I foiund a nice 2000 Deville for my wife, and we've agreed to a price ($8,100). The purchase is subject to a mechanical/electrical/body inspection. The car is cosmetically excellent and drove well on the test drive. It is a private party sale and the car has 67K miles.

What should I look at closely? What pre-purchase tests should we apply? Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks, Mike

First off, if you do end up buying it, spend a few hours going over the Technical Archives here on the board - I take it you're a new member, and have not searched around.

Secondly, there are just a few things to check out, and I'm sure I'll be backed up by most people here.

1) Coolant is the #1 concern - see if it's been changed out yet. The Northstar is designed to use GM/equivalent DexCool. It should be good for 100K miles, but a change doesn't hurt anything at 67K.

2) See if you can get the service records - check for any major repairs. These cars, on the whole, tend to be pretty reliable overall - you'll see the gripes and concerns here, but that's primarily becuase people with a gripe or concern FIND the forum, and ask questions or vent. Don't take the seeming preponderance of troubles you see here as representative of the entire Caddy population.

3) I think the 2000 model year was subject to a recall/warranty replacement of the Crank Position Sensors - they are two little gizmos that control the ignition timing, and certain models were subject to have them go blooey and stall the car randomly. It's not a big deal or anything.

If you want to have an in depth mechanical check, have the cylinders pressure tested with the "leak down" method. This will tell you if there are any problems with the head gaskets, which is the other primary thing you hear a lot about. The newer Northstars (1996+) are not as prone to them as some of the earlier years.

The trans is damn near bullet proof. Check all the options and extra goodies like the power seats, etc etc.

67K is not a lot for a Caddy. My 02 Deville has 125K (bought it with 80K), my Eldo has 64K, and I owned a '99 Deville that I traded for the Eldo and had 100K on it. You'll see members here with 150K plus on Caddys.

All in all, it's a great sedan, quite roomy, quiet, comfortable, quick, and reasonably good on gas - regular.

Check the oil and coolant once a week, and drive it reasonably hard like it was designed to be. Puttering around town at 35 mph is NOT a good thing to subject a Northstar to all the time. Both of mine get pretty good workouts, and I have NO problems with them other than normal maintenance.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

First off, if you do end up buying it, spend a few hours going over the Technical Archives here on the board - I take it you're a new member, and have not searched around.

Secondly, there are just a few things to check out, and I'm sure I'll be backed up by most people here.

1) Coolant is the #1 concern - see if it's been changed out yet. The Northstar is designed to use GM/equivalent DexCool. It should be good for 100K miles, but a change doesn't hurt anything at 67K.

2) See if you can get the service records - check for any major repairs. These cars, on the whole, tend to be pretty reliable overall - you'll see the gripes and concerns here, but that's primarily becuase people with a gripe or concern FIND the forum, and ask questions or vent. Don't take the seeming preponderance of troubles you see here as representative of the entire Caddy population.

3) I think the 2000 model year was subject to a recall/warranty replacement of the Crank Position Sensors - they are two little gizmos that control the ignition timing, and certain models were subject to have them go blooey and stall the car randomly. It's not a big deal or anything.

If you want to have an in depth mechanical check, have the cylinders pressure tested with the "leak down" method. This will tell you if there are any problems with the head gaskets, which is the other primary thing you hear a lot about. The newer Northstars (1996+) are not as prone to them as some of the earlier years.

The trans is damn near bullet proof. Check all the options and extra goodies like the power seats, etc etc.

67K is not a lot for a Caddy. My 02 Deville has 125K (bought it with 80K), my Eldo has 64K, and I owned a '99 Deville that I traded for the Eldo and had 100K on it. You'll see members here with 150K plus on Caddys.

All in all, it's a great sedan, quite roomy, quiet, comfortable, quick, and reasonably good on gas - regular.

Check the oil and coolant once a week, and drive it reasonably hard like it was designed to be. Puttering around town at 35 mph is NOT a good thing to subject a Northstar to all the time. Both of mine get pretty good workouts, and I have NO problems with them other than normal maintenance.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Jim,

I'm overwhelmed by your incredibly thorough response. I did search the archives and came away with a few concerns, but your post was very settling. Thanks.

I drive a 2002 Maxima SE, and I've owned Maximas for the last several years - great cars and dead reliable. My wife loves big luxury cars, and we've rented the 2000+ Devilles in the past, and have really liked them. I do not have access to the service records; the current owner bought the car in FL and has no paperwork. I'll have to rely on my very thorough mechanic.

I'll let you know how it all works out. I'm bringing your reply to the mechanic.

Thanks again, Jim. See you on the road.

Mike

Hello...
Any GM dealer can provide the service records...even for free if you have a dealer where you are known.
They only need the VIN.
Keep in mind that the items listed will only be for service orders performed at GM dealer.
For example, a brake job at Goodyear will not be listed.

FWIW