Cadillac DeVille

lemko

Actually, I'm surprised at how inexpensive repairs are on my aging '94 Deville - even at the Cadillac dealer.

sonjaab

HELLO ALL
The boss just returned from FLA. She had the
oil changed in Daytona at Caddy dealer
78.00 OUCH !!!! 8 quarts of Valvoline
synthetic 5w30 they used. (Yes i know it
holds 8.1 qts.) On the way home 1500 miles
it used 3 quarts..When i have it done here
any old 10w30 will do and it only uses 1
quart every 1000 miles or so. Hiway miles too.
But a 1996 pushing 60K trouble free miles.
Can't ask for much more.
Anyone else use synthetic oils and have
higher than usual oil consumption ????

etharmon

78.00 for an oil change??? I hope this included some other things. Northstar V8s do use more oil than an average engine(7.5 quarts) but that shouldn't cause the oil change to be that much. It's typically about $30 for an oil and filter change on my father's 95 Aurora at the dealer and it uses the same 7.5 quarts that a Cadillac does.

etharmon

Neverminb the last posts, re-reading your earlier post you said it was synthetic which will cost more, although 78.00 still seems high.

sonjaab

Sure wish my new scanner didn't go to college
with the kid this year...Or i would scan it
in here..Still can't believe it.
But this is the same Caddy dealer in Daytona
that guessed part swapping on my old 90 Deville
to the tune of $1400 to find out why it died
on the road in 1995...They towed it in 3 times
They replaced plugs, wires,crank sensor ,fuel
pump, filter, and a bunch of other stuff too.
It turned out to be a rotted gas line....

Why she went back I'll never know........Geo

456ttt

I have 26,000 miles on my 2000 DTS. I use Castrol Full Synthetic oil. I change the oil every 10,000 miles and add 1 quart at the 5,000 mile interval, but that's about it. Still have a shakey engine, but GM tells me they expect a fix in about another 30 days.

sweetjeldorado

In Car Connections news for April 26, 2001, the Deville was rated #2 for most satisfactory vehicle, behind the Lexus LS 430, out of all the vehicles and topped out Lexus except the LS.

I believe they were talking about quality control and reliability issues for the first four or five months of ownership for 2001.

J "CaddyLac"

lemko

Oil change for my 1994 Deville done at 3,000 mile intervals using Pennzoil 10W30 only costs me around $15.00 for five quarts and an AC Delco Gold filter. I do it myself.

sonjaab

You don't have a Northstar do you ?
New quick change oil place just opened
up the street from me. 19.99 for LOF.
My truck needs a oil change will check
them out today.....Then take the Caddie
down too...Want to see if the guy knows
to put in 8 quarts or not..Probably should
tell him in advance. God knows the boss
never checks the oil !!...LOL..........Geo

hbr2

Have 2000 Deville. At 75 to 80 mph does not handle wind well - either cross winds or head winds. Anybody else have this problem? If so, any remedy?

hbr2

lemko

I have the 4.9 litre V-8. Not a bad engine. Can do 100 MPH effortlessly. No problems after 83,500+ miles.

dwight53

Was the NAV system available in 2000 or only in 2001, wondering if I could pick up a low mile used Cad with NAV. Any Suggestions? I have a 99 Lexus 400 and don't like the ride as much as large American cars.

sonjaab

Got the bill right here 8 Ots. Valvoline syn.
$50.80..Delco filter ONLY 8.50...Lube and labor
$5.50.?????? $4.00 shop fee $6.80 tax
Total $75.60 OUCH OUCH OUCH.......
PLUS 1.50 for washer solvent ..YUP 78.00

etharmon

While out this evening I stopped by the Cadillac dealer to take a look at some of their used cars. Found a beautiful 1997 Deville Concours. The dealership was closed but someone left the car unlocked so I hopped inside. The color combination was great. It was pearl red with the beechwood interior and it had chrome wheels. It also had sunroof, cd changer, and the factory integrated cellular phone. The mileage posted was 56,xxx but as with many used cars no price was posted. Needless to say, I am tempted. The lease on my 98 Intrigue is almost up and after sitting in that Caddy, I think I'm willing to take the risk with a used luxury car over a new Intrigue or similar car. Any ideas on what a 97 Councours(or ETC) with average mileage will run. I'll check the paper tomorrow and see if that one is listed and I may give the dealer a call Monday.

