New Member from Ohio - Looking at getting a LS or a CTS next week

[jace_martin]

Hi LVC forum people!

After weeks of searching the web I think I have found the best forum for my current car obsession. I have been trying to purchase a new to me car for the last 2 months. I was going to purchase an 2003 AMG 55 for my birthday but when the bank held up a deposit for being too large the benz was sold out from under me. So I have been trying to figure out what other options are out there that would fit my personality of luxury rocket. Next week I have a couple of options for purchase that may seem like a far cry from a 55 but at the same time seem like that could be fun and both have mechanical potential. I can go with a 2002 LS sport on the cheap or a 2007 CTS. I like both cars and each seems to have their pros and cons. Here is what I am thinking - please forum people correct me if my thinking is off base or if there are other options that you think I should explore before making a decision.

LS sport - can be purchased so cheap that I could have about $5-7k left over to make any repairs and upgrades I feel like making. I could try to hunt down a supercharger from the Lincoln club and build up a nice and fast car on a budget. The downside is that the 3.9 is an oddball that I have never worked on before so I would be lacking any real world experience but it could be really fun to learn. It seems almost too cost efficient in comparison to anything with AMG branding.

CTS - Would be at the closer to the top end of my budget but I would have a nice ride without much work. I dislike that I see a CTS everywhere I go - everyone in town seems to have one. My family are all mechanics and they dislike the CTS for whatever reason that has never made sense to me. (political baggage - government motors, I don't care much for politics just want a good car) To me they seem like nice cars and how can something so popular be terrible? Car and Driver and Road & Track seem to love them. I guess the standard CTS maintenance is more costly overall? I have had moderate experience working on other GMs but have never worked on a CTS to have a personal opinion of them. I cannot help but have a creeping thought in the back of my mind when I think about the CTS of why not a BMW 330i sport or a 5 series or a Benz - if you are going to pay to play, pay all the way.

Anyway, I figure that there are lots of experts here that have had a great deal of hands on with both of these cars that may be able to give me some guidance/insight. Meanwhile I will be lurking the forums trying to gather as much intel that I can to self educate.

Jason

 

[Ghost_Ls8]

How much is it for the 2007 cts ? Should be around the same price as a 2006 lincoln ls that is more reliable than the 2002 Ls and if you look around enough you can find one at a better price than a Cts. I personally do not like the look of the cts it is to box shaped and your right many people own one . STS is a better looking cadillac too just food for thought

 

[eots44]

Is it the 3.6L or the 2.8L CTS?

 

[jace_martin]

How much is it for the 2007 cts ? Should be around the same price as a 2006 lincoln ls that is more reliable than the 2002 Ls and if you look around enough you can find one at a better price than a Cts. I personally do not like the look of the cts it is to box shaped and your right many people own one . STS is a better looking cadillac too just food for thought

That's a good idea and I may hold onto that as a back up plan. I should be checking out both cars tomorrow. I really do not like the cts styling and the abundance of them on the road is a turn off. The STS is the better looking but I would have to find like an 07 to avoid the whole north-star problem seemed to plague the earlier models. From what I hear the 06 year on up STS do not have the same problems and are great cars.

I can get either the LS or the CTS close to trade in value and am leaning toward the LS. Around 3k for the LS and 7.5 for the CTS. CTS is the 3.6 and the LS is the sport premium. My thinking is that if the LS blows up I can repair it for under the cost of the CTS and if the CTS were to blow up then I'm out like 11k+ and that would start to hurt.

