What do you drive daily?

[Dave Van]

I am not a GM guy. But when these came out I loved them. When I found this one owner low mileage car cheap....I had to have. 

2013  CADDY CTS4 Performance Coupe. 

A GREAT hiway cruiser 

 

Edited July 7 by Dave Van

[MarkJ]

3 hours ago, espo said:

Good right sized vehicle that you can still haul yard stuff in. 

Yes, David. The main thing is, it is fun to drive, and people are always staring at it like they want to ask me about my little Hyundai Santa Cruz. They have a turbo version available, but they always come with a bunch of other stuff on them like roof rack, bed rails, and gaudy looking wheels that hike up the price about 10 grand. I drove a turbo, and it was impressive, but I just don't need it for a locally only, around my house driven vehicle. The base engine is peppy enough for me.

[espo]

19 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Yes, David. The main thing is, it is fun to drive, and people are always staring at it like they want to ask me about my little Hyundai Santa Cruz. They have a turbo version available, but they always come with a bunch of other stuff on them like roof rack, bed rails, and gaudy looking wheels that hike up the price about 10 grand. I drove a turbo, and it was impressive, but I just don't need it for a locally only, around my house driven vehicle. The base engine is peppy enough for me.

If it's serving your purpose than the cost of the unneeded extras are better spent on a C D or models. Did much the same thing a few years ago for my wife's Jeep Cherokee. They wanted $1k for the black powder coated wheels, the same wheel as standard but black. Another $1500 for the leather interior but included a sunroof and a few other items that she never would use. Her last car had a sunroof which she used a handful of times and just as a vent when the car had been sitting in the sun and hot inside, had a/c anyway. I always thought the Santa Cruz was an interesting looking vehicle, and the basic design is something I would consider if I was in the market. Having owned a couple of El Caminos long ago I have always wished GM would bring them back in their original form and not the proposals I've seen based on a new compact truck. 

[MarkJ]

3 hours ago, espo said:

If it's serving your purpose than the cost of the unneeded extras are better spent on a C D or models. Did much the same thing a few years ago for my wife's Jeep Cherokee. They wanted $1k for the black powder coated wheels, the same wheel as standard but black. Another $1500 for the leather interior but included a sunroof and a few other items that she never would use. Her last car had a sunroof which she used a handful of times and just as a vent when the car had been sitting in the sun and hot inside, had a/c anyway. I always thought the Santa Cruz was an interesting looking vehicle, and the basic design is something I would consider if I was in the market. Having owned a couple of El Caminos long ago I have always wished GM would bring them back in their original form and not the proposals I've seen based on a new compact truck. 

Totally agree with you David. It's weird because I had a 1979 El Camino but it wasn't anywhere as neat as this little vehicle is. It had a way underpowered v-6 in it with a 2-barrel carb and it was not fun at all to drive. I ended up trading it in for a 1982 Silverado short bed pickup with a v-8. It was a lot more fun to drive but wasn't overly big like the 2020 Silverado I had before the Santa Cruz. Its posted below. I really don't miss that truck at all. Thats before I put the side steps on it.

[thatz4u]

I drive people around me .....crazy

[meechum68]

This is my beast, and I will be building a model of it.  

Atm, this heifer is giving me fuel fits, still have to troubleshoot a few things yet.  

1990, 234k miles and soon to have a new engine for it. 

The pics at this time was when I was working on the interior. Fixed quite a few issues, column, carpet, speakers. 

Edited July 8 by meechum68

[Tyreman]

On 7/7/2025 at 6:42 PM, Dave Van said:

I am not a GM guy. But when these came out I loved them. When I found this one owner low mileage car cheap....I had to have. 

2013  CADDY CTS4 Performance Coupe. 

A GREAT hiway cruiser 

 

That looks amazing! i am guessing to much car for the money so impossible to not buy.

[Dave Van]

2 hours ago, Tyreman said:

That looks amazing! i am guessing to much car for the money so impossible to not buy.

The reason it was 'cheap',  but so nice,  is coupes are not selling. It was at a high end dealership owned by a friend of my son. They just wanted it gone.....I helped them out!!! thanks

 

 

 

[Tyreman]

12 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

The reason it was 'cheap',  but so nice,  is coupes are not selling. It was at a high end dealership owned by a friend of my son. They just wanted it gone.....I helped them out!!! thanks

 

 

 

Your welcome and love it! the older Cadillacs with the Northstar V8 worthless here....i would buy and take the gamble...enjoy while it last could get 60k miles...yes i know the heads can be fixed prior to failing...your car does not have that problem...you have a good eye and taste Sir.

[WillyBilly]

4 hours ago, Tyreman said:

Your welcome and love it! the older Cadillacs with the Northstar V8 worthless here....i would buy and take the gamble...enjoy while it last could get 60k miles...yes i know the heads can be fixed prior to failing...your car does not have that problem...you have a good eye and taste Sir.

