Ok, so im searching around the classifieds and all the wheels and deals type things looking for a car. I have $600 but i really only want to spend $500. Well after searching and searching and finding a couple diamonds in the ruff i find this:

1976 FLEETWOOD Brougham 4 door.
Leather interior. 20,000 mi. on rebuilt eng.
$600; BO ###-###-####


OH YEAH!!!! So i go looking on the internet to see what they look like. And much to my surprise the car is the last of the big body caddys. 233.? inches long! So i call my mom i dont want to do math. She says thats near 20Ft. 20 FEET!!!!! OMG!!!!

Upon further research i see that mpg ranges from 4 - 14 at the most.. Ok so back to reality gas is 2.00 a gallon and this car is probobly going to be closer to 4mpg based on how much he wants its prolly not in good shape.

THE PHONE CALL
So i give the guy a call. The car is yellow with a yellow top, and i think he said either tan or white leather interior. I asked about rust he said the only rust is the back bumper is starting to rust out... ????Starting to rust out or IS rusting out??? I wont know until tonight

Im not holding my breath on the 20k miles. Im sure its rolled over and hes just saying he rebuilt the engine. But who knows maybe he will have proof.

So im really looking forward to getting this was just wondering if you guys could give me any tips on what to look for when im looking this car over and test driving it( i fully intend on takign this car on atleast a 20min testdrive being that the ride home is an hour and i want this car to last)

Any help i would appreciate! Thanks

Future Caddy Owner!

If the $600 price tag on the car seems expensive wait 'til you pull up to the pump.

You have good taste in automobiles. Post some pics if you get the car. :)

That could be a scary car, do not be decieved by good looks!!

Be sure to look under the car for rust, as these cars have rust problems..... Old cars like this can be a HUGE money pit

yeah under car is on my list of things to check..........your starting to scare me though :( I wanna caddy soooooo bad! especially the big bodies! 20ft!!!!!!!

Can I ask how much your looking to spend???

to buy the car? ive got 600 in my pocket but im hoping he will let it go for less.

All together???? Well it needs to atleast be able to get me around but i do plan a full restoration as i can do it.

Honestly.. I think the best thing would be to save your pennies and find a car thats in PRIME condition...

The cheap ones will end up costing you more! say you buy this for $600, you will have to put in at least $2500+ to make it presentable, then comes the superflous stuff. Hoewver, you could buy one for $3000 and not have to do hardly anything.... The difference being is onthe cheapie you gotta play catchup for all the years of neglegence, whereas if its been taken care of you dont have to do anything with it......

You wannan play you gotta pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well only problem is i gotta get a car and in the situation im in i dont have the option or the time of saving up 3000 bucks. But im not gonna go out there drooling over a rustbucket either. Im gonna thouroughly check it out and hey if it only gets me by for 6 months then cool i got my moneys worth out of it.

Honestly.. I think the best thing would be to save your pennies and find a car thats in PRIME condition...

The cheap ones will end up costing you more! say you buy this for $600, you will have to put in at least $2500+ to make it presentable, then comes the superflous stuff. Hoewver, you could buy one for $3000 and not have to do hardly anything.... The difference being is onthe cheapie you gotta play catchup for all the years of neglegence, whereas if its been taken care of you dont have to do anything with it......

You wannan play you gotta pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with wes. I got my caddy for $650. Right when I got there the guy pulled it out and i already paid for it. then i went to leave and the tranny iddn't go into drive anymore. so the tranny went out. ok well i guess i'll have to replace that. $400 later. Put in the tranny and it still doesn't work. Now i'm having fuel issues. New carb/fuel pump, still doesn't work right. I even registered it. $600 with all the backfees. New tires all the way around. Too much dude. I was the same way with you i wanted something i could fix up and drive around, but i've put in like $1500 and it still doesn't run right. Be sure it checks out. I've had to replace so much shit in there, and now i'm probably going to need a new fuel pressure regulator so it stops flooding and dieseling, but i can't afford that because the tranny in the Z went out and i'm working on a conversion and since i put so much money into the caddy i don't even have enough money for a driveshaft. Make sure you know what you're getting into.

