When I first saw the CTS at a car show I said to myself “finally, a true sports sedan from the US”. So when they became available in my area I immediately went out and took one for a test drive. I thought it was a little slow but the dealer assured me that it would improve after a thousand miles or so. I liked the styling and the feel of the car so feeling patriotic, I bought a silver automatic with all the options for a little more than $41,000. Well, after 10,000 miles it was just as slow as it was when it was new. I went back to the dealer and they checked it out and said it was fine and went on how it wasn’t supposed to be a drag racer. Despite what my dealer said, I thought for sure there was something wrong with my car - it is a sports sedan after all. I was ready to go to GM about it until a co-worker showed me Motor Trend’s Car of the Year article. The fastest they could get to 60 mph in a CTS was 8 seconds! Most of the cars in the test were faster including the Toyota Matrix wagon, the Mini Cooper S, even the 4 cylinder Honda Accord! The handling numbers weren’t any better with the CTS bested in the skid pad and/or slalom by the entire group (except the Lincoln Town Car), which includes the Suzuki Aerio and Honda Civic Hybrid! Needless to say, the CTS didn’t win Car of the Year.

Aside from the lack of performance the car still fails to impress me. The styling looks more odd to me the more I look at it - too many lines and creases (The creases on the “D” pillar go in opposite directions). Also, the paint chips easily, the interior isn’t laid out well and feels cheap, and the seats are uncomfortable on long trips. It only has 20,000 miles on it and I’ve had to bring it back to the dealer several times for silly things like the radio not working, driver’s side window not working, trunk lid and rear door misaligned and leaking, rattles (most of which the dealer hasn’t been able to fix because they claim they can’t hear them), power driver’s seat not working, and some interior trim pieces coming loose. I will probably have to bring it in again soon because the transmission is shifting hard and starting to slip a little. I’ve done all the scheduled service on time and at the Cadillac dealer.

Dealer service is about as good as the car. That is to say, terrible. Every time I go in for repairs or service they act like I’m putting them out and take way too long to do the repairs. They had it for 2 weeks to fix the trunk and door. On two occasions they didn’t have a loner car to give me, and one time they gave me a stripped out Chevy Cavalier! The only time I got a Cadillac it was a Catera (which is even worse than the CTS) and it had an empty tank! I had to go back and wait about a half hour until they filled it up.

I am extremely disappointed with this car and my Cadillac Dealer. I haven’t looked up the resale value but I am not expecting much. I will probably be stuck with this slow piece of junk for a few more years.

Amount Paid (US$): 41000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: Loaded Automatic