Eldorado Journey - thoughts?

[untamedreamz]

As written by my wife:

February 16th - find a 1994 Eldo for $2,500 from a mechanic - he only wants the price of repairs since the owner bailed. Motor mounts, radiator, AC compressor & regulator, tune-up, oil change, new tires. He knows it needs paint but doesn't feel anything is mechically wrong. Notice strut mount needs replacing - figure for the price thats no big deal. Pay cash, drive it 110 miles home, everything is flawless except the power antenna won't go up and down. Again, no big deal.

February 18th - order power antenna, DVD player and tuner bypass cable (boys and their toys) ($388)

February 19th - Go get tag & title. ($76)

February 20th - Order strut mounts & bearings. ($120)

February 21st - Go to Taco Bell, while pulling back onto the main road, car won't shift past 2nd. Take to transmission shop after reading all these posts and ask them to replace the shift solenoids because that absolutely has to be the problem.

February 22nd - Expect car to be done. Owner of the shop says the solenoids were already upgraded and it is still throwing shift solenoid codes. They replace the pressure manifold. Car stops throwing codes and shifts fine for them. Wife goes to pick up the car. On the way home, it won't shift past 3rd and is throwing codes again. Call the owner of the shop and forewarn him that we may be back. ($396 + $77 at Cadillac for Valve Body Kit & Gasket)

February 23rd - Strut Mounts arrive. Notice they came with bearings (d'oh). Have them put on. Notice struts need to be replaced, cheapest originals found were $600 each side. F'k it and will put a passive system on later. ($90)

February 25th - Drive 30 miles south on the interstate. Car overheats. Rides fine once flushed and added Super Coolant ($50)

February 26th - Order lower motor mount from Cadillac. ($100)

February 27th - Have lower motor mount installed. ($210)

March 1st - Notice hole in radiator. Was able to warranty it out through local store. ($50 in fluids)

March 3rd - Car is still acting strange trying to shift out of 3rd gear. Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't. Replace eprom. ($50)

March 4th - Change oil because it looks as though the mechanic didn't do it. ($60) Also, buy spare BCM off eBay just in case. ($50)

March 5th - Since on the 12th I start a new job 40 miles south, I test drive half way to see if it will make it. Halfway there I lost all gears except 1st. Was able to reset the codes and get the car to shift in order to get back home. Wife asks to drive it (because I'm "overexaggerating") and there is no reverse as she backs out of the driveway. Won't shift now, and is throwing P094 code. Decide to drop it off at the transmission shop while it is nighttime and no traffic. Cleared the codes, and it never came back, but wouldn't shift. Couldn't drive that far in 1st, came back home.

March 6th - Tow car to transmission shop. ($60)

March 7th - Get phone call from owner of transmission shop. They said something "blew up" because there are metal shards all inside the pan. Find used transmission with a 1yr warranty which covers parts and labor. ($900)

March 8th - Peek into the future. Transmission will be delivered to transmission shop and installed. Must pay labor to install. ($600)

Basically, I just wanted something reliable to get me to and from this new job. Here I am, not even 4 weeks into this and the total cost of notable expenses (including the car) is $5617.

What would you do? Attempt to sell it after the transmission is repaired and cut losses or ride it out? I was expecting to spend about $1500 on little things here and there, but never over $3000...the wife is pretty PO'd.

[1stLac]

should've spent the extra bills on a decent ETC from the start. I payed $5,500 for mine from a dealership (thats including tax tag title) and everythings mint. it's a '94 too, with 67 k miles. i dont know what to say about all that though, that blowwws. dont give up on caddies though! throw it in the paper, sell it, and use that as a down payment or find a cash deal on a decent STS or ETC, or use it as a trade in at a dealership. good luck!

[KeithJ]

I agree with the last post. A good inspection and in my opinion the cosmetics of a car speak volumes about the care a car has received. In any event sorry to hear about the problems you've had.

[Raze]

There's a reason your caddy was $2500, basically your engine/trans in good running condition are worth about $1500, the rest of the car is the $1000. For that price I would expect to have to have to replace/watch:

1) tuneup (wires, plugs, fuel filter, fuel pressure regulator, clean throttlebody, fuel injector cleaner, tranny fluid flush, coolant flush w/tabs, oil change, air filter)

2) brakes (pads, rotors, brakefluid)

3) suspension (shocks, struts, springs, strutmounts, compressor, ball joints, sway bar end links, sway bar link isolator bushings, tie rod ends) ~ Arnott, Boston Suspension, Strutmaster all have passive shocks/struts much cheaper than OEM btw

4) electrical switches/problems (window switches, door locks, sunroof, potentially fix window motors/regulators if there's any squeeling, speakers may be blown and need rebuild, trunk pull down motor may have busted, antenna motor may be gone, dash light bulb replacement)

5) Coolant system (hoses, radiator side tanks can crack over time since it's plastic, also there is a plastic valve that can let go, waterpump usually won't last more than 75k miles or so, heater core) All of these parts can go prematurely if the coolant system has been neglected...

6) A/C system (condensor, evaporator ~ commonly goes after 6-8 years)

7) Transmission (shift solenoids, filters replaced) Fairly bulletproof but some people have major headaches with these suckers.

