Hi guys, been lurking here a while gathering knowledge because I'm seriously considering venturing into the world of big cars. You only live once right?

I had a real suprise yesterday because I went out for a drive and for some weird reason ended up going a totally different route than I needed to go to get to my destination. I ended up going past a local GM dealers and happened on a Cadillac show :worship: Lots of lovely old Caddies from a local club. I've got pics if you guys are interested. The Caddies must have drawn me there :cool2:

Anyhow, I digress. I've found this Diplomat Blue beauty at a local dealer who specializes in older large cars. What do you think?

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u88/Martin_Thoene/Brougham91.jpg

That's CDN$4995. It's a 5.7, comes safety tested, emission tested, 140,000 kms, with a year's warranty. It was oiled every year. Solid as a rock underneath. It was one owner and serviced at a good local GM main-dealer shop, where the seller bought it from.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u88/Martin_Thoene/Brougham91r.jpg

The paint is really shiney. What you can see in the pictures is dirt and rain-spotting.

I've seen under the hood and it's pretty darned clean. There's a couple of tiny bubble blemishes here and there but no real rust. Chrome is perfect. The roof is soft and supple and the blue leather interior and carpets are in good condition.
Everything works. You can see in the front shot that the filler panels under the headlights have the clearcoat kind of worn. Are they easy to remove to refinish?
The only glaring nasties are the driver's door elbow rest leathercloth is split and as you can see the trunk lock emblem is broken. Are those easy to get hold of? I might see if the guy will replace the emblem within that price.
The dealer told me he took it for a drive "up north" the other weekend and he says it's "tight" and drives beautifully.
I'm probably going to go have another look very soon (maybe tomorrow) and see if I can get a test drive. I've never ever been in a Cadillac so one thing I need to know is if it "feels right" to me.
I used to be a mechanic (in England) so determining any nasties is easy for me but are there any particular areas I should look at on a '91?

Love to hear opinions/advice.

Martin.

Smart of you to not post exactly where it is! I have checked the ads every week for a couple years now in the Toronto area. Nice 5.7s for $5K don't happen very often. Maybe you can find one with under 100km if you keep looking but it may take a while and it will be more than $5K.

If I had room for another car right now I'd track this car down and buy it. Get it now. Mark my words you'll sell it for more someday. There has been huge buzz about 5.7s on this board as of late.

I was initially looking at a triple black '96 Brougham because I think they're such beautiful cars. Finding ones that haven't been used as Limos is difficult. Most seem to have been to the moon and back.
I'm an old hot-rodder and I'm looking at going slightly kustom with whatever I get. It'll eventually get air-bagged (it was good for the '58 Bro') and the wheels changed. But I think the teeny wire-wheel lowrider look sucks. I've been photoshopping pictures and to get the look I want with a '96 would be a lot more expensive than with a '91. I've decided that the '91 has all the style of older cars with more modern engine. I'm looking at a daily driver, so reliability is important to me. Much as I would like an older car because of all the chrome and stuff a '91 would totally be the best of both worlds.
With a '96 I would want to put a set of American Racing Equipment five spokes on it. With the '91 I would store the wire wheel trims and replace with Moon Equipment "Starburst" wheel discs. A set of 4 would be less than one mag wheel and look way cool (IMO) with the white-band tires.

Voila! (yes, I "borrowed" the picture from someone here....it's a '92)

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u88/Martin_Thoene/MoonDiscCaddyLowRich.jpg

Martin.

Actually now I realize I've seen that ad for some time now. In the ad picture the car looked pretty dirty and I figured since it was at a no-name dealer it was probably a junker. Looks much better in the pics you took. Been for sale almost a month maybe you can do better than the $5K.

Nice to see another hot-rodder on here! Check out the subtle mods I have done to my 1996 Brougham on my cardomain page.

