TAHOEman

Hey guys, been on the forum for a few years and I wanted to buy a cts-v for a while.. I have found an 05 CTS-V with 25k.. and the dealership wants 25k.

the only thing that i am worried about is that its had 3 owners, and with such low miles makes me wonder if something is wrong. Its at an AUDI dealership, and my buddy works as a mechanic for a caddy dealership down the road, they said they will take a look at it and do an inspection and just do a check over the whole vehicle.

I know it has the CORSA exhaust on it, and it sounds nice when driving, didnt hear any whining or clunking in the rear.. what do you all think? any advice?? also I cant tell if its lowered in the front, but it kinda looks like it, but then again I am pretty sure they are all a little lower in the front..

any advice you all have would be greatly appreciated. thank you

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

there are so low mileage 05's out there. since you buddy will be looking over it for you, that will really help you out.

only thing you will have to make sure is that is has the updated rear diff and get the UUC rear diff bushing anyways. the bushing is only 88 bucks plus shipping for Lindsay Cadillac (ask for Luke). and then you might want to invest in things that will help out with wheel hop (gforce rear axles for 550 are a nice thing to have).

TAHOEman

the 05s have the updated rear? I called cadillac to run the VIN # to see if they ever did any major service on the car and they said nothing about the rear, just a replaced arm rest.. I thought the rears werent updated till 06...

also the car has no warranty left..

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

if the car doesn't have the diff, i would set aside so money in case the rear blows out. or you can pay the 1500 now to get to gen 4 diff. the gen 2, which most of the 05 models came with, is no where near as bad as the gen 1. but some have still blown apart. as long as you don't drive the car like its a drag car, it will have a better chance of holding up. but it is still possible to drop the bottom out, since some have fallen apart in 6th gear cruising on the freeway.

TAHOEman

what do you think about it having 3 owners with such low miles?

TAHOEman

Take a look at the car.. Does it look lowered? Sorry for so many replies but i am about to pull the trigger and get this... And i just wanna know what you all think...

Also which rims are those?

Josh@PremierAutosports

iTrader: (11)

It could have have just been a toy or 3rd car, it could also have had issues. Your buddy should be able to find any real issues if there is any. Its not a steal at that price so walk away if its not exactly what you want. Do you have a trade? If not I would look at private sellers on here or caddy forums as they normally care for there cars better than people that just view there cars as just a way to and from.

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

that looks like normal ride height to me. but there could be a slight lower of maybe 1/2" in there. i cant really tell from the picture.

and josh is right, 25k for a 5 year old car is a little high. you can get them with miles in that area to +5000 for low 20s all day long. i am not to worried about the 3 owners, but you will know everything when you friend looks at it. so if there is anything wrong, or they wont budge on price, i would walk. i got my 07 will 31696 for 275xx (29500 on the nose with TT&L).

TAHOEman

Yeah Im trading in my 04 z71 tahoe with 115000 on it.. they want to give me 10k for it... im thinking the most I wanna pay is 23 for the caddy.. but of course they are playing the this is a great car in excellent condition with low miles crap.. I have been following the cts-vs for a few years now and I know I could probably pick one up on here for 22 with pretty low miles.. well see what they say.. ALSO the caddy dealership im taking the car too wants to charge me 130 to look over the car...

i have a buddy at a chevy dealership who will do it for free.. do you guys think it matters? i know they are both GM and it has the ls6 motor, so i figured they would be qualified to look at it.

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

the V has A LOT of very unique features the other Sigma car has, and all of GM sedans for that matter. that is because Caddy stuffed a V8 into an engine bay designed for a V6. you would be able to get a rough idea of the overall car condition, but unless they really know the V there are somethings that they wouldn't check for. it is a good once over, and they will be able to notice some of the bigger issues.

TheLAW

iTrader: (4)

TahoeMan,

Those appear to be the V "accessory" rims that have been powdercoated/painted black.

LAW

TAHOEman

so those arent the stock rims? .. they didnt have any chips or anything on them..

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

they are stock rims...sorta...they were a dealer installed option. my V has them too, but they are chrome and not black.

HPFreak

iTrader: (1)

Is it Lowered also?

Fuzzy_Wuzzy

iTrader: (8)

I think it is lowered, however it looks like it needs the rear spacers to get the back down. look at the gap on the front wheels, it looks smaller then stock.

Take a tape measure with you, if the ground to the lip on the wheel well measures ~27.5" then it is stock height, i bet you will find the front it around 26.5 on that car, and the rear at 27.5

but the rear is a less then $100 fix, just search for mighty mouse sometime

TAHOEman

thats what I was thinking, that it looked a little lower in the front.. and the rear looked a little higher than most. which does kind of scare me when buying a used car, i know it has exhaust too and its from an AUDI dealership and they obvioulsy dont know a lot about these cars.. so im wondering if it was beaten up

TAHOEman

check out more pics and let me know what you think...

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...5&aff=national

Josh@PremierAutosports

iTrader: (11)

Negotiate your price depending on the out come of the Caddy dealer inspection. If you dont get the price you want dont bother with the inspection just walk. If you are prepared to walk you will get your price of 23k I'm sure.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

I was shopping for a V this spring. I found several that mileage was in the 30-50K range.
The 04-05s were priced 18-ish, the 06s were 22-ish and the 07s were 26-ish IIRC.

I got my 50K 06 for $23.5K with an extended warranty.

That dealership is definitely playing up the uber-low mileage. Is the paint flawless? 'Cause they are asking a flawless price. Hell, at $25K, I'd complain about the brake fluid being dark.

Look at the top of the engine cover ... is it scratched where it was scraped on the STB removing it?

Pull the engine cover and look at all the visible bolt heads on the intake, accessories and the bottom row of bolts on the heads. If there are signs that a wrench has been on them, I'd walk away.

Even so ... from my POV, for an 05, it's over-priced at $25K even at 25K miles. There are plenty of really nice cars out there more competitively priced.

Now, if the issue is unloading your Tahoe, then you are kind of cornered. And you can bank on if I recognize it, the dealership does too.


Buying a year's worth of driving mileage for $5K. That's pretty expensive.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...item20b30f8c26


Here you would be paying $3K for a two year newer car.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2007-...item58897120d9

Buy a plane ticket and have a road trip.


Here's an 06 with 26K and the bidding has stalled at $20K
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOW-R...item255cde20e8

A lot of folks don;t put a lot of faith in eBay for purchasing items ... but it really is a good gauge on what the market is actually paying for stuff.

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

i agree with this...i used ebay to help gauge what i could pay for the car. i spent about a good 3 months looking around, til i got my V.