 

[jace_martin]

it is the 3.6

 

[Ghost_Ls8]

Yea your right the cadillac is a very expensive car too fix, not saying the Ls isnt but it is not as much, I love my 2006 Ls , no problems at all and is surprisingly fast stock, beat a 4.6 v8 northstar in the deville ( maybe got lucky who knows) , it is pretty good on gas , 65 fills the tank with premium ($3.55) , gets 17 city and 24 highway (my experience and driving) , Ls>Cts

 

[eots44]

Well I don't know much about the LS but I have a 2004 CTS 3.6L and have nothing to complain about. Mine has over 200,000 miles on it and still loves to perform, I still find myself turning off the traction control and whipping round turns. I bought mine new and have never had to have major work done, actually in the past 4 years the only thing I had to replace was the computer module, other than that I've spent nothing on the car, other than servicing and oil changes, and etc., a lot of people say the first gen 3.6L's are junk but like I said I've never had a problem with mine and mine is the first year for the 3.6L. I've also seen mine average 30-35 MPG at times. As for repair costs, I don't think I have ever been charged anything over $1,500, im trying to think the number might be less than that, but I cant remember. Im not sure why your counting on the cars to blow up though I don't think either engine is known to that. if you find one that has been properly maintained and you continue to properly maintain it the engine shouldn't blow up. Over all I love my CTS, and I think the styling is actually ok, but this isn't my kind of Cadillac Im a Deville kind of guy. believe it or not my CTS still to this day turns heads and people still come up to me and ask me about it. Mine is the silver metallic color and I absolutely love that color, it's so eye catching when its washed and waxed. it has to be my favorite color for all the Caddys of these years. Actually back in the day when I bought the CTS I test drove the LS as well, and didn't like it as much, I can't remember whether it was the V8 LS or the V6 LS but it just didn't drive as nice, im going to say it was the V6 LS because I remember the CTS was quicker and handled a lot better, the LS didn't have as much road presence either, it bended in and it wasn't anything to get excited about, but the CTS was like the king of the road, it made a statement, everyone knew what it was, I remember people always wanted to race me too, sorry if this is a little long but typing this is making me remember a lot of the fun times I had with my CTS and why I still love it. Everyone made a big deal about it too because it was the 3.6L and I was one of the first people if not the first person to have the 3.6 L CTS in my area I bought my the end of 2003 I think. Ahhh what fun times. this is making me really want to go out and buy a new Cadillac again, but I just recently got a Chevy Tahoe, would have gotten a Caddy then but I wanted something with 4 wheel drive. The 3.6L is nice too because it runs on regular.

 

[chris2523]

hi new guy!
i am probably biased, but the LS sport V8 is an absolute blast to drive. i sometimes hate it, but the feeling fades.
would buy, especially if it is a V6 manual trans LSE. mmmhmmm. very nice. :wrench

 

[jace_martin]

Im not sure why your counting on the cars to blow up though I don't think either engine is known to that. I have a bit of a problem with blowing up engines so I plan for the worst. I was also looking at getting cars from a dealer auction so I have no idea what has been done to them ahead of time. Planning for the worst case scenario while keeping it under 11k seemed best. Did not know that the 3.6 ran on regular.

 

[Ghost_Ls8]

my suggestion , find a good deal on either car u choose , hopefully at least 7k ( under 100000 miles) , buy a warranty for it for 5 years for 2k or a little bit more and whatever is left is to mod it

 

[jace_martin]

So quick update - I was looking at getting either car from the auction block last week but my dealer friend ended up with some personal problems that sprung up that morning. Anyway I did not get a chance buy either car and was planning on bidding on both and see where it went. I am now looking for 2005-2006 LS or CTS. After researching all week the price points are about the same. I may check out some of the stealerships this weekend while I wait for a personal seller to appear.

 

[eots44]

I don't know how great cars at auctions are any way, I've never bought from one but I'm just not sure how good they are for more modern cars like the ones your looking at. If your looking at a dealership ask for the Carfax, they aren't 100% accurate but they are better than nothing, big dealerships that are connected to a brand will most likely have them for their cars. If your looking of sale by owner look for something clean 1 owners are the best especially being these are Cadillacs and Lincolns, the people who could afford to buy these cars new will most likely keep up maintenance. If the car doesn't have anything wrong with it they should have no objection to you test driving it and bring a mechanic or someone you know who knows a lot about cars, particularly the one you are buying, or take it over to a mechanic to check out. I don't know how much you know about cars but a no brainer to me would be to stay away from something that has water damage or been involved in a flood, electronics don't like getting wet and that's something both of these cars were packed with.