Faults:

Changed Shocks, heavy car, go with a stiff suspension. I went stiff, works fine, but this car drives well, smooth, but it's heavy, I will go with racing shocks next time.

Lousy mileage, have done tune ups. Gets 16-17 no matter what I do. On a freeway, doing 55 it might get 20 gph.

Bose cassette player broke. $175 to fix. Want to go with a CD player, too expensive. You have to pull out the whole system given the special amps that BOSE uses. Sounds nice, but it's starting to make noises, amps acting up.

Takes a while to warm up, don't plan on using the heater for 15 minutes on cold days.

Speedo goes to 85, it would be nice to have the digital tack, and the 350 engine, but for another 7k, not worth it.

Compass doesn't really work right.

General Comments:

Solid car, well built. A driver's car. 3 tickets before I knew it, basically going 70ish when it felt like 55mph.

If taken care off, very reliable, comfortable.

Runs cool, AC blows hard and cold. Acceleration on a 5.0 is anemic, but it will get there and stay there with no problem.

Looks nice, but I don't really like the shrouded rear tire, prefer the non boat look.

Faults:

I was fairly surprised considering that a common police cruiser has at least 4 times the mileage in just idling time. I have had to replace the oil pressure sending unit, the exhaust system, and nothing more than routine maintenance. When I purchased it the taxi company had just clipped the wires so I spent about three hours studying the wiring diagram and splicing.

General Comments:

It handles like it's on rails, I added oversize tires and rims. You'd never expect to take an offramp onto another highway at above 70mph acceleration.

Heart pounding acceleration, nothing like a Corvette, but makes the guy in the Mustang frustrated. 50-110 is a complete blur. Also, if you're not careful you'll be doing 65 in a 30 pretty quick.

Turning radius is a another boon.

But gas economy is not good, Also the cooling system is made to work for 24 hours a day, so for the short jaunts the heater takes a while and doesn't really warm up for a couple hours. Expect 9-20 miles per gallon on 93 octane... Depends on your right foot.

Faults:

Engine had to be replaced (not a fomer police car), and other minor problems that come from having over 100,000 miles. Driver's seat, carpet and head liner need to be replaced. Very little rust.

General Comments:

I have always liked Chevy Caprices. Outside of the engine being replaced the car has been good to me, handles well in all weathers and has good pickup. I will be spending money for a new paint job, seat carpet and head liner. I enjoy the car and it is great for long travels or traveling with more than 2 people.

Faults:

First day I drove it home the service engine soon light came on due to an EGR problem.

Stereo is a delco bose, but the factory amplifier is bad so the volume was quite low.

Put new brakes on and had the rotors turned.

Replaced leaky water pump (very easy on the Chevy v8's).

Transmission makes a buzzing noise; no problems yet however (transmission is GM model 700R4).

Car got totaled by a drunk teenage driver who ran a flashing red light and hit me in the quarter panel. To my surprise the car was able to be fixed at a cost of $4218, thank god she had insurance.

After the accident however the car rapidly goes through brakes (one set every 6000 miles or so). Also began to consume oil and the engine makes a tapping noise after cold starts, also it detonates.

General Comments:

Despite the car being quite large, it has great acceleration from the 305. It hits 0-60 in about 8-9 seconds, not bad for a 4000 pounder. It also outruns many so called sports cars. You know the ones with the 6 cylinders, import or domestic.

The handling is terrible, it feels like you're driving a large wallowing boat with pancake syrup in the steering wheel. The suspension is way too soft causing the car to float too much. My 87 Cadillac Brougham handles much better than this.

The leather seats are fairly comfortable, but I prefer soft seats. The front seats are firm and the back seats are soft.

Car has just about every option available that year. Power everything including seats and antenna, twilight sentinel (lights turn off and on by themselves), cruise control, tilt steering, heated mirrors, digital rearview mirror compass, remote keyless entry and trunk release, fluid monitors, bose stereo, and many more options not normally found on Chevy's.

I'm disappointed about the fact that the engine uses oil, detonates, makes a tapping noise on cold starts, and goes through brakes like a baby does diapers. I don't feel all this was due to the accident as the car got hit in the rear quarter panel. Although the car did do a 180 degree turn and stall when it was hit so it is a possibility the engine problems could be due to the accident, how I don't know, but the transmission was making the buzzing noise before the accident and I did have to put on two sets of brakes before the accident.

This is my second large GM car, my first was an 87 Cadillac Brougham, that review is also posted. Although the Caprice is much faster, the Cadillac has much better build quality. This car has rattles in the dashboard at 66,000 miles, the Cadillac didn't get those problems until 170,000 miles!

As I stated earlier, these cars are quick and I can see why they were popular with the law enforcement departments. However, don't expect the best build quality from Chevy. Reliability is great though, and repairs are simple. Gas mileage is also good for this kind of car. It averages about 18-22 mpg depending on how it's driven.

I'll be getting rid of this car within the next couple of years. My next car will be the 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood; the last of the big bodies.