[Hoosier Daddy]

I'm thinking about buying an ATS Turbo manual.

Questions I didn't find answers for at the dealer or on the net:

I've test driven one but would like to drive an ATS on a day trip somewhere. Does anyone know of a national rental company that has ATSs. I realize it would likely NOT be a turbo and certainly not a manual but I would still like extended time in the seats and with the controls, etc..

Are there ways for the public to buy at employee/family prices? For example, you can buy a Ford at X plan prices if you own Ford stock for x months. Or a Mustang for X plan just by joining the Mustang Club of America.

Any unpublished incentives from Cadillac? Again using Ford for an example, if you order a brochure on-line for any Ford it is very likely to come with a TRUE $750 coupon for pretty much any Ford.

Wife wants an interior combination that isn't standard (likes one color seats but another type of wood). I know of several non-GM dealers that sell parts for VERY cheap. And none of them pop up in searches for discount parts, so I am interested in the lowest cost mail order dealer of Cadillac parts. I might want to buy replacement wood pieces.

Has anyone added remote start to a manual transmission ATS? If you did and are happy with it, who did it and what product did they use?

I noticed that others are interested in SD card size and number of file limits. I'm looking for that as well. My dealer is checking into it and I'll post whatever he comes up with.

Very esoteric: The salesman was showing me a I could lock valets out of a cubby by making up a code. I really don't care about that but asked him couldn't a valet just push on-star and ask for it to be cleared. He said On-star can't do that. So I asked what happens if I forget the code? Do I have to wait until the service department is open to retrieve items in the cubby? He didn't know and got a bit flustered. LoL. But now I wonder how you do recover from a forgotten code.

TIA

 

[nmauzy]

Hi there - when I was testing the ATS, the dealer let me take the car home overnight. Discuss with them and see if you can work that angle. Much cheaper and you get to drive exactly what you are after.

Cheers,
Nathan

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Hi there - when I was testing the ATS, the dealer let me take the car home overnight. Discuss with them and see if you can work that angle. Much cheaper and you get to drive exactly what you are after.

Cheers,
Nathan

Hmmmm. Wonder if I can get them to let me take another one home AFTER I buy. Like one with the type of wood my wife wants. :shhh:

 

[marktanner]

Doubt you'll be able to add a remote start, as one has to depress the clutch as a safety over-ride in order to start the car. If you could actually make it work, the car would have to be out of gear, and if the e-brake doesn't hold, the car will roll. Not a good idea.

My dealer said that he thought one could order the car with whatever trim you wanted, but I'm not convinced. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

[ewired]

You could add remote start via aftermarket. All new DEI(Viper, Clifford, Avital, Python) products are configured to handle manual transmissions.

I think if you ask the dealer for an extended test drive, they would make this happen. Besides they probably have an ATS as a loaner for Service Work.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

You could add remote start via aftermarket. All new DEI(Viper, Clifford, Avital, Python) products are configured to handle manual transmissions.

I think if you ask the dealer for an extended test drive, they would make this happen. Besides they probably have an ATS as a loaner for Service Work.

Thanks. I'll check them out.

I didn't ask the dealer for an extended test but mentioned I would like to rent one for a day from a car rental place. That's more appealing to me since I'd much rather drive a car with lots of miles (the more the better). He didn't know if anyone rents them but did volunteer that they (the dealer) don't let people test drive a car for a day. But he may not have thought about service loaner cars. That's a separate department so someone higher up might need to make that call or set the policy. I'll ask.

----------

I said I'd post what the dealer said about SD card sizes. My salesman said he talked to someone in GM who would know and he said it will take 64GB cards. I've read posts from people who say they couldn't get 64GB cards to work but you never know for sure if they used one with the correct specs, formatted right, no confusing files on it, etc.. Good to know it is possible with the right card to go up to 64GB.

I would never need that much for music but might want to throw some videos on, I understand CUE can play videos while stopped.

I think I read that CUE re-catalogs media every time you start the car. Again, I doubt I would have enough files to slow it down but is there a formula or some other way to predict how long x files would take to catalog? I suspect its not linear (e.g. if your x files take y seconds it doesn't mean twice as many files might not take 4 times as long). Sorry for any excessively geeky questions.

