30thWS6

I bought my 05 V two weeks ago. I was aware of the audible alarm not being activated from the factory thanks to Cadillacfaq.com. So before I took delivery of the car, I specifically told both the salesmen and the sales manager that the alarm has to be activated by the dealer. They told me not to worry about it and that they had sold lots of V's.

About a week after owning the car, I decided to try out the alarm to see if it was actually working. Sure enough it wasn't working.

So I go back to the dealer, and I'm waiting there as the salesman that I dealt with and his manager are with other customers. Everyone else in the place looks at me like I'm a lost child looking for my parents, much like they did when I bought the vehicle. No one seemed to have a clue that I just dumped over 50 grand there less than two weeks ago. Finally, one of the other salesman approaches me and says "Weren't you in here a couple weeks ago."

So I tell him the story about the alarm and he says, "Did you order an alarm, because the CTS's don't come with alarms." At this point I begin to get a bit of an attitude because this is definitely not Cadillac service. I then replied "If I bought a Cavalier, it would have come with an alarm, let alone a CTS-V." He then says "Oh you bought the V, I think that does come with an alarm." He then went to consult another salesman who told him to check the option book. At about this point I'm thinking everyone here must have their heads up their asses.

Finally after a few more minutes, the sales manager was free. I confronted him about how he told me not to worry about the alarm. He apologized and said that he'd take care of it and blah blah blah, but I'd have to come back during service hours. I was not too terribly happy with his proposed solution, but I figured it wouldn't do any good whining.

In case anyone's wondering where they can find a good deal on a V, and don't mind getting treated like you're buying a used Aveo, I would recommend Crestview Cadillac in Southern California.

51PHFTY

Right after my purchase, I received a letter from GM telling me to test my alarm. Of course, it was not activated. I took my car back to the dealer who didn't know anything about it. They knew that my car had an alarm though. I had brought the letter with me and it wasn't a recall in which the dealers get notified by GM but a "service request" which means that the dealer must contact GM (from what I was told). I was present when the dealer fought with GM for 1/2 hour before GM sent a download to their service computer with the software updates so my alarm could be turned on.

I got lucky with my dealer - I didn't get the best deal around - about $3,000.00 off the sticker - but I have received at least 3-4 calls since asking if I was happy and if there was anything they could do for me and they fought with GM while I waited right there.(Parkway Cadillac in Valencia Calif.)

ctsvett

As I have always said (sounding like a broken record too), DEALERS SUCK and are the "thing" that is holding cadillac (and GM in general) back and unable to compete head to head against the imports.
If you read all the problems that people post on the forums, 85% or more are the fault of the dealers not knowing what to do, not knowing the correct information, not fighting for the customer, doing it wrong, and just plain SCREWING UP.

It's sersiously ironic that I, having spent time educating myself on the CTS-V by reading (forums mostly), can gather MORE information and is MORE knowledgable than an actual dealer who has the sole responsibility for repairing these cars. Read a few pages on this forum, read pages on the FAQ that you care about, and you are 10x more knowledgable than the dealer. I am sick of being smarter than these people and having to educate them everytime I go in.

To some dealer's credit, they have made strides to improve and some people do like their dealers. Mostly it's when the service writer, manager, or tech themself OWN a CTS and experience what a customer goes through. whats up with that?

I developed the dealerrank feature on the FAQ to help people find dealers that can service the V properly: Http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/dealerrank/index.html

Keep your head up, I am sure GM will do something to fix this eventually. Hey, they started Saturn with manufacturer owned dealers (I think).

onebadcad

iTrader: (1)

I bought my '05 in August 2004 and was educated about the problems from the FAQ site-thanks Reed. I told the dealer about it, and they were clueless. I sent them the TSB via fax, but they lost the fax. I took the TSB to the dealership while they were fixing another issue and they ignored it. I then sent about ten e-mails to Cadillac Service and they forwarded the TSB to me. I took the TSB to the Dealer's Service Manager and they finally activated the alarm system. I have no respects for the dealership that I bought my V from, as they blow-actually they blow big time!!! I am now resolved to fix things on my own whenever possible, which is a very sad commentary on the service offered after the purchase of a $55K car. Even McDonald's replaces your $1.00 fries if you think they are not warm enough...

carpe dm

I have the same problem with our '05, and our dealer doesn't know what to do either! I guess I will have to find that TSB.... anyone know how to contact "cadillac service" at GM? Thanks.

onebadcad

iTrader: (1)

Here it is:

Thank you for contacting the Cadillac Customer Assistance Center. I appreciate you taking the time to write us in regards to your alarm. Upon further research I have located the information you habe requested

Customer Letter

September, 2004

Dear Cadillac CTS-V Customer:

Part of our commitment to you as a member of the Cadillac family is giving you important information that may affect your vehicle.

