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So I continue my search for a large RW drive big old school sedan. Is this a good choice? These years have the 4.9 V8. Is this a reliable engine? I think they put out the Northstar the following year. What about it? A friend at work just bout a 95, and it seemed to have a lot of power, and it is smaller than the Fleetwood, which would barely fit in my garage.
Others still on the list
92-96 Roadmaster, same era Caprice, 97-2000 Towncar, and possible a slightly newer Grand Marquis.
Deville's are FWD Aren't they? I would go with town car, Panthers run forever and how a very low cost of ownership, about the only real problem I hear is with the rear air suspension.
I'm pretty certain the Cadillac Deville of that era is a FWD sedan. The Roadmaster, Caprice, and Impala were all ok cars. I'm not a huge fan of the interiors, even the impala SS feels like it has "barge" seats in it...along with those 1980's "Body by Fischer" metal seat belts.
I know for sure that the first caddys that used the OBD11 system (1996) had many issues with it and the cost were very high to get fixed AND STAY FIXED. A 1995 or older can have the CEL on and it will STILL pass the emmision inspection unlike the 96 and newer ones. For this reason I would prefer a 95 or older.
They are front drive. If you want a big car from that era. I recommend the Impala SS. I've been looking for the Jon Moss Edition (it comes with a 6 speed manual transmission).
Deville's are FWD Aren't they? I would go with town car, Panthers run forever and how a very low cost of ownership, about the only real problem I hear is with the rear air suspension.
I believe that is correct - that the Deville's were still FWD, having ceased to be Cadillacs in 1985. But the Fleetwoods of '93 to '96 were RWD.
I, too, would go for a Town Car as they are incredibly quiet, smooth, and reliable. Yes, the rear air-suspensions are problematic, but can be easily converted to coils. My Crown Vic's went bad a few years ago - replaced the air bags with coils and honestly can't tell the difference most of the time.
The Town Car is a much nicer car than the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis of the same vintage, despite that they're all Panthers. Incredible ride - and probably the best bang for your buck in the used car market today.
The Concours edition of that era of DeVille did use the Northstar engine, not the 4.9L, so it could be prone to a failure of the head gasket bolts. Cadillac did change the bolts in 2005 to reduce the chances of a head gasket failure, so as the vehicles age, it will show as to whether or not there is a problem. The mechanic I spoke to not too long ago about the problems said that there are fewer problems with 2005+ models, and some of them are old enough now that they would have mileage where failures would begin to happen, as it did with the old bolt design prior to 2005. However, if you found a rebuilt Northstar, or got one at a low price with lower mileage, factoring the eventual re-studding/replacement of the engine, it might not be a bad buy, overall, for a newer DeVille with more advanced safety features.
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So I continue my search for a large RW drive big old school sedan. Is this a good choice? These years have the 4.9 V8. Is this a reliable engine? I think they put out the Northstar the following year. What about it? A friend at work just bout a 95, and it seemed to have a lot of power, and it is smaller than the Fleetwood, which would barely fit in my garage.
Others still on the list
92-96 Roadmaster, same era Caprice, 97-2000 Towncar, and possible a slightly newer Grand Marquis.
Yeah, the "base" 1994-95 DeVilles (known as Sedan DeVille) were good cars, when they had the 4.9L engine. The 1994-95 DeVille Concours had the Northstar engine, AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!! They are smooth and much more powerful engines that were highly praised in the 90s, until the headgasket issues started popping up with age and miles, as the 90s Northstar engines have a notorious history of head gasket issues that can cost thousands to repair and if the head cracks, they are basically junk. I think the issue lingered on into the very early 2000s on those. By 1996, the Northstar was standard even on the base DeVille.
If you get a DeVille, get a 95 or older with the 4.9L... or do like I did and get a Fleetwood Brougham (same basic car as the 91-96 Roadmaster/Caprice you mentioned)... mine is a '93 and has the 5.7L, but its a thirsty car. lol.
Also, the Town Car is a good choice, I have a '95 Town Car with 207K miles. The car is still very smooth and quiet, but valve seals are starting to get weak, which is not common on the 90s 4.6L engine and its not too costly of a repair or a big deal. The only other issues on those (90-97) is the air springs, which are easy to change to coils that has already been mentioned (mine was converted). The other other issue that goes unnoticed is the "blend door" for the HVAC... if it goes bad, the temperature will get stuck on hot/cold on the HVAC system and the only way to repair is to "lower down" the entire instrument panel. Its about a $500 repair at most shops that will do it, but many mechanically inclined owners tend to do it themselves. No issues with mine yet, I am guessing that it was addressed before I purchased the car.
Remember that the '98 Town Car was a different design than the '97 model. Btw, I am selling my '95 Town Car... it can be yours for the low price of $1600.
I'm pretty certain the Cadillac Deville of that era is a FWD sedan. The Roadmaster, Caprice, and Impala were all ok cars. I'm not a huge fan of the interiors, even the impala SS feels like it has "barge" seats in it...along with those 1980's "Body by Fischer" metal seat belts.
I guess I got it mixed up then. The Fleetwood is rear wheel drive, but if the Deville is front, I will take it off my list, even though I think it is a pretty nice car. Just looking for RR drive on this one. I also not that concerned with gas mpg, as the car would probably see less than 10k driven a year.
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