Any Ideas on the Value of 1988 DevVille Convertible?

[Greg Powers]

As my friends will tell you I'm a traditional factory man when it comes to my Cadillacs. I was contacted by a gentleman here in North Carolina trying to assist a friend in selling her late husband's 1988 Cadillac DeVille Convertible. I haven't seen the car yet but know that it is white with red leather interior. The gentleman stated that it was the man's pride and joy but it's not a show car. He did take it to local events and it was driven quite regularly. I know that you can't assign a value sight unseen but what would be a reasonable range for a conversion Cadillac of this type? I'm pretty much clueless here! Any help is greatly appreciated. 

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Tough to answer without seeing and there being so few comparables. If #3 driver quality somewhere around $3,500 would be my guess.

[76eldo]

88 is not a very desirable year. I realize it’s rare and unique and I have a lot of experience with Caddy convertibles from the 80’s. Normally rare and unique cars  create value and desire but not so much with an 88. The HT4100 engine really hurts potential value.

Eric’s figure is on the low side but between $3500 and $5500 is all the car will bring.
I’ll point you in the direction where you might get more. Put it on Facebook Marketplace. Try joining a FB page called Cadillac Addicts. There are many fans of this type of car on that page.

Look for an ID sticker on the drivers side door jamb to identify who did the conversion. The colors and condition of the paint and interior will dictate the price and hopefully the top is in good shape.

[Greg Powers]

Thanks for your input. i"m going to try and see the car this next week and I will post some pictures. At least I can give them some realistic numbers for them  to think about when I see the car. Based on the condition and mileage I'll be abl;e to offer more information. Thanks again.

[Rich S]

If I recall, in 1988 the DeVilles all had the 4.5 Liter V-8, rather than the 4.1 Liter HT 4100 engine--and thus they had greater horsepower. However, the bodystyle was less desirable than a Coupe DeVille with the '89 re-fresh which lengthened the body and restored heritage Cadillac styling. Around this era, the most common conversion of a Coupe DeVille to a Convertible was done by Car Craft from Lima, Ohio. A 1988 would be more desirable than a 1987 model, but less so than a 1989 model year. A friend of mine had an '89 Coupe DeVille Convertible in triple White with Blue accents (carpets and dash) and the silver lower bodyside cladding, buying it new, and keeping it around eight years, and it was a great, reliable, convertible conversion and it had reasonable build quality. Here is one similar to the car my friend owned, but this one is in much worse condition, along with a little information about these rare cars:
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a22759924/cadillac-deville-convertible-woodward-dream-cruise-detroit/

[Big Apple Caddy]

There is a 1988 Coupe deVille convertible with 132k miles listed for sale on Craigslist for $9,995 but that's just an asking price.
https://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/d/cleveland-1988-convertible-cadillac/7065311115.html

Another 1988 Coupe deVille convertible with 106k miles is listed for sale on Autotrader for $22,500 but also just an asking price.

A forum member (slowpoke17) appears to have recently sold his 1988 Cadillac Coupe deVille Spring Edition with 24k miles on eBay for $5,850 but NOT a convertible.

[dochawk]

oh, dear.

It looks like a [shudder] K-car


hawk, off to find some acid to wash the image from his eyes

[chrisntam]

oh, dear.

It looks like a [shudder] K-car

It does.