[dstarr]

A year has gone by since I first posted to this thread. I still have the '99 Deville. I have put 25K miles on it since this time last year (79K miles total). In a year's time and 25K miles nothing , absolutely nothing, has broken. All the gadgets and gizmo's still work. She gets fresh oil when she asks for it (about 6K miles per oil change). I treated her to fresh radiator coolant and that's it for maintenance. In a month or so, I'll have to buy new tires, but doing 78K on a set of tires is pretty good.
Paint and interior is still very good, not quite like new, but plenty good enough for a 7 year old car. The styling is distinctive, the legroom is outstanding, the ride is good, the Northstar comes on like John the Bear when I stamp on it. I can climb into it after a long day at the office and feel pampered driving home thru Rt 128 traffic. A truly wonderful car. Worth every penny.
'99 was the last year of really American styling on the Caddy. It is low, good eggcrate grille, smooth front end, and the tall thin taillights at the rear. Good looking car. The 2000 model redid the rear end in a more Euro-style. It's not bad, but I like the '99 styling better. For a big car, it looks good, and I want a big car.
Let's hope GM keeps making real large Caddy Devilles. Granted it's a niche car, but it's a bigger market niche than Corvette. They ought to be able to make money selling them. To be a real Caddy, it's got to be big, with real rear seats with grown up leg room in the rear as well as the front. And a trunk big enough for four adult's worth of luggage. Was it me, I'd use less glossy plastic fakewood trim on the interior.
I may replace all the shock absorbers with the stiffest ones I can find. The handling is OK and the ride is good, but I think I might trade off a little ride softness for stiffer cornering. Roads around here are mostly smooth as can be, so the car doesn't really need an exceptionally soft suspension. Some of the on-ramps can be very twisty (especially at night at well over the speed limit) and stiffer handling would be a confidance builder.