Why I left GM
My relationship with GM products began in 2010 when I was gifted a 2004 base model Cadillac Deville from my old man. Despite the forthcoming complaints you will read, this was the best car I ever owned.
The ’04 Deville was pre-bailout American perfection. It idled so quietly you could barely tell if it was running. The suspension—including air-ride rear shocks—was flawless. The steering was firm at speed and the vehicle cornered better than any other American luxury sedan—no body roll for a tank on wheels. Heck it even had climate controls on the steering wheel (if your vehicle has this in 2022, DM me and I’ll send you a box of cookies).
Despite complaints about the 4.6L 32-valve Northstar V8, I never encountered serious problems, as I drove the vehicle from 85,000 miles to 155,000 miles over the course of five-and-a-half years. Sure, an ignition coil would periodically fail which would cause raw fuel to enter the exhaust system, subsequently frying the catalytic converted—this only happened once or twice (Palladium was cheap back then). Replacement air-ride shocks for the rear were $15 each online—I redid the entire suspension for chump change.
About four years into owning the Deville, something happened with the steering system. I’m not a mechanic or engineer—don’t bug me with the details. My local mechanic advised me to take it to the dealer because that kind of repair was beyond him.
And so I did. I brought the vehicle to Northbay Cadillac, on the Gold Coast of Long Island and was assured it would be an easy fix and that I should have the car back in five days. Those days came and went. Fortunately, they provided me with an ATS loaner…a vehicle I quickly fell in love with. As much as I loved the ATS, I became curious as to why I had not heard from the dealership after a week and phoned them and was advised that they had not begun work on the vehicle yet. I cannot recall the excuse they proffered. It made me wonder though: Why on earth tie up a loaner car while…not performing work on my car. After about two-and-a-half weeks, the Deville had been repaired and I had put about 1,000 miles on the ATS I gave back them. They could never sufficiently explain as to why the repairs took so long and I did not push them. At around 155,000mi another ignition coil failed, which caused the catalytic converter to again fail and I opted to sell the car for peanuts.
After 2.5 years of leasing an Acura ILX I leveled-up to a RWD 2.0L Turbo Base ATS. Lean and mean, this was the sportiest car I have ever had. At around 1-2 years of a 4-year lease, I began having USB connectivity issues. This was a big concern as this car had no Navigation system and I was reliant on Android Auto. Replacing the USB port was met with a bunch of attitudes and nastiness from lotboys to service managers alike. Confusion is another word that comes to mind—everyone in the equation seemed to be confused as to how to make a simple repair in a very basic vehicle. Nonetheless, they completed it within a day. Pheeew.
During the subsequent service visit for oil/filter, I specifically asked the service manager to NOT rotate the tires on the car (I was using snow tires in the rear and there was no need for a rotation). They went and did it anyway. When I received one of those stupid email surveys, I entered a lot of zeroes. Upon returning to the dealership for the next round of service, I was met with hostility and anxiety from everyone in the service department. I was being questioned as to why I gave them so many 0’s. Peculiar client service to say the least. I complete your survey on my own time and you get angered by how I completed it? This doesn’t work for me. Also, during this visit I witnessed a customer’s red XT5 backed so hard into a metal pole that the bumper was indented 2”. Another poor Cadillac customer!
I wanted to purchase this car because while I knew the reliability was suspect, the buyout price was cheap. At around 2.5 years into the lease, I noticed oil seeping from the area of the headgasket. I mentioned this to Cadillac Service (again, at Northbay) and was assured that oil seeping from an engine with 28,000 miles on it is no big deal and they would just…wipe it off with a rag. Incidentally, I babied this car and it was only used for easy and short city driving. Yes, I did make sure to do an “Italian Tune Up” once or twice / month. I also ensured to drive easy for several miles after said tune-up as I was advised by a friend of mine who builds Gulfstream jets for a living. He’s pretty adept with the cars he builds as well.