sonjaab

try www.idaa.com It shows auction prices
in Idaho. Don't know where you are but
it might give a rough idea on the real world
auction prices. You know them dealers won't
cut ya no break !!!.............Geo

sonjaab

To Isel, Brentwood, Cliff and the other
salesmen who post here. Its just some of
those OTHER GUYS you have to watch out for.

sonjaab

Your in a great spot. Lease almost up. Turn in
that car, get back your security and damage
deposit (if any). Get out the paper and look
for a nice Eldo that gramps and gramma wanna
sell outrite. Most have spent the winter in
FLA. and don't have a scratch on them..Just
line up a extended warranty and see the bank
loan people.....Good for you. You will love
that Caddy....300 horse rocket ship...

jimmys1

I have a 97' DeVille. I bought it new four years ago and I have had it back to the dealer over ten times because the windshield wipers start "chattering" across the windshield. It does not do this in high speed, only on regular speed. It is extremely annoying.

The dealer replaced the wipers numerous times. They cleaned the windshield in the body shop numerous times and they finally installed an entirely new windshield. The problems lessened but it is still there. If I clean the windshield and the wipers every other day it lessens the problem. I have never seen this on any other auto. Any ideas?

ericmaron

I soon hope to be receiving my mother's '96 Deville with only 40,000 miles on it; the car runs great, looks great, etc One question I have, considering the leap in gas prices expected this summer, is what gas mileage others with a '96 have been receiving?

pathy57

In response to ericmaron I have had an 89, 92 and now a 95 Caddy and mileage has been very good for this size car. I get 28 on hwy with air, cruise and averaging 70 or 75. Puddle jumping in town for a whole tank I get about 22, 23 never less that 20. I only use premium and that sometimes is high but for the comfort and safety I will pay the difference. Good Luck with your new venture, I predict it will not be your last Caddy.

harleybill

He etharmon

I was in the caddy dealership today and saw the red concurs up on the spinner. It looks great.
I had a red 77 old delta 88 coup 350 v8 a few years ago. I could not drive that car on the interstate without getting a ticket. Tennessee State Troopers would cross the median to get me in my red 2 door coup.

I went to appalachacola bay on vacation this past week. 250 miles into the trip; south of atlanta, oil began blowing out of the right seam where the hood meets the fender. I pulled off the road and raised the hood. I had the oil changed and the etch did not put the oil cap back on the motor. Oil was all over the place. Up in the insulation pad, battery, serpentine belt and even puddle in front of the radiator. I really got upset.

I called the dealer and told him to go get this guy so I could personally thank him for this. I turned the car in today for clean up and a new oil change and the etch laid out of work today. I guess he did not want to meet me in PERSON!!!

codgers is going to make him clean the engine. I dropped off the car and the dealer is going to make him personally clean the engine compartment. I suggested he use a toothbrush and a [non-permissible content removed] load of Q tips. (My old Army training coming to mind.)

Check out the STS's in the back. They have some really good looking Sevilles and a White Diamond Concours also.

Harleybill

etharmon

That bright red does worry me with the cops. Knock on wood, I've been lucky with my red Intrigue but it is not as bright as the Pearl Red. I did see that row of 98 and 99 Sevilles up there by the used car showroom and they also had a few Eldorados that looked nice. Now a Pearl Red Eldo Touring Coupe would really get me intertested. That stinks that the goon forgot to put your oil cap back on. This happened to a friend of mine who got his oil changed at one of these Jiffy lube type places once.

bearmer

Somebody on the Vettenet mailing list used to call it Arrest-me Red. I think the best name I've seen is Slut-lipstick Red.

bolivar

And can tell me how many grease zerks there are on my 95 Deville Concours?

Last time I think I found only 4, on the steering linkage.

Is this all there are?

svconcours

Bolivar, there are only 4 grease fittings I grease on my 97 Concours, 2 for the tie rod ends and 2 for the ball joints. I just checked in my service manual just to make sure there aren't any more, and those are the only ones shown. Hope this helps!

456ttt

I had enough with the small problems with the 2000 DTS so I swapped it for a 2001 DHS. I used the $2,000 Cadillac coupon and Cadillac put in another $2,000 beacuse of all the problems I had with it. The DHS seems to be a much smoother riding car, gets much better gas mileage (about 2 to 3 MPG better) and has more ammenities (I do miss the 17" wheels).

