Wife's old car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Non-repair car talk
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Alignment was good, tires ride nice and are much quieter. Pretty hefty bill though overall. On top of the $50 tire rod and $706 tires, I paid $55 for a 2 year inspection, $100 to mount and balance said tires and $80 for an alignment.

I'd like to say the steering is way tighter with the new tie rod but I didn't notice that much of a difference. A little bit, yes. Not major. This vehicle actually has very minimal steering slop on center. The slow ratio and precise on-center is fantastic on the highway.

Total damage:
Tie Rod: $50
Tires: $706 + $100 mount/balance - $70 prepaid VISA = $736
Alignment: $80
2 year inspection: $55

$921 after I get my $70 rebate card. I saved ~$300 doing the tie rod myself. And I saved on the tires themselves. These same tires ordered retail would have been another $160.

Here are the alignment specs:
SRX Tire Pros alignment March 2017.jpg
Random thoughts:
- Based on the front and rear camber, turning to the right should yield more neutrality/oversteer than turning to the left. Reason being, the front left actually has a little more negative camber than the rear left. It is the opposite on the right side (turning left).
- Caster is fairly minimal at 4°
- The total toe range is 0-0.4° and it ended up at 0.28°. Toe is good for stability and is also good when you have some negative camber to keep things wearing evenly. Same goes for the rear and it looks like there was some toe out before they adjusted it.
- If you believe this form, it looks like they adjusted the camber on the right rear. However, I suspect they did nothing at all. I have no real explanation for this.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

New tires.
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Hilarious. SRX tires on the SRX. 740 A A. I was thinking about it. We got 23k out of the RS-As, and they came with no more than 8/32". Plus they are only treadwear 280. If we get 50k out of these, that would be great. Less than 35k and I'll be pissed I think. This is my first set of Coopers. They don't appear to be directional and with the same size all around with the Sport package, I can rotate these to the maximum extent. That will help tire life even more.
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

It is in fact 30/32. Though it calls for V rated and the manual did make specific mention that the 20" wheel package is made for performance and has lower treadwear. They are setting expectations for the Goodyear Eagle RS-As. The thing I don't understand is the 20" wheel package is available only with the soft ride FE1. Why would they put low treadwear V-rated tires on that??

Anyway, for shame Tire Pros, you did not reset the TPMS tire positions. I just finished doing that.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

$70 prepaid VISA rebate card has been processed and will come in...well, 6-8 weeks. But that's cool. I did it all online.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote:$70 prepaid VISA rebate card has been processed and will come in...well, 6-8 weeks. But that's cool. I did it all online.
Oh. Got it. Spent it. That worked.

Anyway, I checked the intake manifold bolts per documented issue on these. Fewer were loose and they were less loose than my STS. But some were still below the torque spec. Now they are tight. Almost makes me wonder if that misfire issue was caused by this but these weren't like severely backing out so I don't know. I will have to drive it and see if it made any difference. I tightened them while the engine was hot which may not have been ideal. Maybe I'll check again after it cools.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Did oil change, coolant change, serpentine belts and p/s reservoir flush.

All that took like 3 hours which isn't too bad.

I found the drain cock.

The belts were in even better condition than the STS belts. They make belts a lot better than they used to be.
Attachments
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Wow, the oil change interval was nearly 12,000 miles which means the computer wanted a 14,750 mile oil change interval.

That said, over the 11,793 miles, I added a total of 3.5 quarts of makeup oil. So with an 8 quart capacity on good synthetic plus that makeup oil, the inverval is not as crazy as it sounds.

The last oil change was in October so I didn't quite make it the year. Jamie will be driving significantly less in the coming year due to no pre-school commute and no West Hartford peanut desensitization which both put significant mileage on the car over the past year. So that's something. The un-reset trip computer says 17.6 mpg average.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

After I parked the STS I tried the SRX. It was way better.

This car is actually set up really well to be an animal in the snow. Some key things as I have noted before, even compared to its platform-mate STS:
- Ground clearance. This makes a big difference even though it's probably only a few inches more. It lets the tires do the best they can rather than add even more drag by trying to plow snow. This snow is wetter than I thought so that is even more important. The STS may have gotten out if it was a fine powder.
- Tires. It has those nearly brand new Cooper Discoverer SRX. They are MUCH, MUCH better in the snow than my Contis on the STS, even if they were brand new. Even though they are all 255s, it just grips.
- AWD/weight dist. As mentioned before, this car has like 52/48 weight dist. It just makes an easier job for the stability/traction control system and it rarely intervened on my entire drive. It even plowed through some large plow drifts on the way out of the bank. It was damn impressive. When it busted through the plow drift at the end of my driveway I knew it was going to be awesome.
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When I got back I decided to aim the headlights up a bit. When I opened the hood, I was greeted by a completely failed hood strut. I just checked the oil on this not long ago! I've never seen one just completely fail with no notice. I'll order one. Probably original.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote:When I opened the hood, I was greeted by a completely failed hood strut. I just checked the oil on this not long ago! I've never seen one just completely fail with no notice. I'll order one. Probably original.
Got the replacement. I thought I ordered a Sachs. What came was a Stabilus made in Mexico but it said ZF on the label. I dunno. It was pretty cheap ($17 shipped). Also, the original was completely dead. And it said GM on it (made in Germany!) so in all likelihood original, which means it made it about 10 years. This car, like my CTS-V, only has one strut on the passenger side. The SRX is a strange mix of CTS and STS that way.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