That looks like a clean 1991! If you can talk them down a bit for the cosmetic issues, I would say go for it :thumbsup:

If you're looking for an LT1 car you might consider a Roadmaster. Not too many airport limos and lots of one-owners still out there well maintained by finicky old folks. A few of the guys on impalassforum.com have some pretty modded ones. Mine is stock... and it's sweet. Still have a soft spot for the 90-92 5.7s though and it's next on my wish list. I like the FWBs but for my small collection no need for another LT1.

Well, this afternoon I had a closer look. The guy was snowed under dealing with other stuff so I'm going back for a test drive tomorrow morning. He needs to move some other cars.
I had a good sniff (literally) around under the hood. I got a taint of burn from the transmission dip-stick and there was a tiny bit of antifreeze visible by one inlet manifold bolt. Could have been a spill, could have been a head gasket problem. Engine purrrrrs though.
The car comes with a year's warranty so if it looks concrete and covers major mechanical I might go for it. Gotta drive it though. I used to specialize in trans so I know what to feel for.
Inside, there's some electrical issues despite the "it all works" previous info. Driver's door mirror only goes outward, driver's seat does nothing at all and the front passenger window motor gives up the ghost every so often.
I told him all this stuff and he said that it would all be fixed if I want the car. So we'll see. The guy seemed ok last time. Today he was just a bit flustered I think.
The air was cold, cold, cold :thumbsup: and no probs with the front passenger seat.

Your '96 looks bitchin' 96Fleetwood. Those rims look really nice and it looks good in all its guises. Here's the '96 photoshop concept job I did. Bagged, tints and polished 18" ARE Torque Thrust II's.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u88/Martin_Thoene/Brough9.jpg

I want to go to airbags because I totally love the lowered look, but need to be able to raise the car up because of crappy roads and odd angled entrances and stuff......plus snow.....oh! I opened up the '91 trunk and there's two rims with snow-tires on them....bonus!

Martin.

I was initially looking at a triple black '96 Brougham because I think they're such beautiful cars. Finding ones that haven't been used as Limos is difficult. Most seem to have been to the moon and back.
I'm an old hot-rodder and I'm looking at going slightly kustom with whatever I get. It'll eventually get air-bagged (it was good for the '58 Bro') and the wheels changed. But I think the teeny wire-wheel lowrider look sucks. I've been photoshopping pictures and to get the look I want with a '96 would be a lot more expensive than with a '91. I've decided that the '91 has all the style of older cars with more modern engine. I'm looking at a daily driver, so reliability is important to me. Much as I would like an older car because of all the chrome and stuff a '91 would totally be the best of both worlds.
With a '96 I would want to put a set of American Racing Equipment five spokes on it. With the '91 I would store the wire wheel trims and replace with Moon Equipment "Starburst" wheel discs. A set of 4 would be less than one mag wheel and look way cool (IMO) with the white-band tires.

Voila! (yes, I "borrowed" the picture from someone here....it's a '92)

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u88/Martin_Thoene/MoonDiscCaddyLowRich.jpg

Martin.
lol, it's really weird to see my car like that! Personally I think it looks more regal in original form.


The one you're looking at seems to be a fine example, and you'll love the 350. I say go for it!

P.S. mines a '90. ;)

Yeah Benzilla I guess it must be strange. Beautiful car by the way. I understand there's plenty of purists out there.

I think we can all (maybe) agree on sacreligious Donks though eh? :stirpot:

Martin.

lol, yes. Donks we can agree on. A guy posted a bunch of them about a month ago and almost got lynched.

I don't think they make a bolt-up airbag kit for these cars yet, but a guy with a light blue 1990-1992 Brougham on CarDomain did a custom installation and documented it. Might want to look it up if you get the car. :thunbsup:

Thanks, I'll try and find that. I'm totally capable of doing an install myself but unfortunately have no facilities to do it. Therefore it will be a case of getting someone to do it for me. There's a couple of good shops around here and one specializes in air-bag suspension. They've done lots of Cads and B-bodies.

Martin.

Actually now I realize I've seen that ad for some time now. In the ad picture the car looked pretty dirty and I figured since it was at a no-name dealer it was probably a junker. Looks much better in the pics you took. Been for sale almost a month maybe you can do better than the $5K.

