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Opinions on 90-95 DeVille as a daily driver

Started by mgbeda, October 20, 2014, 04:54:59 PM

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mgbeda

It's time I got a new daily driver and I'm thinking about a '90 to '95 DeVille.  (I set the year range because my wife wants air bags, which started in '90, and I don't want an early Northstar, which I've heard are trouble, and became standard in '96.  Correct me if I'm wrong.)  It seems possible to find nice ones with 100K or fewer miles for $3,000 or less (my budget).  Any thoughts on how reliable or unreliable these cars are?  I've heard that the HT4100 problems were pretty much solved with the 4.5 liter engine in '88...

Thanks,

-mB
-Mike Beda
CLC #24610
1976 Sedan DeVille (Bessie)

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Very wise to stick with 4.5 or 4.9 liter. They run great and are both much more reliable and far less expensive to repair than the Northstar.

My personal opinion is that the '93 and earlier DeVille is a better animal than '94 and later DeVille after owning both for any number of years and miles.

By all means, find the sharpest, cleanest and lowest mileage one that you can afford - it'll be far cheaper in the long run.

HTH, Eric
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

Walter Youshock

Stay away from the electronic suspension.   Unless already replaced, the struts are either priceless or the system needs to be disconnected.  I was terribly unhappy with the ride and steering of a ' 93 Sixty Special I had.

The less electronic doo dads,  the better.  Chances are a Deville won't have them.
CLC #11959 (Life)
1957 Coupe deVille
1991 Brougham

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

#3
Pretty sure you can put in regular struts in cars equipped with SSS.

Craig Brillhart would know this for certain.
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

936CD69

All 91-93 Fleetwoods, and all 93 deVilles had SSS, 93's also have speed sensitive steering. You can put passive struts in any of them, you just need to clip one wire under the driver's seat to shut off the light. I have 2 93 deVilles, one is still on electronic struts, the other has been converted (that one rides better IMHO). Never heard of a problem with the steering part, although they use an unobtanium filter in the system.

I don't drive them hard, but the black one has 106K and averages 18.5 MPG on short trips, the other has a 3 year average of 20.5, got 26 going to the GN in Columbus. Thery are roomy, comfortable and stylish.

Where I work, in the past year we have worked on 2 94-95s and they were rust buckets, one was towed in at 120K because the rear suspension crossmember had rusted in half!

Try for a 92 or 93 deVille. Early in the production run Cadillac made some minor changes in the throttle position sensor curve, and a few other tweaks that make them much better to drive. I bought my 106K triple black car 2 months ago for $2300, but as Eric says, buy the best one you can find for the $$$. I am always willing to help out with any issues that I can, and Dave Shepard who posts here is very knowledgeable. If you get a really nice one, I need pictures for the Authenticity manual!!!

HTH,

Craig
Craig Brillhart CLC# 26217
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Carmine Red White Top-SOLD!
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Triple Black
CLCMRC Benefactor #302

John Washburn CLC 1067 Sadly deceased.

I bought a 1992 Cadillac Sedan Deville 10 years ago with 80K on it. It now has 160K on it and is still going strong. Of course had to replace over the years various parts like the water pump, starter, generator, the belt, electric fuel pump, and the struts. But I like the car a lot. I have the 4.9 engine which puts out 200 hp.

Folks like Strutmasters make new strut kits for these cars. The ride is different but they last forever.

I replaced mine and am happy using the Monroe Struts.

So one 1992 was not enough so I just purchased a 1992 Eldorado Touring Coupe with 23K miles. The struts had to be replaced on that one also. Plan to use the Eldorado for touring.

John Washburn
John Washburn
CLC #1067
1937 LaSalle Coupe
1938 6519F Series Imperial Sedan
1949 62 Series 4 Door
1949 60 Special Fleetwood
1953 Coupe DeVille
1956 Coupe DeVille
1992 Eldorado Touring Coupe America Cup Series

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Well they must call it a "Touring Coupe" for a reason!  ;D

Agreed with Craig, 94/95 seem more rust prone than the earlier ones.
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

936CD69

Quote from: ericdev on October 20, 2014, 06:54:42 PM
Well they must call it a "Touring Coupe" for a reason!  ;D

Agreed with Craig, 94/95 seem more rust prone than the earlier ones.

