Used car sanity check | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Used car sanity check

My question is what is the history on this car?
I would suspct it is a trade-in at a dealership who decided it was not what they wanted on thier lot.
It was easy money for them to just flip it at the auction.
The people that have it now purchased it auction and now are trying to make a quick buck.
A Cadilac (your aunt Millie's car) with a standard transmition is a tough sell. It is not a BMW or Mercedes.
I have a 2012 Orlando with a six speed manual and the day I purchased it was sitting on the showroom floor.
While the deal was being done several other potential buyers sat in it untill they noticed the 3 pedals on the floor.
They all bailed in a hurry with a look of fear.
Are they even licensed automotive dealers?
If the guy wears a plaid polyester suite run like hell and don't look back!
 
guzzirider said:
My question is what is the history on this car?
I would suspct it is a trade-in at a dealership who decided it was not what they wanted on thier lot.
It was easy money for them to just flip it at the auction.
The people that have it now purchased it auction and now are trying to make a quick buck.
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That is exactly what it is - it is originally a Quebec car that was sold at auction.

guzzirider said:
I have a 2012 Orlando with a six speed manual and the day I purchased it was sitting on the showroom floor.
While the deal was being done several other potential buyers sat in it untill they noticed the 3 pedals on the floor.
They all bailed in a hurry with a look of fear.
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That is very interesting! I very vaguely remember those being sold here but I had no idea they offered it with a manual, that's crazy
 
So the vehicle is not registered in Ontario?
Do they have Ontario proof of ownership of this car or are they just going to give you a bill of sale?
I was surprised that the Orlando came in a standard.
3 row seating, front wheel drive and a hatchback does not scream "Boy Racer".
 
I should say former Quebec car, it is the dealer's property. I have no reason to suspect they are playing paperwork games
 
TwistedKestrel said:
That is exactly what it is - it is originally a Quebec car that was sold at auction.


That is very interesting! I very vaguely remember those being sold here but I had no idea they offered it with a manual, that's crazy
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Cadillac has always had manuals in their CTS and ATS cars. Fun cars to drive, and have lots of useable power. All but the new M3 drivers know to stand down if they're beside a CTS at a stoplight.
 
Mad Mike said:
Cadillac has always had manuals in their CTS and ATS cars. Fun cars to drive, and have lots of useable power. All but the new M3 drivers know to stand down if they're beside a CTS at a stoplight.
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My neighbor has a CTS tuned You're about 700 horsepower with six speed manual. Quite a fun car to drive but would get me tickets

Sent from the future
 
Scuba Steve said:
My neighbor has a CTS tuned You're about 700 horsepower with six speed manual. Quite a fun car to drive but would get me tickets

Sent from the future
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I had an early CTS-V, my 05 was 400hp and stupidly fun. I still have an 05 regular CTS with 45k on the clock. She’s a garage Queen now, but still fun to drive.
 
TwistedKestrel said:
I was not permitted to test drive the car - they said it's because their cars aren't certified until they're sold.
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This is your first sign. As someone else mentioned, this is total nonsense - any actually reputable dealer has dealer plates that allow them to put basically anything they want on the road, legally, without a safety. A certification is only good for 36 days, if dealers had to recertify a used car that might sit on their lot for months and months they'd go broke, which is why dealers don't certify a car until it's sold. This is standard practice.

They can absolutely positively let you test drive the car. They SHOULD let you test drive the car. So, IMHO, they're hiding something, or they're incredibly shady on the whole situation as a result. My thought? They're hiding something.....perhaps a mechanical issue.

Of course once you sign on the dotted line, pay for the car, and drive it off the lot only to find the clutch is slipping or the engine has a misfire under load, they're going to find any reason under the sun to deny fixing it.

My vote? Run away. Run far, far away.

TwistedKestrel said:
-It's not a third party warranty, they handle it themselves, which is surprising
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Translation: We'll give you the runaround and try to avoid the whole situation, and if we do have to fix something, we'll send it to our "buddies" shop in a dark alleyway and they'll do the absolute minimum with the cheapest chinesium parts they can find to "fix" it.

TwistedKestrel said:
-Unsurprisingly they are not willing to specify what they would be sourcing as brakes/tires
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Translation: We'll put the cheapest garabage tires we can buy on it to make it certify, quite likely used tires at that.
 
Welp. Guess what
 
GreyGhost said:
You bought it and it's a stinker?
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Mad Mike said:
You caved in?
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I bought it. Whether or not it is a stinker remains to be seen. I can't deny that it is a risky purchase though. I haven't taken possession of it yet, they have begun the process of safetying it.