456ttt

Caddy obviously got the message about the bad design on the visors for the 2000 and early 2001 DeVille's. My new 2001 (built in late March)has the new visors (they "hand down" about 3/4" lower and therefore can be turned up higher on the window and don't limit visibility. I don't have any idea if you can get Caddy to replace the old typw with the new ones as a "cust sat" change.

sonjaab

Hello all
Haven't posted in weeks..Took the Deville and
my truck to that 19.95 oil change place.Had
the oil changed in both . The guy didn't know
the northstar took 8 qts. Had to show him the
owners manual. He didn't look too good. I think
he might of screwed up on a couple of other
caddies and put in only 5 qts!!!!
Only charged me 19.99 plus tax. I showed him
my $78.00 oil change bill from the caddy dealer
in Daytona FL. He laughed...............Geo

sonjaab

I thought my 96 Deville only had 60k plus
miles on it . As i haven't seen it in months
as the boss had it in Fla. Its got 75K now
I need my glasses checked !!!!!!!!!!

lemko

Why does the Northstar use 8 qts instead of 5?

gserep1

Hello,
The Northstar Engine has such a big oil pan because the Northstar design requires LOTS of oil in the engine cavities at all times. There are a lot of complex internals on these engines. I would hate to count the number of intricate pieces. All of these parts need lots of oil volume under terrific pressure. I realized that when my service writer told me that there are 4 camshafts, with 32 lobes for 32 valves and followers. Absolutely the worst thing that you could do to this engine is to run it out of oil. That would be a costly mistake. Plus this thing can turn 7000 rpm before it reaches its' limiter. At that speed, a lot of oil is up top lubricating and cooling, and testing showed that nothing would be in the pan if there was only 5 quarts in the system...(oil starvation).

I use the maintenance monitor in the car, instead of the regular old 3000 mile rule. The car knows best when the oil needs to be changed. 8 quarts is a lot of oil and money. Get the most usage and save time and money. Change only at 3000 miles if all of the driving is in the city. My maintenance monitor reflects city driving by the speed in which the oil percentage numbers go down towards 0. The numbers stay higher for a longer period of time when driven on the highway.

Thanks again,
GSEREP1

sonjaab

Because mine like many others uses 1 qt.
every 1000 miles. You need them 8 qts.
Had synthetic 5w30 put in in Fla. and it
used 3 qts. in 1500 miles....yikes !!!!!!!

sweetjeldorado

I sense that you and your boss are pretty close. I could not imagine having my boss drive my car and put that many miles on it. Your boss must be cool like hell. Wish mine was. :-)

gserep1,

On average of mile intervals between oil changes, how often do you have to change the oil between miles if mostly interstate driven depending on complex internals of the engines of smaller compact cars to large luxury cars? Is the same case for SUVs and diesel engines also reply or you would have to treat them differently? I kind of learn something, from you where you stated, that in city driving mostly, oil changes should be done every 3,000 miles on the dot.

J "CaddyLac"

sonjaab

That Caddy is her car. She goes to Fla every
year with her friends. As we are older, kids
gone........ And i need a rest too.
I just got a new Chevy 2500 4x4 x-cab last week
so i haven't posted much and we have been bustin
tail to open our motel in Alexandria Bay NY
for the summer. She runs that in summer. I run
our bar & rest in syr. ny all year....
But she did go out and buy me a new bedliner
and tonneau cover.................
You know what they say about the old blue
hairs in the CADDY !!!!! Geo

robh3

Sounds like you are happy with your '01 DHS vs the '00 DTS. Did you think to see if they'd swap you a set of 17" rims for your DHS? I can't say I have ever seen them on anything other than a DTS, however lots of progressive Caddy dealerships will accommodate wheel preferences for their clients. You might check if that is the one thing about the DHS that might nag at you during your ownership...

In fact, I'd have to say the the DHS is a rare breed. I have seen very few. Seems I see either the base Deville or the DTS.

bolivar

The real reason it takes 8 quarts is when it was first introduced Cadillac had a huge advertizing campaign about how it could be run for up to 50 miles without water.

Remember that?

Only way for a motor to do that was to have a huge oil supply to help absorb the heat when run without water. My 95 has a section in the owners manual about doing this. Don't know if they still have this in the newer ones. Manual says in BIG BOLD LETTERS that you must change the oil as soon as possible if you drive without water.

So, in my humble opinion, the 8 quart design is mainly advertizing crap.

P.S. Just greased and changed oil. Whoever responded about grease zerks - you were correct - 2 at end of steering linkage, 2 on lower ball joints, total of 4. Wonder what Caddy gets for greasing them, $19.99 at least?

