Want to buy a Seville: What model do you recommend?

[caddymark]

I have been saving for a Seville for some time now. I have an 88 DeVille that I bought last year, and it is a great car and a fun hobby/toy for me. I want to add another "fun" car that is good-looking, smooth riding, quiet, and elegant. It must be a Seville or Eldorado. So, here are my choices:
1) 1985 Seville (slant-back -- really nice car, 4.1 L engine, low miles, very clean)
2) 1988-1991 Eldorado (several in my area to choose from, most are clean, some with low miles) Question: ride quality? driving?
3) 1990 and 1991 Seville (2 in my area -- do they drive and ride smoothly?) What do you think about these? I can afford these more than the newer Sevilles But they kind of remind me of a Cavalier or something like that ....
4) 1995, 96, 97 Eldorados .... some are in my price range (around $5K --)
Some are even $12K. What do you think of these cars? Would you stay away from 100K mileage Eldorado models?

When I first started wanting a second car, I really wanted the slant-back Seville. But I am wondering if I would not prefer a newer model (even an 88-91). So, I am asking ... which of these models will be fun to drive, ride smoothly (like a Cadillac), feel elegant, and look classy?
AND be dependable. If it is the 85 Seville, please tell me so.

Your advice is wanted and appreciated.

[lbwd]

The mileage makes no difference when a car has been well-maintained, at least not on these cars. I can't speak of the ones under 1990, but I do know for sure that if the car has a good maintenance record then the miles make no difference.

I had no maintenance records available when I got my 96 STS. I picked it up in KC, MO and I'm the fifth owner. It had 158K and now it has 160K on it. Runs perfect. I can test drive new cars that ride bad compared to mine. It's just as smooth as the new Cadillacs if not more smooth.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I've got a lot of great information for you, I'll post it later tonight. I wanna go for a run and get something to eat before I start making mega posts, but don't you worry, the Chadillac is on the way!

To sum up my post:
90-91 Seville STS for overall reliability, 93-97 STS for fun to drive and exterior design. If you could find a '92 STS, it has the more durable 4.9L, with the more exciting styling.

[chubbyranger]

If I could have found a good condition 90-91 Eldo I would have bought that before my STS. I guess I'm partial to the 4.5 or 4.9 engines.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Alright, here's my thorough responce:

85 Seville...interesting, distinctive design...comfortable, low miles, very clean, but the 4.1L V8 is basically a junk motor, unless it's been VERY well maintained. They have a lot of problems, the abundant coolant leaks are the most prominent ones in my mind, but there were more too. Even if it's problem free and super reliable, it's a dog in these heavy Caddies. The power around town is decent at best, but on the freeway, it's scary slow. I test drove an '84 Sedan deVille with that about a year ago, and I can distinctly remember punching the gas at 55 to pass someone, and having to *squint* to see the speedometer needle move! It's that bad! Otherwise, if you really like the 80-85 Seville body style, the 80 has that great 368 cast iron block...much more reliable than the HT4100, and the '81 has that 8-6-4 368 cast iron block, all you gotta do there is disable the 8-6-4 and enjoy 6 liters of relatively troublefree (remember, it is 26 years old) power!

1988-91 Eldorado: Pretty good cars overall, not much to look at, but not terribly ugly. When they were introduced, they were unlike any other Cadillac before them in the way they drove. They drove a lot "smaller" and felt a lot tighter and more european on the road. They're probably not gonna have a *super* smooth ride like a Brougham would, but they'll handle a LOT better and be more roadable overall. The 4.5L V8 that was introduced in '88 and used through 1990 was a pretty damn good V8...good power (great low end torque and throttle responce), very reliable, pretty low maintenance. The 4.9L, introduced in '91, was just basically the same as the 1990 4.5L (PFI v. TBI in the '88-'89s), but more powerful. Sure, they don't have the distinctive, handsome lines of the '80-'85 Sevilles, but they're a lot more powerful, and a lot more reliable...probably a lot better daily driver.

1990-91 Seville: Basically just like the 88-91 Eldorados, just with four doors. I think the smaller, boxy body works better on the four doors, but that's just me. If at all possible, try and find the STS or ETC versions of the Seville or Eldorado. They were more performance oriented...better handling, faster, different interiors, different seats, different wheels, slightly different exteriors. I'm not huge on the 88-91 Seville or Eldorado, but I love the 88-91 STS and the 90-91 ETC.

95-97 Eldorado: Great looking cars inside and out, fun to drive, FAST, comfortable as hell, but the Northstar, especially the early (93-95) models have a lot of issues, lots of headgasket problems because they hadn't perfected the designs yet. I love the looks of these things, but I'm not totally positive I'd buy one, because of the Northstar's questionable and expensive repair history. If you wanted the 92+ body style, I'd really recommend the 1992 STS or ETC...new body style, all of the features that were associated with that style, but with the more durable, cheaper to own/repair 4.9L V8. In '93, the STS and ETC took the Northstar as standard, but the 4.9L was standard in the base Eldorado and Seville, then from '94 and on, the 4.9L was used ONLY in the Sedan DeVilles.


Hope that helped and good luck.
Chad.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Oh, here's a '89 STS I found on ebay, check it out!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1989-...QQcmdZViewItem
Regular '91 Seville:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-LU...QQcmdZViewItem