[aquayonex]

So I've been a Cadillac owner for 3 weeks now, and I'm sad to say, it has not been a pleasant time. It's really too bad because I've been a fan of the brand since the CTS launched in 2003. I realize a lot regard the brand as a bit "senior citizen", but I love the sharp angles and technology. In my opinion, they really are beautiful. I finally felt as though we were in a good enough financial position to buy one, so pulled the trigger. I have to admit, I'm really wondering if it was the right move. I'm interested in any thoughts or advice you might have.

Here is my timeline:

3/13 - I bought a 2011 Cadillac SRX Premium AWD w/ Turbo from Cadillac of Norwood in Norwood, Massachusetts. It was a beautiful car with 38,000 miles. This dealership is about 250 miles from my house, and although not ideal, I really wanted a specific model, with a specific interior/exterior color in AWD. My local dealers just don't have options for used cars, so I was willing to travel. I did attempt to buy the official GM extended warranty, but was told I am 90 days outside the 4-year bumper-to-bumper time period, despite being under the allotted miles, so my only option is a 3rd party warranty (yea, no thanks. I've made it this far with good financial decisions, not going to go down that road).

3/16 - 3/20 - Within days I noticed that the windshield wipers were not operable. Although high and low work, I do not have any intermittent options since the rain sense didn't work (that's what originally brought me to this forum). I immediately called Cadillac of Norwood who informed me that they would be happy to fix it, if it was broken. Sadly, I live over 250 miles away from the dealership so I decided to call my local Cadillac dealership to see if I could get an estimate.

4/1 - I took my car to Bill Dodge Cadillac of Westbrook, Maine. They confirmed that the rain sensor was broken, and specifically mentioned code u151a, and quoted me $170. $70 for the sensor, and $100 for the labor. I paid $50 that day as they wanted to be paid for the first 30 minutes of diagnostic time. I then scheduled a repair for 4/6. I immediately called Cadillac of Norwood who informed me that they would be happy to reimburse me for the repair, and they agreed it made more sense to have it done locally versus me spending 5 hours in a car, and waiting at their dealership, just for a $170 repair.

4/6 - Arrived for my appointment. After about an hour, the very lovely woman who works at Bill Dodge came out to tell me that there are two sensors, and apparently the one I need is not the one they ordered. She also said that the correct sensor was missing completely, and appeared as though it had been removed (red flag?!? Anyone?!?) Long story short, I will have to return. Scheduled a return appt. for 4/8.

4/8 - After about 45 minutes, the lovely woman came out again to inform me that they're having problems. Apparently they could not get the rain sensor to hold in place because of another missing part (missing clip?). After messing around it, they finally figured out that the windshield had been replaced and was not the original GM windshield. Apparently the sensor is a camera, and my windshield doesn't have the appropriate window for the camera. It's completely blind under a tinted black box. So in order to have working windshield wipers, I now need to replace the entire windshield. She also said I am required to pay for the hour labor ($100) and the part ($70), which they were happy to hand me in a small plastic bag, with a diagram. No, I'm not making this up.

Being that this is my first experience with the brand, I'm obviously feeling a little discouraged and sort of wish I had listened to my wife who was really pushing for the Mercedes ML350. But you know, I just love/d Caddy. Even my office has a diecast model of the CTS-V (which I was thinking I would buy after a few more promotions at work).

Here are my questions:

This is crappy, right? Am I wrong in being really angry? I get that mistakes happen, but this seems ridiculous.

1. How does Cadillac of Norwood (MA) sell a car with a Chinese windshield and non-working wipers and just not know? I purposefully avoided corner used car lots, and spent the extra money to buy from a Cadillac dealership thinking it would undergo some kind of "check". Apparently, I was wrong.

2. How did Bill Dodge Cadillac (Westbrook, ME) botch this up? Shouldn't a master Cadillac technician be trained to know that there are two rain sensors? Shouldn't they have wondered what was up when they first discovered it missing? Shouldn't they also be trained to know that non-OEM windshields cause an issue? You can very clearly see that every piece of glass on the car has a GM logo in the corner, EXCEPT the windshield, which has a different brand. So I have to pay for all the time they spent training their technician over the past week. In reality, that's what I'm paying for, because it wasn't fixed, and the part hasn't been installed. I know mistakes happen, but this should have been avoided. This just doesn't seem right to me, and asking me to pay for it and handing me the part with a diagram is not a world class experience.

