avoid accidentally going to a ticket inducing speed. My ATS takes a little bit of a soft touch to keep the speed dead even on lightly varying terrain while the diesel pickup and Z06 require no focus to keep a very steady speed with their extremely high torque engines. I do use cruise a lot on the Z06 because it is way too easy to go stupid fast in it without realizing how fast I am going and jail is one of those places I would rather read about rather than experience in person

 

I'm going to offer $40k including tax, tag, title, out the door cost today based on a few reasons: (1) the car was a loaner vehicle, (2) the car does not have ACC, (3) they are having a super hard time selling CTSs and are trying to up sell them to customers buying the XT5 (information courtesy of my SA at my local dealer), and (4) based upon the price of other used identical vehicles with similar mileage.

Is this this too low of an offer?

 

I'm going to offer $40k including tax, tag, title, out the door cost today based on a few reasons: (1) the car was a loaner vehicle, (2) the car does not have ACC, (3) they are having a super hard time selling CTSs...

Is this this too low of an offer?

There are no good price guides for pricing near new or leftover vehicles, like you find for 3 year old cars.
You have a $22k discount, which includes the loaner discount. If the $44k is an advertised price, you might at least get a counter offer.
If you negotiated a price down to $44k, maybe not.

My thought is the 19" wheels and I think summer tires probably prevent most people from buying it at any cost.
My dealer has an ATS like that, with 19" wheels and summer tires, that doesn't sell. They said they could not replace them with
standard 18" wheels and A/S tires, because its on the sticker for a lease. For a buy, I would think that they might do it, if they are
willing to eat the cost of the 19" wheel pkg.

 

I personally treat every loaner like every rental car... Beat it to within an inch of its life. The more pissed I am at the dealership the worse I flog. Especially BMW. They took my car out for a 'test drive' following a repair and dropped the fuel economy into single digits which takes some serious effort. From then on every loaner was returned with scrubbed tires, blue rotors and single digit fuel economy.

I would never buy a loaner. But they never have manual transmissions in the loaner fleet so I'm safe.

 

People like you are the reason people like me get lemons!!!! :bomb:

Seriously though, you bag driving a car only negatively affects the person that buys it. If anything, the dealer will make more money if and when it comes back for warranty work.

 

Well... I typically only buy a used car if it's been CPO. CPO requires a fair bit of maintenance and irregularly worn tires / smoked brakes will have to be changed.

Furthermore if something is going to break its probably going to happen early on or under load... A 'rigorous' shake down drive would expose any weaknesses.

So I'm actually providing a free service. Incidentally, I've only had a loaner from Cadillac twice and the dealership was taking very good care of me so the flogging was very light.

 

As expected, the car ended up being too much. They offered me $17k for my ATS on trade which would have left me upside down by a couple grand and the car ended up being closer to $50k.

I told him to call me first if they can't get rid of it and are willing to drop the price down so we'll see if anything happens there. In the meantime, I'll continue my search to find the perfect one

 

No surprise there welcome to the real world of ATS depreciation, just saying!

 

I flog my own cars. I treat rented or borrowed equipment /vehicles way better then my own... I usually return things in better condition.

However, if I'm in a courtesy vehicle it's because the manufacturer is fixing something that should not have broken... Not my problem. Especially with BMW as their CPO warranty program requires $50 'diagnostic fee' every visit, even if the problem is 100% covered by warranty.

As for rental cars... If I pay the going rate and get the optional insurance, I figure anything goes as long as it doesn't break before I turn it back in.

 

Were you abused as a child?

 

I see nothing wrong with driving a rental car hard, so long as it is nothing you would not do to your own car. A very low mileage loaner I would probably not beat on, but if it has at least 500 miles, its test drive time.

 

I am extra careful with a service loaner. I know it will be someone's car. I treat it the way I would like others to treat a loaner if I bought one. My service adviser was amused when I asked it they prefer a specific fuel brand.

I appreciate the use of the loaner. I have no strong positive feelings for GM or Cadillac as a company. I know someone will pay their hard earned money soon. I'm thinking of the prospective owner, not the car maker.

The best remedy for dealer problems is a new dealer. The selling dealer for me was a jerky outfit. The only words the service department knows is functions as designed, they all do it, buy another one.

My car would be returned as it looked from sitting on the lot. The fuel was down at least half tank. Several foreign iPhone tags in CarPlay and saved nav destinations I would not visit with Secret Service protection. GM/Cadillac CS is all good with that. Still someone would buy that loaner and I was not going to take my dissatisfaction out on an unsuspecting car buyer who would have this bum dealer and a flogged car.

No way!

 

Easy boys and girls... The harshest beatings have been on BMW's not Caddies so that used car market is safe from me at least. Last Caddie loaner was the SUV thing and it was so awful I ended up parking it and driving my Suburban for the duration instead.

I agree with <500 mi but most of the loaners I have received were in the middle of their 'loaner service window' with a few being right on the edge and I've had to swap them out before they click over.

 

Last Caddie loaner was the SUV thing and it was so awful I ended up parking it and driving my Suburban for the duration instead.

