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New member...Planning to buy a 2003 STS

5K views 49 replies 21 participants last post by  basscatt 
#1 ·
Hello All

I'm a new member and looking for advice on the possibility of buying a 2003 STS. What to look for and any issues or major problems in that year. The car has 72k miles and it's clean.
I soke to the wife and the car needs brakes from she said. I'm not worried about that if it's only brake pads. Since it was night I didn't investigate further plus the the owner (husband) was not home. They are asking 3000 for it. Is this reasonable?
 
#5 ·
Do a LOT of homework in here, Northstar Performance, Cadillac Tech Tips, and in the Cadillac Technical Archive up ^^^ in the top black bar. The sticky posts at the top of a threads page contain info that is always "need to know" - like the ones just above this thread.

The car originally sold for $58,000+ out the door. That is where your maintenance costs will lie - not the sale price. The car uses RPO F55 Magnetic Ride Control: 2002.5 - 2003 STS was the test mule for the Corvette/Ferrari/later GM suspension changes. Original front struts alone are over $700 each.

If the "check brakes" message is on in the DIC then one or more pad wear sensors is worn through - they must be replaced along with the new pads. Rear brake caliper pistons do NOT press back into the caliper - they must be screwed in as they are also part of the parking brake adjustment system.

Get the idea that you'll be on a steep learning curve ??

STS is the acronym for "Seville Touring Sedan"; SLS is "Seville Luxury Sedan". The later "STS" means nothing.
 
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#10 ·
It sure isn't a Civic or Malibu :) Gotta pay to play when it comes to any luxury car; BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar, Lexus etc., ALL have comparable, if not higher in most cases, maintenance costs...
 
#16 ·
$3,000 is a bit cheap for a 2003 Seville STS with such low mileage, they usually go for $5,000-$7,000 for low mileage 2003 Seville STS's. If it's legit with no big mechanical issues then I would say buy it, you'll be happy you did. I've had my 2003 Seville STS for over 9 years now and it's still going strong, no blown head gaskets issues, no suspension issues, had to replace the engine mounts 4 years ago for a few hundred $ but other than that nothing else other than normal wear and tear maintenance costs. Parts for normal maintenance are cheap since these Caddy's use a lot of the same common GM parts used in other cheaper GM cars, car runs smooth and I love the look of these Seville STS's. If you're looking for a nice older luxury car you can't go wrong with a Cadillac, your repair costs and normal maintenance wear and tear costs for something like a comparable BMW, Mercedes would be a lot higher than what you shell out for any Cadillac over the long run. Good luck.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for your replies. You now got me thinking again. I will give the owner a call and check it out on the weekend.
I thought 3000 is kind of low for this car. That is why I'm a little skeptical about it. She said it did not see many winters either. I usually see the at 5 to 6 thousand dollars with a lot more mileage.
Will keep you posted.
 
#18 ·
I'm 6' 2", 235# and my 2002 STS is most definitely not "too small". It is NOT a 9-passenger station wagon - it IS a comfortable 4-person sport sedan.

If you carry around excess bulk then you might want to invest in a Kenworth.
 
#20 ·
Hello All

Just a quick update on 03 STS. The car seemed ok when I saw at night , but during the day it was different. I noticed the quarter panel on the passenger side had corrossion and the paint peeling off. I found that odd and asked if it had been in a accident. It seems it had been in an accident a few years back and was badly repaired. With the corrusion and water infiltration in the trunk... it was enough for me to back down.
For the price and milage of the car It seemed to good to be true.
Thanks for your help. Next time.
 
#22 ·
Can't figure out salvage car process these days. You see cars with "minor" damage with salvage title. Why a 20k car with 4k body work has a salvage title? Sellers have all sorts of stories. Uh, minor damage, hardly anything at all. So you saw clean 03 Sts for 3k with good title but it had been repaired? So no salvage or marked title?
 
#23 ·
stoveguyy said:
Can't figure out salvage car process these days. You see cars with "minor" damage with salvage title. Why a 20k car with 4k body work has a salvage title? Sellers have all sorts of stories. Uh, minor damage, hardly anything at all. So you saw clean 03 Sts for 3k with good title but it had been repaired? So no salvage or marked title?
It could mean flood damage in which case it has to be marked as such. Many vehicles that had such damage during Hurricane Sandy, for example, were in this situation.
 