I've been wanting to do this for a while so I'll start the list and see where it goes.

Things where the SRX is more like the CTS, or more like the STS. Bear in mind the following model year availabilities when looking at the similarities/differences:
1st gen SRX: 2004-2009
1st gen CTS: 2003-2007
1st gen STS: 2005-2011 (the 08 refresh is not counted as a gen and given the economy plus low sales, a redesign was completely out of the question)

Chassis
- SRX uses the same longer wheelbase of the STS
- SRX uses the same drivelines as the STS, right down to the AWD. CTS was not offered in AWD (until 08) or V8 in non-V form.
- SRX uses the hub/wheel bearings of the CTS-V, with 6 lugs. I guess you could say this is the same as the STS-V but the STS-V wasn't available until 2006. In reality they all use the 2004 CTS-V hubs. Or the CTS-V uses SRX hubs....whatever.
- SRX offers the same suspensions as the STS, being FE1 with Nivomat rear load leveling or FE3 with F55 MR and air leveling. CTS offered, uh, probably FE2, FE3 and FE4 (plus FG2 shocks as mine has) but no MR at all on the first gen.

Body
- One hood strut on passenger side like CTS. STS has two.
- Headlights have dual projectors like STS. CTS has reflector high beams (which by the way works just fine).
- SRX has rear LED tail lights. CTS didn't offer that until the 2nd gen in 2008.
- SRX uses the same upper door frame design as the STS. On the CTS it tucks under the roof. Only my STS seems to have any wind noise issues (not that I could hear them in the CTS-V)...but probably adjustment-related more than anything.
- SRX door pulls more resemble the STS but the SRX did not offer the keyless go system.

Electrical
- SRX uses the same battery current monitoring system as the STS. My CTS doesn't have that.

Interior
- The original SRX interior (04-06) was very much like the 03-07 CTS. The 07 refresh improved things substantially and I guess the closest thing it resembles is the 08 CTS (2nd gen). The dual heated seat controls (back only or back + bottom) may mirror 2nd gen CTS. Not sure if STS offered that on the 08 refresh.
- SRX uses the same hood release and parking brake release as the CTS. The STS only has one handle (for the hood release) and a push to release parking brake.
- SRX uses the same manual tilting (no telescoping) type steering column as the CTS
- SRX uses a heated steering wheel with wood insert like the STS. I don't think either was offered on the CTS.
- SRX uses a gauge cluster, on the 07 refresh, that is almost identical (but not interchangeable) as the STS. I also like the 05+ CTS gauge cluster. The 04 SRX gauge cluster is like the 03-04 CTS gauge cluster and it is...not that attractive.
- I'd put the audio of the SRX in a similar category as the CTS. The STS is a clear cut above which is not surprising given the pricing.
- SRX offered touch screen nav from day 1, though it was refreshed with a Denso system in 07. The 1st gen CTS was not touch, though it works just fine.
- The 07+ SRX got the tap to triple blink turn signals which was also shared with the 08 CTS and probably 08 STS.
- 07+ SRX got all auto down and auto up windows. The 05 STS also had this. CTS did not, until 08.

Some of these differences are a reflection of the times when the vehicle was offered. For example, with the gauge cluster. The 04 SRX only had an 03-04 CTS gauge cluster to pull from so that's pretty much what it used. Meanwhile the STS just came out for 05 with a brand new cluster design but the SRX just came out so it didn't get it until 07. CTS 2nd gen was about to come out so no point in updating the first gen. Etc.

Things unique on the SRX:

- SRX is unique in offering a HUGE moonroof (and rear glass over the 3rd row with power shade) that was just not available at all on the CTS or STS.
- The rear seat A/C actually has its own evaporator and fan like a Suburban. You can see condensate puddles in the summer around the left rear wheel after parking in the garage. The STS rear climate is just ducted from the front and can't change fan speed, but unlike the SRX can heat or cool.
- Power 3rd row
- Power hatch (no power trunks on the CTS or STS)
- Manual adjusting 60/40 2nd row though we leave it all the way back. Legroom beats all other Sigma offerings in this configuration. It is quite comfortable.
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