The good thing is the CTS does not use the Northstar V8. It uses a Direct injected Dual overhead cam VVT 3.6 V6. We had one with high mileage. It was a 09 CTS4 with 235,000 miles on it when we got it. Great running car. Pretty fast too. Our Current 3.6 powered Cadillac is a 2014 ATS4 with 195,000 miles. Both cars feel like a new car due to the original owners maintaining them. Both cars were bought cheap as well due to the mileage. The ATS4 has 321 hp and weighs 3500 lbs making it a fairly fast sedan.

[peteski]

We already had this covered in.

That's where my reply is.

[Rob Hall]

3 hours ago, WillyBilly said:

The good thing is the CTS does not use the Northstar V8. It uses a Direct injected Dual overhead cam VVT 3.6 V6. We had one with high mileage. It was a 09 CTS4 with 235,000 miles on it when we got it. Great running car. Pretty fast too. Our Current 3.6 powered Cadillac is a 2014 ATS4 with 195,000 miles. Both cars feel like a new car due to the original owners maintaining them. Both cars were bought cheap as well due to the mileage. The ATS4 has 321 hp and weighs 3500 lbs making it a fairly fast sedan.

I've had good luck w/ the Northstar (had an '00 DTS in Arizona) and the 3.6 (had an '06 STS for a few years).   My current '19 CT6 has a 3.6 w/ AWD and a 10spd auto, been very reliable.  60k on it now (bought it at 54k last year). 

 

[peteski]

On 6/24/2025 at 3:32 PM, Calb56 said:

2006 Xb. My box has under 112k.

 

Oh man, do I miss my "box", "fridge", "toaster"!  I had a 2006 Polar white (with a bB badges and some mild mods) from 2006 to 2019. Traded it in when some rust started showing up. I think it had around 120k miles.  Bought a 2019 Kia Soul. While it is similar size and shape, it is nothing like the xB. While it has many more luxury features, it is nowhere as easy to get in and out of, the back seat doesn't fold flat and the rear hatch opening is much smaller.  It also has less legroom in the back.  xB rode nice and low and handled really well. It was also much easier to work on and an excellent printed service manual was available (and often used by me).  The Kia only has a PDF-based manual which stinks.

Here it is is against a big bad Dodge Ram for size comparison and a chuckle.  It is just a bit longer than the truck's wheelbase!

Dude, keep yours as long as you can!  You'll never find anything even close to it.

Edited July 9 by peteski

[Calb56]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

Oh man, do I miss my "box", "fridge", "toaster"!  I had a 2006 Polar white (with a bB badges and some mild mods) from 2006 to 2019. Traded it in when some rust started showing up. I think it had around 120k miles.  Bought a 2019 Kia Soul. While it is similar size and shape, it is nothing like the xB. While it has many more luxury features, it is nowhere as easy to get in and out of, the back seat doesn't fold flat and the rear hatch opening is much smaller.  It also has less legroom in the back.  xB rode nice and low and handled really well. It was also much easier to work on and an excellent printed service manual was available (and often used by me).  The Kia only has a PDF-based manual which stinks.

Here it is is against a big bad Dodge Ram for size comparison and a chuckle.  It is just a bit longer than the trucks wheelbase!

Dude, keep yours as long as you can!  You'll never find anything even close to it.

I plan on keeping it, at least til retirement, if that ever happens. Hopefully soon, I'll upgrade the brakes and I want to get a rear sway bar on it. My son and I've talked about a cold air intake...

It's a great lil go-kart. Hauls quite a bit inside with the seats down and has been trouble free. Best car I've had since a 90 Loyale.

If I buy anything else, it'll be a 60s Bug. 

[espo]

On 7/8/2025 at 6:23 PM, meechum68 said:

This is my beast, and I will be building a model of it.  

Atm, this heifer is giving me fuel fits, still have to troubleshoot a few things yet.  

1990, 234k miles and soon to have a new engine for it. 

The pics at this time was when I was working on the interior. Fixed quite a few issues, column, carpet, speakers. 

Sound looking foundation to start with. You mentioned fuel issues. Many possibilities with the miles and unknown service history. Having owned a '95 similar to this one thing I found was I had to keep a fresh fuel filter handy. Even buying supposedly Top Shelf rated fuel it seemed to clog the filter more than I thought it should. Besides they are not that expensive and fairly easy to replace. Might be a good place to start your diagnosis of the fuel issues. 