Obviously, I opted not to buyout this car (who the heck buys any car with oil coming out the engine?)
At around the same time my Father, proud owner of a 2010 DTS Platinum, began experiencing slight engine knocking from his car. He took it to King O’Rourke dealership (Long Island…but not my fancy Gold Coast). He was told the vehicle needed a new oil filter and new oil pan. This took that dealership 20 days to fix…or so my elderly father thought. (They never offered him a loaner car…not even a Chevy).
As the lotboy was bringing up his car, it was banging, clanking and making terribly loud noises to the point that other clients were looking at the car. My father refused to take the car back—he was concerned for his safety at this point.
After another 1-2 weeks at King O’Rourke my father was advised that the car was ready to be picked up. When he arrived at the dealership he asked what had happened and they told him not to worry, they just ran the engine with no oil in it and these cars are made to be run with no oil in the engine. (Again, I bounced this off my mechanical-engineer-gulfstream friend…he disagreed. He is a fan of motor oil).
And so my father safely took the car back home. Drove it about a hundred miles and again—banging and clanking. He brought it back to King O’Rourke where they again did not offer him a loaner car and it took them another several days to fix (or bandaid) whatever it was they did to break his car of twelve years. Then they were nice enough to drive it to his house and I pray that it is safe because both my mother and father drive around town and on highways in that vehicle.
I left GM for Lexus and am encouraging my parents to do the same.
During my and my families experiences with GM/Cadillac, I have been able to surmise the following:
Coda:
I went to my first Lexus service appointment last weekend and heard myself saying:
Make sure they screw the oil filter on properly. Please don’t evacuate all the oil from my car and then run the engine. The service manager looked at me like I was on hallucinogens. I told him about my father’s recent experience with GM/Cadillac and he replied,
“It’s okay. You’re with Lexus now.”
My relationship with GM products began in 2010 when I was gifted a 2004 base model Cadillac Deville from my old man. Despite the forthcoming complaints you will read, this was the best car I ever owned.
The ’04 Deville was pre-bailout American perfection. It idled so quietly you could barely tell if it was running. The suspension—including air-ride rear shocks—was flawless. The steering was firm at speed and the vehicle cornered better than any other American luxury sedan—no body roll for a tank on wheels. Heck it even had climate controls on the steering wheel (if your vehicle has this in 2022, DM me and I’ll send you a box of cookies).
Despite complaints about the 4.6L 32-valve Northstar V8, I never encountered serious problems, as I drove the vehicle from 85,000 miles to 155,000 miles over the course of five-and-a-half years. Sure, an ignition coil would periodically fail which would cause raw fuel to enter the exhaust system, subsequently frying the catalytic converted—this only happened once or twice (Palladium was cheap back then). Replacement air-ride shocks for the rear were $15 each online—I redid the entire suspension for chump change.
About four years into owning the Deville, something happened with the steering system. I’m not a mechanic or engineer—don’t bug me with the details. My local mechanic advised me to take it to the dealer because that kind of repair was beyond him.
And so I did. I brought the vehicle to Northbay Cadillac, on the Gold Coast of Long Island and was assured it would be an easy fix and that I should have the car back in five days. Those days came and went. Fortunately, they provided me with an ATS loaner…a vehicle I quickly fell in love with. As much as I loved the ATS, I became curious as to why I had not heard from the dealership after a week and phoned them and was advised that they had not begun work on the vehicle yet. I cannot recall the excuse they proffered. It made me wonder though: Why on earth tie up a loaner car while…not performing work on my car. After about two-and-a-half weeks, the Deville had been repaired and I had put about 1,000 miles on the ATS I gave back them. They could never sufficiently explain as to why the repairs took so long and I did not push them. At around 155,000mi another ignition coil failed, which caused the catalytic converter to again fail and I opted to sell the car for peanuts.
