ttribe

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

Maj

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Majofo teaser WIN!

Majofo

Two-thumbs up.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Flip me over and you'll have your thumbs UPPPP!

Majofo

Bob, are there any issues with diff noise when it's cold? I've been hearing the rear end whine / wobble a bit. It's almost like a wheel bearing wobble but not as dramatic.. and usually only in turns when it's cold. I read some threads and some suggest old diff fluid, but with the occurrence when cold and turning either direction.. I wonder how common a worn wheel bearing is. A lot of the guys say it's normal.. just wanted to get your take and see if you've experienced this.

neuronbob

Sorry I missed this. This is a known issue. Change the diff fluid and it goes away. You must use the official GM diff fluid with LSD additive in it. Do it now.

I had this when my wagon was around 5k miles old. I changed the diff fluid and sound went away. I now change the diff fluid about every 10k miles just as insurance. It's a small price to pay and people who change it regularly get excellent life out of their diffs.

neuronbob

I can't believe I haven't posted this here. Bad neuronbob!

I made the error of allowing my dealer to "detail" my wagon after they repainted the driver's rear quarter about 10 months ago. Their detailer put holograms in the paint. F**k and damnation. Then they put it through an automatic wash, introducing swirls all over my car. Dammit. This greatly crimped my enjoyment of my car last year.

I finally took it to a high-end dealer (mostly deals in P-cars and other exotics, someone I know from Cars and Coffee in Cleveland, switchcars.com). I had their detailer, Ralph Zittkowski, look at my car. The paint was an unholy mess. The only good thing is that the area repainted was the same thickness as the rest of the car, so at least the dealer did a good job painting.

It turns out a two-stage paint correction was required to set things straight, about 14 hours of work. At the end, the paint was smoother than when I took delivery of my wagon originally. I am simply in love with my wagon again! It's so scratch free and I'm now ready for Cars and Coffee.

Here are some before and after pics the detailer sent me. It is incredible how many more scratches you can see in the right light (i.e. with halogens).

Before


After


Before and after on one section


Here's a few iPhone pics from when I picked it up about three weeks ago:

Looking brand new other than my scratched up winter rims, which I changed back to summer wheels the weekend before last:



Look at how my S2000 reflects so perfectly off the V wagon. I love it!


First order of business after garaging it and allowing it to cool down was this :


Now I go back to hand wash ONLY, and putting HUGE notes all over the car when I bring the car to the dealer: DO. NOT. WASH. DAMMIT.



Happily enjoying OBM perfection again....totally worth the $$$.

2012wagon

I saw your thread on the ctsv forum. Looks great. So funny to see a drain inside the garage...


Can you make more threads/pics/info about CTS-V wagon and less about RLXh please? :p


Can I get an interior shot (how has it held up)?


Did you have an accident in the driver quarter?


Are the windows lightly tinted?


Does it bother you that the V badges are on the middle of the door instead of front fenders?

2012wagon

DeaLER in Ohio has gorgeous manual trans wagon. 5k miles. asking 68k


2014 Cadillac CTS , $68,995 - Cars.com

Majofo

I'll order the fluid this weekend. I had it in the queue plus ATF. For trans drain and fill, do you drop the pan every time? If so, I'm guessing the filter is part of the kit, but do you also replace the pan seal? The gasket seems pretty thick but I'm not sure if there have been any reported issues with reusing it. (I know you have a row boat now, but when you had the slush box)

btw.. the V has been freaking amazing. The seats are spongy, some squeaks and such, but she's a freaking rocket. Losing traction in third is sublime. I said I wasn't going to mod her for a while, but I'm getting impatient. Exhaust and intake are first on the list.

Majofo

I hope you had the dealer reimburse you, that's horrible.

neuronbob

I have the dealer do my diff fluid changes. I actually use my dealer because my 2013 V wagon is still under Cadi's free maintenance program. I at least get oil changes for free and it's a small cost for me to have them do the diff fluid at the same time.

The V is a FUN car to drive. How many miles on yours? I have no squeaks, rattles, anything in the wagon now, at 32xxx miles, and I didn't on my previous V when I traded it at 46k miles.

I paid for the detailing myself rather than harass the dealer about it. It was simply easier for me to be done with it.

Last, you must have the non-Recaro seats to be calling them soft. I had regular seats in my V sedan and they were comfortable/soft other than the lack of thigh extension for my long legs. The Recaros are firmer but still comfortable, and they have a thigh extension (woot!).

Wowsers. Only the uninformed or a sucker would pay MORE than I paid for my V wagon, new (I paid $67k, a couple hundred under invoice), for a used wagon with 6k miles.

RPhilMan1

Amazing, Bob. She looks perfect now.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Wow what an improvement over the swirl marks! Nice work, Bob. I'm considering having my car detailed by a pro to get rid of swirls and bug residue that seems to be on top of the clear coat that I just can never get off the front bumper and hood. If you don't mind me asking, how much does a good high quality detail job cost?

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Just curious, why is it funny to see a drain inside the garage? When we built our garage we put a drain in it. Our home in NY had one as well...

