RR's 2014 ATS 6spd 2.0T

[Rusty Accord]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

As far as I know the only Cadillac that ever shared an Opel badge was the Catera, and actually I think only Buicks have been Opels since. But I could be wrong, I am new to owning a GM car. But yea the depreciation is horrendous, that's why you don't buy one new haha. I bought this car for maybe half of what it was new a few years ago. Crazy but good for me as I never buy brand new cars, and I keep them forever. So I'm feeling pretty good, it's a lot of car for the money. But I do feel bad for people who bought one brand new, that's a big hit.

Thank you, yeah I wish I could have gotten the 18" optional wheels instead but this color combo was too amazing to pass up. But these are them, only they would have been silver (this car has the Carbon Pkg). I dig that trunk spoiler too, makes the rear end look better.

Forgive the Facebook screencap, I save stuff left and right.
wp_ss_20170729_0002 by C B, on Flickr


By the way, congrats on paying off your truck! Such a great feeling.

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Thanks. I bought it used, but still paid on it for a while. The only plus is it's a Texas truck which means no rust, no salt. In Michigan (like Ohio) that means a lot. I plan to keep it out of the salt though (damn another 1 that only gets used part of the year).
As for whether it was Buick's only being former Opels, I couldn't tell you, but GM liked to save money wherever they could, so nit wouldn't surprise me if your Caddy was formerly an Opel. If it's not an Opel, then it's a Holden. With an Opel engine, Basically it's a world car these days, kinda like an Accord is built in Japan, USA, Canada, UK, and Mexico now (that I know of). Maybe even in other countries too.

The rear spoiler does make it look good though, and less "old manish".

 

[SykVSyx]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

I see you have been spending time on Cadiaudiacurazine!

Congrats on the purchase, CB, looks like it's in great shape.

Sure it will be a completely different driving experience from the other rides in your stable.

Mod plans are tasteful, so, I am sure you will have it looking on point in no time.

 

[Autonexha]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

Congrats! Good choice. The car looks great!

The only plus is it's a Texas truck which means no rust, no salt.

Did you check its history? As it could be moved to Texas from any other state. I always use car vin checker like this before buying a used car. It helps me to make sure the car has a good history without serious damages. There are lots of other services that you can find on the Internet. The most popular of them are https://www.carfax.com/ and http://www.autocheck.com/vehiclehistory/?siteID=0, but they are very expensive.

 

[RedRyder]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

I would really like to swap to the 2015+ emblems that deleted the wreath thing, but I would need to make my own custom front grill. But I found out you can buy overlays for the badges to make them look a little more modern so I'll probably do that in the meantime. I photoshopped these (silver parts used to be gold).


WP_20170805_15_04_53_Pro_A by C B, on Flickr


I also want to paint or wrap that chrome trim piece on the rear bumper.


WP_20170805_15_05_28_Pro_A by C B, on Flickr

I see you have been spending time on Cadiaudiacurazine!

Congrats on the purchase, CB, looks like it's in great shape.

Sure it will be a completely different driving experience from the other rides in your stable.

Mod plans are tasteful, so, I am sure you will have it looking on point in no time.

Haha thanks Derek, I feel very fortunate. It will definitely be a different driving experience. I really wanted a sport sedan with some pedigree, and once I read up on this car it got me excited. For example, the engineering team behind the ATS actually used the e46 3-Series as its inspiration, because they believed it was the best handling/driving 3-Series of all time. As a result of the chassis, the ATS has near perfect 50/50 weight distribution and it's the lightest car in its class. Then throw in a turbo powerplant, manual transmission, RWD, etc and you have a true driver’s car.

Any updates on your car? Still waiting to see a thread on it...

Congrats! Good choice. The car looks great!

Thanks! I'm a big fan of their Art & Science design language. My only complaints are the back seat is a little tight and there is no sunroof. And as cool as all the haptic touch climate/radio controls are/look I would be happy with buttons. CUE is fine with me, though most people seem to dislike it.

 

[Rusty Accord]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

Congrats! Good choice. The car looks great!



Did you check its history? As it could be moved to Texas from any other state. I always use car vin checker like this before buying a used car. It helps me to make sure the car has a good history without serious damages. There are lots of other services that you can find on the Internet. The most popular of them are https://www.carfax.com/ and http://www.autocheck.com/vehiclehistory/?siteID=0, but they are very expensive.

I purchased it at Gilley Chevrolet in Texas (at 61K), and have owned it a few years before I brought it up to Michigan last spring (it towed my Little Guy tear drop). It hasn't seen salt (since I've owned it), and unless the PO drove it in the winter somewhere it shouldn't have seen any. It's still nice and clean underneath, and I've been thinking of shooting some primer and paint on it to keep it from rusting. Right now it's got 79K, and needs to go to the dealer for an air bag light.

Red, sorry for the hijack. I think chroming the gold bits looks great. I and my son (a Civic owner) can't figure out why some cars got gold, while others either got chrome or paint. Most times I think chrome looks better, but then I'm an "old guy" who likes chrome (like window trim, bumpers, and the other bits). I guess that's why I've got several 60's and 70's cars here not to mention a couple of Astro vans (that don't have any chrome on them).

 

[SykVSyx]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

Hey Chris,

I hear you, I think the next one will be something along the same lines as well.

Would like to try something with RWD, power and performance all in one, domestic or otherwise.

One day, there will be updates.

 

[RedRyder]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

Swapped the front sidemarkers, license plate lights, and reverse lights to LED bulbs from JDM Astar. I had not heard of this brand before but everyone on the ATS Facebook page seems to use them so I gave them a try. Quality and output are both good, especially for the price. It seems to me most companies get their LED bulbs from China anyway then put their name on them and mark them up, tired of overpaying so I decided to try cheaper bulbs this time.

I have front turn signal lights to put in, then the entire exterior will be LED. Still waiting on the resistor harnesses though (intermediate harnesses that go between the factory plugs so you don't have to splice anything).

The interior is not LED, but I'm not sure if I want to mess with that or not this time around. Trying to keep things simple and not create any headaches for myself. Course I plan to tune it when the warranty is up, soo....


WP_20170903_22_03_51_Pro by C B, on Flickr

 

[Sketch o5]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

led interior lights are soo much better though. one of the first things i did on the frs was swap out the dome light, you get so much more light. reverse light looks nice and bright, people should definitely notice that.

 

[RedRyder]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

True. Is your dome light one of those ones with like 12 LED's on a board, or just a standard festoon replacement?

Yea the reverse is pretty bright, hopefully it doesn't wash out the back-up cam at night.

 

[Sketch o5]

Re: RR's 2014 ATS

mine is a 31mm festoon type bulb, so it's small, but it has like 4 smd leds on a board. that's the one sbleds offers anyway, so i'm sure that's the one i bought years ago. just saw they have one with 18 smaller smd leds on it, i'm tempted to try that out