About to Order, Engine Failure Questions

[rubberduck]

lets make it interesting. $50 says there is a '26 MY 5BW. you in?

I want some of that action, $100 on 26 MY 5BW.

 

[CA139]

I used to think like that...buy the last "good" car to keep it "forever". But thanks to the miracle of modern mass production, it just isn't realistic to think any car can be kept on the road indefinitely. With old cars (<1970s) you could probably make just about any part that fails in a machine shop (and maybe 3D print someday). Now if some chip in some component fails in 20 years, you really only can hope they are some still sitting on a shelf or in a junk yard. That's the same as if you built a PC back in 2001 and the motherboard died today...you pretty much have to replace everything since nothing is in production anymore or compatible. This will only get worse with newer cars with more tech. Digital hardware is pretty reliable and can last a long time...until it doesn't.

Besides the electronics, you have all the rubber and plastic that is decaying all the time as it ages. A 20-year-old car won't drive like it did when new (but you don't notice as much because the effects of aging happen gradually).

Where I'm going with all this: Buy a 5BW and drive the hell out of it. If it breaks, fix it. If it can't be fixed, then worry about that when it happens. You can't take it with you when you die, and a car that isn't driven is wasted.

I regret that in 14 years I only put 100k miles on my V2. I should have enjoyed it more.

Mostly agree. Some of the wear is very mileage dependent. Without sharing too much identifying information our family has a 1995 car in another country my grandfather had which he passed on to my grandmother which now my aunt runs once a month. It was supposed to be partially for us, and partially as a more comfortable longer trip car for them unfortunately not long after they got it "old age" set in for the both of them. Grandather died suddenly of something instant without suffering, thankfully, with his boots on a few years later. Grandmother soldiered on for a while also mostly healthy and independent vibrant for more than a decade after that but lost the wanderlust they had when they were younger. Aunt doesn't do much she has a laborious operation which keeps her at her house most of the time. What ended up happening is it got 40,000ish miles most of which were put on by our family visiting a few months a year. Someone has run it about once a month or more in the interim.

I love driving that car. Something about the handling of 1990's cars. Every few years as we get newer vehicles it feels more obsolete (can start it in Neutral, don't need to put it in Park to remove key, headlights don't automatically turn off, has 14" tires, no cupholders). But at the same time it just throttle steers so much more than the modern cars as its so light. Tinny yes as well feels like the doors are made of tin foil but light like a go kart. Its reason #28 why I love returning to the homeland. It probably doesn't drive as well as it could when new but when all of its 2 liters, 16 valves and 130ish hp gets floored on the highway from 80-100 I can pull away from most 2.0 or even 2.5L turbodiesels high beaming me at 6 inches from my rear bumper in the left lane. The looks I get after I pull into the right lane after putting a few car lengths as I zoom past slower cars and take that opportunity to let the faster driver go are priceless. The Toyota is an old lady but she still got it after 30 years. Obviously 1995 was a different era.

 

[CA139]

All bets that there will be an ‘26 are off with the tariffs being implemented on Tuesday.
All cars built in North America contain numerous parts and raw materials (steel, aluminum, oil and petroleum products) that have crossed either or both the Mexican and Canadian border before they are assembled into a vehicle.
Some of the parts cross several times during the production process.
E.g., the Bullitt I owned before my first Blackwing was assembled in Michigan but its engine came from Canada, as many Ford engines have for more than half a century.
That engine no doubt itself contained parts from the US, not to mention the rest of the world.
The LSA engine in the V Wagon I owned before the Mustang had an engine that was assembled in Mexico which similarly very likely contained components that originated in the US as well as many other parts of the world.
That whole integrated long-standing production industry will now require reorganization, retrenchment, and mitigation of costs and losses unless an exception is made for cars and car parts. (For those that don’t know: there has been free trade in the auto sector between Canada and the US since the sixties, so the connections are deep, long-standing, and complex.)
Without such an exception, which I’m becoming less hopeful about every time your president speaks about the issue, I believe that we will soon see factories closing, huge layoffs on both sides of the two borders, and the discontinuation of numerous models of cars as part of the retrenchment.
I expect this will include all the CT5s as they can’t be making GM much money given their low sales volumes.
In other words, and I hope I’m wrong, it’s over after the ‘25, and they may even cut production of that model year short.
There’s one good thing that may come out of all this: some leading politicians here are advocating for a 100% retaliatory tariff on Teslas that are shipped to Canada.
Please God make it so!

