Hello all,
Just looking for opinions on the reliability, repair and maintenance costs, and ride quality of these cars…
I’m looking at some late 1990’s models for my parents, but heck, I’m 27 and I’d love to have one of these…What’s the difference between the Seville and the STS anyway, they look fairly similar…? And both have the 4.6L Northstar engine?
Thanks in advance…
Jad
The STS didn’t come out until 2005, but if you go to the ‘Research’ link here you can do a side by side comparison.
First, there was the Seville. Then came the STS, which is a more performance oriented version. Finally, Cadillac introduced the Northstar engine. If I remember correctly, Consumer Reports did not consider the Seville series to be very reliable. I always thought the Sevilles were the best looking of all Cadillacs and the Northstar STS to be the best version to drive. A very well designed dynamic stability control system was at least an option, if not standard equipment, on the last year or so. The new CTS drives better, but is ugly by comparison.
But I’ve seen 1999 and 1998 “Cadillac STS”'s advertised…are these just Seville STS’s?
STS = Seville Touring Sedan
The STS is a newer model of the Seville.
Google Northstar oil burning. Some Northstar V8s, apparently from 96 to 99, had an oil burning problem for which Cadillac has a procedure that might help a little. The problem as far as I can see, is not with newer Northstar V8s and the V6 never had the problem. If you don’t mind a quart per 1000 or 1500 miles, then OK.
Thank you.
Great cars as long as you get rid of them at 60,000 miles. When those things fall apart, they get expensive. Don’t even think about the ones you are looking at. The information you want is the general stuff you can find in Consumer Reports. They have other info too and the Annual Auto issue is coming along with April. She brings me one every year. You get the buying guide with the subscription. The auto issue has the latest buying guide in it for cars.
The stand alone STS has been around since 2005, however, except for 2004 the Seville STS has been around for quite sometime. I had a 1982 Seville for 11 years. Although I had it for 195,000 miles I went through one engine rebuild, three transmission rebuilds and four AC compressors. In 1993 I bought another new Seville with the 4.9 engine (the 93 Seville STS had the 4.6 Northstar) which I had for 14 years and put 252,000 miles on it. It was very reliable although I did have one transmission rebuild but for everything else was just routine maintenance stuff. Last year I bought a certified pre-owned 2004 SLS that only had 8,900 miles on it. It currently has 39,000 miles after about 6 months in stop and go traffic it would run warmer than normal (never ran hot). I took it to the dealer and it had low coolant but the pressure test was good. A few months later the computer displayed low coolant and I had to add almost a gallon, still the dealer found no leaks. I becan to check the overflow tank every week and had to add about 8 oz. of coolant or water every 2 weeks. However, since I did a long road trip over the July 4th weekend there has been no coolant loss. These cars are know for blowing head gaskets. In my case I have two more years of warranty but in the mean time I am looking at independent shops that have a good record and price for replacing the head gaskets (and heads) for future reference. For me, the Seville has been a good/very good car. However, in your case I would look at other options and use consumer reports to help you decide.