2001 Deville is my last Cadillac!

[JWM]

I've been driving Cadillac's since around 1992, and have seen the quality go downhill. I had an 87 DeVille, decent car, lousy motor. 94 DeVille which I still drive, and while it runs good, lousy fit/finish, rattles, misc. electrical. 2001 DeVille which I bought with around 17K on the clock, and is hands down the worst feat of engineering I've seen in awhile. In the last month I've replaced 3 window regulators, and am waiting on the 4th to break! Car is nothing but plastic, styrofoam in the doors??, and a never ending list of electrical "hiccups", that come and go. Based on what I'm going through with this 2001, I am done with General Motors, and I'd been a devoted GM guy for 40 years. If I must own a car that's largely plastic, I might as well buy something that doesn't clean out my bank account upon purchase. Cadillac quality is an oxymoron.........just another overpriced chevy.

[Lord Cadillac]

Hi JWM.. You're certainly not alone in how you feel. I owned a 2000 DeVille DTS - so I know where you're coming from. The build quality on that car was a joke. Really, no better than a common Chevy. It's amazing how Cadillac could let such a thing happen. I don't know How many customers they've lost because of the horrific build quality that came with their vehicles. Instead of costing $30k, it should have cost $30k.

However, GM has made improvements over the past few years. In fact, the build quality is now so high that they're getting cocky - and I don't blame them. Every Saturn dealer in America has purchased a Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, two foreign vehicles considered to have very high build quality - and probably the best selling cars in America - and has sat them side by side with their own vehicles. That's pretty ballsy and goes to show how confident they are in what they're now producing.

Don't let your 2001 DeVille be your last Cadillac. Go to your dealership and see what they're building these days. Personally, I think the new DTS has come a long way since the previous 2001. Take a seat inside and see how things have changed. Before you give up on Cadillac forever, give them one more chance and at least see what the newer vehicles are like.

Starting with the CTS, things really started changing. The NEW CTS coming out shortly, sounds like the highest quality vehicle GM has ever made. Starting with the 2007 Escalade (I know, kinda late), build quality has found it's way into the SUVs. Starting with the 2005 STS, the same - excellent build quality. The SRX has always been excellent. The XLR as well - has very good build quality...

[sjmalik]

window regulators on 2000 -05 go at about 100,000 mi. you can get them for about $50 online from autoparts warehouse and other stores (OEM) and then get some one to install..don't go to dealer and have them do it they'll rape you...I learned the first time.

The new DTS's are sweet but you have to get rid of it after 150,00 miles

[SDCaddyLacky]

Now days the difference between Foreign and American cars in terms of quality like fit and finish is extremely minimal since even BMW and Toyota's quality isn't the same like it was just 10 years ago. Way too much cheap plastic in new Beemers from what I have experienced, it's horrible.

I have been driving a 09 Malibu rental for like month, and this car does not even look or feel like a Chevy, the interior quality does have plastic, but it's not the really cheap toy plastic that previous Gen Malibu's suffered from. Also this car feels solid and well put together, it rides smooth with no rattles, no squeaks, just absolute silence. I am very surprised by this car, actually shock in a way because it looks real sporty and has European design influences that make the car look luxurious and not like an economy car. GM really got it's act together with the 09's, and hopefully this is a new direction for the brand to gain back lost customers that stayed away from American cars for whatever reasons.

Honestly GM and more so Ford has really improved upon interior quality over Honda and even Toyo. Honda and Toyota's interior quality has gone down over the last few years. They were the best in the 90's when soft vinyl was common to touch, not so anymore, the dashboards today are made of crappy plastic that lacks luster and quality feel.

It's just going to get worse as time goes on.

We all have to remember as well, we are not in 50's or 60's when quality cars were built, the days when steel and metal was common inside of interiors not plastic. We live in a day in age where cars are more disposable than ever before, so why would an Auto Man build a really high quality auto when the customer is going to trade it in like 2 to 3 years? Back in the day, people held onto there new cars for 5 years or longer, and didn't trade in as much like they do today.

My friend owns a 94 Deville Concourse, which is a great car, and very comfortable to ride in. I find his caddy being better in fit and finish than my 93 Town Car that I own. Plus his door panels and dash is of soft vinyl, unlike the Town Car which is plastic and is hard to touch.

[perks]

I would strongly agree that mechanical reliability has improved significantly amongst all (or at least, nearly all) of the major brands over the years, but build quality has fallen pretty consistently. For example, my '83 Saab 900 was a tank; it refused to break no matter how hard I tried to run it into the ground. My '05 Saab, by contrast, was a joke, with major interior parts literally falling off in my hands--and it was worth losing the thousands of dollars it cost me to get rid of it.

But it's not just GM; it's everyone. My '63 is about as solid as you could build a car. 46 years later, it's still running great on its original motor, tranny, and all other major mechanical parts; the interior is worn but fully intact; and all of the electrical equipment still works save for the analog clock (which all die after a few years unless you remove it and send it in to a clock shop). My friend's new BMW 7-series drives like a dream, but he's still had all sort of fit-and-finish issues that I wouldn't expect to see in a car even half the price.

We're pressured even more to "need" new cars than ever before, and the manufacturers bribe us with all sorts of extra gizmos to make our rides more comfortable. The problem with all these extra gadgets is each one is built cheaply, which means dozens upon dozens of individually crappy parts to squeak, rattle, come loose, and break entirely. In fact, the most trouble I've ever had was with the most expensive cars I've owned. The cheapest cars I've owned have always (and I do mean always) given me the least amount of trouble.

[Slowy]

Originally Posted by sjmalik

window regulators on 2000 -05 go at about 100,000 mi.

I SOOO wish you were correct on that 100k mile claim.
my 03 had the passenger side replaced in Sept '09 and my drivers one went out on Oct 17 '09. The car has 39k miles right now.

[ryannel2003]

What I don't understand is why it's so common for window regulators to go out on Deville's, while Seville's tend not to suffer this problem. It's very common for these regulators to be replaced at my dealership. I see at least one a week coming in for one, probably more than that. It's really unfortunate.

My 2000 STS isn't the greatest built product in the GM portfolio, but I will say the newest Cadillac's are so much better in this regard. They all feel of the highest quality; not really up to Mercedes, BMW, or Lexus levels, but damn close.