1999 cadillac seville sls

[Antonino Paino]

Hi every one, I am thinking of buying a 1999 caddy seville sls.any comments would be appreciated. price 5500.00. THANKS TONY.::::

[ben.gators]

More info... e.g.
How many miles on the car?
Do you have a carfex report? Any accident? Original miles? how many owners? Clean title?
How is the condition of car? Any obvious defect? Accident? dent? faded color?
What about the codes? Pull up the codes and see is there any code and if yes list them here.
Make sure to have engine preciselly eamined, or if you are not comfortable with this job, ask a mechanic to check engine. 1999 engines for this cars suffers common blown head gasket problem, which is a very costly repair!

[Antonino Paino]

Hi Ben ; the mileage is 45,500 miles. a car fax is available .I will check codes and condition as i have not seen this car yet. I own a 1996 eldo etc, and have some knowledge of what to look for,I was not aware of the h,g problem. I will post again as soon as i check out this car . low mileage for this year car, thanks again Ben. Tony

[ben.gators]

Good, if you own an eldo so you know alot about this car too!

The only thing that I can say isif I were in your shoes, I would deeply think about purchasing this 45K miles SLS, with such a low price, except there is a very big problem, e.g. prior bad accident, HG problem, etc.
Just aside, there are some people that think generally Seville, and specifically N* engines are engineered for high performance driving, some times this engine needs to work with High RPMs, so if a seville is owned by granny who leaves the car in garage most of the time, and drives it very slow for a very few times, it can not be very good too. I am not sure about this reasoning, any way, keep examining the car and dont forget to update us about it, and if you purchase it post the pics

[Antonino Paino]

thanks Ben,I also share your thougts about the low mileage. I will post my findings. does this year have any other specific problems,thanks TONY.

[creeker]

Originally Posted by ben.gators

More info... e.g.
How many miles on the car?
Do you have a carfex report? Any accident? Original miles? how many owners? Clean title?
How is the condition of car? Any obvious defect? Accident? dent? faded color?
What about the codes? Pull up the codes and see is there any code and if yes list them here.
Make sure to have engine preciselly eamined, or if you are not comfortable with this job, ask a mechanic to check engine. 1999 engines for this cars suffers common blown head gasket problem, which is a very costly repair!

Past discussions on this forum have found carfax reports not to be worth the paper their written on.

[00 Deville]

Tony, I don't want to beat a dead horse but... The biggest problem with the 99 N* is the Head Gaskets... as has already been brought up. Keep in mind if it has a bad HG or develops one you are looking at a minimum of $2000-$2500 to have the HG replaced and have it studded or inserted. At most dealers this cost is more like $3500-$4500.

Read up on the HG's down in the N* section of the board... When you test drive it drive it like you stole it... lots of WOT's (Wide Open Throttles) put it in 2nd gear and go WOT to 70-80 mph do this several times . If the temp gauge goes past noon... walk away. I would also check the airspace over the coolant in the overflow bottle for exhaust gasses... a sure sign of a blown HG. Most radiator shops can do this test or you can do it yourself by renting a block test kit at Auto Zone or buying one at NAPA.

http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/hea..._leak_test.htm

[ben.gators]

Originally Posted by Antonino Paino

thanks Ben,I also share your thougts about the low mileage. I will post my findings. does this year have any other specific problems,thanks TONY.

You are welcome! I guess there is no other specific issue in 99 seville, however I may point to active suspension system in these cars, which is a generic subject in seville, deville, and eldo, and because you have a eldo you may be familiar with it. If you see a service suspension massage in dashboard, or if you hear clicking noise from the strusts, it may be an indicator of a very costly suspension job, if you want to replace them with original active ones.

Just aside, it is interesting for me to see such a good deal in Florida (If car does not have specific issue). I lived in Gainesville for couple of years, and after moving to Arizona I was amazed by observing how much cars are cheap in Ariozna in comparision to Fl, specifically Gainesville. Even in California, which is in a few hour driving distance from me cars are even cheaper than Arizona too. One can easily find a good Seville (98 or newer) with reasonable milage for about 3K from private party! But I have heard that in Tampa prices are low too.

[ben.gators]

Originally Posted by creeker

Past discussions on this forum have found carfax reports not to be worth the paper their written on.

I have no glue about the discussions, and I dont want to repeat the discussions in this topic too, however I think knowing how many owners the car has had, and if the millage is original or not, and if the car has accident (even the information may not be 100% accurate) deserves that money for carfax. After screwing up during my first car purchase, I decided never buy a car without observing carfax! If I had seen the carfax before buying, I never would do that mess!

[Antonino Paino]

Hi, Ben ,Creeker and 00 devile,
I Took all your comments into consideration and came to my senses: and decided against the 99 Seville!! and one main reason I already have a 96 Eldorodo so I don't need any more problems than I already have. The fact that the 99 seville has a history of head gasket problems is something that would be constantly on my mind. Even though I never got to see the car so that I wouldn't get tempted. Thanks for all your oppinions I greatly: appreciate your thoughts. : Antonino btw, if you have some spare time, I took my 1960 Chrysler for a ride on you tube look into (Vintage mopar muscle 1960 Chrysler 300F)