Is Cadillac dealer service any better than GMC?

[BacDoc]

The biggest problems were related to the front air suspension, and then a harness that was improperly secured in the transmission tunnel. This is on my 24 Yukon. Within weeks of purchasing the vehicle, the front would lower/sag when sitting overnight. It ended up sitting at the dealer almost a month in total, during which time someone came through one night and broke the windows out on over a dozen vehicles parked on the lot, including mine. it took the dealer 5 days to notify me of this, during which time it continued to sit on their lot, in the rain (they made a half assed attempt to cover it with a flimsy plastic tarp). After meeting with the service manager in person, they finally traced the problem to some module that regulates the front suspension. Essentially, the air in the front shocks was leaking back into the holding tank on the car, which caused the front end to sag.

On the harness, there was a vibration in the transmission tunnel at low RPMs. I dealt with "we don't hear it" or "it's normal" to finally getting them to agree to put the car on a lift and have a tech underneath the vehicle while someone else was inside giving it throttle (with me standing outside the bay watching). At that point, they heard it and agreed that it was not normal, however they couldn't figure out how to fix it. I was by then at my breaking point with this dealer, and decided to try another local GMC dealer. This dealer was quickly able to diagnose the problem and fix it. The way the harness was mounted, it was vibrating directly against the transmission, so once it was remounted properly, the issue went away.

I know these problems may seem trivial. Most of the issues with my 24 Yukon, and previously with my 22 Tahoe, have to do with squeaks, rattles and vibrations (admittedly, my tolerance for these is very low), however the dealers give me subpar service by not providing regular status updates, not returning phone messages or e-mails, giving me inconsistent or downright inaccurate information, etc. There is a consistent rattle on the driver's side b-pillar, a plastic flex/creaking noise in the center dash HVAC panel (where the HVAC buttons are), rattles under both rear seats and a blend door in the rear HVAC that continuously "taps" against the housing at certain temperature settings. Maybe my expectations are too high.

Your expectations are definitely not too high, especially on these high end trucks that you paid the premium price.

This SUV segment has some great features and it is not too much to expect that everything works and is smooth and quiet as advertised!
When we pay the premium price we should expect premium performance.
I am happy with my 2024 Tahoe and I would definitely be complaining if I was hearing any noise, rattle or vibration on normal road conditions.

 

[KMeloney]

Not to get too off-topic, but I've had most of these in my '23 Yukon XL. I tracked most of them down myself because I'm obsessive about these types of things, even though my dealer is great and has helped with some other noises.

I had a few rattles around the b-pillar. Most of it was around the plastic trim that follows along the top of the window. I slipped some felt underneath the plastic in the noisy areas and lubricated the weather seals which helped some. On the rare occasion it rattles now I just push on that plastic piece and it quiets down. The one I had the hardest time getting rid of ended up being the side curtain airbag. I pulled the b-pillar trim off and pushed on everything underneath until I realized it was the airbag above the headliner. Thankfully I didn't have to drop the headliner, but I was able to slip some one-sided felt tape under the edge of the airbag where it was contacting the metal of the roof. That took care of it.

The plastic flex/creaking was 95% cured by using a thin plastic trim tool to wedge felt along the sides where the panel touches the metal trim around it. I pushed it in far enough where you can't see it. I still get an occasional creak in that area, but it's usually the cupholder lid.

I also get the blend door tapping when it's cold outside. I haven't tracked that one down yet, and might just let it go since it's sporadic. I can adjust the airflow from ceiling to floor and hot to cold fine, so it seems to be functioning ok.

Adding to the thread detailing… but would you mind snapping a couple pics of the problem areas that you were able to quiet down? I’ve got an area over/behind my head (I think) that does some “creaking” under certain driving circumstances, and id like to see if it’s the same area as yours.

Thanks!

 

[KMeloney]

This past year I was told by two Range Rover dealerships that they wouldn't work on my father's 2006 Range Rover, that they didn't work on cars "that old." Now THAT is some bad service, and from a "high-end" brand.

I don't think service expectations should be linked to what you paid for a vehicle. "Expensive" is a relative term -- and I think that mechanics at a given dealership should be able to repair whatever problem their vehicles encounter.

 

[Hrocks]

This past year I was told by two Range Rover dealerships that they wouldn't work on my father's 2006 Range Rover, that they didn't work on cars "that old." Now THAT is some bad service, and from a "high-end" brand.

I don't think service expectations should be linked to what you paid for a vehicle. "Expensive" is a relative term -- and I think that mechanics at a given dealership should be able to repair whatever problem their vehicles encounter.

While many, many years ago Land Rovers dominated the Outback and worldwide safari markets. Sadly in recent decades all versions of Rovers have coveted the bottom end of vehicle quality ratings. That rugged off road market has been dominated by Toyota. Their Land Cruiser and Land Cruiser Prados are THE gold standard for quality and reliability in over 140 countries worldwide. Checkout all of the white SUV’s shown in TV news reports from the middle east. Whether it’s the Red Cross or unfortunately terrorists, they’re all Land Cruisers, not Rovers.

