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Cadillac CTS?

Impala131

Impala131

New member
Hey guys, seeing a lot of 100,000ish mile 2004-2008 3.6L CTS going for around $7k in my area. Seems like a pretty good car for the money... thoughts? Totally unfamiliar with this platform and drivetrain.
 


they come manual, but most are auto. RWD yes.

i'd throw another couple thousand on top of that and find a higher mileage V series and love life. the v6 version leaves a lot to be desired.
 
turbo the 3.6. They're decent. No 3800 but IIRC i remember looking and people were making mid 400 whp on stock engines.
 
Or 3800 swap it..... Should bolt up to the tranny, needs motor mounts probably, and need minor tuning to make it work. Or maybe I'm off and it would need a lot of work IDK haha.
 
Go to the CTS forum and make sure of what you're getting into before you dump your hard earned dollars into a CTS. They're nice cars when everything works, but they can be money pits when everything is not peaches. The better CTSs are the 2009 and up models, but they'll be at least twice the price of what you're seeing.
 


Read about timing chain and oil consumption issues, figure there is probably a good reason such a high end looking car is going so cheap.
 
They are decent quality cars and fast surprisingly. Had one walk my almost fully bolt on gp gt few years ago.
 
Still got the CTS on my mind, $5K doesn't seem like much for a decent car. Wonder how easily the 3.6 can be worked on? I don't see changing the timing chains as being a road block. Seems like plenty of pep for a daily driver, plus decent on gas. Potentially an affordable RWD manual.

The CTS-V sure is cool, but I'd be spending $15K minimum locally, and that's CL private parties.
 


If you're looking for a V6 car that you can wake up easy, get a V6 FBody - CHEEEEAP. Suspension work with a steep gear and a cam/heads setup will easily net basement 13's. On par with a stock LS1 car.
 


Its not as easy as it sounds.. Trust me. A good bit a custom fab. But if you've got a hammer and a friend with a tig welder its no problem haha. But before I SC'd it I had headers adn rockers and was getting 35 mpg on a stock tune on the highway. Manual, lightweight, semi aerodynamic 3800 powered car ftw.

And it was faster than my 3.6 pulley topswapped bonneville when it was NA. No joke.
 
So it you want a good DD/bolt ons car. Even NA wouldn't be bad. Just some ER or 1.9 rockers and exhaust and boom. quick fun car.
 
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