Date: June 2011
Months in Fleet: 6 months
Current Mileage: 18,334 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 15 mpg
Average Range: 270 miles
Service: $0
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $120
Damage and Destruction: $566
It’s no surprise that we constantly fight over who gets to drive our long-term CTS-
V. After all, a 556-horse punch is incredibly intoxicating, especially when it’s stabled in a station wagon and gallops through a satisfying manual gearbox.
That said, the
V’s limited range has continued to be an issue, with only a couple of staffers expanding the car’s sphere of influence beyond state lines. (We’ve nursed a tank to 342 miles on the highway, but when a
Lingenfelter-tuned CTS-V coupe showed up on our doorstep, one staffer cracked, “The only modification that car
really needs is a bigger gas tank.”) Beyond the frequent stops for fuel, the long-haul reports were glowing. The big supercharged eight lives at the low end of the tach on the highway, which helps prevent aural fatigue, and there’s enough torque on hand that downshifts are optional, even while passing. The optional Recaro seats are firm, but four-way lumbar and adjustable bolsters mean even Inspector Clouseau could find a suitable position. Constant cruising means no annoyance at the chairs rocking in their mounts under braking and acceleration.
So, how is it that with only two out-of-state trips, we’re on pace to cover 40,000 miles in 12 months? The answer lies in how rewarding and easy the CTS-
V is to drive, even in everyday situations. Grab a jug of milk? Don’t mind if we do. Picking up the mother-in-law? Glad to. Alterman left his phone at home? Let us go get that for him. Really, we find any excuse to slide behind the
V’s sueded steering wheel.
Some Service, Some Damage, All FunAt 7000 miles, we took the wagon to the dealer for its first service, which involved an oil change and a minor inspection. There is no maintenance schedule per se, because the car calculates when the oil needs to be changed based on factors such as the number of cold starts, engine speed, and time since the last service.
The service itself cost us nothing—routine maintenance is covered for the first four years or 50,000 miles—but it was then we learned that at least one vengeful pothole had deformed the right front wheel. It was bent, big time, and the dealer couldn’t balance it. We ordered a new wheel for $566, a smokin’ deal compared with the almost $1600 we spent to replace one roller on our
Infiniti M56S. A short time later, we availed ourselves of a mobile wheel-repair shop, Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists, to see what it could do for the bent rim. As long as the wheel isn’t carrying a tire, Alloy Wheel will come to you and do its best to set it right. Because the dent was so massive, the technician wasn’t sure he could repair the out-of-round shoe, but he managed to get the wheel to within 0.02 inch of round. This service ran us $120; depending on the damage, it can cost a little more or a little less. Now we have a spare wheel if Michigan’s roads claim another victim.
Rear Window, but This Time without Jimmy StewartThere has been one issue. Just past the 10,000-mile mark, after a carwash, the right rear window decided it liked being rolled down and that it would handle the task itself. Of course, this was on one of the long trips—to San Antonio, Texas, no less, during which technical editor Michael Austin was on a mission to find the basement of the Alamo. A Cadillac dealership got the window rolled up and disconnected the wiring to the switch; Austin returned to Michigan sans breeze. Once back home, our local dealer diagnosed the problem as some pinched wiring going to the window regulator. Techs futzed with it a little, relieving the pinch, and charged us nothing. It seemed to be fixed.
We say “seemed” because the problem appeared again some 8000 miles later for associate online editor Jon Yanca. This time, we got wet: The window dropped itself during a drive-through carwash’s rinse cycle. Yanca got the window rolled up and disconnected the wiring himself, and our dealer has ordered a new regulator. We hope its installation will exorcise this demon.
The pothole wasn’t the car’s fault, of course, and the window issue isn’t enough to dampen our enthusiasm for the mighty goodness that is our V wagon. As one (potentially jaded) staffer said, “One night in the CTS-
V is worth a month of Nissan Leaf, Honda Insight, or Smart nonsense. Who doesn’t love driving this?” The only other gripes thus far involve a comment on the difficulty of casual heel-and-toe shifting and the too-quiet exhaust. Well, there is
one more gripe: We have only 20,000 miles left with the CTS-
V. Boo-hoo.
Source :
Caranddriver.com