 

[chrisbusnut]

Here are photos of the broken windows. The driver's side back door window was smashed out and open to the elements (their car cover wasn't even fully covering the vehicle). The front door window was cracked. Since it is laminated glass, it didn't shatter. Aside from the broken glass, there was luckily no other damage, and I found no evidence of water inside (very surprising). The dealer handled the replacement, and "expedited" the two windows. I was extremely pissed, but I guess it could have been worse, and there were many more cars that had also been vandalized. The car only had a few hundred miles at this point. I just wanted to get it fixed and back home. I will never use that dealer again, because of this instance and others mentioned above. Had the vandals damaged the paint/body, I would have pushed hard for a buy back.

Has anyone had issues with rattles under the 2nd row captains seats? These seem to be more prevalent in warm weather. I heard them again last week, after not hearing them all winter. There are various plastic lined cables under the seats, which I assume relate to the various adjustments that the seats make, including folding down and forward. The only thing I could attribute the noise to was these cables. I zip tied them up as best I could, and that sort of worked on the passenger side last summer, but now they are both rattling. I'll probably try using some felt tape or other insulation to further discourage movement where something hard like metal is contacted.

If these issues persist, coupled with the frustrating dealer experiences, I'm not sure how much more I can take. I really like the 2025 Yukon refresh, and would be tempted to upgrade to a 2025 Denali Ultimate Duramax at some point, but am not sure if I want to spend that much money for what I consider to be a high risk of similar issues. I've been seeing the new Lexus GX550s driving around town, and really like the looks of them. I looked them up online, and a fully loaded model is in the mid 80K range, versus 105-110K for a fully optioned Yukon Denali Ultimate. It's not a comparable vehicle to the Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade, but there really isn't anything else that I'd be remotely interested in.

 

[chrisbusnut]

Not to get too off-topic, but I've had most of these in my '23 Yukon XL. I tracked most of them down myself because I'm obsessive about these types of things, even though my dealer is great and has helped with some other noises.

I had a few rattles around the b-pillar. Most of it was around the plastic trim that follows along the top of the window. I slipped some felt underneath the plastic in the noisy areas and lubricated the weather seals which helped some. On the rare occasion it rattles now I just push on that plastic piece and it quiets down. The one I had the hardest time getting rid of ended up being the side curtain airbag. I pulled the b-pillar trim off and pushed on everything underneath until I realized it was the airbag above the headliner. Thankfully I didn't have to drop the headliner, but I was able to slip some one-sided felt tape under the edge of the airbag where it was contacting the metal of the roof. That took care of it.

The plastic flex/creaking was 95% cured by using a thin plastic trim tool to wedge felt along the sides where the panel touches the metal trim around it. I pushed it in far enough where you can't see it. I still get an occasional creak in that area, but it's usually the cupholder lid.

I also get the blend door tapping when it's cold outside. I haven't tracked that one down yet, and might just let it go since it's sporadic. I can adjust the airflow from ceiling to floor and hot to cold fine, so it seems to be functioning ok.

@squark, thanks for the info. I'll have to pull the b-pillar off again and see if the air bag might be the problem.

The latest dealer that I am using is supposed to be ordering a replacement plastic piece where the HVAC controls are, and hopefully when they put that on, that will solve that issue. The service manager at this dealership is involved now, and said they will add insulation at the contact points.

Where exactly did you wedge the felt in on that panel? On the two sides? What type of felt are you using?

Thanks again!

 

[K2 Kaiju]

Case by case basis; they are essentially the same truck. I take my GMC to my Chevy dealer as they are better...

 

[todayusay]

Has anyone had issues with rattles under the 2nd row captains seats? These seem to be more prevalent in warm weather. I heard them again last week, after not hearing them all winter. There are various plastic lined cables under the seats, which I assume relate to the various adjustments that the seats make, including folding down and forward. The only thing I could attribute the noise to was these cables. I zip tied them up as best I could, and that sort of worked on the passenger side last summer, but now they are both rattling. I'll probably try using some felt tape or other insulation to further discourage movement where something hard like metal is contacted.

our 2024 Z71 has a rattle in the passenger captain chair...we can fold it up/down and it'll go away for a lil bit. also odd that it mainly rattles when someone is sitting in it vs not

haven't had anyone check it out...that's the type of gremlin that could be chased for several service appts

 

[Tonyv__]

My only opinion about caddy dealers is that they mark up prices the highest.

I mentioned this about 6 months ago when I was looking for a valve spring for my Yukon. The part was dirt cheap online but I wanted it that day.

Chevy dealer had the valve spring for like $5

GMC had the valve spring for like $7-8

Cadillac had it for $12

Exact same part number but branding made it more expensive. Cadillac was the closet dealer to me who had it in stock.

I’m not complaining about $12 but I can imagine the price scale is similar for all their parts regardless of what vehicle you bring in.