We recently became aware of an issue involving the Content Theft Deterrent Option in some 2005 model year Cadillac CTS-V vehicles produced prior to September 1, 2004. Specifically, this feature may have been inadvertently turned off at the assembly plant.

To verify if your vehicle may be affected, a simple check can be performed. The procedure outlined below is an excerpt from Section 2 of your Owner's Manual, "Features and Controls".

Testing the Alarm

1. From inside the vehicle, roll down the window, then get out of the vehicle, keeping the door open.

2. From outside of the vehicle, with the door open, lock the vehicle using the power door lock switch or the remote keyless entry transmitter and close the door. Wait approximately 30 seconds until the security light goes off.

3. Reach in and unlock the door using the manual lock and open the door. The horn will sound and the exterior lamps will flash. You can turn off the alarm by unlocking the driver's door with your key, using the unlock button on the remote keyless entry transmitter or by starting the car with a valid key.

If the alarm does not sound when it should, check to see if the horn works. The horn fuse may be blown. To replace the fuse, see Fuses and Circuit Breakers on page 5-97. If the fuse does not need to be replaced, you may need to have your vehicle serviced.

If your alarm did not activate, it may require a visit to your servicing Cadillac dealer for a minor reprogramming operation to activate the option, which is covered under the terms of your Cadillac warranty. To limit any possible inconvenience, we recommend that you contact your Cadillac dealer to schedule an appointment for this repair.

We sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern that this situation may cause you. We want you to know that we will do our best, throughout your ownership experience, to ensure that your GM vehicle provides you many miles of enjoyable driving.

Cadillac Motor Car Division

General Motors Corporation

If you should need to contact us in the future, simply reply to this message or call our Cadillac Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-458-8006. Customer Relationship Managers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please use your service request number, 1-289031920 as a reference when you correspond with me.

Again, thank you for contacting Cadillac.

Sincerely,


Jack Ayers
Customer Relationship Manager
Cadillac Customer Assistance Center

For more information regarding the maintenance and care of your vehicle, please visit https://www.mygmlink.com/main/US/en/...?cmp=occallctr. This free online service offers vehicle and ownership-related information and tools tailored to your specific Cadillac.

Fang

I registered because of this thread.

I'm an ASE Master Certified tech at a Chevy/Cadillac dealer with 15 years experience at foreign & domestic dealerships and independent shops. I am the consummate professional; no greasy handprints on the paint or glass, whether it is a CTS-V or Corvette or '91 Corsica. I do whatever it takes, as long as it takes, to make sure I have found the cause of the customer's complaint, and that it is fully resolved before the vehicle leaves. Being that I am paid by book time or warranty time, doing the job right costs me money. Despite GM's rhetoric about customer satisfaction, their warranty pay makes it clear that they want the least amount of work possible as fast as possible. Their technical assistance line is constantly overloaded, with the average call taking around 45 minutes on the phone, with more paperwork afterwards to document the call and the final resolution. Software updates for Service Information and TIS are regularly broken - meaning that after an update, the program no longer works.

I can fully understand the frustration of what you guys went/are going through. And I promise you, dealing with GM from my end is more frustrating than it is from yours. Warranty pay has dwindled to near nothing as GM tries to cut costs, meaning I don't get paid for the work I do. That's a horrible situation to be in, knowing I have to work harder, faster, and longer hours to make the same money I did 10 years ago. I could go flip burgers or be a parts store monkey for the pay I get now, and those jobs won't require my brain power as this one does, only my physical labor - they also won't require that I provide $15,000 in equipment to do the work.. As it looks, I may have to take one of those jobs soon.

You know your personal car so well because that's the only one you have to deal with. We have dozens and dozens of models, and also multiple years of those models that we have to know inside and out - all the while trying to do the job with substandard equipment and little to no help from GM Corporate.

I made $18,000 last year. I don't think I'll be buying a CTS, of any flavor, anytime in the forseeable future.

ctsvett

Fang,
My comments were not intended to hurt anyone. I am sure that you are a knowledgable professional who is good at what you do.

However, My dealership, there are greasy handprints on the glass, my windows were left down in the shop requiring me to FULLY detail the interior, they NEVER fix obviouly broken things (until I specifically point them out to the manager). I am not saying that ALL dealers are bad, but my interaction with 3 of them HAVE BEEN TERRIBLE. The dealer I described above is THE BEST dealer I have been to which is really scarry.
I am not saying either that the techs are bad. Everytime I have spoken with a tech directly, I get the full truth and a solid answer. The service writers and their communication is terrrible and a huge part of the problem. But dont you think that the fact you are being pushed as you described in your post, WOULD cause things to be missed, things to slip by, and work to go undone.
GM is definitly NOT perfect either, but I think the burden falls on the dealer service departments (and their management I guess) to satsify the customer ESPECIALLY when that means being an advocate for the customer to GM and making sure that common problems (rear ends) are fixed properly. Also making sure that the correct people at GM know about the problems that exist and are real.

Motivation is the key here (and its true of any job). All I can say is that technicians such as yourself who do things "right" and get results are ALWAYS noted in my book. I only go to one service writer nowadays for that reason. I commend the dealer when things are done right. My hope is that dealers who foster the right customer service in their employees will survive and the others will not. That is my hope by posting user comments on the dealerrank (on cadillacfaq.com).

And lets remember that our import friends are doing a better job in MANY cases based on the number of complaints (they are not perfect either). Lets remember who the target is.

I dont envy the position you are in and I do wish you the best of luck.

What dealer do you work at by the way? If you are local, I will go to you.

02Hawk502

AMEN BROTHA!!!
I work for a Buick/Cadillac dealer here in town, and can't agree with you more. I hate seeing all of these problems people are having with dealers, because I just don't see any of it at my work. I've talked to our assistant service manager about some of the issues you guys have, and though he doesn't agree with the customers all of the time, being a tech, I can still help you guys out

Maybe all of you guys should just drive to the middle of the country here and let me take care of your V's I'm more **** about customers' cars than I am my 'Hawk, and that's saying A LOT

Fang

ctsvett-
I didn't take any of what was said as as attack on me (or my kind), I just wanted to explain that while GM talks a good game, they leave dealers in the cold. How do I go about letting GM know of the problems I face with their failed infrastructure? If there is a way to give them feedback, I'm sure it would take 2 hours to leave a voicemail, which would probably get deleted by their wonderful system. I have the fairly decent Service Information system, and Google, as my support system - I can't count on GM to help me when I run into a problem.

The dealers don't know how to run a dealership because GM gives no guidance other than lip service and cute PR. Their system is broken.

GM is showing signs that it wants to make an about face with some of its recent vehicles (CTS-V, STS, GTO, SSR*), perhaps the rest of the organization will come around to match the thinking embodied in these new vehicles, but I can't see it happening sooner than the next 5 years. They're just too far in the hole, management-wise, to do it sooner.

And sorry, but there's no way I can mention my employer or even the general area. First, it would undoubtedly get me fired (which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, mind you - I could finance a quite decent overseas vacation by selling my tools ). And second, I wouldn't want any of you guys to experience the hell that is my workplace.


* note that those are all rear wheel drive - front wheel drive is an abortion and I hope that if they cling to it they go down in flames. Aveo? Cobalt? Wtf? We have sold 3 - THREE - Aveo's since they showed up last year. I hope GM chokes to death on those things, I know our dealership is. We have about 20 '04's sitting out there rusting their brake rotors off. And that's the best place for them, short of a boat back to Korea.

ctsvett

Fang,
You may want to look at this...

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...35#post2639935

Not a knock on you, but I am not alone thinking the way I do.

Reed

1badcadi

My dealer did not even know it had an alarm? surprise surprise.

Dave's V

My dealer tried to tell me that it was working correctly. I actually had to read the owner's manual to them. Then the tech 2 showed my VIN as ?????. I said "I think you might of found the problem". 15 minutes later I was out the door with an active alarm system.

I don't know why dealers don't think customers will check internet forums for problems. I don't know how many V's my dealer sold but it sure doesn't seem like many. One person that works there has an 04 but I was told that he never drives it. That is almost as bad as leaving a case of Geman beer on your shelf, unopened.

Fang

We have sold 1 CTS-V. It's been in for oil changes, a broken center armrest, and the fuel crossover pipe recall. If I study and learn all the relevant points on this car, will it help me in servicing Impalas and Tahoes? What I have learned about the V, and the reason I was reading this board for around a year before I registered, is because I like the car - not because I ever see one in my shop.

/me puts on flame suit, waits for insults about rednecks, dirty fingernails, and poverty