 

[bdwalters]

I rented an ATS (2.5L Luxury) from National a few weeks back in Austin, Texas. I think a few of the other companies should also offer them by now. I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a turbo, though.

The trim can be swapped. At least one person on the boards here had the dealer do it. I'm going to do black on black with the dark olive trim when I order mine later this year. (I'm waiting for the 8-speed auto.)

If you get a stick, make sure you drive it before you buy it. It sounds as if some are better than others.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

I rented an ATS (2.5L Luxury) from National a few weeks back in Austin, Texas. I think a few of the other companies should also offer them by now. I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a turbo, though.

Thanks for the tip. I know a turbo is unlikely and a manual trans even less likely but I mostly want extended times with the ergonomics. So any model will do.

The trim can be swapped. At least one person on the boards here had the dealer do it. I'm going to do black on black with the dark olive trim when I order mine later this year. (I'm waiting for the 8-speed auto.)

I may have seen that or a similar post but my dealer said another customer wanted different wood and it was ~$800, basically the cost of the other panels. I don't think a dealer could just do a swap with another new car IF the window sticker mentions the type of panels. But if that level of detail isn't on the sticker, they could. I'll look into that but it may be academic because I'm starting to lean toward the bright blue which can't be ordered with brownstone. What I wanted was brownstone with sapele wood. If I can't get brownstone, I don't need any swaps to get the sapele wood, I'll just order it.

If you get a stick, make sure you drive it before you buy it. It sounds as if some are better than others.

Interesting. I drove a turbo and the manual was great. My wife drove another on a different day and she reported the shifter was good but the clutch action was bad. I'll need to get lucky because I have to order the car and wouldn't like to have to reorder if the 1st one is bad. I see your point though, Ford installs Getrags built in China and the NHTSA (sp?) did an investigation because many would refuse to go into gear at very inopportune times. It was a lottery. Thanks again for the heads up.

 

[rustybear3]

but it may be academic because I'm starting to lean toward the bright blue which can't be ordered with brownstone. What I wanted was brownstone with sapele wood. If I can't get brownstone, I don't need any swaps to get the sapele wood, I'll just order it.

You must be ordering just a standard model....all the other trim levels allow the platinum interior with Brownstone accents on that car color. I was contemplating swapping out the wood accents
for Sapele myself with my dealer ( he said no problem if I wanted to), but fell in love with the Okapei wood trim when I saw it in person....and kept it!

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

You must be ordering just a standard model....all the other trim levels allow the platinum interior with Brownstone accents on that car color. I was contemplating swapping out the wood accents
for Sapele myself with my dealer ( he said no problem if I wanted to), but fell in love with the Okapei wood trim when I saw it in person....and kept it!

Nope, not ordering a base. The build-your-own removes two of the interior options (including brownstone) when you select bright blue. The dealer didn't believe it and tried to configure an order that way and got the same results. Base by the way only comes with black or caramel, both with oil-rubbed bronze panels.

 

[marktanner]

Are you in Canada? The Opulent Blue is available in the USA with Light Platinum with Brownstone. It not only comes up on the website, there are two available for sale in the Atlanta area. The Caramel and Morello Red interiors are not available with that color, however.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Are you in Canada? The Opulent Blue is available in the USA with Light Platinum with Brownstone. It not only comes up on the website, there are two available for sale in the Atlanta area. The Caramel and Morello Red interiors are not available with that color, however.

You're right. It was Caramel and Red that disappear when you select Opulent Blue. That's great! So what happened to the salesman? He said he ran into the same thing (no brownstone). This is great. Now I just need to figure out how to get the wood swapped. Thanks!

 

[marktanner]

For what it's worth, the wood with the Brownstone is gorgeous, IMO, and the color matches the brown well. The Sapele might not go with that interior as well, as it has a lot more red in it.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

For what it's worth, the wood with the Brownstone is gorgeous, IMO, and the color matches the brown well. The Sapele might not go with that interior as well, as it has a lot more red in it.

I've seen all the options. I just like the sapele wood better. If its too red for the brownstone for my taste, the brownstone goes. To be honest I don't really like brownstone any better than the black. It's just that every car and truck I've owned since '78 has had been black in those areas so its mostly to end the monotony.