Ok, what's the deal with 2000-2005 DeVilles?

Can anyone say anything good about these? 275hp, 300ft.lbs torque?

Anything telling me to RUN AWAY?

Pretty effing hard to work on, that I know for sure. A quick Google shows a LOT of discussion on electrical problems. Definitely not a sports car...or even "sporty" for that matter. I would avoid pretty much any pre-bailout GM vehicle due to the piss poor build quality and those are no exception.

As the owner of a similar-era GM car (Intrigue) I suggest you look elsewhere unless you like chasing electrical faults caused by penny pinching. More weird electrical issues in this car than cars I've pulled out of sheds after years of non-use. Cold solder joints, cheap connectors, cheap switches, etc etc.

/thread!

And they have massive issues with transmissions and headgaskets on the northstars with age

Heavy at nearly 4k pounds.

If you want a big fat ride like a Cadillac of that vintage, look at a Buick LeSabre or Park Avenue for a more reliable experience. Park Avenue Ultra (with Supercharger) if high HP is your goal.

My buddy had an STS that struck me at my mexi-roots. Gave me quite the chub.

Not sure I'd ever want to own anything with a Northstar, though.

HNNNGGGG..

In reply to Swank Force One:

I fail to see anything good going on there. I'm not kidding.

This is an opinion and I know everyone has different ideas on good or not but all I see is a big cheap car with the potential for a lot of problems and too much negative camber. Junky body kit. Tires not wide enough, etc etc. It's also not the car the OP is asking about.

Dammit... DeVille, not SeVille. Sorry.

This thread needs more fleetwood brougham.

Horrible, just horrible. The front end feels like it's held together with zip-ties and bubble gum. My grandfather has an '01 and I loathe that car. Burns about a quart of oil every 1500 miles due to sludging of the piston rings- Cadillac issued a service bulletin on it but never a recal. CEL has been on for years because of a faulty sensor in the transmission that was ungodly $$ to fix. Has brakes from a bicycle. Coolant goes somewhere (I have to add every few months). My Jetta of the same year has pretty much the same creature comforts. Oh, take a look at changing spark plugs....

ross2004 wrote: Horrible, just horrible. The front end feels like it's held together with zip-ties and bubble gum. My grandfather has an '01 and I loathe that car. Burns about a quart of oil every 1500 miles due to sludging of the piston rings- Cadillac issued a service bulletin on it but never a recal. CEL has been on for years because of a faulty sensor in the transmission that was ungodly $$ to fix. Has brakes from a bicycle. Coolant goes somewhere (I have to add every few months). My Jetta of the same year has pretty much the same creature comforts. Oh, take a look at changing spark plugs....

:Ahem:

beans wrote: This thread needs more fleetwood brougham.

I just want to own something with brougham in the name.

Cotton wrote: I just want to own something with brougham in the name.

This would be an excellent choice!

way back when I was in college, my boss had a 1st gen STS. Was a terrible car to drive.. but damn quick. It was also always in the shop for some small thing or another. It made the Iveco box truck I drove look reliable

So these cars are in the top 5 of most unlikely to get you where you're going for days on end?

Never mind! (and seriously, where else could I ask about any damn car ever made and get this kind of real-world feedback? No where!)

I think one of the best Cadillac available from that era, for about the same money, is the Buick Roadmaster. Another good one is the Olds Custom Cruiser. I'd skip the Caddy simply because of model-specific parts costs and the added little features that are possible points of failure. Plus these cars are pretty easy to service and share driveline, brake and suspension parts with a host of other GM vehicles.

ebonyandivory wrote: So these cars are in the top 5 of most unlikely to get you where you're going for days on end? Never mind! (and seriously, where else could I ask about any damn car ever made and get this kind of real-world feedback? No where!)

If you like them I'd say take your chances. I've bought some cars before, totally loathed on some forums, that turned out to be great.

If you want a big fat ride like a Cadillac of that vintage, look at a Buick LeSabre or Park Avenue for a more reliable experience. Park Avenue Ultra (with Supercharger) if high HP is your goal.

My experience as a tech and having driven all of them is absolutely YES to that statement. I honestly kinda like Park Avenue Ultra's at this point. They are roomy, torquey, reliable, cheap, decent mpg, and easy to work on.

I would give the RWD b-bodies an unenthusiastic endorsement for second place. I'll say i would definitely rather spend 4-5k on a very nice ~95 Fleetwood rwd than a very nice ~03 northstar cadillac. I dont think the olds and chevys are really similar enough to be something i would recommend to someone who was looking at a deville.

Also, i have no real issue with the semi-rare 4.9 Deville from the early 90s. Probably hard to find a nice one. I like driving those. If you stick to low rpms it actually feels faster than a Northstar and they're MUCH easier to work on.

I would not say these cars would leave you stranded. But I will say that the niggling problems would drive you up the wall. the Boss that had the STS always had problems with the power windows. Friend with a DTS had a similar issue

4T80E trannys are crap, and really f-ing impossible to remove. The ABS is in the way, the engine is massive, and good luck doing it without breaking most of whats under the hood since its mostly plastic.

People praise the Northstar, but I've seen too many with cracks near the oil pan rail. If you're lucky, its just a coolant leak. If you're not, its a chocolate milkshake in your oil pan.

ugh, avoid. Everyone over 60 years old in my family but one owned this car or cars like it when they were new at the time because they only would buy american. They were garbage.

What about the '06 and up Deville? Any better, or the same package in a newer wrapper?