Any Cadillac Owners Here?

[bcrdukes]

I have an opportunity to pick up a 2014 Cadillac ATS Luxury as a daily driver as a colleague is moving back to the UK. He's the first owner and only had it as a secondary vehicle to haul his wife and kids on weekends.

I know the general concensus on Revscene is typically, "Eww, domestic." But I haven't really read or heard much on Cadillac reliability and issues. I think the bonus on this car is that it's manual transmission, which I miss a lot. If I don't pick up the vehicle, it gets returned back to GM.

Any tips/input appreciated. Thanks!

[originalhypa]

Manual trans is nice, and a couple year old Cadillac will still be comfortable and somewhat reliable to DD.

What engine is in the car?

I love/hate my g8. It has gobs of power and drives beautifully, but the little broken things are what keep me from truly loving it. Chances are you’re going to have a few problems with the car. But if it’s a joy to drive, then it all evens out in the end. They’re good looking cars, that’s for sure.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by originalhypa

Manual trans is nice, and a couple year old Cadillac will still be comfortable and somewhat reliable to DD.

What engine is in the car?

I love/hate my g8. It has gobs of power and drives beautifully, but the little broken things are what keep me from truly loving it. Chances are you’re going to have a few problems with the car. But if it’s a joy to drive, then it all evens out in the end. They’re good looking cars, that’s for sure.

It's got 2.0L turbo engine. It's the RWD version, if it matters. I personally do not care much for AWD.

I don't expect this to be the most exciting of engines compared to the 3.6L V6, but it will be a daily driver that will be sitting in a lot of stop and go traffic and highway traffic jams.

[Akinari]

Cadillac is the least reliable manufacturer according to Consumer Reports this year.

[bcrdukes]

Well, now...

[Badhobz]

cant speak for the newer models, but i had a 2006 CTS 3.6L RWD and it was a reliable car for the 5 years I owned it (DD). Even got me through that 2008 snow storm with no issues.

Little things were annoying like a few squeaks and rattles that popped up after 2 years but overall it was a good car. Ride quality was good but it wasn't very sporty in terms of handling or feedback. Power steering was super over boosted and had zero sensation.

I heard the ATS and the new CTS are much better. Kudos to Cadillac for trying to make the american BMW. But also boo-urns to Cadillac for losing sight of what the brand was and is, that is opulent land yachts for rich fat Americans.

[bcrdukes]

P.S. - Dumb Consumer Reports only really rates the Escalade as the real culprit here. The ATS and CTS don't really seem to have any real problems.

I'll probably test drive it when he's back from holiday in the new year. He's thrown out the run-flats that came with the car and replaced them with Continental DWS, which is nice.

[GS8]

Out of the box, the 3.6 V6 is better but came with auto only. The 2.0T with MT is more engaging. The car was purpose built to compete with the 3 series. It won't have 3 series build quality but the car is pretty competent in the engine and suspension tuning. If the car still has a warranty, that makes it better.

Biggest 'issue' is the CUE system. Let's just say it's somewhat functional but hardly intuitive. My own personal issue with anything made in the last 5-10 years is planned obsolescence.

Fun fact: A Trifecta tune alone could give you as much as 80hp gains

[bcrdukes]

I believe it still has two years warranty.

[mb_]

Cadillac CUE is probably the worst infotainment system out there that I've ever used. Other than that, they seem to be enjoyable cars without too much headaches.

[snowfarmer]

Do it, then bolt this on?
Cadillac ATS 2.0T Stage 0 Tuning System | Vermont Tuning LLC
291 hp/325 ft/lb's of torque with no other mods needed in a manual RWD car, now we're talking a fun DD.

[originalhypa]

^
Now this is an idea. One of the things that makes it nice to drive a domestic is the power factor. 325lbs doesn’t put out power like my 6.0L, but it’s not bad at all.

Plus, white chicks dig caddies. And hipsters dig white chicks. And handlebar moustaches.

[BIC_BAWS]

I know nothing about domestics aside from my dad's Pontiac Montana. From what I know about that car, shit keeps breaking LOL. But it's nothing as bad as my car, and it's way cheaper to get a domestic fixed than a German. Way easier to work on too.

But from what I hear you have a bmw. I think you'd be okay with the "poor reliability".

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[fliptuner]

How much for just the motor and tranny?

[vantrip]

probably best to hold off the aftermarket tuner until after the warranty runs out, if you do buy it. I briefly drove the 2.0T with the auto and was overall impressed with the ats

[Badhobz]

just buy an older CTS-V (first gen). LS moooooootttttoooorrrrrs are awesome (5.7 L pushrod OHV LS6 engine producing 400 hp (298 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 395 lb·ft (536 N·m) of torque at 4,800 rpm)

[bcrdukes]

I had considered them, but most of them have been Surrey-Jacked and the first generation models seem to have major design and reliability issues.

[Badhobz]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

I had considered them, but most of them have been Surrey-Jacked and the first generation models seem to have major design and reliability issues.

i heard the tranny has issue but that LS6 is stout. I had the same generation and i didnt run into any problems with mine. However that interior looks super dated nowadays and im not sure how the leather would hold up in 2017. Mine already was sagging quite a bit back in 2008-2009

[bcrdukes]

As tempting as it is, I don't think an LS6-powered CTS-V would do well as a daily driver, especially when the 401 highway and Gardiner Expressway in Toronto are a parking lot between 4pm to 7:30pm everyday.

[Badhobz]

Try the ATS man. Im sure you'll love it. You might even be the first one on here to own one. Shake up this establishment

[ijaz_97]

Girlfriend has a 2014 ATS 2.0T. 80,000km on it and is going into the shop on Monday for new pistons. Apparently the 2013-2014 2.0T pistons are prone to failure and crack prematurely. Also, the CUE infotainment system is horrible.

[bcrdukes]

I believe there was a factory recall for that exact problem.

[originalhypa]

Recalls?!
If you’re looking at a domestic, get used to recalls. I got a letter from gmc Canada last week saying my 09’ was being issued a new recall. I don’t even know what it was for. All I care about is beating the shit out of a service loaner while they repair and wash my LS beast.

[bcrdukes]

Recalls sure beat the hell out of dealing with exploding German cooling systems!

[GLOW]

my old coworker had a new caddy SUV, thing was like in the shop every 2-3 weeks for some shit breaking down, lucky it's all under warranty.

he ended up trading it in b/c he said he was only driving courtesy cars and got a genesis sedan instead