Threw in 7 quarts. Just barely on the dipstick. Added the 8th quart. Shows exactly half quart low. Should I go for 8 1/2????????

sonjaab

You wanna have a laugh about a oil change ?
Read my posts #457 and #465
.....Geo

lemko

Does the Northstar take Mobil 1? Is synthetic oil reccommended for the Northstar? Why 5W30? . Seems like a lightweight oil. I use 10W30 in my 1994 Deville with 4.9 V-8.

lemko

Check out this link! Should this be a cause for alarm among Cadillac afficianados?

http://www.msnbc.com/news/575713.asp?cp1=1

sonjaab

When the boss had Valvoline 5-30 Synthetic
put in in Fla. My 96 norstar used 3 Qts. in 1500
miles !! My 90 4.9 went to 120K and never used
a drop of dino oil. Had the 96 changed a couple
of weeks ago with reg 10w30 dino haven't checked
it on consumption yet. I hope its back to its
usual 1 qt in 1000 miles . If not it may be new
car time. Maybe thats why the ol' ball and chain
has beeen so nice to me lately..Didn't beef at
all about my new truck.....But like i said i keep
my cars to 100k plus but the truck has to go
every 3-4 years as i work the tar out of it....Geo

svconcours

Hi, I had responded to you on the zerk fittings. On the oil, the stick should be at or near the top with 8 qts, and at the midpoint at 7.5 qts. I checked with the dealer when I bought my car 4 years ago and a service writer said 7.5 qts is at mid-stick (I only put in 7.5 qts because for some reason my particular car uses more oil if I fill to 8, and for my 97, 7.5 is the listed capacity with filter so I'm comfortable with that). If after 8 qts the stick isn't near the top, assuming there are no leaks, you might want to check to be sure the car is on an absolutely level surface (e.g. some garages are not level although they look like it). A very slight grade will cause the stick to read low if the car is pointed uphill, because the stick is at the front of the sump. Another possibility is the brand of filter you use, the factory AC PF58 is slightly shorter than at least one brand I know of so if your filter is bigger it could make the reading slightly lower (but I doubt it). Sorry for the long answer, hope it helps.

robh3

I don't think the Northstar is the only modern day engine out there that requires more than 5 qts., is it?

I new someone who had an early '80's vintage Mercedes, and his required 8 qts of oil. He found out the hard way when he took it to Jiffy Lube and they only put in 5 qts. His engine siezed up!

sonjaab

Hello all
96 Deville 75500k northstar used about 1/2 qt.
dino oil in 500 miles...
Yup back to 1 qt. 1000 miles......
runs good looks better......
WOULD I EVER BUY ANYTHING ELSE ??.......NAH!!!!!
...GEO
ps EXCEPT FOR MY TRUCK !!!!

sonjaab

Hey by the way ..Anybody using reg. gas and
having pinging and stalling problems????
My girl is too cheap to put premium $225 in our 96
I changed the plugs to one range colder (AC s)
Pinging gone with regular gas..But not as much
power... Geo

mdm4

This message is in reply to message # 479 placed by user 456ttt. I received two nasty replies from Cadillac, one from Peter Koenig and the other from Stephen Johnson. They both are with the the GM Internet Response Center. Basically they said just because the design was changed in 2001 in no way means that the 2000 visors are defective. I plan on pursuing this issue, but I suspect that it will be a waste of my time.

What gets me is the fact that I recently received a coupon worth $2,000 towards the purchase of a 2001 Deville. Does Cadillac really think unsatisfied customers will come back? I would think that a simple visor upgrade to make a current customer happy would make sense to Cadillac, I guess not. They do not understand the simple concept of repeat business.

lemko

...I'll take it! I'm in the market for a new Deville!

robh3

Exactly what did they say that was "nasty"? In what way are the "new" 2001 visors different? Do you honestly think that Mercedes or BMW or Lexus would change out the sun visors if the new ones had a completely different design and anchoring system? I might be wrong, but I don't think so.

I asked for new seat belts on the front seats of my '99 STS and the dealer changed them for '01 seat belts no problem, but the "new" seat belts use the exact same fittings to attach to the car. Have you asked your dealer if this can be done with the sun visors?

sunbird3200

My parents have a 97 cadillac deville with 36k miles on it. This morning it wouldn't start. Lights are on and everything but when you turn the key it just clicks. Headlights are on too. Is this the starter or what.

Robberbarron

It still could be a low battery. When the battery on my Continental started going, If I let the car sit for a day it wouldn't start. There was still enough juice to run all the lights and electronics, but not enough to turn the engine.

-Robberbarron

lemko

If that '96 Deville has its original battery, it's probably due for a replacement. The average lifespan of a battery is 5 to 6 years.