I drove the long-term CTS for the first time ever this weekend. Overall, a nice machine. As we've reported in various road and comparison tests, it's a capable handler and has adequate power.
But careful readers of CTS blog posts will remember a few unresolved issues with our CTS...
The first is an audio problem Dan Edmunds reported in June of last year. I happened to have the exact same experience last Saturday when I fired up the Caddy's otherwise spectacular Bose audio system.
The front left and right speakers (all four of them -- two on the dash and two in the doors) simply weren't working -- a problem even the untrained ear (mine) can recognize. The affirmation came when I manually dialed all the power to the left front speakers (see red circle on photo), at which point there was no sound at all. Punch it back a few clicks and the rear speakers and front center channel came back on line. Hmmm...
And again, just like Dan's experience, turning the car off and back on (rebooting?) cured the problem. Bill Gates wrote this solution and for it he deserves a swift kick in the nuts. This seems to me to be the worst kind of problem that can exist -- one that's electronic and intermittent. Good luck demonstrating that one to the service writer.
"No, really, I swear..."
Great.
Anyhow, there's more. Donna first noted the right turn signal malfunction way back in April 2008. This problem, we'll admit, hasn't been fixed because of our own delays. Well, sort of. We've had the car at the dealer on one occasion and skipped a second chance to resolve the issue knowing it would be out of service too long during the time it was scheduled to be driven back to California. So we're living with it. And the rear window switches on the driver's door which only function intermittently.
Good times.
Josh Jacquot, Senior road test editor @ 24,944 miles
altimadude00 says:
05:26 PM, 02/ 2/09
Boy, I would love to own one of these VW CTSs!
allthingshonda says:
05:51 PM, 02/ 2/09
Please, GM wouldn't have money problems right now if they could sell their quality ratings to VW. And the sad part is that GM is not exactly in the top five but waaayyyy ahead of VW.
cwmoo740 says:
06:03 PM, 02/ 2/09
I had a volvo in the mid 1990s, and the seat heater stopped working, so we took it into the dealer to have it fixed. The guy working there wired it incorrectly, and the next time I turned on the seat heater the car lit on fire. At that time I didn't carry a fire extinguisher in the volvo, so I lost the entire car. Be careful with wiring problems, although it shouldn't be as intermittent if it was faulty wiring.
billt9 says:
06:08 PM, 02/ 2/09
Simply first year gremlins. Nothing to see here folks. Move along hey look they have a VW in the fleet stare at that!
tcolberg85 says:
06:09 PM, 02/ 2/09
The stereo problem sounds like it could be a software bug in the audio system. As for the window switches, are you guys planning to have them repaired before you turn the car back in?
roadburner says:
08:25 PM, 02/ 2/09
Come on, now; you guys are making this stuff up. Everyone knows that GM cars are the most reliable glitch-free vehicles ever made.
dougtheeng says:
06:09 AM, 02/ 3/09
"The guy working there wired it incorrectly, and the next time I turned on the seat heater the car lit on fire."
That's definitely unfortunate for you, but its a pretty good story to be able to tell. I hope you weren't sitting in it when it caught on fire!
benson2175 says:
08:03 AM, 02/ 3/09
Maybe they have a sixteen year old wiring the stereos out at the plant. I know the same thing happened to my first wiring job on my first car; Go over a speed bump and half the speakers stop working, go over another one and they work again.
stingray454 says:
09:00 AM, 02/ 3/09
Stupid Bose system. Bose is way over-rated, IMO, except for their headphones and Wave Radios - those are nice. In many cars, Bose puts separate amplifiers at each speaker, so the failure probability will be 8 times greater than using one or two amplifiers.
Anyway, these gremlins are pretty minor problems in the whole scheme of things. Certainly fewer problems than the Mercedes C-class in Edmunds LT fleet has encountered.
d2000one1 says:
09:40 AM, 02/ 3/09
The problem with the radio is a known issue that a software update resolves. I have an 08 CTS and had the same issue.
