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Newb here, with CTS-V reliability questions

41K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  m13s 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi, guys. Let me start out by saying I am a GM guy forever (I'm 65) and I love the CTS-V in all shapes and colors. I'm talking about the 2009+ with the blower motor. The style is exciting and the factory installed power is unbelievable. How and why Cadillac brought this car to market still boggles my mind. I do not own a V yet, my current ride is a 2009 Pontiac G8 GT.

I will try to express my concerns as well as I can. We are a two car semi retired family, the kids have been out of the house long ago. My wife drives the "family car" that we use as such, my car is mostly for me to go to work and enjoy driving my "Hot Rod" daily. I have come close to buying the Cadillac a couple of times, but I'm a little concerned about the reliability. My Pontiac, and the Impala SS before have been stone reliable. The V-cars I've seriously looked at seem to show a lot of returns to the dealer for various issues, some of them substantial.

I understand no car is perfect, and maybe I've been looking at bad examples, but it seems that Cadillac had some teething problems with the cars. So let me finally get to my question. Has Cadillac resolved any of the reliability issues with the later model cars? I've been looking at earlier models for budgetary reasons, are the 2013s and maybe the 2014s better than the earlier ones? I apologize now for the lengthy post. I would love to own a CTS-V Sedan (back seat for my Shepherd), should I look at the newer models?
 
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#2 ·
best bang for the buck today in my opinion.

replace the idolator in the blower if not already done, or look for one thats had the blower replaced. thats really the only issue that seems to come up with V's that are stock.

if you mod one, get a good tuner.....there are only a handful of people that really understand these cars and wont screw them up.

I daily drove both of my V2's and never had issues that I didnt cause. my red car was rock solid reliable and ran well all of the time.
 
#3 ·
I have a 2011 sedan and I've never taken mine in for any work. Never had reason to other than the blower recall (which was deemed strictly a noise issue) but I wouldn't even take mine in for that. I just swapped the isolator myself and installed all my mods. Drive it as often as I can even though I have a couple other vehicles. I don't abuse her but I'm not gentle either. As long as you find the right car you'll do well.
 
#4 ·
When I started looking for cars, I noticed pretty much every car I came across had dealer visits for the supercharger and rear differential.

The supercharger noise/rattle was really common with the factory blowers so a LOT of cars have been warrantied to a new revision of the blower- I'm not sure what changes were made to the blower design (see above posts) but the newer one has more noise to it, which GM now measures against a certain allowable threshold.

The rear diff, to my understanding, was an issue with the LSD additive (heyo) that caused a lot of noise from the rear diff. My understanding is that a new AC Delco rear diff fluid was released with the proper additive and, as far as I know, there haven't been recurring issues for those running the proper fluid in a diff that wasn't hurt from the OE issue.

To be totally honest, I was looking for a car that had the S/C and rear diff replaced under warranty. That's partially because I knew I was looking at higher mileage cars that would be out of warranty, so YMMV. However there are lot of guys here who drive their vehicles pretty hard (myself included) so I think you'll be more than pleased with the overall reliability of these cars.
 
#5 ·
The rear diff, to my understanding, was an issue with the LSD additive (heyo) that caused a lot of noise from the rear diff. My understanding is that a new AC Delco rear diff fluid was released with the proper additive and, as far as I know, there haven't been recurring issues for those running the proper fluid in a diff that wasn't hurt from the OE issue.
What is the common noise that the diff will make? When I get in mine, on cold mornings, the first couple turns there is a bit of a whirring noise. No clunking or anything. When I asked the dealer, of course they couldnt replicate it. Would a rear diff fluid change be advised? 2012 Vagon, no records indicated it has had a fluid change and has 46K.

Sorry, didnt mean to hijack the thread. never quite understood what the noise issues were in the other threads talking about it.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for all the input, guys. It's heartening to hear that the supercharger and rear diff issues have been fixed satisfactorily by the factory. The cost of maintaining a car like this is enough without major component failures. Funny thing about the diff, when my 96 Impala SS was brand new, the rear diff started "growling" when backing up and turning, as when backing out of a parking spot. It sounded exactly like a tire tread rubbing something in the rear wheelwell. Dealer replaced the fluid and the noise went away. Maybe the posi additive was left out at the factory.
Because of my work schedule and other things, most of the work on my cars is handled by a local shop. They've been in the area forever and have a golden reputation. They stay current with modern technology, are honest, they charge a fair price for their time, and I trust them implicitly, take their advice, and try not to "cheap out" on any work they do. They've worked on my cars for many years. They have a 24 month warranty on parts and labor. So my relationship with one of the shop supervisors is such that I discuss cars I'm looking at with him and get his input on general reliability, cost to maintain (parts, etc). When I mentioned I have looked at 2010-2011 M-B CLS550, he got a look on his face and said "you know, there's a lot of technology in those cars". He was politely steering me away from those cars. Apparently parts for European cars like M-B, BMW, Porsche are very dear. Too bad, that CLS550 is beautiful. So I'm going to resume looking for the right CTS-V. I don't want black (my G8 is white and I love it), I don't want a dark interior, I want dealer maintained and preferably bone stock. Now I know that I will look for a supercharger update or replace and the same for the rear diff. I love the look of the coupe, but my shepherd is getting old and probably could not handle the gymnastics for rear seat entry. Nor would I ask my robust(!) buddies to do so. Sorry for rambling so much, I'm going to spend more time looking around the forum. It will make me a more informed buyer when the right car shows up. I look forward to possibly more comments on living with the V-car. Thanks.
 
#13 ·
As stated above you will want to upgrade to a solid isolator if it hasn't been done and I would highly recommend an oil catch can to keep oil from being ingested into the supercharger. These cars are very fun and reliable even when modified correctly. If you do end up with a V let me know if I can be of any help upgrading it to be more reliable and if you want to go faster or upgrade the looks we can handle that as well.
 
#16 ·
Another reliable thread. sigh Not sure where Caddy came in as unreliable. I had x5 with Northstar, one ATS 2.0 6M and the wagon. All but the ATS were rock solid. I did blow the 4 banger tracking the ATS so I would even cut that some slack. The LS motors are rock solid and you being a GM guy should know that.
 
#17 ·
m13s I thought you would see that thread is a couple of years old, but there's a one word answer to when Caddy's were perceived as unreliable. Cimarron
 
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