Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Waterford Works, New Jersey

Waterford Works, NJ Car Consumer Discussions

Re: console armrest [getnfittywidit]

by dewaltdakota on Sun Jun 25 09:19:19 PDT 2006

I live in Powhatan, but work in Midlothian, at Waterford. I drive down 288 and hit Old Hundred Rd/Charter Colony Parkway from there. Mine is a Vivid Blue Sport... kinda hard to miss, once you see it. ;)

batteries plus.............

by gunnersmate on Mon Apr 12 06:01:16 PDT 2004

Yes... i see now Thermal Degeneration. I didn't realize temps go t that bad there obviously a concern for everyone there. Looks like the battery place by Lincoln was beneficial in your case. While I agree, battery longevity is not in-and-of-itself an indicator of low levels of maintenance or problems, it does significantly reduce one of the strongest contributors to overall RELIABILITY. Gunnersmate, anyone that reads my profile can clearly contact me via my published email address, and it also indicates my status as a FORMER Lincoln LS Owners Club member (and the Arizona Chapter Director to boot!) While I'm no longer a club member, that has nothing to do with my impression of the LS. >>> I know... I was trying to pint out that your opinions are valid due to your experience in the LS community here and abroad. Now, if your SA and dealership REALLY had a clue on how to maintain your LS, why on earth would they have changed out the rear window regulator 9 times with an old design that was widely known to be inadequate and was updated, not once, but twice within a 6-month period back in 2002? >>> Yeah I have to wonder the same thing but it wasn't for the same window, All 4 windows have had the regulators replaced twice and the front passenger once by me. You raise a good question what don't they know to do a better job by using a more superior part design. I think this should be a question that saz1 ponders while shopping for his car Also, while your problems have been experienced by others that own an LS, I haven't heard of anyone with all of them on a single car, and I haven't heard that many people experience them anyway. What I'm saying is that while you seem to have gotten a lemon (all manufacturers make them you know) it is not typical for this automobile. I'm not an advocate for Consumer Reports either, but it's very hard to dispute their data gathering capabilities. Consumer Reports is not known for recommending unreliable cars, are they? >>>> I am sure they produced more than one lemon and I would like to know what the ratio is not only for my sake but for others considering this car. As far as consumer reports goes I am sure they work as hard as they can to get real world data but a report based on a fixed cross section of consumers will only get you so far. I am here to report that my experience is not great and know other consumers that aren't very pleased and maybe my case is extrodinary. That said I have reservations when reccommending this car. As far as the LS goes, I know of at least 2 people that have more than 100K trouble-free miles on their 2000 model year LS's, and many more with mileage in excess of 70K. Further, while my 40K miles may not seem like very much, I've tracked my car on a few occasions (Phoenix International Raceway, Arizona Motorsports Park, and Waterford Hills in Michigan), and I autocross regularly with the Arizona SCCA, very competitively I might add. Check out the results posting page of the AZ Sports Car Club of America ( http://www.azsolo2.com/cgi-bin/results.cgi? ), and check out my finish results in the Street Tire 1 (ST1) category since July 2002. I submit to you that my 40K miles aren't typical, easy highway ones and maintenance intervals are closely watched. Despite my driving characteristics, my LS has held up very well and I STRONGLY recommend this car to anyone! >>>>>> I certainly hope this trend is the standard becasue I plan to get out of this car in the not so distant future and would like to see a stable market for its resale. There are pro's and con's in all products and I think that this car is rich in features and obviously I found value in them at one point in my life. SAZ1 I know that lolaj42 is a good poster here and does have plenty of experience with this car. In no way was my commentary aimed at usurping his standing or value here.