Beside that Eric..the 94-96 are,,, hhmmmmm, uh, not as attractive?  ::)
Craig Brillhart CLC# 26217
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Carmine Red White Top-SOLD!
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Triple Black
CLCMRC Benefactor #302

John Washburn CLC 1067 Sadly deceased.

Boys,

The 92 Eldorado Touring Coupe.

Black Sapphire with the additional Pheasant hood ornament.

lol

jw
John Washburn
CLC #1067
1937 LaSalle Coupe
1938 6519F Series Imperial Sedan
1949 62 Series 4 Door
1949 60 Special Fleetwood
1953 Coupe DeVille
1956 Coupe DeVille
1992 Eldorado Touring Coupe America Cup Series

936CD69

Craig Brillhart CLC# 26217
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Carmine Red White Top-SOLD!
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Triple Black
CLCMRC Benefactor #302

cadillacmike68

#10
what do you guys have against the NorrthStar? I had a 2000 ElDorado (Coach Builders LTD Hard boot convertible) and had no operating issues through 130,000 miles (aside from a small oil leak).

I also have a 2009 STS Platinum V8 NorthStar that has been fine. Admittedly both of these were later editions. but they are very powerful.

In 1993 Fleetwood had changed to RWD. There might have been a "60Special" FWD, but it wasn't called a Fleetwood.

I'd look for a 1993-96 Fleetwood. RWD, very spacious, dual air bags, they run forever, NO electronic suspension. They do have Speed Sensitive Steering, which is a little donut ring around the column.

The only DeVille I'd consider from that era is a 1999, because it was the last year of that body style & chassis, but only if it could use regular gasoline. I know 2000s can run on regular.


The 1993-96 Fleetwoods all run on regular - with no loss of performance.

Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

76eldo

I had a 90 DeVille years ago. It was an oil leaker so take a good look under the car.
It was a 4.5. I believe they went to the 4.9 in 91 and 92, then in 93 the car changed totally.

If you can stretch a little in your budget and pick up an 05 or later DTS you will not regret it.
Great cars.

Northstars from 93 to 2003 or so are the new 4100 as far as I am concerned.
Same issues with head gaskets caused by threads pulling out of the blocks, horrific oil leaks, sensors going bad constantly and especially in 99 and 2000 models, cracked blocks.

If you don't believe me, ask a Cadillac mechanic. 

Take a 92, or an LT1 powered later car or jump up to a DTS with under 50,000 miles.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Quote from: 936CD53 on October 20, 2014, 07:08:53 PM
Beside that Eric..the 94-96 are,,, hhmmmmm, uh, not as attractive?  ::)

Shhhhhhh... ::)
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

Dan LeBlanc

Quote from: 76eldo on October 21, 2014, 08:00:18 AM
If you can stretch a little in your budget and pick up an 05 or later DTS you will not regret it.
Great cars.

Yeah,  great cars to push off a cliff.  Someone can pick my deVille up before I do just that.

In before fall Hershey for a misfire.  The dealer here (the only ones in my neck of the woods who will touch a Northstar) replaced the plugs and did a bunch of other stuff to the tune of $900.  Was fine until on the way there when the misfire came back at idle.  Off idle was great, thankfully, so we could continue the trip.

Back in last week.  Had to change a coil cassette.  With diagnostics, etc, that bill was $715.  On the original coil cassettes, you can remove individual coil packs and replace them.  Then GM updated the cassette so that you can't service individual coils, so now you have to buy the whole bloody thing.

Luckily, I saved the remaining good coils for the remaining original bank so I can swap one out if need be.

Oh, and I got the pop of death on the driver's window regulator at the Hamilton-Fish bridge in Newburgh, NY at the toll booth.  That left me scrambling to find a Walmart to find something to grab the glass and lift it back into the door and duct tape it into place.

2000-05 deVilles are great cars - if you like popping window regulators, oil leaks in your driveway, failing coils, and other poor engineering marvels in that generation of car.

I'm going to fix mine permanently - that is to sell it and buy another Town Car.  My Town Car was 4 years older, had twice the mileage, lived a much harder life, and the worst thing that I had to do was change the alternator which took all of 15 minutes.  Try that with a Northstar!
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

cadillacmike68

I still say a 93-96 Fleetwood is the best car in this year range (1990-2000).
Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

76eldo

Dan

I guess there are good and bad in every model run.

