Repair-It

Here is a decent buy possibly.

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d ... 85970.html

Cadillac STS 4 - $2200 (Mattituck)

2005 Cadillac STS 4
condition: fair
cylinders: 8 cylinders
drive: 4wd
fuel: gas
paint color: black
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
2005 Cadillac STS 4
Check engine light
I think it has a misfire
109,000 miles
All wheel drive
V8
I just put 1200$ worth or tires on it
My name is mike text or call five six 6 -6188
do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers

Looks like a 1SG with adaptive cruise. The paint actually looks decent though I think I see some body damage at the rear. I mean $2200 is pretty cheap and apparently has all new tires even. Probably needs a coil or something. Could actually be a decent buy. Maybe.

The pictures are very incomplete also. One funny thing about these cars is, he could have taken it to a shop with the misfire and they could have told him it needs a head gasket (it probably doesn't) just because it's a NorthStar.

When I went to Staples to buy canned air I went without my phone since the camera glass was off. I used the radio in the STS. It sounds really good. Surprisingly good. Go figure. You'd almost think if FM was universally bad that it would actually sound worse on a good audio system but it sounded a lot better than I expected.

I find the HD radio in the Vsport to have pretty good sound quality.

Maybe in the spirit of thinking about putting my CTS-V back on the road, I decided to do a commute with the suspension in Performance. Believe it or not I always drive in Touring except for specific instances where I would like the enhanced body control of Performance. I like the way it feels in the times I select Performance when doing more aggressive cornering and stuff so I thought, well, maybe it would be better all the time.

So is it?

Not really. In fact up the Newport bridge which is a bit of a washboard I actually found the ride a bit stiff and more unpleasant. On smooth surfaces, it feels fine. I ended up putting it back to Touring and I do like that better for normal driving, especially on our imperfect roads. I would still select Performance for aggressive driving.

Kind of a boring post I guess. But I was kind of laughing at myself for never, ever driving around normally in Performance. It turns out there was a good reason.

Now in my V, I love the ride/handling, even on crappy surfaces. It is part of the car. There is an exhaust note, manual trans, the car is lighter, etc. It fits. A stiffened STS, in normal driving situations, really doesn't do anything for me, especially since the whole chassis is still setup for handling more than ride, so even in Touring the ride is controlled. I prefer my V with the regular but firm FG2 shocks to my STS on Performance mode. I would also add that I am sure I would prefer my FE3 stuff on Touring than an FE1 STS because the MR shocks definitely do something, like damp out any bounce over dips on the road. I also think the rear of my Roadmaster is too stiff. So I'm not into hard rides unless it fits the vehicle/driving situation. It also comes down to not liking excessive body motion. If you have too soft of a suspension, it can get unsettled and bounce around more. I do not like that. If you have too stiff of a suspension, it has no compliance and the whole car is forced to jerk around more, which I ALSO don't like in general.

I had a related revelation while driving a rental XTS a couple days ago. I even though the ride is a lot softer than the Vsport, I still feel like the Vsport handles some sharp bumps better thanks to MR. Overall, the Vsport feels much more sophisticated. Also, the XTS has 19s and it doesn't really need them for any reason other than appearance. I have been driving the Vsport in tour a lot lately because I don't like the overly responsive throttle or transmission calibration in sport. I actually prefer the sport steering and suspension.

kevm14 wrote:I think the coolant is no longer leaking.

It's been stable for a month and a half.

https://worcester.craigslist.org/cto/d/ ... 17495.html

2005 Cadillac sts4 - $4300

2005 Cadillac STS 4 1SG
VIN: 1G6DC67A150225239
condition: good
cylinders: 8 cylinders
drive: 4wd
fuel: gas
odometer: 96500
paint color: silver
size: full-size
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: sedan
2005 Cadillac STS 4 1SG North Star 4.6 V8
Loaded...Adaptive Cruise, navigation, heads up display, Bose stereo, Magna-Ride , Staggered Wheels
Black leather interior, Sunroof, Keyless entry , Push button start, Remote start, Home-Link,
96500 low miles

Well that seems like a better deal than what I bought though that is going on 2 years ago now. Lower miles, black interior, adaptive cruise and 1SG.

Just noticed the inspection sticker says 4/2020. Mass has annual inspections so this car just got a sticker. Whether it was just purchased (it seems to have a plate) I don't know, and a Carfax would sort that out anyway I'd think.

Boy seems like the force is against me. Just noticed right fog light is burned out!! Let's recap:
- Left headlight not working, probably wet ballast but won't know for sure until I get it out and dry it off. Probably should just replace the housing at this point.
- Check engine light on, should scan but expect catalyst code and has been on for a week now....
- Right fog light burned out

Inspection due this month. Seems like this is how things go...

Check engine light issue seems fine at this time. The lean code was a disconnected hose and the catalyst issue does not seem to have gotten way worse or something. At least good enough for inspection.

I will do the headlight ballast I guess this weekend which should resolve that.

I have the new fog light bulb and I should probably do that, too, but they may not test those, especially since it requires you to flick the momentary/ring switch at each ignition cycle (i.e. they can't be set to come on automatically).

So after all that this is looking much better for me.

Should be ready for inspection. Could have made a PM appointment but didn't want to stress myself. Maybe next weekend.