well the guy didnt call me back tonight to setup a time to meet, so no caddy yet :crying:

But maybe he will call tomorrow. I think i called his home and cell on the hour every hour from 7-9 to no avail :( He did say his mother was in the hospital last night so maybe something happened I sure do hope not that would be sad but there still is hope! As i really didnt want to look at the car in the dark anyways. Ill keep ya updated

ugh.....in my quest for the caddy i called him today and he says theres a huge storm sooooooooo im supposed to call later this afternoon :( Ugh sooooooooo close!:banghead:

Ahh yes, another like me. I searched for a Cadillac for close to a year and last Wednesday I found her, paid and took her home. I was gonna buy a 1979 Coupe DeVille that I later found out had a long list of problems, and an $850 1988 Fleetwood Brougham fixer but I decided to hold off and stumbled across a $2,200 '89 Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance in close to showroom condition from a Caddy collector. The cheap ones may end up costing you much more than it would if you hold out for a more expensive prime condition car.
I understand you want it ASAP because so did I, but it might be worth waiting a little while. I suggest autotrader.com, ebay, or just take a drive around your area and see if there's any at the end of someone's driveway with a sign on the windshield. If you like the big body '76 because of the size, a 1980-1992 Fleetwood Brougham has an overall length of 221 inches. Not much shorter than the '76. You can also find them pretty much anywhere for an affordable price and they get at the worst 17mpg.
I wish you the best of luck in your search and even better luck with your purchase. Make sure the one you get is the one for you.

If you like the big body '76 because of the size, a 1980-1992 Fleetwood Brougham has an overall length of 221 inches. Not much shorter than the '76. You can also find them pretty much anywhere for an affordable price and they get at the worst 17mpg.

I have to interject here. There's not a chance a 368 is going to pull 17mpg unless you're going over level highway at steady speed, even then its doubtful. The 4100s are better with gas, but you do not want a 4100 car. The 307s are woefully underpowered, and it's doubtful they'll get 17mpg in the city anyway. My old 75 DeVille (same engine, maybe 75 pounds lighter than the 76) got around 8 city/12hw, and it hauls itself around well with 500ci to work with. If you get to tuning the carb, you won't get less than 7-8mpg.

I've had to do wiring ($300), carb work ($30+many hours), new transmission pan and related ($140), key cyl replacement ($30+many hours), and a lot of little stuff to my 78 Brougham. But I've only had to change the ignition control module on the 75 ($20 and maybe an hour). On an old car like this, a lot of it comes down to luck.

If it's not a 5200 pound pile of rust, get the 76.

Dave, The 368 Ci Was Only In The 1980 Fleetwoods And Coup De Villes.
The 350 Ci (5.7) And 307 Ci (5.0) Are In The '84-'92 And 5.7 '93-'96.

Also, I Get Appx. 21 Mpg In My '93 Brougham. If The Car Is Properly Tuned, This About The Average For These Cars.

They Are Listed At 27 Mpg Hwy. On The Window Sticker, But That Is Epa Figures For An Average Speed Of 49 Mph.

Dave, The 368 Ci Was Only In The 1980 Fleetwoods And Coup De Villes.
The 350 Ci (5.7) And 307 Ci (5.0) Are In The '84-'92 And 5.7 '93-'96.

Also, I Get Appx. 21 Mpg In My '93 Brougham. If The Car Is Properly Tuned, This About The Average For These Cars.

They Are Listed At 27 Mpg Hwy. On The Window Sticker, But That Is Epa Figures For An Average Speed Of 49 Mph.

1984 still had the 4.1. The 1991-92 had the 5L 305 and all 1990-1996s could have the 5.7L.

I agree with Dave that a 368 won't get 17mpg, at least not in the city.

Good luck getting that 1976 Fleetwood iwannacaddy. Those are one of my favourite Cadillacs. Tell us if you get it or not and get some pictures of it if you can.