My car went back in for service yesterday and they actually gave me a loaner this time. It's a passion red XT5 with tan leatherette interior. I do not like a single thing about this vehicle. The way it looks, the way it drives... I'm so embarrassed to be in it that I won't even make eye contact with anyone on the road lol.

 

When my ATS went in the first time for its evaporative storage emissions issue they gave me a SRX loaner. Taking the interstate off ramp curve it handled more like my 3/4 ton pickup than the ATS I think stabilitrak got a little upset with my driving.

 

Offered loaners everytime at my local dealer. So far I have been in a couple new CTS luxury models. My dad had his ATS in recently at his local caddy dealer and they put him in a new CT6. Too bad it wasn't the 3.0TT.
I wouldn't mind getting an XT5 loaner I think they look decent and when I sat in one at the dealer it felt nice. Certainly wouldn't be embarrassed driving it. I'm not really a fan of any base model cars, but they seem to offer middle of the run equipped vehicles which is fine. Nothing too fancy, but not rock bottom base either.

 

This is the first time I've gotten a loaner from them. I did get a rental the other time though and it kind of caught me off guard when they said a rental is covered under Cadillac warranty.

My loaner certainly seems to be a base model. No real leather, no heated wheel, no parking sensors, no option to turn off auto start/stop... Well, maybe the sensors are just turned off and the auto stop is in the CUE settings or something. I haven't cared to play around with it, to be honest. With different colour choices I probably wouldn't be as turned off by the looks of it, but my wife's Ford Escape is more fun to drive and has a smoother ride.

 

My boutique Cadillac dealership always gives me an XT5, it's always been the Premium Luxury trim. I'm not a fan of SUV's but love the interior and exterior design of the XT5. V6 to 4 cylinder transitions are seamless and the ride is ok for an SUV. Never like the feeling of front wheel drive though.

 

Interesting we all seem to agree that one of Cadillac's best sellers is awful. I don't even remember what it was... Xt5, srx who knows. It was AWD and 6cyl

Anyway interior was finished well enough but odd. V6 had plenty of power but the chassis /dynamics were worse then my 2003 suburban... Even approach a corner with speed and it rolled over with a huge heap of under steer. Try to power through, trail brake, or stab/turn in an attempt to force rotation upset it more. Tall but skinny run flats with no grip that spun/squealed constantly even with all the nannies on. Adding insult to injury it had a nasty rear interior panel buzz at various speeds despite having less the 1k on the clock.

I drove it for about 1.5 hrs in total and the only positive I came away with was the v6 was stout and that it's probably quite rewarding in the ATS/Camaro

 

My last loaner was a SRX, and that thing rolled like a big boat on the corners.... I don't know how people drive such a SUV on the roads and keep it between lanes - or maybe I am spoiled by my nimble, agile ATS!

 

Meh I didin't say it was quick... Mentally adjusting for weight/gearing/tires, my butt dyno indicated strong tq through entire RPM range and unlike the 2.0L a decent sound. The exact quote I gave my wife was "...I wish the ATS would have been offered with this engine and 6MT. I can see why people are actually buying the v6 Camaro; its probably pretty fun."

 

That was another thing that disappointed me. I mean, it's probably mostly because they did a good job sound proofing the thing and good on them for that, but I don't even really hear a difference in sound. It sounds the exact same as my 2.0T on startup too. I can't really try driving with the window down a bit either as the melt is on and the whole city is basically a slough. Speaking of which, the dealer gave me a loaner with no washer fluid in it lol.

 

The Lexus RX 350 SUV continues to be the industry leader in its class, plenty of them on the road here in NJ , the worst is being parked between 2 suburban sized SUVs and backing out in your ATS in any parking lot.

 

That's my parking lot at work most days. The one driver doesn't know the dimensions of their vehicle and always parks about five feet back from the parking barrier too.

 

Obviously, not all SUV's are created equal. My last news car before I retired, was a Black 2014 Equinox. Hands down, one of the best handling UV's and comfortable as hell on long drives, than any other news vehicle I had over the years. The thing was great in the snow and ice and I could average 28 MPG very easily.

The XT5 which I've had several times as a Cadillac loaner, was hands down the biggest disappointment. Comfort wise, my wife hated it (and she's a big SUV fan), and I have to admit, the handling was sloppy and less than stellar. I wanted to like it....but couldn't.

 

I was running a few errands late this afternoon and thought of the UV comments I posted earlier today. I don't ever remember being menaced by a Cadillac brand utility vehicle. The first time I saw an SRX it looked like a friendly road mate. The XT5 has a sharp body style. The Escalade is legend.

I formulated a theory as a result. The other UV's try to get close to our Cadillacs hoping some good looks will rub off. The Cad UV's can hold their own

 

Yeah, I wonder if any Cadillac SUV owner cares what enthusiasts on an ATS board think about the power, handling, steering, braking qualities of their SUV. If it's comfortable, quiet, spacious and appears luxurious, they're probably quite satisfied.

Of course, this is coming from someone who has never driven one :hide:.

 

I kind of got used to the steering in the XT5. I got my ATS back today and it almost felt like the power steering went out or something. I had to double check they hadn't put it into sport mode on their test drives lol.