#24 ·
In reponse to Stoveguyy. Here in Canada, Quebec. The only time salvage is added to the title (car registaration for us) will be indicated by VGA. This means the car was in a bad accident and was repaired.
I did not bother to ask to see the registration, when I noticed the corrosion and water in the trunk. Corrosion is bad here because of our climate. The salt in winter does a good job.
 
#25 ·
Didn't want to hijack thread. Your point of qtr panel repair just made me think. I see cars with minor repair, like fender, headlight, rocker panel and seller says MINOR repair but it has salvage title? I see tons of salvage are for sale but I have never actually held damage title in hand. Not sure what they even say where I live
 
#27 ·
Hello All

It's been a while since my last post. Last time I had a found a 2003 STS which was too good to be true...and it was exactly that. The car had been in a accident which was badly repaired.

Now I found a 1997 STS but mint. The car has never seen winter and looks like new. It has around 55K miles on it. The guy is asking 4800. Is it a good buy and is the 97 a good year?
The car has been for sale for about three weeks. I guess it's too old for some people but I tell you it looks sharp. I read a lot of horror stories on the north star engine and wonder if they are really true. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
#28 ·
I am not sure why somebody mentioned these cars are using common GM parts. In fact other than some odd cases (like rotors, wheel hubs and ...that's about it) I can't thing about other parts, oh yeah and most engine parts will be compatible with the V8 Auroras and the very rare Bonevilles. Yeah the rear view mirror is also common with other GM vehicles, the EGR valve is the same as some Astrovan, the power antenna motor (not the mast or the fittings) is the same with all other GM vehicles, some of the parts in the URPAS are shared too and really that is about it.
Not much at all...


'97 is the best year for the Gen IV Seville, it has the most updates (electrically), is the first year with the true CVRSS suspension (if is truly a '97 build vehicle, not a '96 labeled as '97).
All "horror stories" you read about the NorthStar engines are form people who bought a "mint" Cadillac for a "great" price. Actually these engines properly maintain go for long!
Bottom line if is too good to be true then stay away, nobody sells a perfectly good car for next to nothing (not even The Pope).
These cars are just as reliable (per part) as ANY other cars, may be better than others, however where some cars (like Corolla/Civic) have 1 part Cadillac has 2 or 3. So statistically 1 part is less likely to break than 2-3 parts (this is why Japanese cars are so “reliable”). Most parts were long discontinued by now, there is no aftermarket for these cars (and Cadillac in general - think how many classic Cadillacs you have seen restore, not so many because generally were rare, expensive and complex vehicles not too many parts available, now Ford Mustang on the other hand...)

Bottom line you don't buy a Cadillac because you found it for a great price in fact you stay away for the Cadillacs for sale at a great price. You must be prepared with lots of money (I would budget between $2500 to $5000 per year) to keep the car running in factory condition. Also money are not enough, it will consume allot of your time to locate the part you need, can't just walk into some store with $1000 and say I need that part.
 
#30 ·
I always loved the STS, but talking to you guys I'm getting discouraged. Maybe I'm not sure what I'm getting into.
The price is not so great at 4800 for 97. The car is almost 17 years old and not many people lining up to buy it either. I'm not to sure what to look for in this car. They have become more affordable but how reliable? I'm the type which keeps the car for a long time. I have an 86 Benz with 360K kilometers and still running strong. It's my daily driver. I wanted to replace it with the STS...but having my doubts now. They STS seems expensive to maintain.
 
#32 ·
If you have had a Benz for as long as you have you know about maintenance costs. An Seville STS of any years is growing older, which means it will require maintenance. Having owned both a Mercedes and a Seville STS (which has been well maintained for 9 years) I can tell you that if can find a good, well maintained Seville it will cost you far less than any Mercedes.

The Fourth and Fifth generation Sevilles are two quite different cars (I know I own and have lived with both side by side for over seven years) and which you would prefer is really a matter of personal taste. Each have heir strong points and weaknesses. So I would drive good examples of each and make your decision. I would doubt you can find really nice examples of either car for sale in Canada. If I were really serious about buying one of these cars I would look to Florida for low mileage, well kept Sevilles for sale.
 
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