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XLR Service

harleridr

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
16
Location
texas
My XLR/V(s)
2006 red
To coin a phrase, it sucks. I went to my local dealer to have the transmission and cooling system serviced. I am high on preventive services, My dealer called and said "he didn't have the proper fittings for this" after having my car overnight and most of the next day plus half a tank of gas. I then called Cad Svc, I use that term very loosely, to locate another dealer. After spending 6 hrs on the phone I never reached anyone in the U.S., only the Philipines and Argentina. They didn't even know what an XLR was. I then tried a different approach, and called for new car info, low and behold within two minutes I had someone in Austin, TX . This will be my last Cadillac. Has anyone else had problems like this? I never had this problem with my many Corvettes.
grumpy
 
Wow! That's awful, to say the least!

Since the Vette and XLR are kissing cousins, how about taking it to a Chevy dealer - one that has experience on Vettes? I know they won't do warranty service, but it sounds like your tranny drain and fill wouldn't be covered anyway?

BTW, I've had bad service at times from my local dealers. I've had the car come back with broken trim pieces, broken transmission shifter, and unrepaired problems (it took all summer and many visits to get my AC repaired last year). However, the folks at Lockhart Cadillac are GREAT! It's only 300 miles from home, but worth the trip!
 
How can we determine which Cadillac dealers are certified to work on an XLR? The Cadillac website has a dealer locator feature, but no way to distinguish if they are qualified to work on the XLR. Any thoughts???
 
How can we determine which Cadillac dealers are certified to work on an XLR? The Cadillac website has a dealer locator feature, but no way to distinguish if they are qualified to work on the XLR. Any thoughts???

If they are licensed to sell the XLR they are also a certified XLR service dealer. NOT all Cadillac dealers are XLR dealers. When I have called Cadillac I have never talked to anyone except people in Michigan.
 
I am located in San Antonio (SA), both dealers in SA should go out of business... I have given up on GM and am looking for a good tuner. I used 21st Century Muscle car when I was closer to Dallas. I may drive back there, 300 miles but I know they won't attempt something they can't do.
 
Wow -I've had similar experiences.

My first XLR-V was sold to me by Billy Canvander (personally) in San Antonio. I had told him I was interested in the XLR-V and he called me when the first one arrived on his lot. I fell in love imediately and bought it on the spot.

Long story short, that XLR-V was a lemon and was being serviced at Covert cadillac in Austin... (Cavender didn't sound confident they could fix it either). They were VERY VERY nice at covert, but it was in the shop for over a month and GM bought it back... and replaced it with a new XLR-V.

The new one had some issues and it was getting service in Houston... at David Taylor cadillac... and couldn't solve the some of the problems either... and eventually, I had to take it to McGinnis cadillac... and they did fix some of the things and but not all... I've just learned to live with what I've got now.

The only two dealerships I haven't tried that are within my reach are Bachelor Cadillac in San Antonio and Stewart in Houston. but since I've given up and started fixing the car by myself (I even bought my own Tech2) I'm not sure I'll ever try them out.

(sigh)
 
I just realized I didn't offer much of a solution...

A friend of mine runs a Chevy dealer in Houston and after chatting with him over beers one night he suggested that a chevy dealer may be able to deal with the XLR now... especially since the ZR1 vette was released.

So long as its something pretty simple - have you tried a Chevy shop thats ZR1 certified?
 
I think it is a shame that Cadillac cannot service its flagship car, but what the heck, GM is bankrupt.
I wouldn’t spend time with Batchlor. I bought an STS from them and had good luck with the service department. I took my XLR in and they were lost, I got the feeling that I knew more about the car than they did.

I never had much luck with Chevy dealers when I drove Corvettes either. I think GM is in over there head in the sports/touring area. I say that only after driving and having service performed on an SL 500 and an Audi a6.

I do like my XLR and will find a solution....:)
 
I just realized I didn't offer much of a solution...

A friend of mine runs a Chevy dealer in Houston and after chatting with him over beers one night he suggested that a chevy dealer may be able to deal with the XLR now... especially since the ZR1 vette was released.

So long as its something pretty simple - have you tried a Chevy shop thats ZR1 certified?


I just noticed you have a Lingenfelter 176 Degree Thermostat. Did you buy it from 21st Century in Dallas?
 
I just noticed you have a Lingenfelter 176 Degree Thermostat. Did you buy it from 21st Century in Dallas?

I bought it online from the website so I don't actually recall where it came from. :dunno:
 
I think it is a shame that Cadillac cannot service its flagship car, but what the heck, GM is bankrupt.
I wouldn’t spend time with Batchlor. I bought an STS from them and had good luck with the service department. I took my XLR in and they were lost, I got the feeling that I knew more about the car than they did.

I never had much luck with Chevy dealers when I drove Corvettes either. I think GM is in over there head in the sports/touring area. I say that only after driving and having service performed on an SL 500 and an Audi a6.