So far, I have not paid anything other than my original $50, as I'm not sure what to do. I am angry, feel betrayed by the dealer who sold me the car, and feel like the second dealer who was working on the car is also taking me for a ride.

What should I do? As I've mentioned in other threads, most of my friends are "car guys" who really tried to encourage me to stick with BMW/Mercedes/Lexus. But at the end of the day, I really wanted a Cadillac.

 

[SRXyz]

It's terrible that you had to go through all that. I don't mean to defend the selling dealer, but it's not a certified car, and they won't go through the car thoroughly enough to notice something like that. If anything, I would be more upset at the previous owner, who thinks that it's fine to install crappy parts and pass it off to the next person. The second dealer's tech probably doesn't know any better, and yes, you're paying them to learn.

From my experience, Cadillac dealers are not up to the other luxury brands' standards. However, it would be a mistake to think that your ownership would be without difficulties when considering a European make. Lexus is great, but boring.

 

[CadillacEtc]

If your willing to take the ride back there,I'm pretty sure if you push hard enough they will cover it. I would escalate it to the general manger of the selling dealership,

 

[adamjeeps]

Your wipers do work, just not that "feature".

Just like when you bought a used vehicle and took a risk, so did the dealer when they either took it in on trade or bought it at auction. If you would have caught the problem before you signed, then it would have been taken care of properly or you could have walked away. This is not a Caddy or GM issue, they have nothing to do with this. Sorry you have had this happen but its buyer beware on used cars.

 

[Cadillacyakyak]

I don't see how the Cadillac marque has much to do with your experience. Is it not the dealers fault for selling a car without completely functioning wipers? Seems you have no choice but to go to original selling dealership and have them fix it for free as per their initial offer. It is after all a four year old used car that didn't qualify for CPO. Buying used without a warranty can be a harrowing experience. Give the original dealer a shot at making good and see how it goes from there.

 

[Nice Ride]

One option you may have is to contact your Auto insurance company. If you have glass coverage, I am sure that they will pay for a replacement windshield since the safety feature (wipers) will not work properly. This may help with the financial part of you problems. Take it to a GM dealer, tell them what happen and let them know that you would like them to service your car if they can help you out. Its worth a try.... I've been in a similar situation with a 2010 SRX Premium. I purchase cars the same way you do. are you still under the warrantee of the used car dealership? If they said they will fix it, bite the bullet, pay the $50-, make sure the original dealer has all the parts in stock that were identified, coordinate with them to do the repair and have the Insurance company replace the windshield if possible.

 

[calif phil]

I would say both dealers treated you fair. I doubt the selling dealer installed a subpar windshield Whomever traded in the car should be the one you are upset with.

 

[aquayonex]

From my experience, Cadillac dealers are not up to the other luxury brands' standards.

Clearly I just have different expectations as well.

To the others - I'm sorry, selling a car as being in perfect condition and listing features that don't work as part of the sales process is not ethical. No amount of defending makes it okay. If you're going to list a feature on the cars window slip, and on your website as working, you better at least make sure it works, certified or not. Mistakes happen, but this is a pile of issues.

Also, I've never heard of a dealer charging someone for a part they're unable to install and handing the part in a bag to the customer, while also asking to be paid for the installation that didn't happen. That's "fair"? Really?!??! I mean, really? If that is really normal and fair, I am shocked. Seriously, I am blown away by that.

 

[adamjeeps]

You show up in a vehicle you did not buy from them. You have no warranty. You ask them to fix the broken sensor. The vehicle has been modified to non OEM standards. What else are they supposed to do other than return the part to the factory and credit you for the part I agree with you there.

 

[aquayonex]

You show up in a vehicle you did not buy from them. You have no warranty. You ask them to fix the broken sensor. The vehicle has been modified to non OEM standards. What else are they supposed to do other than return the part to the factory and credit you for the part I agree with you there.

Yes, I agree. That would have been the right move. They were pretty insistent I needed to pay for all the time and the part. I have a major issue with that. I'm not suggesting they get paid nothing, but all the extra time they spent before figuring out that they had the wrong part, then the time they spent before realizing they didn't have the right clip, then the time they spent investigating my windshield (I actually pointed out the lack of the GM logo). In my opinion, they should have spotted the windshield on my first visit. Especially since I just searched this forum and saw its a fairly common problem. And refusing to return the part, but instead hand it to me in a bag and charge me full price for everything just as they would have for installing it? Not okay.

 

[adamjeeps]

Well I just hope your selling dealer makes all this right for you.

 

[Marc NY]

The previous owner probably didn't even know that their insurance company replaced their windshield with a non GM OEM one. Insurance companies typically will use the much cheaper off brand windshields to save money. I had my SRX windshield replaced and I specifically asked for an GM OEM windshield in a phone call to my agent and then I did a follow up email stating the very same. The "Safe*****" windshield company told me that they had an OEM GM windshield in stock when they called me to schedule an appointment. I said oh really you have an OEM GM windshield in stock? She said yep! Well they installed the windshield and I bet you can guess what happened. When I saw that it wasn't a GM windshield I called them back and talked to the woman that said she had an OEM GM in stock. She then started to back pedal and even said that I had agreed to their OEM equivalent!!! I said NO WAY I did NOT! She continued to argue with me for 10 minutes telling me that it was virtually the same. I said they are not the same for their OEM equivalent windshield does not have the "GM Logo" and that is what I wanted and asked for. Bottom line I finally talked to their regional manager and she understood exactly what I had asked for and had the women call me back. She told me that she will order an original GM OEM windshield and it would take a few days to come in and then it can be reinstalled.

I was at my dealer getting my oil changed I told my service writer what happened and he proceeded to tell me about a similar story about a used SRX that was traded in with the non OEM windshield installed. The used car customer came back in and complained that his driver awareness package was not working properly. So the dealer ordered all new parts and installed the parts and found out that it still wasn't working properly. ???? Then the mechanic happened to look a little closer at the windshield and saw that the opening in the windshield for the camera was not aligned up properly. Then it dawned on him that it was not an original GM OEM windshield!

The dealer had to bear the cost for a new GM OEM windshield because the Driver Awareness package had not been working properly when the customer took delivery of his vehicle.

 

[aquayonex]

The previous owner probably didn't even know that their insurance company replaced their windshield with a non GM OEM one. Insurance companies typically will use the much cheaper off brand windshields to save money. I had my SRX windshield replaced and I specifically asked for an GM OEM windshield in a phone call to my agent and then I did a follow up email stating the very same. The "Safe*****" windshield company told me that they had an OEM GM windshield in stock when they called me to schedule an appointment. I said oh really you have an OEM GM windshield in stock? She said yep! Well they installed the windshield and I bet you can guess what happened. When I saw that it wasn't a GM windshield I called them back and talked to the woman that said she had an OEM GM in stock. She then started to back pedal and even said that I had agreed to their OEM equivalent!!! I said NO WAY I did NOT! She continued to argue with me for 10 minutes telling me that it was virtually the same. I said they are not the same for their OEM equivalent windshield does not have the "GM Logo" and that is what I wanted and asked for. Bottom line I finally talked to their regional manager and she understood exactly what I had asked for and had the women call me back. She told me that she will order an original GM OEM windshield and it would take a few days to come in and then it can be reinstalled. I was at my dealer getting my oil changed I told my service writer what happened and he proceeded to tell me about a similar story about a used SRX that was traded in with the non OEM windshield installed. The used car customer came back in and complained that his driver awareness package was not working properly. So the dealer ordered all new parts and installed the parts and found out that it still wasn't working properly. ???? Then the mechanic happened to look a little closer at the windshield and saw that the opening in the windshield for the camera was not aligned up properly. Then it dawned on him that it was not an original GM OEM windshield! The dealer had to bear the cost for a new GM OEM windshield because the Driver Awareness package had not been working properly when the customer took delivery of his vehicle.

I'm glad it worked out. Honestly, that's all I want. Definitely off to a rough start with this one though. I do still love driving her though. :-/