1984 still had the 4.1. The 1991-92 had the 5L 305 and all 1990-1996s could have the 5.7L.

I agree with Dave that a 368 won't get 17mpg, at least not in the city.

Good luck getting that 1976 Fleetwood iwannacaddy. Those are one of my favourite Cadillacs. Tell us if you get it or not and get some pictures of it if you can.
DAVE'S POINT IS IRRELEVANT. THE 368 WAS NOT IN THE '76 FLEETWOOD. THE 500 WAS. 368 WAS ONLY IN THE '80 FOR ONE YEAR.
THE '93 -'96 ALL HAD THE 5.7L. BUT YOU ARE PARTIALLY CORRECT, THE '89 TO '92 HAD THE 5.7L OPTION ENGINE. :drinker

THE '93 -'96 ALL HAD THE 5.7L. BUT YOU ARE PARTIALLY CORRECT, THE '89 TO '92 HAD THE 5.7L OPTION ENGINE. :drinker
Which is what I said except that I didn't say 1989 and I didn't bother saying that 1990-1992s COULD have the 5.7 and all 1993-1996s DID have it because that second part should be obvious to just about everyone in this forum.

Dave's 17mpg reply had nothing to do with the 1976. He was talking about the part of DopeStar's reply that he quoted:

"If you like the big body '76 because of the size, a 1980-1992 Fleetwood Brougham has an overall length of 221 inches. Not much shorter than the '76. You can also find them pretty much anywhere for an affordable price and they get at the worst 17mpg."

Well the quest is at a standstill atleast for now :crying::crying::crying::crying:

The 76 was a HUGE rust bucket :(

BUT what surprised me is it still had all four hubcaps, and those were the nicest things on the car :( They were beautiful. And man was it huge but when he said the back bumper was starting to rust off he understated BIG TIME!!! The thing had fallen off! and the whole passenger side was rusted holes everywhere :(

Sooooooo i had to settle for a 94 Eagle Talon DL :( (500ci to a 1.8 92hp what a disappointment) but its in great condition and just had a VERY VERY small accident to the drivers side corner (gotta love rich people) so ill keep watching but i guess atleast i have a car and its in good condition. Thinking about asking FASSTWOOD about his caddy........illinois - newyork (at 2.00 a gallon?? probobly 3 in NY.........argh)


Still Looking For a Caddy

Uh oh, I've sparked an arguement... When I said 17 mpg, that was nothing more than a guess on my part because I travel on 40-45 mph roads. My '89 Brougham d'Elegance has the 5.0 with the 4 barrel and an estimate of 17 mpg works for me because I don't find myself filling up that often.

I also didn't want to discourage iwannacaddy from the '76 but just wanted to give him faith that the despirate seeker eventually gets his prize in good time. I'm sure you'll be able to find the car of your dreams as I have (Maybe even in your favorite color too!) so just keep looking and don't get discouraged. It sucks that the '76 was a rustpile but they made millions of Broughams in the 70's so you're sure to find another.

I also drove a '99 Chevy Malibu around for 10 months before I got my Caddy and believe you me a Malibu's no where close on the head turning chart as an Eagle Talon is but at least the Chevy was fast. We still have it insured and ready for the road for when I don't want to take the Caddy anywhere far or in a bad neighborhood so like I said, good luck and keep looking. You'll find her one day and when you do it'll be like love at first sight.

Disagreement Is Not Arguement. Misunderstanding Is Not Arguement.

Arguement Is Malicious, Bickering. Not Our Intent Here.

Ohhhhh...........:thumbsup:

Sooooooo i had to settle for a 94 Eagle Talon DL :( (500ci to a 1.8 92hp what a disappointment) but its in great condition and just had a VERY VERY small accident to the drivers side corner (gotta love rich people) so ill keep watching but i guess atleast i have a car and its in good condition. Thinking about asking FASSTWOOD about his caddy........illinois - newyork (at 2.00 a gallon?? probobly 3 in NY.........argh)

Oh, god, I am sorry.

Well I can't say anything, my backup car is a 86 dodge omni.