Car Doctor Q & A

Q I saw you answer to someone who was disappointed about Lincoln following Ford’s lead and not making anything but SUVS. I also want a sedan and was intrigued by the Genesis G70, but I would prefer a true American luxury car. I am not ready to step into a Tesla and was thinking about Cadillacs. My grandpa always had a Cadillacs, and they were nice for him but not my style. What do you think of the latest Cadillac sedans?

A I recently spent some time in the Cadillac CT5. The model that I evaluated was powered by a 335- horsepower twin turbo- charged V- 6and with all- wheel- drive. The Ct5 has some very nice features available such as, remote start, adjustable handling/ ride and advanced cruise control. ( Super Cruise is coming for 2021). When fully loaded the Ct5 has just about every feature possible from advanced lighting to automatic emergency braking. The interior just feels a bit off, and a step below some of its European competitors. The performance from the V- 6 is strong and the handling is very good, but still not the best in its class. You won’t go wrong with this Cadillac, overall, the Ct5 is a stylish sedan that competes with the best sports sedans of Europe, it just doesn’t beat them.

Q I have a 2014Avalon Hybrid and every winter the “low tire pressure” light on the dash comes on. It happened last week and went off by itself. It’s on again and has been for several days. The Toyota folks say it’s cold weather related. Do you think it could be a problem with a sensor? Help! A IT could be a sensor, but the first place to start is checking and adjusting the air in all four tires as well as the spare tire ( if you have one). As the weather gets cold a typical tire will lose about one pound of air pressure for each 10degree drop in temperature. Once the pressure drops by about five pounds of pressure the low tire warning light will turn on. After driving for a bit the air warms up in the tires, the pressure goes up and the light goes out. Startwith a simple tire gauge and check the air pressure when the car is cold.

Q i ’ve had my Acura TLX for almost three years and have had zero complaints except one minor annoyance. I’ve noticed that in cool weather the memory seat does not respond when I start my car. It is not a big enough problem for me to bring it back to Acura service. Have you heard of this problem? What could be the cause?

A I checked for technical bulletins and didn’t see any that would pertain to this problem. Typically, with cold weather issues like this it is usually related to a faulty switch, component, or wiring. Although occasionally it can be a software update that corrects the issue. In older Acuramodels I have seen a similar issue and it was the power seat switch that was the problem. Honda/ Acura also has a slightly weird but sometimes effective method to correct electrical gremlins. Disconnect the battery and jumper the positive and negative cables together. This will completely clear the car’s memory, requiring reprogramming of all memory settings such as the seats and radio presets. Readers have you had this problem with your Acura, email me- jpaul@aaanortheast.com