How do you equate caddilac to Ford, Chevy and other american cars?

In 2001 I purchased a new Cadillac DHS. Due to its poor quality and disappointing reliability, it will be my last Cad. In the past I've had two other Cadillacs, a '84 Seville and later a '93 a Sixty Special. The '84 & '93 were of high quality and reliability. I refer to the '01 as "My Cadillac by Yugo."

Things that have gone wrong with my current 2001 DHS - Just turned 90,000 miles

The front seat heaters have failed twice and currently inoperable. The paint on most of the steering wheel button has flaked off; same with the radio buttons. Wiring to the left rear door had a short in it. The Suspension stabilizer warning comes on randomly - Requesting repair only adds $350 to the bill and the light still comes on. A seeping leak of an engine "cross-over" pipe - a $700 gasket replacement. The air conditioner is unreliable - loss of heated air at times. Motor mount broke at 52,000 - dealer wanted $550 to repair- expressing disappointment in Cadillac, they did it at no cost to me. The front doors' power windows "clank" when reaching top or bottom position. ~10% of the time when starting the engine, nothing happens when turning the key to the start position. It requires wiggling the key or reversing the top and bottom of the key gets the engine started. On a maintenance visit to my local Cadillac dealer I shared my concerns with the salesman who sold me the car. His comment, while chuckling, "Oh you must have gotten a Friday car."

My wife's '90 Toyota Corolla repair history from 1990 through 2006 - one burned out front turn indicator light. In early 2008 it was replaced with a

2007 Toyota Corolla

My future automobile needs do not have GM in the picture. Add to picture, my opinion the new Cads (except for the overpriced XLRs) are as attractive as Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi in underwear.

My horizons would consider Toyota Avalon & Nissan Maxima & Altima.

My experience has been better than Don's, but Cadillacs are not without problems.

1989 Cadillac Sedan DeVille (Consumer rated 9.0). Ran it 130,000 miles with 2 problems: 1) ECM computer chip went out ($600 for Cadillac to repair - took a chip out of an ECM at Brandywine auto parts for $5) 2) Front motor mount went out repaired at Cadillac - cost was not significant - recall about $200 - easy in the front - hard in the back.

1996 Seville (Consumer rated 8.0) We ran it 140,000 miles and sold it for $3,000. We've seen it around so it is still running. Needed a significant tune up at around 100,000 miles. Heater hose blew out. No other problems.

2000 Seville (Consumer rating 8.3). It has 120,000 on it and is running well. Gas mileage is about 26 on trips - V-8 - gearing ratio is economical. Some guy wrote a review on Edmunds and said he was getting 32 MPG - no way.

1) It had a short in the wiring harness (repaired by non-Cadillac dealer) $100. 2) Thermostat went out (bizarre OBD II code) - a lot of crap has to come out to get at this - was $1200 including a new water manifold gasket, water pump (good while it is apart), and the thermostat. Non-Cadillac dealer repair. The thermostat that the shop got from Cadillac was bad and they had to redo the job - ouch! 3) The timing position sensors (I think that's what they were) were replaced.

What Edmunds.com says (Accurate assessment for all Cadillacs in my opinion - advice: buy used and don't invest too much. A $15,000 car is a throw away - $50,000 lemon would be a problem for me.

If you're looking for a top-notch luxury sedan that favors comfort over performance, the Seville is one of the smoothest rides this side of Stuttgart. Pros World-class engineering, contemporary styling, smooth V8, superbly equipped. Cons History of not retaining value as well as rivals, electronic doodads could be costly to repair.

What's New for 2000

The Northstar V8s have been improved, and all models get a new airbag suppression system and the revised version of GM's StabiliTrak. A new ultrasonic rear parking assist feature and an advanced navigation system are optional on both STS and SLS. There are also two new exterior colors, Midnight Blue and Bronzemist.

Summary: They build excellent cars, but they have so many electronic monitoring and control systems that the reliability has to be much lower than a simple machine - mathematics tells you that. I always buy them 2 years old so there is warranty time for me to get all the bugs out. They depreciate rapidly the first two years so you can get good deals. The 1996 was $12,000 and the 2000 was $15,000. These were $40K - $50K cars new. I have a friend with a Toyota and he has problems too.

Thanks guys. Pretty much what I expected. I am in no hurry to waste my money or rather my 19 year old daughter's who will take over when this old man is done. I am 67 and want to do right by her as mommy died 5 years ago too young from cancer. Just thought I would explore the options in case I want to try a luxury car for a while.

Very similar experiences with my 2001 DHS. I had the leaking crossover pipe; the broken motor mount (I could not convince Cadillac to repair it, as I had about 60K miles on the car, and it cost me $1500 to replace the mounts); the windows "clank"; the ignition did not turn over without "jiggling" and finally it wouldn't turn at all (it was fixed under warranty). Now there is a "whine" as the engine revs up when cold (it disappears when the engine is warm). I have had it to the dealer 4 times and he claims that there is nothing wrong. I am hoping that it isn't a transmission problem.

I have about 98K miles on the car. The trouble is, I actually *love* the car (when it is running properly). As a semi-retired person, I could probably not afford to buy a new one if this one dies.....

Best,

Bob

Robert A. Fink, M. D., FACS, P. C. Neurological Surgery

2500 Milvia Street Suite 222 Berkeley, CA 94704-2636 USA 510-849-2555

"Ex Tristitia Virtus"