Service experience

by bluedevils on Tue Jan 20 06:07:19 PST 2004

We picked up our Sedona on Saturday. Turned out to be a fairly pleasant service experience. Dealer had the car starting Monday and it was ready early Friday. List of items: * repaint rear decklid due to rust around chrome strip above license plate (common issue on early Sedonas) * oil change * tire rotation * install new seat belt in middle row passenger side seat (part was ordered on previous visit) * examine keyless entry poor performance * examine hood for rust around front grille similar to rust on rear decklid The total bill was 39 bucks - very reasonable for an oil change and tire rotation, especially at a dealer . They found no problems with the keyless entry, which was the only disappointing and annoying, though not surprising, thing. The rear decklid was repainted, and they also repainted the hood which I thought was great since I had only asked them to look at it. They must have agreed it was a problem! The seat belt was installed, although I haven't checked it for proper operation. The paint work has been tough to inspect due to the van being dirty from road grime and salt. Overall, a thumbs up for Dick Scott Kia of Waterford, MI (northern Detroit suburb).

My CTS at the Race Track!

by fav002 on Wed Oct 16 18:14:25 PDT 2002

Took the CTS road racing this past weekend at the Waterford Hills Road Race track for their annual "Fun Run". What an absolute blast!!! The track is 1.5 miles long and each entrant got to run 5 laps against other cars in the same class. We ran time trials, with the vehicles staggered about 40 seconds apart so there was no real chance of causing damage to you or your vehicle by someone else. The CTS was a thrill ride on the track! It was the first chance I've had to really wring out the car's handling, and the suspension tuning done by the GM engineers on the Nürburgring was extremely evident. The CTS cornered like it was on rails with minimal hint of tire squeal. The course challenged the brakes too, as a long straightaway turned into a sweeping 90-degree right hand turn. I reached 90 MPH on the straightway and had to brake down to about 40 to make the turn without fear of losing control. I tried trailbraking through the sweeper on my second run and felt the backend start to break lose...I recovered in time and decided I need a lot more practice before I try that again at speed! The car performed flawlessly for the 5 laps I ran, but I don't think I had the necessary driving skill to really push the car to its performance limits. The main difficulty I experienced was selecting the right gear at certain points of the run since there were instances where 2nd gear was revving too high and 3rd too low to use the engine's power optimally. But overall, the manual shifts were firm and precise and allowed me to keep the car in the right area of the powerband for most of the track. I used to run my worked Z28 on closed course tracks and although it had plenty of power to "brute force" its way through the track it really lacked the finesse handling that the CTS has. The CTS suspension effectively kept the tires firmly planted to the asphalt, even during difficult maneuvers. My favorite part of the course was the "Hilltop Turn" where you reach a bind turn while going uphill and then immediately head downhill as soon as you hit the apex. The off camber turn unloaded the suspension when I least expected it and made for an exciting blast down the back of the hill once the suspension settled and the car came around. My best time around the track was 1:42, which was better than the two Ford Contour SVTs and the Maxima that were in my group. The black CTS got a ton of looks from the crowd and a number of people commented to me that they were glad to see a performance-capable Caddy wrapped in such an eye-catching package. A number of spectators snapped pictures of the car on the track for proof that a Cadillac was indeed on their road course. Two funny events happened during the course of the day. First, a Focus that was being used for an orientation drive around the track just died on the course and had to be towed back in...you know what they say about Fords, "Found-On-Road-Dead". Then towards the end of the day some dude in an older Ferrari GTS was trying to push it just a bit too much, lost control, spun across the grass and slammed up against a barrier wall sideways. He was OK, but the driver's side sheet metal on his car was mangled and the back glass shattered. I felt bad for the guy, but it seemed like the way he was driving, he just had it coming. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Man, I can't wait to get the CTS out on a race track again! - FAV002 My CTS Pictures

Towing

by scmhockey on Mon Jul 08 06:46:13 PDT 2002

I have been towing an 18 1/2 foot boat around and having no major issues. Only thing is that I need to plan way ahead for stops. The brakes just don't work anywhere near as well. And I try to avoid braking while turning. With the short wheel base, I can see jack-knifing as a real possibility. Steve

Colors on Envoy XL

by crj1 on Thu Apr 11 17:20:56 PDT 2002

They are not limited to white and pewter, I work at Dittrich GMC in Waterford MI. and we have White, pewter, burgundy, and black right now.