I've been looking for a 1990-92 brghm. for 2 years now,I wouldn't want to lose the car for the sake of saving a few hundred dollars,these cars are an investment,your not going to lose on it.

I'm in love. I drove it today :thumbsup:
For my first time in an aircraft carrier I was suprised how it didn't feel so big. But it felt substantial :) I am however used to driving 39-seater buses and Ambulances.

Drives like a dream. Ok it ain't no sports car and I wasn't expecting that, don't want that, but my test route included some reasonable climbs and it pulled like a diesel train. It will be mine.

The guy had it waiting for me on the forecourt and iI got a long distance look at it for the first time. OMG it looks bitchin'. It's a cloudy day today and it looked jet black from a distance, but I love the way the blue comes out in sunlight. Dual personalities. I like it. It will be mine.

So I said if he'll fix all the electrical gremlins I'll give him the asking price. He's going to sort the whole lot out, safety the vehicle, do an oil change, trans flush/change and it will have a full powertrain warranty for 1 year. How sweet is that?

It will be mine.

And the really crazy thing? It'll cost me about $2 more per month to insure than my '94 Subaru :cookoo: No contest really :)

Martin.

Fair price. Congrats.

If it's just a 2nd hobby car, you can get collector insurance in Ontario through Lant (sometimes called the Silver Wheel program).

My 68 Caddy is $100/yr; 92 Corvette $250/yr; both full coverage. You aren't supposed to use it for commuting or work. Restrictions otherwise pretty light.

Nope, it'll be a daily driver. Those are mind-boggling premiums though....good for you. I'm with a company that gives very competetive rates compared to many others I've seen. Actually, in surveys they invariably come out super low. They even quoted me only $400 p.a. more than a pay now on the Subaru for comprehensive cover on a '96 FWB daily driver. I'll be 56 in December which obviously helps a bunch. I live in the big evil city by the lake so rates are high here anyway.

Martin.

Right, deposit is payed, paperwork done, insurance is set up. I should be picking it up next Wednesday all serviced, safetied, emissions tested and with the electrical gremlins sorted out if all goes to plan.

Expect pictures by the following weekend once me and Mr. Meguiare's products have gone ballistic on it :D

Martin.

I got some flack for making my '92 Brougham a daily driver.. but when all is said and one.. it is a $3,000 dollar car.

You will enjoy it! Mine is doing great and I am getting 16-17 mpg in the city daily driving it :D

I noticed that your dealer seems to concentrate on older Cadillacs.
He also has this 1980 Coupe Deville D'Elegance, with 120klm for $4850.
Did you view it, and if so, what condition was it in?

I noticed that your dealer seems to concentrate on older Cadillacs.
He also has this 1980 Coupe Deville D'Elegance, with 120klm for $4850.
Did you view it, and if so, what condition was it in?

It appears to be missing the long strip of trim/moulding on the driver-side, yet it's there on the passenger-side. That might hint to the care that it has been given. Also the paint looks a tad faded. The driver turn-signal is also cracked, and the corning lamps look sun-baked.

That tells me it sat out side alot, which means lots of rust, especially as far north as Canada.

And is it just me, or do the cloth interiors from the late 70's and 1980 always look soiled. Those pillow-topped seats look brown and black alot of the time. Is that just the angle??

Good luck...That is my cars twin. I paid $5000 American with 57K miles...so it looks like you got a similiar if not better deal. BTW someone should snatch up that 80 D'elegance.

That car needs a full paint job. It feels like sandpaper when you run your hand over the trunk. All the compound in the world won't get this paint back. There are several areas such as sharp edges on panel folds where there are surface rust areas as though someone rubbed through the paint. Looks like it was parked in full sun all its life.
It's not even remotely close to my Brougham in condition although it has slightly less kms on it.
Personally, I would call it overpriced for the condition, but I don't know what sort of prices these normally command because it's not a model I've researched.

Martin.

From the condition you state, that '80 is probably worth USD $2K-2.5K, and the only reason it's that high, I'd say is due to the engine.