I solemnly swear that if anything interesting happens, I will keep you updated. I can tell you this - the magic salesman sold me on a 1 year powertrain warranty (I know approximately what those are worth). Also, they had already replaced the windshield which was a relief.

Now I'm gonna see if I can find a few cosmetic bits at a junkyard somewhere
 
Do you have a deposit on it?

Go over it with a fine toothed comb and insist on a test drive (find a mechanic friend to come along or do the test drive if you've got one of those friends) before handing over the balance.

This place sounds shifty as hell and it wouldn't surprise me one bit for them to dump it on you only to find out 5km later that there is something majorly wrong with the drivetrain, and then tell you to just go and make a claim on your warranty because they "had no idea something was wrong".
 
And when you drive it, drive it long enough to get some heat in it. Makes sure you run it long enough to let the ECM take over all sensors as this might take a few k's to happen. If they cleared the codes it takes a while for the ECM to take over everything and set codes again
 
TwistedKestrel said:
I bought it. Whether or not it is a stinker remains to be seen. I can't deny that it is a risky purchase though. I haven't taken possession of it yet, they have begun the process of safetying it.

I solemnly swear that if anything interesting happens, I will keep you updated. I can tell you this - the magic salesman sold me on a 1 year powertrain warranty (I know approximately what those are worth). Also, they had already replaced the windshield which was a relief.

Now I'm gonna see if I can find a few cosmetic bits at a junkyard somewhere
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They are pretty good cars, I just tossed a battery into my 05, she fired up as she does every spring.
 
At this point (my recommendation), take the new to you car to your local Cadillac dealer (or other trusted mechanic) for a PPI even though you have already bought it. Do it right away, take the list of whatever (hopefully nothing) they find back to the original seller/dealer... Doing it as soon as possible takes away the, "well that must have happened after you bought it" (say if you take it weeks or months from now or things progress and you notice it months from now). They may even find missed safety items (again taking it right away helps defeat the "well it passed when we checked it, you must have worn out those expensive bushings")... They can also check for recalls.

On the grand scheme it is a small cost to ether identify missed or hidden problems or to give you the peace of mind that there are none.

On the OBD front, a good reader will tell you it was reset by not having items ready. Basically why drive clean would fail if you reset the codes before taking it in. An OBD reset is unlikely IMO as most codes would come back in just a few days of driving so for a dealer it is an unlikely win. I have seen greasy private sellers do it as they do not know that the reader tells you...
 
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Current plan is to take it to "local trusted mechanic" for a post-purchase inspection, then after that to get an alignment (mostly to see if it will TAKE an alignment or if something is worn out).

I have two OBD scanners so I will be able to keep an eye on that as well. I actually have had a private seller reset codes on me before - it was a little annoying because it turned out it was a code I didn't care about (EVAP) and I was still able to coach the car through DriveClean (reset computer myself and then just keep the gas tank full - all monitors cleared except EVAP, and DriveClean allowed one monitor not ready). I didn't really wanna buy a $500 canister on a $3000 car
 
TwistedKestrel said:
Current plan is to take it to "local trusted mechanic" for a post-purchase inspection, then after that to get an alignment (mostly to see if it will TAKE an alignment or if something is worn out).

I have two OBD scanners so I will be able to keep an eye on that as well. I actually have had a private seller reset codes on me before - it was a little annoying because it turned out it was a code I didn't care about (EVAP) and I was still able to coach the car through DriveClean (reset computer myself and then just keep the gas tank full - all monitors cleared except EVAP, and DriveClean allowed one monitor not ready). I didn't really wanna buy a $500 canister on a $3000 car
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I always like to read tires to see if an alignment is necessary -- that's going to be harder if your car has new tires. I would ask your mechanic if he sees a reason to do an alignment -- these cars don't usually fall out of alignment on their own. You might be surprised at the cost -- I just had a 2W alignment done at a reputable shop, $179+ tax. 4W alignments were listed at $349.
 
Mad Mike said:
I always like to read tires to see if an alignment is necessary -- that's going to be harder if your car has new tires. I would ask your mechanic if he sees a reason to do an alignment -- these cars don't usually fall out of alignment on their own. You might be surprised at the cost -- I just had a 2W alignment done at a reputable shop, $179+ tax. 4W alignments were listed at $349.
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Damn. Alignments are much cheaper up here. Dealership is something like $200 for four wheel. Indy shop I like checks all four and gives you the printout and adjusts two for 125 or so. I can adjust the rears if I was really annoyed with them. They are easier and less critical.
 
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