19th Feb 2022, 18:05
This is the original reviewer, posting an approximate 1-year update for my 2010 Cadillac DTS. Since the last update, I have driven 7,919 miles and the odometer now stands at 91,180 miles. I'm pleased to report that it was also a good interval, the kind of repair-free driving I was hoping to see once getting past the initial catch-up maintenance on a car I inherited with let's say a casual care history. During the past year, I only had the oil changed once while also having the TPMS sensor addressed. The car continued to fulfill its role as a road trip car, with trips from the Appalachians to the upper mid-west and Atlantic coast. Rolling on the open highway doing 70 still returns average fuel economy of 26-27, even 28 mpg. The car is still comfortable, nothing has broken, the interior still looks good. Driving impressions have not really changed, in that my wife finds it more comfortable to ride in the big leather seat compared to our 2017 Explorer, while I still find the Explorer more comfortable to drive. Although I like the visibility that the sedan has compared to the Explorer. I still also feel that the DTS has more road noise than the Explorer. But, it's earning its keep now, so no complaints. It's a short update because everything has gone well this past year. We'll just hope for more of the same and I'll post another update next year.
20th Feb 2023, 19:44
This is the original reviewer posting a 1-year update of my 2010 Cadillac DTS. Since the last posting one year ago, I have driven 5,903 miles so the odometer currently stands at 97,083. That's a bit less than previous years because it happened to make sense to use my Explorer for carrying capacity on a couple of the longer road trips that the Cadillac would otherwise have been used on. I haven't driven the car since early January and likely won't drive it until late April when the Spring rains wash the winter salt off the roads. At age 13 years, I've decided not to drive this car in the winter because rust doesn't look good on a Cadillac, and the stalling issue I've mentioned before prevents me from using the undercarriage car wash.
Despite my optimism from the previous review, this was an expensive interval, in that several large-ticket maintenance items happened to come due at once for the annual safety inspection. So unfortunately, I was not able to space them out even though I was aware of some impending necessary repairs. I suspected after all these years that the car needed a new battery, and it did when I asked for testing. The cranking speed was immediately noticeable with the new one. The brakes had also been pulsing, so the rear shoes and rotors needed to be changed. The tires were also close to the wear bars. The one that really surprised and dismayed me was the trunk-mounted 3rd brake light, at $750. The LED bar just quit working at some point unbeknownst to me. That one hurt. Altogether those repairs costs $2,320. Of course cars need maintenance, I'm not complaining about replacing brakes and tires, or the battery. And the car does drive and ride better now, so the new tires really made a difference. I guess that's why they cost what they did. Before that spate of repairs, I had also had the oil changed, and the air filter and cabin air filters changed for a total cost of $315.
So, I currently have spent $7,800 on this "free" car that I inherited. As I've said before, to anyone thinking they are going to buy an old Cadillac and play Big Shot, you had better have the money to keep it maintained, which is not so easy. After my dad passed away, there were any number of people who wanted to buy the car so badly! As I think of them, none of them had the money to drop $8,000 into it, even if they could have dug up the $12,000 KBB value that it would have cost at the time. This is the kind of car that will keep poor people poor. I will end with my usual statement. I have come to like the car; my wife likes it, it's comfortable, I'm getting use out of it, and it has kept 30,000 miles off the 2017 Explorer I bought new 6 years ago. I'll keep taking care of it and getting use out of it until a catastrophic failure. Still, it represents a drain on my finances that I could have done without. If I had not fallen for the lure of getting something for nothing, I could have been $12,000 ahead if I'd sold it outright, instead of $7,800 behind. In a way, that's like a loss of nearly $20,000.
I hope next year's interval will be more trouble-free and that I'll run up some good miles.
15th Feb 2021, 19:09
This is the original reviewer providing an approximate one-year update to my last review, posted March 22, 2020, for my 2010 Cadillac DTS. The mileage currently stands at 83,261, which means that since last March, I've added only 2,211 miles to the car. That is quite a departure from the previous year, in which I added over 9,000 miles. The reason, of course, travel restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. The last update was in March because as we returned from Tennessee, it was obvious that the pandemic was spreading across the country, and has only deepened since then. The primary purpose of the DTS is as a road trip car, and since nothing has been open, and health concerns would preclude traveling for pleasure, anyway, the car has had little purpose. I don't anticipate using the car for the next month, which would be the formal one-year update anniversary, because the weather has gotten sloppy and I don't like to see the car filthy from road grime this time of year.
I finally completed what I hope is the last of the catch-up maintenance, by having the transmission fluid flushed, and also had the brake fluid flushed out. These are things I've never done on other cars, but given that this car has an uncertain maintenance history, and spent most of its life in a cold climate parked outside or in an unheated garage, I want to avoid more expensive problems like seized calipers or rusted brake lines. At the same time I had the oil changed. Those three things cost about $450. I was strictly adhering to a 5,000 mile oil change interval, but have been giving more credence to the higher mileages promoted by Mobil 1, and also the "oil change algorithm" that comes with the car. I couldn't bring myself to go for a a 7,500 mile interval, but upped the interval so it's closer to 6,000 miles. I largely view the 7,500 mile interval as "good enough" for the original owner who will trade the car after 4-5 years and have it less than 100,000 miles. But as for me, I'm in it for the long haul and try to take care of my cars so they last. As I've stated, I wanted to get 150,000 miles out of this car, but if it goes 200,000 miles, so long as it doesn't look like an old hoopty, because that's heartbreaking, I'll keep driving it.
The transmission fluid was very dark and had a slightly burned smell. The flush consisted of the dealer running it through a filter. I am not crazy about the concept of a flush. I'd really prefer that it actually be drained out and changed, with a new filter installed, but maybe that's just me not understanding new cars. They claim the flush runs it through a filter that removes impurities so that when it goes back in, it's as good as new. Is it, though? I suppose it's better than it was.
So, I am looking forward to a long road trip once the vaccine becomes available. Hopefully that will comprise a trip out the Pacific Northwest this fall, and the DTS will have a chance to earn its keep.