Stevie Cadzz
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2020
- Messages
- 4
- Location
- Bronx, New York
- My XLR/V(s)
- 2009 Cadillac Crystal Red XLR Platinum
I'll get the introduction out of the way first lol. The name is Steve, but in the neighborhood (Little Italy in The Bronx, NY) they call me Stevie Cadillacs. Earlier in life I was a GM Tech, then became a service writer and eventually a service manager before leaving dealership life, realizing that unless I owned the damn dealership, I'd never be able to fully change the way customer service, repair work and efficiency were handled. I eventually became an operations manager in a large, well know and top notch transmission shop and was able to fully implement my automotive business plan too much success over a 20 year period. Eventually the owner passed away unfortunately and the business was closed. It happened a GM of a dealership that knew me and my work and customer service ethic, found out I was available and made me an offer that I couldn't refuse to run his service department at another GM dealer. This service department was last in the brand among all the other dealers on the East coast and was in complete shambles. The place was a dump, customer service had a consistent one star rating and had the worst reputation and comeback rate I have ever seen. So why you ask, would I take such a job? Because I love GM and If a service department is run right, where people are treated like family, vehicle concerns are understood and fixed the first time,it's a great atmosphere for everyone involved (both customer and brand employees) to take pride in the brand they love. So of course, I rolled my sleeves up and put in the work to right the ship. After only 6 months, I had brought the service department to certified service status and number 11 in the brand. The turn around was so fast and dramatic that I had 4 reps from headquarters in detroit, plus my local service rep all sitting in my office asking me what the hell I did to turn it around so quickly. I explained to them that my philosophy was very simple and cultivated from a very young age in my neighborhood. Take care of the customer! If you focus on the numbers, the customer service and customers will fade away, but if you focus on the customer going above and beyond their expectations, that the numbers would all fall into place. Quite simple really. They were all on board and more than happy to throw accolades and and any help they could at us, as well as take all my advice and make it happen. Unfortunately ownership was not and after I told them the warranty administrator who would not warranty claims for people within our discretion and the tech who was squirting power steering fluid on perfectly good steering racks to make time had to be let go they would not do it. They chose not to do it because they both had been with them the longest and as I explained that was why they both needed to go. They were working together and not only hurting Gm but more importantly the customer. So once again, I left dealership life as I was not going to hurt my years of a good name. I now own a pawn shop which is a huge change but fun lol. One day, maybe I'll have my own cadillac dealership and you and all your XLR's will find a home to have any of your precious Cadillac's concerns addressed with pride and care. Now that that's over, lets get to the car. (s) lol.
They call me Stevie Cadillacs because I always have them, usually a few. I think Cadillac is the most beautifully styled and most luxurious car brand on the market. There's nothing like a Caddy. I've had so many over the years that if i had them all in one shot I could open a Cadillac dealer. lol. From my first Caddy (a two year old stolen recovery 85 Coupe deville) back in my teens at 19, thru Eldorados and other devilles there is just nothing like them. But recently years have seen me have a love for the 06'-11' DTS's. I love that car... so much so I have three of them lol. But the car I wanted the most, the absolute pornstar of cars was the XLR for me. In particular the 2009. for a couple of years i've been searching for the right deal and almost pulled the trigger on a pristine garage kept 06' that is owned by a GM exec since new. But he wanted big big dollars and I walked away from it. I like my cars 1 owner(maybe two) and dealer maintained. January I was visiting mom in Florida for her birthday and while scrolling thru Letgo I noticed this beautiful looking two owner 09' in Crystal Red with 39k miles, all the original and dealer maintenance, paperwork at a very reasonable price, and after much negotiating back and forth it was on a Tractor trailer heading up here to NY to slide into the empty spot in the garage waiting for it. As it turns out, it appears that there was only 8 of these made in platinum with this color combo as far as I can see. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
This car is everything i've wanted and more. I cant say enough good things about it, and aside from the price gouging on discontinued parts that goes on, this Cadillac experience is heaven. Unfortunately it has a few issues that I will address a little at a time along the way to bringing it back to as close as new as I can get it. The previous owner took it out of the garage and left it outside in the hot alabama sun so that the new car could go in the garage leaving me with some degree of faded paint on top and badly sun burned and cracked headlights as well as a cracked left tail light. Other than the heated steering wheel being in op, the car is mechanically new. The will be addressed easily at my local body shop. This guy is as OCD as I am and does the local Ferrari and Maserati Dealer and customer work so whatever he says needs to be done to make it perfect, it will get. As far as the headlights... well that's where i'm screwed as i'm sure you all know. I still get all my GM parts at cost and in fact I collect Original OEM Cadillac parts for the DTS's and now XLR's but i'm finding it very hard to locate a set of clean headlights at a reasonable price (found new ones at 5k-7k per side) and the same for the tail light. If anyone has any suggestions, i'd be more than appreciative. Also, can someone let me know how to upload a pic of it for the profile pic as well as uploading pics in general on this site?
Nice to meet you all,
Steve
They call me Stevie Cadillacs because I always have them, usually a few. I think Cadillac is the most beautifully styled and most luxurious car brand on the market. There's nothing like a Caddy. I've had so many over the years that if i had them all in one shot I could open a Cadillac dealer. lol. From my first Caddy (a two year old stolen recovery 85 Coupe deville) back in my teens at 19, thru Eldorados and other devilles there is just nothing like them. But recently years have seen me have a love for the 06'-11' DTS's. I love that car... so much so I have three of them lol. But the car I wanted the most, the absolute pornstar of cars was the XLR for me. In particular the 2009. for a couple of years i've been searching for the right deal and almost pulled the trigger on a pristine garage kept 06' that is owned by a GM exec since new. But he wanted big big dollars and I walked away from it. I like my cars 1 owner(maybe two) and dealer maintained. January I was visiting mom in Florida for her birthday and while scrolling thru Letgo I noticed this beautiful looking two owner 09' in Crystal Red with 39k miles, all the original and dealer maintenance, paperwork at a very reasonable price, and after much negotiating back and forth it was on a Tractor trailer heading up here to NY to slide into the empty spot in the garage waiting for it. As it turns out, it appears that there was only 8 of these made in platinum with this color combo as far as I can see. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
This car is everything i've wanted and more. I cant say enough good things about it, and aside from the price gouging on discontinued parts that goes on, this Cadillac experience is heaven. Unfortunately it has a few issues that I will address a little at a time along the way to bringing it back to as close as new as I can get it. The previous owner took it out of the garage and left it outside in the hot alabama sun so that the new car could go in the garage leaving me with some degree of faded paint on top and badly sun burned and cracked headlights as well as a cracked left tail light. Other than the heated steering wheel being in op, the car is mechanically new. The will be addressed easily at my local body shop. This guy is as OCD as I am and does the local Ferrari and Maserati Dealer and customer work so whatever he says needs to be done to make it perfect, it will get. As far as the headlights... well that's where i'm screwed as i'm sure you all know. I still get all my GM parts at cost and in fact I collect Original OEM Cadillac parts for the DTS's and now XLR's but i'm finding it very hard to locate a set of clean headlights at a reasonable price (found new ones at 5k-7k per side) and the same for the tail light. If anyone has any suggestions, i'd be more than appreciative. Also, can someone let me know how to upload a pic of it for the profile pic as well as uploading pics in general on this site?
Nice to meet you all,
Steve
Last edited:
