Something that irks me about the CTS

[Northstar]

I drove through some car lots this weekend, and whilst driving through the Cadillac lot I noticed something that's rather alarming to me... there were probably 6 CTSs in my dealer's lot (smallish dealer), and not one of them had fog lights. Instead, all of them had the cheesy black plastic inserts. And, we're not talking about the "cheap" sub-$40k CTSs either, all of them were over $40k, and only one was less that $44k. GM is touting a $44k car to take on the world's best sports sedans that has no fog lights. Way to scream "CHEAP" GM! Even your best products have major flaws such as this.

While the car doesn't look bad the combination of no fog lights and dinky wheels make the base CTS look rather cheap for their price.

For reference, CTS with fogs and nice wheels:

CTS w/o fogs, dinky wheels:

[Satty]

Fog lights aren't standard? Thats wacky.

[Croc]

Agreed. GM just loves to cut costs when they're glaringly obvious. They also have a knack for splurging in places no one will ever notice.

[Intrepidation]

It wouldn't be so bad if the fog light housings were chromed in the models without the actual fog lights...or better yet just make them standard.

[pow]

The HIDs look so much better - but interestingly, only the halogens have "flash-to-pass" high beams.

Most cars with Bi-Xenons have an additional halogen high beam.

[Robert Hall]

That's unfortunate... I don't know for sure, but I would think in the US all the competition would have fog lights standard across all trim levels.

[Sixty8panther]

It wouldn't be so bad if the fog light housings were chromed in the models without the actual fog lights...or better yet just make them standard.

What that ^ guy said.

[smk4565]

I complained about lack of fog lights and dinky wheels when the car first came out. The all gray plastic looks cheap too, and those look dated fast as the gray plastic fades in color. The gray plastic air dam below the front bumper is cheap plastic also. GM cost cutting hurts this and every other car, because they have to put $2500 rebates on cars to get them to sell, rather than just making it good in the first place.

The top picture should be the base model. Cadillac still operates the same as Chevy by offering cheaply appointed base models, a Mercedes or Jaguar wouldn't have tacky gray plastic where fog lights should be.

[MikeyMo84]

yeah but some jags and benzes dont come with heated or power seats standard

[smk4565]

yeah but some jags and benzes dont come with heated or power seats standard

Heated seats are an option included in the Luxury Collection package. Only an 8-way power driver seat is standard on the CTS and a manual passenger seat. Most cars don't have heated seats standard because they are pointless in some climates.

My complaints with the CTS are summed up in the red car picture and that my knee hits the console near the temp control. Also poor resale value if buying new, but that makes a used one off a lease attractive.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Heated seats are an option included in the Luxury Collection package. Only an 8-way power driver seat is standard on the CTS and a manual passenger seat. Most cars don't have heated seats standard because they are pointless in some climates.

My complaints with the CTS are summed up in the red car picture and that my knee hits the console near the temp control. Also poor resale value if buying new, but that makes a used one off a lease attractive.

Heated seats are standard on the Canadian model.

[The O.C.]

That's unfortunate... I don't know for sure, but I would think in the US all the competition would have fog lights standard across all trim levels.

The fog lights are only available with one of the two performance packages (all-season or summer tire.)

Stupid in my mind.....but it is what it is.

We probably sell at least 50% of our CTSs without the performance packages.....for one reason, the base CTS setup is now so good, the performance package isn't needed like it might have been in the past. We don't get many complaints about the 17-inch wheels, but at least they could make foglights part of one of the lower-line packages or something.

We have many $40K - $44K CTSs with the standard wheels (and no foglights).....because many people want alot of the toys (sunroof, navigation in particular) without having to buy a $48K - $50K version.

That being said, $48K-$50K CTSs aren't that difficult to sell either......with our mix being maybe a solid 40% sold equipped like that.

It's nice to see a GM car that can sell in optioned-up form......and not just on a low-ball price.

[gm4life]

I would be the oppisite of most people who want a 40-45K verison. I would want the FE3, stick (maybe an auto) the big rims, fog lamps and such. GM should make foglamps standard and better looking wheels. For about 40-42K I could happy with all the performance goodies and no other comfort options.

Edited November 12, 2008 by gm4life

[cire]

I totally agree. All Cadillac products should have standard fog lights. All Buick products should have them as well (Buick is supposed to be a premium brand); the front fascia of the Lucerne looks so much better/upscale with foglights.

Another thing that I found odd was that foglights are not offered even as an option on the 2009 Saturn Aura XR 4-cylinder model, but they are available on the Chevy Malibu LTZ 4-cylinder model. I thought Saturn was supposed to be more upscale than Chevy? If so, then why would this situation exist?

GM seems to be building vastly improved products now, but they still do some strange things with feature/equipment availability.

How bizarre, how bizarre...

GM isn't the only culprit with weird feature/equipment availability issues. Nissan has them as well. You can't get foglights on a 4-cylinder Altima unless you also choose a rear spoiler (yikes!) and a technology package (I don't view a navigation system as a must have feature). Heated side mirrors (a feature that I also find to be more useful/desirable than rear spoilers or navigation systems) are not available at all on 4-cylinder Altimas. Since 4-cylinder models still make up the bulk of mainstream midsize sedan purchases, why would Nissan choose not to offer the heated side mirrors as an option on Altimas equipped with this engine (especially when quite a few competitors do make them available on 4-cylinder models)?

Edited November 13, 2008 by cire

[Croc]

I've always been surprised that manufacturers have tended to exclude options on certain trim levels to the extent that they have. Sure, it reduced manufacturing complexity, but why not offer many of these options at the dealership level? Most navigation/audio, external, and many interior options could easily be added on at dealerships, and as long as the OEM is supplying the dealerships with the parts, they still get the money but not the increased assembly complexities.

[CSpec]

GM seems to lose its focus when it comes to picking out trim levels and options. It's like they have a suggestion box at the factory and every worker puts in their ideal option combination, and then they just make all of them possible. Cadillac especially shouldn't be messing about with these stupid and obvious shortcuts to save a few bucks.