Any and every 'Used Car With 100,000 + Miles' is a 'Hit And Miss'. DeVilles, and any other Northstar car is reliable, comfortable, fuel efficient, and an iconic American image. Your looking at a car that cost $45,000.00 dollars brand new. Same thing with a town car. You can't expect because the price of the car now is $3,900.00 dollars that it's going to be a 'Cheap-Luxury' car. Those two words never go togather. Now I said that I only had to do Normal maintaince on my 03 DeVille. What I didn't say was the price... The brakes alone from the dealer --just pads and rotors--- were over $700.00 dollars. Not to mention that I had to have the two rear rotors shipped from some dealership up north that just happened to have some laying on their shelves. I installed the brakes myself. I did all my work on that car myself. With OEM parts. The battery cost me close to 300.00 bucks, the plenum cost me 50. The plugs and belt cost me 100.00. The tires costed me 1450.00. Now I understand most people don't have 'car savyness' and can't do their own work for various reasons, so they rely on dealers, and private shops. And if you go that route and desire a 'real' cadillac with OEM parts and not a mix match of other parts with a Cadillac emblem on the hood, now your paying 700 dollars for brake parts AND 350.00 dollars PER AXLE to have those 700 dollar brakes installed. So yeah, you can buy a 12 year old luxury car for 3900 bucks, with only 70,000 miles on it, but stuff breaks. That car and any other 12 year old low mileage car has been sitting. Not drivin very often. Take my ETC for example. Sat for a year or 2 at a time between drives. I've had to go in and replace almost every single rubber component under that hood and chassis. Here's a list of what I've had to do for a 6,000 dollar Luxury Coupe.
1. Cooling System (Radiator, Hoses, clamps, water pump, thermostat, cross over) :$1,550.87
2. Charging system (Battery, alternator): $637.89
3. Suspension system OEM. (2 struts, 2 shocks, 4 springs, 2 sway bars, 4 sway bar connectors, and every bushing in between) about 3,750 bucks.
4. Engine Reseal (Valve Covers, timing cover, oil pan, and rear main) 1200.00 bucks.
5. Ignition and air induction system (Spark plugs, cassettes, plenum, intake seals) 531.79
6. Tires and brakes (4 rotors, pads, 4 tires, and 1 caliper) 1500.00 bucks
And then all the accessories I've installed (window tint, xm radio with a factory head unit, upgraded digital onstar, 1/4 top biarritz mock) almost 2 grand tied up in that. I'm afraid to add up all those numbers, and most of this I've had done by myself and a friend who owns a small shop who helped with some discounts for our long time friendship. All I know is that I now have a fully restored 2002 ETC and I've put almost 12,000 miles on it (and of course stuff is still breaking - HVAC Blend door actuator, wheel bearing etc.) And these too shall be replaced in the near future. But as much trouble as this car has been for me, I knew from the start what I was getting myself into. The body and interior were/are immaculate, but the original owners didn't know how to store a car, and didn't know that you had to replace items based on time as well as mileage. Not just mileage. The Eldorado sits under a car cover in my air conditioned garage here in Texas most of the time. As a daily driver, I drive a Lexus 2012 RX350 AWD with 17,000 miles on the clock. If you want a cheap luxury car, buy an acura.