Drove a bunch of EV's the last decade, didn't care for a single one....

 

[CA139]

Absolutely, and so well said.
Also, if I might add about “if it breaks, fix it”, that it comes with a long and decent powertrain warranty.
Which means you don’t have to worry about the cost of fixing it for longer than most of us are likely to own it in any event.
And if the engine holds out until the warranty runs out and you want to keep it instead of trading it in for the latest shiney new thing on wheels, it like will endure long past that, too.

I tend to keep my cars a very long time. My hope and goal is to keep some manual transmission performance cars for decades into the future. I am almost 50 and have mostly very cheap DD type practical vehicles anyhow. If I get 30 years out of these cars and I am stuck with an EV by my late 70's I will be happy.

 

[CA139]

It's hard for somebody like myself to even believe something like this? I mean GM or Cadillac offers probably the most affirmative comprehensive warranty in the business?

GM has been building V8's seemingly forever and will back that engine with drivetrain for what is it 6 yrs 70k miles? You can't be serious about this question?

I am because I want to keep the car a long time like decades because I dislike EV's so just ordered one yesterday.

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

lets make it interesting. $50 says there is a '26 MY 5BW. you in?

If I’m right I could use the $50 (U.S., please!) and if I’m wrong I’ll still be holding my breath for the next crazy, dangerous announcement from south of the border, so I’ll pass on that.
Meantime you might want to save your money too as the prices of cars is about to go up in the US unless the tariffs on the auto industry aren’t carved out.

What Trump’s Trade War Would Mean, in Nine Charts

President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico could upend U.S. trade. These nine charts show what’s at stake, what comes next, and why it matters.

www.cfr.org

It’s hard for me to keep a sense of humour about this but I’ll repeat what I said about hoping our side makes good on the threat to tariff Tesla, even while feeling sad Canada is now at “war” with the country we thought was our best friend.

 

[Finally-a-V]

Not to go too political, but I read an article that said if you buy a car with parts and piece from CAN or MX, the prices will go up around $2000 average. If it's built entirely in CAN or MX, figure about $8000 average. Experts think this could crush the car business from sales to manufacturing.

We import 3.5 million barrels of crude a day from CAN. At a 10% tariff, that's about 10-15 cents at the pump. Another 15% later this month or early March, that's 15-25 cents. The Mid west will be hit hardest. Oh, and for fun, add in the spring gas blend changeover of about 25-30 cents and you're looking at 70 cents to a dollar more for gas. Wasn't the price to be so cheap we would have gas flowing down the gutters?

How's that inflation working for you now? See those prices coming down yet? And we haven't even discussed our MX food imports. Remember, inflation was what, 2.7% in December. Told ya, but you wouldn't listen. And he has a degree in Economics!

 

[shbox]

Please, let's not go political and destroy another thread. I know GM Authority is not an authority, but they are saying 2026 CT5 production is already scheduled with normal timing as I already posted a link to.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2025/01/heres-when-2026-cadillac-ct5-production-is-scheduled-to-start/

 

[rubberduck]

Please, let's not go political and destroy another thread.

It’s all meaningless opinion as nobody here can play 3D chess.

 

[Finally-a-V]

I'm sure there will be a 2026 CT5 (maybe a CT4). The article doesn't mention Blackwing production, but that's not surprising. Production got off late, so they may delay 2026 BW production a month or two. I would think 26 is it, especially with the EV changeover Cadillac is hell bent on. With the XT4 being done this month, the XT5 and XT6 dying end of this MY, the only ICE left will be the Escalade and the CT4/5. They'll build Escalades as long as the built Tahoes/Yukons. CT4/5 will depend on demand....maybe. It is GM.

