91 Brougham dElegance - Should I?

[Gary #18197]

Ive got my sights on a 91 Brougham dElegance with 93,000 miles on it.  It seems to have been well taken care of.  Its midnight blue, leather, with all the toys.  Everything works and its got the 5.0L.  They are willing to take $5,000.

Does this sound like a fair deal?  Anything in particular I should watch out for or ask about relative to that model?  

Your opinions and advice is welcome!

[JIM CLC # 15000]

05-06-05
Gary, the only thing I can offer in the way of advise is that my brother-in-law gave $4,500.00 for an 83 elDorodo with 4,700 miles.
He had already agreed to buy when he told me about the car. (real nice condition)
Otherwise I would have told him about the problems that the owners of the HT4100 had experanced, I was lucky, he took it to his Cadillac Service Manager friend and his "friend" told him what to expect.
Gary, check-out the HT4100 board.
I must admit I had a 86 SDV and the first 93000 miles were great! changed oil & filter every 3,000 miles, and put in the GM radiator tablets.
Good Luck, Jim

[Michael Stamps 19507]

A 91 Brougham will not have any of the HT4100 problems as it has a entirely different engine.

Stampie

[arthur gold]

seems high for a 15 year old car

[Lynn 10923]

Yes, and didnt he already mention that it has the 5.0 liter? That will be the Olds 307 engine. Decent engine, but weak, and very underpowered in that car.

Lynn

[Johnny]

seems high for a 15 year old car

Maybe so, but 5Gs is almost the tax you would pay for a new Cadillac.  Look at it this way, say he gets another good 5 years out of the car, which is not unheard of these days.  Thats only $1000.00 a year to ride around in Cadillac comfort and luxury.

[Greg]

The 91 Brougham has the chevy 305 TBI 170 horse, 255 torque optional engine chevy 350  towing or funeral package, 185 horse 300 torque. Goog engines, beat him down a little on the price.

[Barry Wheeler #2189]

I agree with the others that the price is somewhat high. Given that he probably paid $30K for the car, you would be giving him a sixth back on his investment. And, you are not buying a a 15 year old car, but a 28 year old car with some upgrades. Yep, its a 1977 Cadillac with a back-lite change in 1980, and a different engine. I have both (79 and 88) and the only benefit with the newer engine is that I can burn regular in it, and it gets better mileage. (You never want to pull out in front of a semi with the 5.0 engine.)
Along about 1985 or so, the accountants at Cadillac were laughing in the aisles every time they sold one of these lovable relics. All the tooling paid for, all they needed was to change colors now and then, (try) to improve the power plants to satisfy Uncle Sam, they were literally laughing all the way to the bank. They didnt even bother to change the grill after 1986. They simply put a 1981 back in, then swapped back to the 1982 one a few years later.
These big cars are not bringing reserve on eBay, and they attract only a special kind of buyer. (Nuts like us.) If you really, really like the car, take him/her a stack of 37 pictures of Ben Franklin and hand them to the seller.
My little old lady wanted to SELL her car. She put a fair reserve on it, it was met by someone else (who didnt think it was worth upping my bid), and then no one topped my first automatic bid of $25 over reserve from Monday until noon on Saturday when the auction ended. There were thirty "watchers" on the car, but what my first bid above reserve was what all of these people thought the car was worth, so they didnt bump me at all. Money talks. And if you are firm, stalwart, and resolute (wave the flag here) you should go home with a new car. If not, there are LOTs more of this type of car out there. You can look from 1977 to 1980, and 1988 to 1992. Lots of cars...

[George Woodford clc21025]

A 1991 Fleetwood Brougham dElegance, white exterior and blue interior, with 14,000 miles sold for $6K at an auction in Pennsylvania last October 2004.

[David #19063]

Hello Gary,

I agree with Arthur, $5,000 for a 91 Brougham is very pricey.

In January, I purchased a very nice 94 Fleetwood Brougham with 94,000 miles for $4,000.  Plus, my car has the 260 hp LT1 Corvette engine.

Max you should pay for the 91 is $2,500 and that is if it is very nice and the AC blows cold and the heat works.

There are many of these around in nice shape.

David

[Ed Dougher]

You wont find a truly nice one for so little money.  By TRULY nice, I mean original paint, very, very low mileage, PRISTINE condition, good colors, and good options.  It also must be a turn-key car that needs nothing.

I do agree that 5 grand is all the money for that car.  I would expect a VERY low mileage, pristine example for that price.

[Kevin Bielinski]

I was just in an 89 last night. Thats why this post caught my eye. White/white with 22K on it. Original owner, etc. My friend got it for $1800. The woman took the money and told her son what she sold it for. My friend already had the car registered, etc. He receives a phone call from her son asking, "Why did you take advantage of my mother?" He relied, "Take advantage?", "She said she wanted $1800, so thats what I paid." Accordingto the son, it was worth $7000. It seems to methat when you mix friends + cars + money, you wind up with no friends.

[Mike #19861]

 The Broughams were a cash cow for GM, to be sure, but these cars were improved year after year, with the 91-92s perhaps being the best of the run.

 I would not discount this car simply because it is really of 77 vintage, which in all reality it is not. The 1980 versions were completely reskinned and many chassis and powertrain improvments followed after that.

 The Olds 307 was discontinued after 1990 and replaced with the Chevrolet 305 and optional 350 which were more powerful. Aside from the 425s of the late 70s, these were perhaps the best engines for these cars. They had good power, particularly the 350 and were virtually bulletproof and easy to repair.

 Now, maybe $5G is a bit on the high side for one, but if this car is in prisitne condition, it may be worth the jump, or you can talk the seller down. You are the judge here. Personally, I would not pay that for one unless it is perfect.

 Overall, they are very good cars. Far more reliable than the other Cadillacs from that era, and one of the reasons why they remained so popular. They are very roomy and have a substantial feel that many other cars could not match.

  Mike