CT5-V New CT5-V Blackwing needs new transmission prior to delivery. What to do?

[99sport]

My car got delivered to the dealer 3 days after I left for a month-long trip. Since I am traveling and couldn't come into the dealership in person, we had a couple weeks of back and forth on the price (they wanted $7,500 ADM and I convinced them this sale was going to happen at MSRP).

Got a call today from my salesman and was told that they were doing the pre-delivery inspection and the car would not go into gear. They talked to Cadillac and a new transmission is on the way and should be installed by the end of the week. They said it should have been caught earlier (I forget the exact words, but I took it to mean at the factory). Salesman was pretty nice about it and offered to place a new order for me if I didn't want this car.

I had 2 questions: Will this impact the Carfax? Was told he didn't know but would find out. Second question was, how did the car get here - they dyno these cars in the factory, and then had to get it on a trailer, a train, another trailer, to the dealer's lot, etc, how did that happen with a bad transmission? Basically I said "Thanks for being up front with me, we'll figure this out, and I am still interested in the car, but this story doesn't make any sense - how did the car get delivered if it has a factory defect in the transmission?"

Curious what others would do.

This car is Wave metallic and at '23 MSRP. If I have to reorder a '24 the price will go up (perhaps substantially?) and Wave metallic has been discontinued, so I'd need to choose another color (and it will NOT be the new metallic blue as I don't care for it).

I do ALL my own maintenance and the thought of the dealer swapping the trans is not my favorite idea. (I've done engine swaps in my driveway, etc and I am extremely meticulous and borderline OCD about these things.) Under other circumstances I would not let a dealer change the oil in my car - even if it's free.

Edit: forgot to mention it is a 6 speed

 

[Neveready]

Tell them to put the trans in and have them call you when it's ready. Go there to make the deal and when you arrive in person tell them you wanna drive it first. Make sure it's good and then move on with life.

Realistically they can't sell it if it doesn't drive off the lot.

 

[jbawden]

Is this an A10 or M6?

I share the vehicle OCD you have and don't want anyone touching my cars, but the fact is most people aren't OCD and DO use the dealer for service and their cars live long, happy lives. Mechanical things fail, let them R&R and go inspect/drive it. Life is uncertain, don't postpone the enjoyment or compromise on colors, you'll regret it.

 

[F-16s&Vs]

I’m with you — the story doesn’t make sense. I wonder if they are trying to get you to back out because they have someone willing to pay the $7500 ADM.

 

[MookdocOE]

Tough call indeed especially since your not around physically. If it was myself I would just play it cool and wait for the new standard trans or Auto not sure which one you have but I would guess the 10L90. I mean it's your color and your spec I assume and your now @ MSRP. We both know it's going up for 2024's and back in the Goat Pen you go? Do you really want to go back into that shit show?

 

[99sport]

I’m with you — the story doesn’t make sense. I wonder if they are trying to get you to back out because they have someone willing to pay the $7500 ADM.

When I got the text message asking me to call the salesman - before I heard anything about a transmission - I assumed it was something to try to get me to back out as they found another buyer willing to pay a higher price. I really was not pleased with the $7,500 ADM request and almost walked away after a couple of back and forths - I couldn't get an answer on the price for months and was just about ready to walk away. However, I have to assume there really is a trans issue though and the pain of price negations will be forgotten when (if) I drive off with it. I suppose I'll know for sure in a few days.

Tough call indeed especially since your not around physically. If it was myself I would just play it cool and wait for the new standard trans or Auto not sure which one you have but I would guess the 10L90. I mean it's your color and your spec I assume and your now @ MSRP. We both know it's going up for 2024's and back in the Goat Pen you go? Do you really want to go back into that shit show?

It's a 6 MT. Those all come out eventually as the clutch doesn't last forever. I'm guessing Caddy dealers don't do too many clutch swaps though.

The goat pen isn't what it used to be. I already walked away from one deal at MSRP because I wanted wave metallic and the dealer wouldn't change the color on the order. Both car's were delivered in less than 3 months from me placing the deposit. And I'm on the list / have deposits at 5 more dealers, and I could deal with argent silver - looks fantastic matched with the sky grey interior. It would be good if we knew what '24 prices will be, but I expect it will be a lot more than the value (to me) of the factory installed transmission.

I do tend to agree with most others. In the scheme of things, this isn't remotely close to the worst thing that has happened in life. I do want to look under the car to make sure they didn't do any damage (hard to prove after one takes delivery) - either on their lift or maybe I'll bring some race ramps. It might be nice to get them to chip in on an extended warranty too after the wrangling I went through trying to get a straight story on price.

 

[MookdocOE]

Ok, good luck I know what your saying because I can't even let my dealership do a simple oil change tire rotation without completely screwing that up!

 

[rubberduck]

OP, do you have someone you trust in town to go to the dealership and look things over.

 

[Barstoolman1127]

When you get back into town, let them show you the transmission they pulled from the vehicle. Sounds like the 5BW isn’t for you.

 

[Deneed4spd]

Goat pen is now down to 2-3 month wait if you can find an allocation.

 

[bl4ck_wng]

Bummer dude. I had a new engine put in mine after a few thousand miles and it has not had any impact on resale. Document everything religiously, and you should be a-okay in the long run. Just make sure to test it extensively after break in is completed if you plan to keep it forever. At least that's what my dealer told me to do!

 

[CaddyTrack]

My car got delivered to the dealer 3 days after I left for a month-long trip. Since I am traveling and couldn't come into the dealership in person, we had a couple weeks of back and forth on the price (they wanted $7,500 ADM and I convinced them this sale was going to happen at MSRP).

Got a call today from my salesman and was told that they were doing the pre-delivery inspection and the car would not go into gear. They talked to Cadillac and a new transmission is on the way and should be installed by the end of the week. They said it should have been caught earlier (I forget the exact words, but I took it to mean at the factory). Salesman was pretty nice about it and offered to place a new order for me if I didn't want this car.

I had 2 questions: Will this impact the Carfax? Was told he didn't know but would find out. Second question was, how did the car get here - they dyno these cars in the factory, and then had to get it on a trailer, a train, another trailer, to the dealer's lot, etc, how did that happen with a bad transmission? Basically I said "Thanks for being up front with me, we'll figure this out, and I am still interested in the car, but this story doesn't make any sense - how did the car get delivered if it has a factory defect in the transmission?"

Curious what others would do.

This car is Wave metallic and at '23 MSRP. If I have to reorder a '24 the price will go up (perhaps substantially?) and Wave metallic has been discontinued, so I'd need to choose another color (and it will NOT be the new metallic blue as I don't care for it).

I do ALL my own maintenance and the thought of the dealer swapping the trans is not my favorite idea. (I've done engine swaps in my driveway, etc and I am extremely meticulous and borderline OCD about these things.) Under other circumstances I would not let a dealer change the oil in my car - even if it's free.

Edit: forgot to mention it is a 6 speed

I'd be curious to see what the clutch behavior is with the car off, and the startup of the vehicle. "Needs a new transmission" sounds like cover up for "one of our dudes did some shit he wasn't supposed to do, and we are fixing the car first so we don't get in trouble too."

 

[Throat Yogurt]

My car got delivered to the dealer 3 days after I left for a month-long trip. Since I am traveling and couldn't come into the dealership in person, we had a couple weeks of back and forth on the price (they wanted $7,500 ADM and I convinced them this sale was going to happen at MSRP).

Got a call today from my salesman and was told that they were doing the pre-delivery inspection and the car would not go into gear. They talked to Cadillac and a new transmission is on the way and should be installed by the end of the week. They said it should have been caught earlier (I forget the exact words, but I took it to mean at the factory). Salesman was pretty nice about it and offered to place a new order for me if I didn't want this car.

I had 2 questions: Will this impact the Carfax? Was told he didn't know but would find out. Second question was, how did the car get here - they dyno these cars in the factory, and then had to get it on a trailer, a train, another trailer, to the dealer's lot, etc, how did that happen with a bad transmission? Basically I said "Thanks for being up front with me, we'll figure this out, and I am still interested in the car, but this story doesn't make any sense - how did the car get delivered if it has a factory defect in the transmission?"

Curious what others would do.

This car is Wave metallic and at '23 MSRP. If I have to reorder a '24 the price will go up (perhaps substantially?) and Wave metallic has been discontinued, so I'd need to choose another color (and it will NOT be the new metallic blue as I don't care for it).

I do ALL my own maintenance and the thought of the dealer swapping the trans is not my favorite idea. (I've done engine swaps in my driveway, etc and I am extremely meticulous and borderline OCD about these things.) Under other circumstances I would not let a dealer change the oil in my car - even if it's free.

Edit: forgot to mention it is a 6 speed

First of all, congrats on ordering the best car/color/transmission combo. In my opinion, you should keep it after the repair. Get a detailed breakdown of what they did, what tech worked on it, and a thorough test drive. Ask to talk to the tech directly and about what, if any issues he had, what he thought was broken, etc. It will help to give you peace of mind to talk with him...I have always done that after repairs on my cars and it has always been worth the effort.