[meechum68]

2 hours ago, espo said:

Sound looking foundation to start with. You mentioned fuel issues. Many possibilities with the miles and unknown service history. Having owned a '95 similar to this one thing I found was I had to keep a fresh fuel filter handy. Even buying supposedly Top Shelf rated fuel it seemed to clog the filter more than I thought it should. Besides they are not that expensive and fairly easy to replace. Might be a good place to start your diagnosis of the fuel issues. 

The following are new: 

Pump x2 (Found out the first pump was fine, since then.) I have the original pump yet and I know it works well. 

Fuel Tank

Sending unit

Filter

Cap/Rotor

Wires

Coil

Fuel Pump Relay

 

Still have to trouble shoot some wiring on the firewall.

Have to replace the oil pressure switch. 

Gonna get back at it soon after I get a few slow days.  

[espo]

1 hour ago, meechum68 said:

The following are new: 

Pump x2 (Found out the first pump was fine, since then.) I have the original pump yet and I know it works well. 

Fuel Tank

Sending unit

Filter

Cap/Rotor

Wires

Coil

Fuel Pump Relay

 

Still have to trouble shoot some wiring on the firewall.

Have to replace the oil pressure switch. 

Gonna get back at it soon after I get a few slow days.  

Sounds like you're already well into the diagnostics of your problem already then.

[meechum68]

Thanks and we got good folks here who gave me a couple new ideas on what to look at.

 

[Tyreman]

On 7/9/2025 at 9:47 AM, WillyBilly said:

The good thing is the CTS does not use the Northstar V8. It uses a Direct injected Dual overhead cam VVT 3.6 V6. We had one with high mileage. It was a 09 CTS4 with 235,000 miles on it when we got it. Great running car. Pretty fast too. Our Current 3.6 powered Cadillac is a 2014 ATS4 with 195,000 miles. Both cars feel like a new car due to the original owners maintaining them. Both cars were bought cheap as well due to the mileage. The ATS4 has 321 hp and weighs 3500 lbs making it a fairly fast sedan.

I love the Red one! all very nice cars.325 bhp is more than i need to cruise around in...a car i will seriously consider when ready to buy thank you.

Edited Saturday at 02:19 AM by Tyreman

[OldSkool81]

Well, since 2012 my daily was my 1998 Ford Ranger Stepside, and my 1988 Jeep Comanche Pioneer was my long term project/summer driver. But having moved in the countryside, the Ranger was, let's say "interesting" on the country roads winter commutes, not to mention it was getting long in the tooth. So I needed something 4x4 or AWD, so last summer I bought this 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4.7 H.O. which I absolutely love! It is now my main daily driver, since the Comanche now have a leaking gas tank, a rotten exhaust, and still needs some fiddling with the front adjustable control arms to get back to proper geometry and pinion angles, due to the suspension lift. I still have my Ranger, the Ol' Reliable Mule, as my go-to for when either of my Jeeps needs repair!!! 😅😅😅

[RSchnell]

I'm still plugging away in my 2019 VW Jetta. Bought the car with 7 miles, now has 114K and other than a set of plugs and pad/rotor change, I haven't had to do a thing to it repair wise other than routine maintenance. I'll probably drive it until it dies. It does everything I expect it to do while getting 40+ mpg on the highway with the cruise set at 75 and the A/C on. 

[MarkJ]

Looks like it just came off the showroom floor. Amazing.  Volkswagen should get in touch with you to do a commercial.

[Rodent]

2016 Mazda3 S Grand Touring 6MT. Purchased new, now has 122k miles. Racing Beat springs, Koni Special Active struts/shocks. Centric pads and rotors. Second set of Michelin Pilot Sports. Serious hoot for an econobox that flirts with 40mpg on highway trips and averages 32-33 mpg in combined driving. Rear Konis were already installed when I took the picture of the struts and rear springs on the garage floor.

[stitchdup]

3 hours ago, Rodent said:

2016 Mazda3 S Grand Touring 6MT. Purchased new, now has 122k miles. Racing Beat springs, Koni Special Active struts/shocks. Centric pads and rotors. Second set of Michelin Pilot Sports. Serious hoot for an econobox that flirts with 40mpg on highway trips and averages 32-33 mpg in combined driving. Rear Konis were already installed when I took the picture of the struts and rear springs on the garage floor.

I've always thought these look more like maseratti than a mazda

[MarkJ]

6 hours ago, Rodent said:

2016 Mazda3 S Grand Touring 6MT. Purchased new, now has 122k miles. Racing Beat springs, Koni Special Active struts/shocks. Centric pads and rotors. Second set of Michelin Pilot Sports. Serious hoot for an econobox that flirts with 40mpg on highway trips and averages 32-33 mpg in combined driving. Rear Konis were already installed when I took the picture of the struts and rear springs on the garage floor.

Mazda has always made very stylish looking vehicles. My other daily driver, which is more like a weekly driver is a 2023 CX-5.