Mine was a one owner 40,000 old man's car.

Runs great and so far no issues at all. Before I bought it I spoke to a trained and well respected Cadillac mechanic and was told to go for any DTS 05 or later because they are very reliable and that they are great cars.

It's the best running and riding Cadillac I have ever owned.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

Dan LeBlanc

Quote from: 76eldo on October 21, 2014, 11:39:40 AM
Dan

I guess there are good and bad in every model run.

Mine was a one owner 40,000 old man's car.

Runs great and so far no issues at all. Before I bought it I spoke to a trained and well respected Cadillac mechanic and was told to go for any DTS 05 or later because they are very reliable and that they are great cars.

It's the best running and riding Cadillac I have ever owned.

Brian

Mine had 55,600 miles on it when I picked it up June 25th of this year.  Always stored indoors, meticulous maintenance, annual rustproofing, etc.  The car is a nice, clean car, and when it works right, it is a very nice working car, but seems to have more issues than my 132,000mi Town Car had during my ownership.  It seems that GMs of this era in general suffer from defects in design and engineering.  Crystal had a 2008 Impala that she bought almost new (1 year old with 13,000mi).  Had a head gasket failure at 33,000mi, both rear door latches were toast (apparently affects 1 in 100 Impalas - the cables break and the entire assembly must be replaced, dealer only item, $198 each here), and then the tranmission started going at around 80,000mi.  Paid $27,000 for the car and sold it 4 years later for $1500.

How's that for depreciation?

Of course my Navigator here, new would be $75,000+.  I picked it up 4 years old for a third of that and priced comparably with pickups in this area.  Was looking at a crew cab truck she could drive that would also tow then we came across the Lincoln.  Was kinda hard to pass up.  F-150 durability with the comfort of a Lincoln.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

mgbeda

Thanks for the advice, and happy to hear any more.

I agree with 936CD53, the 94-95 style wasn't as nice as the previous model.  Look kind of like a '93 that melted a bit in the sun.  But I want to expand my options, and I know my wife would prefer two airbags to one.

Rust isn't a major problem here in Colorado.

-mB

-Mike Beda
CLC #24610
1976 Sedan DeVille (Bessie)

cadillacmike68

Quote from: 76eldo on October 21, 2014, 11:39:40 AM
Dan

I guess there are good and bad in every model run.

Mine was a one owner 40,000 old man's car.

Runs great and so far no issues at all. Before I bought it I spoke to a trained and well respected Cadillac mechanic and was told to go for any DTS 05 or later because they are very reliable and that they are great cars.

It's the best running and riding Cadillac I have ever owned.

Brian

First: 05 and later DTS will be expensive.

Second: The DTS (not the DeVille DTS) didn't come out until the 06 model year.
Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

CaddyShackPA

#19
In 1988 a friend's mom excelled in her Mary Kay business and graduated from a succession of pink Buicks to a new pink SDV. We teenagers quickly appropriated that car for diverse Springsteen-enhanced cruising duty and it made a great impression. The 4.5 was smooth and quiet and capable of healthy front tire abuse which none of us had expected from a Caddy of that era. 

Now older and wiser Now older, I really enjoy our '92 SDV. The 4.9 / 4T60E drivetrain is terrific; the throttle response is better than any Caddy I've owned short of our CTS-V and it sounds good, too. I much prefer its torquey feel to the 100hp-stronger N* in my '02 STS. While the STS would handily win a drag race, it needs RPM to make its power and that doesn't match my expectations of a Cadillac. If you must have the dual SRS, well, I agree the '94-'95 may be an acquired taste but I think the interior is quite a bit nicer - didn't they get the real wood? The transmission is ludicrously smooth (didn't they make a big deal of the viscous converter clutch at the time?); I remember being used to my Dad's Ford / Mercury / Lincolns with Ford's AOD trans and when I first experienced the pink Cadillac the tranny refinement was amazing.

 

Regards,
Jeff
J. Papciak   #23864     
'59 Coupe DeVille
'69 Eldorado  
'72 Coupe DeVille  
'77 Seville
‘81 Fleetwood Brougham  
‘89 Brougham 
'92 Sedan DeVille  
‘95 Fleetwood  
'02 STS   '10 CTS-V   ‘17 CTS