 

[V56]

OP, I would bail on this car and as much as it sucks to wait for another one, I would look for another car.

 

[Exia]

A new transmission wouldn't really bother me, shit happens.

What I would ask myself is would I rather have the first '24 or take this '23. Its probable that when the '24 shows up summer will be almost over. Its also probable that '24s will have a price increase although hopefully not nearly as bad as '23s.

If this '23 is the exact spec you like, just take it. It has a 6 year warranty anyway, nobody will care that it had a transmission replaced if you want to sell it within those 6 years.

Your call if a potential price increase is worth it for a '24 that maybe doesn't need a new transmission out of the gate.

 

[rubberduck]

I would take a close look at the paint and body panel alignment. If the paint looks good/correctable with no major issues and the car is spec’d the way I want, I’d keep it. Putting in a new order is a crap shoot on quality and delivery time.

 

[Deneed4spd]

I have had two BWs and can attest the finish quality of one vs another was night and day. Maybe if everything looks ok, then take the tranny repair

 

[CBH]

Seems like an easy decision really - just test drive it with the new tranny, check everything else as usual, and be extremely happy you can drive it home immediately for the '23 MSRP !!

Your other options seem to have tremendous downside to me.........

 

[99sport]

Update on this. I decided to take delivery of the Blackwing. Since Wave metallic has been discontinued there was no way I was going to get one of these in that color (especially with the options I wanted) unless I took this one. It drove fine on the test drive - no transmission issues. I flagged 3 things at delivery for them to fix: a paint chip (probably won't bother to get that fixed), a very poorly fitting left fender and gouges in the passenger seat. You can see this post for pictures of those issues.

Door Alignment - Adjustable?

My door vertical alignment is perfect, but both sides it seems like they don't shut far enough. They latch and function ok, but if you look at it from the rear or above you can see the trailing edges of the front door stick out a bit further than the leading edges of the rear door. It's hard to...

www.cadillacvnet.com

I assumed the fender would be an easy fix - loosen a bolt and slide it over - but after buying the car I signed up for a GM service manual subscription, and it looks like that will not be a straightforward fix. The seat should be easier - worst case they replace the whole seat.

Apparently, I should have made them put it up on the lift for me to inspect prior to taking delivery - I peered under the car and even brought race ramps with me so I could inspect, but the lift points / pinch welds didn't look damaged when I looked underneath and I left it at that.

Today I got under the car and found a total of 11 fasteners are missing.
The missing fasteners I have found so far are:
1 bolt in the Front Compartment Air Deflector,
1 plastic fastener in the Front Bumper Fascia Center Air Deflector,
1 bolt in the left Underbody Front Air Deflector
4 plastic fastener in the left Rear Wheelhouse Liner
4 plastic fastener in the right Rear Wheelhouse Liner

I also found tears in the heat shield (some repaired with tape better than others), broken seam sealer in a couple of places, a lot of grime where they supported the trans, oil pan, etc while lifting, a very strange mark that almost looks like a grind mark on the oil pan, possibly some hammer marks on the exhaust and the Air conditioner condensate is draining down inside the heat shield on the drivers side trans tunnel (not sure if that is normal or not).

However, the really concerning part is that 3 major structural bolts that hold the front subframe and engine in were about to fall off. The Drivetrain and Front Suspension Cradle Rear Bolt was loose - this a torque to yield bolt (74ft-bs plus 95 degrees) and the Front Cradle Shear Plate had 2 nuts that were about to fall off. Plus the 6 rear bolts on the shear plate were well short of the specified 37 ft-lb torque spec.

Basically, I don't think it is safe to drive until the major structural bolts are tightened. I wonder if the loose shear plate and front subframe bolts have anything to do with my very misaligned left fender. I'll let the dealer know, and I'll be extremely polite about it, but I would like to get someone from GM (an engineer or service rep) to look over the dealer's shoulder to make sure this gets fixed right. Leaving 2 parts off completely and 14 fasteners about to fall off or missing, plus 6 that probably weren't torqued to the proper spec (on a $110,000 car) is not confidence inspiring when you have almost 700 hp and a top speed over 200mph (and I do plan to track it). This is my first ever new car and this is a disappointing 1st new car experience. Anyone know if GM has service reps or engineers that go to dealer service bays? I have no confidence this dealer can properly fix my 200mph car. Anyone know of dealer in the LA area they trust?

 

[dizz81]

Holy jesus. I'm in SOCAL and seeing this makes me dread using whatever dealership you used. Drop a name so I avoid that place like a plague. lol.