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Would you buy a Cadillac Deville if the price was right???
Kind of in a quandary, as a friend's grandmother is getting too old to drive, her last car is a 2003 or so Cadillac Deville. I mean this car is really nice, 25,000 miles on it, interior looks, smells brand new, its grey leather, bench seat, column shift, digital display(which kind of sucks compared to the optional gauge cluster). Paint is mint as well, its a sort of bluish silver color, chrome 15" or 16" wheels, ie they have enough sidewall to ride like a Cadillac. About the only flaw is a huge *** scratch on the left front fender and bumper, I'm guessing a $1000+repaint to get it back to factory new. Otherwise all the other paint/body is mint. It looks like this car.
I know the Northstar V8 is a piece of royal crap. Still though, they are motivated to sell. Without the huge scratch the car books at $4,000. Thinking of offering them $2700 or so, about the max I will pay is $3,000 since it needs about $1000 worth of body work.
So do you think I am insane??? I don't expect this car to last more than about 125k or so, if I'm lucky I will get 200k out of the engine/trans without any major problems, still though the low transaction price indicates that I expect this car to hold up very well cosmetically but it will blow up at a pretty low mileage. Well since it has 25k miles on it, I'm thinking very optomistically, that I might have 75 to 100k miles of good service out of this car, but its always a roll of the dice.
I mean I always did like the styling of this gen Deville, it has a damn hood ornament, its old school land yatch bench seat/column shift, it floats/rides nice, the Northstar V8 does haul ***, I mean for $3000 or less that is a decent gamble for what is basically an almost new in condition car.
Being old school myself, if I could get that for $2,700, and be able to drive it for 3 yrs. with minimal repairs, why not? Especially if you, like it. But I would not buy it if you knew it needed a major repair. I wouldn't repaint it, I would just drive it. I did have a friend with a STS 4 which was absolute junk (talk about spending a lot of money and getting something that was about as reliable as a 1970's vehicle--this friend loved spending money and getting taken, so he got a SRX to boot--never seen any other husband/wife with 2 new cars but no transportation to get to work), so not sure if this is anything like that....
Kind of in a quandary, as a friend's grandmother is getting too old to drive, her last car is a 2003 or so Cadillac Deville. I mean this car is really nice, 25,000 miles on it, interior looks, smells brand new, its grey leather, bench seat, column shift, digital display(which kind of sucks compared to the optional gauge cluster). Paint is mint as well, its a sort of bluish silver color, chrome 15" or 16" wheels, ie they have enough sidewall to ride like a Cadillac. About the only flaw is a huge *** scratch on the left front fender and bumper, I'm guessing a $1000+repaint to get it back to factory new. Otherwise all the other paint/body is mint. It looks like this car.
I know the Northstar V8 is a piece of royal crap. Still though, they are motivated to sell. Without the huge scratch the car books at $4,000. Thinking of offering them $2700 or so, about the max I will pay is $3,000 since it needs about $1000 worth of body work.
So do you think I am insane??? I don't expect this car to last more than about 125k or so, if I'm lucky I will get 200k out of the engine/trans without any major problems, still though the low transaction price indicates that I expect this car to hold up very well cosmetically but it will blow up at a pretty low mileage. Well since it has 25k miles on it, I'm thinking very optomistically, that I might have 75 to 100k miles of good service out of this car, but its always a roll of the dice.
I mean I always did like the styling of this gen Deville, it has a damn hood ornament, its old school land yatch bench seat/column shift, it floats/rides nice, the Northstar V8 does haul ***, I mean for $3000 or less that is a decent gamble for what is basically an almost new in condition car.
I mean, if I was a student, or otherwise in need of cheap transportation, I'd consider it -- $3,000 with 25,000 miles may make it a better choice than a used Civic.
Paint is mint as well, its a sort of bluish silver color, chrome 15" or 16" wheels, ie they have enough sidewall to ride like a Cadillac. About the only flaw is a huge *** scratch on the left front fender and bumper, I'm guessing a $1000+repaint to get it back to factory new. Otherwise all the other paint/body is mint. It looks like this car.
Might be better off just leaving the scratch, if it can't be buffed out or if it's too deep for SCRATCH-OUT. Silver-blue is a notoriously hard color for body shops to perfectly match (arguably the most difficult color of all).....and a mis-colored fender can sometimes look worse than the scratch itself.
for that cheap and since you like comfy old barges, why not.
having driven a bunch of those and a relative who had them with ZERO problems, i'd ignore LexsCTJill's assertions about realiability. i don't know why you say the northstar is a piece of crap.
for that cheap and since you like comfy old barges, why not.
having driven a bunch of those and a relative who had them with ZERO problems, i'd ignore LexsCTJill's assertions about realiability. i don't know why you say the northstar is a piece of crap.
Earlier Northstars, not surprisingly, had more (and different) problems than later ones....mostly oil-use and carbon buildup. This link explains it pretty well.
for that cheap and since you like comfy old barges, why not.
having driven a bunch of those and a relative who had them with ZERO problems, i'd ignore LexsCTJill's assertions about realiability. i don't know why you say the northstar is a piece of crap.
Northstar is not crap. But Cadillac at the time along with GM made some very unreliable vehicles. My parents owned a Cadillac with the Northstar. I would say it had close to 30 problems from out of warranty to when it finally needed to be replaced at 120miles. My word of mouth will tell you straight it was a bad, bad, bad vehicle for needing repairs.
Performed very nice. Great materials. Phenomenal leather. Plush carpet. Great engine. Great ride. Free maintenance. But it was not reliable
Earlier Northstars, not surprisingly, had more (and different) problems than later ones....mostly oil-use and carbon buildup. This link explains it pretty well.
GM was famous at the time for advertising that in the case of a total loss of coolant, the Northstar could make it home. Never understood why GM had to tell everyone that in case it broke it could make it home. Like they knew consumers knew it would break? Anyways, I never had the perception that the GM Northstar was a bad or unreliable engine.
i know you didn't write that (and i didn't say you did) but op did.
My parents owned a Cadillac with the Northstar. I would say it had close to 30 problems from out of warranty to when it finally needed to be replaced at 120miles. My word of mouth will tell you straight it was a bad, bad, bad vehicle for needing repairs.
so a sample of 1 vehicle then with 30 problems out of warranty driven to 120k. mi. kinda depends what the 30 problems were but yes, definitely annoying. were they ever left stranded due to the problems?
a few years ago i might've said yes but then i sat in one and felt how cheap and crappy it was and at some point i learned it's an FF layout not FR so now definitely not. i'll stick with the LS thank you.
i know you didn't write that (and i didn't say you did) but op did.
so a sample of 1 vehicle then with 30 problems out of warranty driven to 120k. mi. kinda depends what the 30 problems were but yes, definitely annoying. were they ever left stranded due to the problems?
If I remember correctly, it never did leave them stranded, but this would of been a late 90s model, so I do not remember. However, I do remember the rear trunk could not close and needed to be tied closed with wire, drivers door window did not go down, sunroof did not work, fog lights did not work and there was a transmission issue.There were a lot of issues. It was nice car, rode well, had the best leather IMO in any car as it was called Nuance I think, and the real Zebrano wood trim was very elegant. At the time, I think it was class leading power as well.
25,000 miles for this car is nothing. Especially if it costs so little.
03-20-18, 01:53 AM
Would you buy a Cadillac Deville if the price was right???