8) Engine (valve cover gaskets and spark plug o-rings replaced, belts, pulleys, tensioners, timesert the block and new headgaskets if the heads get lifted/headgasket failure, you'll know if you blow billowing white smoke out the tailpipe on this one it's major surgery too!)

9) Alternator/Battery if one goes, the other one probably will too, also make sure when replacing the Alternator you get the right pulley on it as they produce different outputs based on options...

So yeah when stuff breaks which seems to usually happen all at once, that's when you start wondering if you made a good buy. Trust me I know I've done just about everything on that list to mine and mine is a 98 ETC, after paying $8500 for the car a few years back I've put just about as much into fixing it over those 3 years, granted half of that was labor that I have been slowly taking over as I've put together a better home garage If you know how or can learn how to work on your caddy the cost is much more reasonable, other's opinions will vary...

[untamedreamz]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I think I am going to keep it because at the end of the day I love that car.

[jimfulco]

Dang, and I thought mine was evil.

[Mark Bunds]

My former boss tried to "cheap it out" when he paid way too much ($7000) for a 1998 SLS, thinking it would be OK because a doctor owned it. He ended up spending more than $3000 in repairs within the first month because he failed to have it checked out by a knowledgable mechanic. I bought mine used and certified for $21000.00 and have had to do nothing in two years but crank sensors so far.

[Mitch3]

I love this post "As Written By My Wife" because my wife and I bought our cars about the same time (2003). She--a 1996 Volvo 960 Wagon....Me--a 1994 Eldorado. The Volvo was contstantly getting something replaced or repaired while my Eldo ran great. I gave her a hard time about buying a Volvo. Then it started...my brake line and fuel line that runs along the frame sprung a leak from chafing against each other $400. Water pump gave out. $450. Fuel pump gave out. $500. Fuel tank rusted out at the filler neck. Oil pan leak started really getting worse. Seemed like everything was going. Then DISASTER STRUCK!!! Rust spots everywhere. I can put up with anything but not rust. In the meantime the Volvo seemed to straighten out. I became very quiet and my wife just smiled. What's a guy to do ?? Of course, I found another Eldorado. This time a Pearl White 1998. One time owner with service records. This guy really took care of his car. Spotless inside and out. Leather like new.
Bought it for $6700 last year. Ran like crap so the garage did new plugs and wires. Runs great. Rides like crap so replaced the rear shocks and sway bar links. $630. Still rides like crap. Had my mechanic check it out and he thinks front struts are bad. Thinking about replacing those but OOOPS the coolant is leaking. Radiator is cracked. Had it replaced $460. Car still looks like a million bucks! I'm just wondering what goes next. My wife is still smiling because her Volvo just broke 230,000 miles. No major repairs in quite awhile. My Eldo just broke 109,000. All my buddies are smiling and saying "Told ya to buy a Toyota Camry" Yuck. Guess the bottom line is "If you wanna play, you gotta pay" or "If you have to ask how much it costs you can't afford it."

[luc1]

lol, damn these are some classic cadillac repair stories.

my friend had 4 cadillac's 93 STS 94 STS 98 STS ( which I own now) and a 94 eldorado

the 93/94 and 94 eldorado all blew the headgaskets and were basicly scrap, the 98 was a bit more stable with no major problems, just maintenance, yet he still felt less confident about cadillacs after the experience so he put it on the market, bunch of tire kickers came... and no sale.. I offered him 4KUS for it and he accepted, now I have the 98 Black/black STS with 100k Miles in good condition for a good price, and some peace of mind because he owned it for over a year with no trouble.

Hopefully it will stay that way.

[M.A.C]

February 20th - Order strut mounts & bearings. ($120)

I'm curious what led you to conclude the strut mounts needed to be replaced? My '94 Eldorado thumps when I accelerate and brake. I think a strut mount might need to be replaced but I'm not sure.

March 7th - Get phone call from owner of transmission shop. They said something "blew up" because there are metal shards all inside the pan. Find used transmission with a 1yr warranty which covers parts and labor. ($900)

You might be surprised to know that it's not unusual to see some metal in the trans pan. The issue is whether there a problem. If the transaxle shift "A" solenoid went bad I would have just replace it to see if it solves the problem instead of replacing the trans. However, if you find the $600 labor charge acceptable for piece of mind that you have a functioning trans, then I certainly can sympathize with that.

I have over 220K on my Eldorado and it runs great. However, I will need to replace the transaxle due to the consistent P039 (torque converter slipping) code. I've been driving with this code since I purchased it with 130K. I'm going to look for a quality remanufactured trans.

Basically, I just wanted something reliable to get me to and from this new job. Here I am, not even 4 weeks into this and the total cost of notable expenses (including the car) is $5617.

As long as you don't have a head gasket problem I tend to believe you should be fine. The Eldorado is a good riding car. The base model with 270HP and 300 pounds of torque is very quick--quicker than the STS due to its slightly lower weight.

What would you do? Attempt to sell it after the transmission is repaired and cut losses or ride it out? I was expecting to spend about $1500 on little things here and there, but never over $3000...the wife is pretty PO'd.

How many miles on it? Even if you sell it I doubt you will recover what you put into it, particularly because it needs paint. So I would ride it out. If it has relitively low miles and there isn't any sign of an impending head gasket problem then I would run with it.