After 2.5 years of leasing an Acura ILX I leveled-up to a RWD 2.0L Turbo Base ATS. Lean and mean, this was the sportiest car I have ever had. At around 1-2 years of a 4-year lease, I began having USB connectivity issues. This was a big concern as this car had no Navigation system and I was reliant on Android Auto. Replacing the USB port was met with a bunch of attitudes and nastiness from lotboys to service managers alike. Confusion is another word that comes to mind—everyone in the equation seemed to be confused as to how to make a simple repair in a very basic vehicle. Nonetheless, they completed it within a day. Pheeew.
During the subsequent service visit for oil/filter, I specifically asked the service manager to NOT rotate the tires on the car (I was using snow tires in the rear and there was no need for a rotation). They went and did it anyway. When I received one of those stupid email surveys, I entered a lot of zeroes. Upon returning to the dealership for the next round of service, I was met with hostility and anxiety from everyone in the service department. I was being questioned as to why I gave them so many 0’s. Peculiar client service to say the least. I complete your survey on my own time and you get angered by how I completed it? This doesn’t work for me. Also, during this visit I witnessed a customer’s red XT5 backed so hard into a metal pole that the bumper was indented 2”. Another poor Cadillac customer!
I wanted to purchase this car because while I knew the reliability was suspect, the buyout price was cheap. At around 2.5 years into the lease, I noticed oil seeping from the area of the headgasket. I mentioned this to Cadillac Service (again, at Northbay) and was assured that oil seeping from an engine with 28,000 miles on it is no big deal and they would just…wipe it off with a rag. Incidentally, I babied this car and it was only used for easy and short city driving. Yes, I did make sure to do an “Italian Tune Up” once or twice / month. I also ensured to drive easy for several miles after said tune-up as I was advised by a friend of mine who builds Gulfstream jets for a living. He’s pretty adept with the cars he builds as well.
Obviously, I opted not to buyout this car (who the heck buys any car with oil coming out the engine?)
At around the same time my Father, proud owner of a 2010 DTS Platinum, began experiencing slight engine knocking from his car. He took it to King O’Rourke dealership (Long Island…but not my fancy Gold Coast). He was told the vehicle needed a new oil filter and new oil pan. This took that dealership 20 days to fix…or so my elderly father thought. (They never offered him a loaner car…not even a Chevy).
As the lotboy was bringing up his car, it was banging, clanking and making terribly loud noises to the point that other clients were looking at the car. My father refused to take the car back—he was concerned for his safety at this point.
After another 1-2 weeks at King O’Rourke my father was advised that the car was ready to be picked up. When he arrived at the dealership he asked what had happened and they told him not to worry, they just ran the engine with no oil in it and these cars are made to be run with no oil in the engine. (Again, I bounced this off my mechanical-engineer-gulfstream friend…he disagreed. He is a fan of motor oil).
And so my father safely took the car back home. Drove it about a hundred miles and again—banging and clanking. He brought it back to King O’Rourke where they again did not offer him a loaner car and it took them another several days to fix (or bandaid) whatever it was they did to break his car of twelve years. Then they were nice enough to drive it to his house and I pray that it is safe because both my mother and father drive around town and on highways in that vehicle.
I left GM for Lexus and am encouraging my parents to do the same.
During my and my families experiences with GM/Cadillac, I have been able to surmise the following:
- GM does not value nor understand client service
- GM does not value brand loyalty within a family—we were a family of Cadillac owners
- GM does not understand its own products. Their service departments do not understand the tech/infotainment systems, they struggle to repair a steering column failure and they do not understand the simple tasks of internal combustion engine repair.
Coda:
I went to my first Lexus service appointment last weekend and heard myself saying:
Make sure they screw the oil filter on properly. Please don’t evacuate all the oil from my car and then run the engine. The service manager looked at me like I was on hallucinogens. I told him about my father’s recent experience with GM/Cadillac and he replied,
“It’s okay. You’re with Lexus now.”