2012wagon

Because we don't have them on the west coast and I never saw one
Our drains are outside the garage

2012wagon

Yeah

Locally there is one 2014 for 55k asking price, but it's auto

The ctsv owners for sale forum which I watch is funny. Numerous mentions of you often

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Interesting... it's kind of a feature to have on the east coast.... even the southeast.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Bob or Majofo... are there auto vagons out there? Been keeping an eye on the V forums and I'm seeing a lot of manual vagons but not many autos...

Majofo

Yep, I have the standard seats. They're like a hard bed with dense coils.. they give when you exert a force on them like accelerating, but they push back like a stiff spring otherwise. lol. I might look for an aftermarket seat and wire the motor controls to it, or at least try the factory recaros, if they feel good, swap them in. Only issue is I have light platinum interior, I don't think recaros came in anything other than black or two-tone black. I don't mind the seats too much, but I wish they were more plush with better bolster support. Sometimes I feel like the seat is trying to bounce me out of the car at times.

I understand your reasoning to going to the dealer. It's free, plus your maintenance is documented if there's ever an issue. I have lifetime warranty on the powertrain including supercharger and diff from the caddy dealership (blanket coverage for their used cars, with nationwide coverage). I even tacked on a bumper to bumper for 3 years. Even though that's in place, I like to do my own maintenance and keep a well documented record (even swab old fluid, new fluid on paper).

I just don't trust my car in anyone else's hands. I just had an alignment on the X and had them rotate the tires. Before I drove off, I checked the torque on each bolt and lug. Even the good places can get it wrong once in a while. There's a new guy on the TL board who has a new Z/28. First oil change, they didn't install the filter correctly. He took a pic of his ride on flatbed going back to the dealer with less than 5k miles on the engine. He had the most expensive car in the shop, yet they had the lowest guy on the totem pole change his oil. Scary stuff.


edit: Recaros did come in platinum.. hmm...

Majofo

Yep.. I think Bob posted the production numbers not so long ago. There aren't many Vagons out there in general, and as we observed, when they do hit the market, it's not for long.

Majofo

Here's the link .. only 1400..

2012wagon

Yup lots of more auto for sale vs manual (relatively speaking )

55 k asking price
Black
Local caddy dealer here in la
2014
11k miles

Hey listed as manual thus popped up on my search
Certified

Majofo

There's only one Vagon on my list.. Bob's.
Just need to take out KaM

neuronbob

There are more auto V wagons out there than manual as stated above. The manual wagons I've seen snapped up in days, and in one case, one day, on the V forums. The auto V wagons that are reasonably priced are going quickly as well.

It's gotten ridiculously out of hand, to be honest on the forums. People overcharging, selling high-mileage wagons for high dollars, etc. It almost, ALMOST makes me want to sell if I can make money on the deal. I paid a little over $67k for mine.

Of course, everything has a price. First one to offer $85k for my V wagon gets it! Not really.

You can always swap out your regular seats for the Recaro seats. Other than required connections for the seat coolers (Recaros are heated and cooled, regular seats heated only), it's a direct swap.

neuronbob

I installed a Korkar Performance Engineering blue Kevlar splitter tonight. Since my paint was just corrected, I thought I'd add a bit of blue to the front of the car. The instal went pretty easily other than that I accidentally overtorqued one of the screws while attaching the passenger side piece and now I have to find another screw of the right size to complete securing that portion. The splitter is otherwise on tightly enough from all the other connections that it won't fly off at freeway speed.

This splitter sticks out further than the stock splitter and consequently feels a bit looser when you press on it. Feels very light, but quite solid.

The weave is pretty subtle and you have to have the right light to see the blue well. Overall, it's a nice effect on the car.

I'll have better pics during the day tomorrow, but these are a good start, best possible in dark conditions. It looks great and I think I'll be keeping it.

rossv1

Looks awesome! Any plans for side splitters etc?

neuronbob

Not unless they are blue. No one makes them (yet).

2012wagon

wow nice

Majofo

Splitter looks great! Mine is a bit roughed up. I've been pretty good keeping my distance from curbs and such, but it could use some TLC.



I think the Vagon is going to be a real collector in the long run. Especially yours.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Learn to drive.

Majofo

It was the due to the previous owner..
Who was probably asian..

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

No blame shifting.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, it's been crazy which is likely why I would steer away from one if I sold the Porsche. Of course I could always find one off of the forum but if not, maybe a coupe or sedan. Then again I'd likely want an auto so it's not quite as bad... but I have seen some of that stuff on the forums and it's pretty crazy... especially with the manuals...

Majofo

c'mon jb.. do eeet..

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

What Porsche?

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

LOl, funny how I keep coming back to it. Even funnier is that we went to the beach recently (took my FJ) and my wife said, maybe the CTS-V Wagon isn't a bad idea. She's just fanning the flames.



https://acurazine.com/forums/car-tal...e-4%2A-910161/

2012wagon

Once u got wife on board

Do it

neuronbob

I'd wait until the wagon fever dies down and you can get one for a reasonable price. Same thing with my wanting a NSX just as prices are appreciating like crazy. It's so nuts that I have backed off on that dream and will wait out the crazy speculators.