I do like my XLR and will find a solution....:)

I am so sorry you folks in Texas are having so many problems with getting service on your XLR's and other GM products. Sounds as if they do not have an XLR Certified Tech., where you have been going. I am totally satisfied with the service at Red Noland Cadillac in Colorado Springs. Before I bought my XLR I checked out other hardtop sport cars and also checked out dealer performance. The Mercedes dealer here has one of the worst reputations for service. All I had to do was talk to a few of their customers when I visited their show rooms or walked around outside in front of the show rooms. If I have ever had a problem with a dealer I call Cadillac Consumer Relations and have had great response. Have never been connected to anyone outside the United States. I know the District Manager for Cadillac that lives in Denver. He has bent over backwards doing things for me, got the upgrade Navigation disc when all other avenues closed down and also got me the XLR book for free. I am 100 percent satisfied with my XLR and with Cadillac, currently driving my number 12 and 13, now have 1000 miles on the DTS, WOW. :):):)
 
I am so sorry you folks in Texas are having so many problems with getting service on your XLR's and other GM products. Sounds as if they do not have an XLR Certified Tech., where you have been going. I am totally satisfied with the service at Red Noland Cadillac in Colorado Springs. Before I bought my XLR I checked out other hardtop sport cars and also checked out dealer performance. The Mercedes dealer here has one of the worst reputations for service. All I had to do was talk to a few of their customers when I visited their show rooms or walked around outside in front of the show rooms. If I have ever had a problem with a dealer I call Cadillac Consumer Relations and have had great response. Have never been connected to anyone outside the United States. I know the District Manager for Cadillac that lives in Denver. He has bent over backwards doing things for me, got the upgrade Navigation disc when all other avenues closed down and also got me the XLR book for free. I am 100 percent satisfied with my XLR and with Cadillac, currently driving my number 12 and 13, now have 1000 miles on the DTS, WOW. :):):)

Robert - maybe the next time you talk to your friends at Noland, and you are talking about us coming in to CO - he will set up some time for "visiting" XLR's to get checked out? Or maybe he would like us to "visit" his dealership like we did in BG at Martin .... This group can always use a little wine & cheese!

PS

We have Jimmy Johnson Chevrolet here. Ray and I were up there looking around this weekend - the mgr told us that they service XLR's there - Something to do with the Hendrix racing team being trained ....
 
Red Noland Cadillac

I am sure if any of the group coming to Colorado Springs next year needs anything done to their XLR, all they need to do is call and speak with a service writer, explain what the problem is and make an appointment to have it fixed while they are here. I have traveled in many states and have been to a lot of dealers and mine right here at home is the best one I have ever been to. I am pretty sure mtrocket and Cindy were pleased with the work that was done here on their X on the way to San Antonio. They made their appointment prior to leaving Montana.

If you go in the mornings they always have doughnuts and coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water and soda is available all day. They are a great group of people.
 
That's a great idea, Robert! Maybe we will get more attendees if they know that they can get their car serviced at the same time they are there.

Also, who is the District Manager that you know in Denver? Maybe some of these people who are having so much trouble getting their disks could save themselves some time if they just got hooked up with a person who could help them from the get-go. :blinzel:

Our local Cadillac dealership (De La Fuente) has been through hell. First, in June, GM notified them that they would be part of the 1700 dealers that would be phased out..... then in July, GM terminated them and re-routed the dealerships website to a message that stated they they were no longer in business, and also prevented them from performing warranty repairs .... NOW they have received notice from "the New GM" that it has a new franchise agreement. They have orderded new cars and the serive department is again doing warranty work. What a mess.
 
District Managers

RA, Your dealer should be able to supply you with the name, address/email address and phone number for your district manager. If they are unable to do this you can always phone Customer Relations on their 800 number and request that information. My District Manager, Joel, possibly could phone another district manager and ask him to look into things in his district but it would be better if the customer in that district made the contact.
 
RA, Your dealer should be able to supply you with the name, address/email address and phone number for your district manager. If they are unable to do this you can always phone Customer Relations on their 800 number and request that information. My District Manager, Joel, possibly could phone another district manager and ask him to look into things in his district but it would be better if the customer in that district made the contact.
No .... I don't need your DM .... I just thought that since other's were having problems getting the disks that since he helped you he could help them. I have already received all of the upgrades that I was entitled to.

I'm not crazy about our NAV system actually. I think the turn-by-turn from OnStar is better. Yep, I still pay for it.
 
05 XLR

I have had my 05 for about 3 months, and a few warrenty issues have come up , nothing serious but my Cadillac dealer (Fields Huston) in Lake Wales fl. have been outstanding in service and doing the job correctly. The owner drives a V and has a talented XLR technical staff.
 
I have had my 05 for about 3 months, and a few warrenty issues have come up , nothing serious but my Cadillac dealer (Fields Huston) in Lake Wales fl. have been outstanding in service and doing the job correctly. The owner drives a V and has a talented XLR technical staff.

I guess it is just like buying a house "Location location location!":dunno:
 
No .... I don't need your DM .... I just thought that since other's were having problems getting the disks that since he helped you he could help them. I have already received all of the upgrades that I was entitled to.

I'm not crazy about our NAV system actually. I think the turn-by-turn from OnStar is better. Yep, I still pay for it.

I posted the information for everyone in hopes of helping them get better service from their dealer.

The upgrade Nav disc for the X was/is not nearly as the upgrade for the SRX I traded in. The new DTS Nav is better than the X but I have not noticed it giving the block numbers when you are going down a city street like the upgraded SRX did. They have too many companies making the Nav disc.
 

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