There is a TSB with the resolution available at any dealership
toyota4life says:
10:40 AM, 02/ 3/09
Those darn Chinese!! best Tview pop up nav ever.
tcolberg85 says:
11:36 AM, 02/ 3/09
@d2000one1: I knew it! The "rebooting" of the system is what made software much more likely than amps or wiring.
mercedesfan says:
02:49 PM, 02/ 3/09
"Certainly fewer problems than the Mercedes C-class in Edmunds LT fleet has encountered."
I have to disgree with you there stingray, they are dead even. The C300 arrived with a faulty moonroof sunshade (which didn't need to be a big issue, but terrible dealer service turned it into one), then the rear door-lock plunger broke off, and then the parking brake pad fell off. That is three for three. It is kind of funny, though, that the German car is the one that has had no electrical issues.
These little issues would worry me if I was the owner of the CTS. My Audi started the same way with just little things you didn't give much thought to. Then everything imagineable broke. I still like the CTS a lot, though.
cwc1 says:
06:13 PM, 02/ 3/09
"And again, just like Dan's experience, turning the car off and back on (rebooting?) cured the problem. Bill Gates wrote this solution and for it he deserves a swift kick in the nuts."
"Simply first year gremlins. Nothing to see here folks. Move along hey look they have a VW in the fleet stare at that!"
LOL!
stingray454 says:
12:03 PM, 02/ 4/09
"I have to disgree with you there stingray, they are dead even. The C300 arrived with a faulty moonroof sunshade (which didn't need to be a big issue, but terrible dealer service turned it into one), then the rear door-lock plunger broke off, and then the parking brake pad fell off. That is three for three. "
Not so fast there, mercedesfan. I think you need to look through the C300's log posts more. It's had more problems than just three. Have you forgotten:
"We dropped the C300 off at Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach the other day for a handful of minor issues: (1) broken fog lamp, (2) creaking from the sunroof, "
"Turn the steering wheel in our C300 at speed and it's silent. Turn the wheel at low speeds and it lets out an obnoxious groan. This isn't the first quality issue we've encountered with the Benz, and we haven't even reached the 20k mark."
And nothing has fallen off on the CTS, unlike the Benz.
bimmerjay says:
12:54 PM, 02/ 4/09
"We dropped the C300 off at Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach the other day for a handful of minor issues: (1) broken fog lamp, (2) creaking from the sunroof, "
Assuming that it's physically broken and not just a burnt-out bulb, that's not a quality issue but a damage issue. I wouldn't count that then because it also wouldn't be a warranty item.
"Turn the steering wheel in our C300 at speed and it's silent. Turn the wheel at low speeds and it lets out an obnoxious groan. This isn't the first quality issue we've encountered with the Benz, and we haven't even reached the 20k mark."
Scott Jacobs got the car stuck in a dust storm and blogged about this problem afterwards. So it might be an owner-inflicted problem.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2008/09/2008-mercedes-benz-c300-eeeeeeeeeek.html
mercedesfan says:
01:29 PM, 02/ 4/09
Stingray, I excluded the creeking steering column because there were no issues prior to the dust storm and there has been no mention of it since then. They never took the car to be serviced on that issue, thus it seems that it worked itself out. I also excluded the moonroof creak because the CTS also had an issue with its fabric moonroof sunshade drooping. Both were minor issues that got no mention aside from one quick blurb in a blog post. And later in the blog post you quoted, Edmunds stated that the fog light was physically broken from a rock, thus not the car's fault.
As for your last comment, I would much rather have a piece of plastic fall off (although I agree with you that it is still inexcusable in a "luxury car") than have my rear power windows stop working. The peice of plastic will cost $40 to be reattached, the windows in the hundreds assuming they can figure out what is causing the problem at all. Both cars have had more problems then they should, but are better than average for the class.