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

I'm sure there will be a 2026 CT5 (maybe a CT4). The article doesn't mention Blackwing production, but that's not surprising. Production got off late, so they may delay 2026 BW production a month or two. I would think 26 is it, especially with the EV changeover Cadillac is hell bent on. With the XT4 being done this month, the XT5 and XT6 dying end of this MY, the only ICE left will be the Escalade and the CT4/5. They'll build Escalades as long as the built Tahoes/Yukons. CT4/5 will depend on demand....maybe. It is GM.

If GM needs to choose between building a low volume sedan without a future and a pickup truck that was formerly built in Ontario or Mexico at an under-utilized plant in Michigan, what do you think they’ll decide to do?
I won’t get into the weeds of the pros and cons of the tariff “policy” (my quotation marks say enough), I’m just saying, as a fact, that if it is not mitigated for the auto sector, there will likely not be any kind of 2026 CT5 outside of China.
I’ll stop there because I agree that we should keep things from getting too political on these threads.
Except to say that I think most here will agree, regardless of citizenship or political affiliation, that GM Authority is authority for Jack sh*t.

 

[dinkman]

I want some of that action, $100 on 26 MY 5BW.

just to be clear, you're betting AGAINST there being a 2026 MY 5BW, correct? if so, you're on!

 

[rubberduck]

just to be clear, you're betting AGAINST there being a 2026 MY 5BW, correct? if so, you're on!

No I’m betting against @T.O.Blackwing saying no 26 5BW. I put up $100 that there will be a 2026 5BW. @T.O.Blackwing are you going to back up your word confidence with hard US currency.

 

[minn19]

Please, let's not go political and destroy another thread. I know GM Authority is not an authority, but they are saying 2026 CT5 production is already scheduled with normal timing as I already posted a link to.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2025/01/heres-when-2026-cadillac-ct5-production-is-scheduled-to-start/

The problem is that this is purely political so it’s hard to not to bring it up.

 

[minn19]

It’s all meaningless opinion as nobody here can play 3D chess.

It’s not meaningless opinion. @T.O.Blackwing might not be right about the exact outcomes, but he is correct that there will be major upheaval in the auto industry and hard choices will have to be made.

Trade wars are generally not good for anyone. Going to be an interesting day watching the stock market tomorrow and probably not in a good way.

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

No I’m betting against @T.O.Blackwing saying no 26 5BW. I put up $100 that there will be a 2026 5BW. @T.O.Blackwing are you going to back up your word confidence with hard US currency.

Give me odds by making me pay in Canadian if I’m wrong, which isn’t so bad for you because if I’m wrong, the Canadian dollar will go up.

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

Give me odds by making me pay in Canadian if I’m wrong, which isn’t so bad for you because if I’m wrong, the Canadian dollar will go up.

P.S. Chinese CT5s don’t count! (Have to clarify that as I think they’re still even building CT6s over there.)

 

[Finally-a-V]

China will continue to get the nicely refreshed XT5, XT6 and the CT6 as they are built there. I think the XT4 is just plain dead. I honestly don't know if the CT5 is built in China, or built here and shipped over.

 

[minn19]

China will continue to get the nicely refreshed XT5, XT6 and the CT6 as they are built there. I think the XT4 is just plain dead. I honestly don't know if the CT5 is built in China, or built here and shipped over.

I think you are right on the XT4, my salesperson was pissed they discontinued it because it was a volume leader/got people in the door. Didn’t make any sense to him.

 

[T.O.Blackwing]

China will continue to get the nicely refreshed XT5, XT6 and the CT6 as they are built there. I think the XT4 is just plain dead. I honestly don't know if the CT5 is built in China, or built here and shipped over.

Too bad the Chinese market CT5 Isn’t built (ahem) here in North America as it’s a huge seller in China:

Cadillac CT5 hits 200,000 sales in China

www.gminsidenews.com