2nd May 2003, 11:22

I own a 1997 Cadillac Seville STS. The car has over 170,000 miles on it. Some highway, some city. My opinion is definitely positive. I have never driven a car as comfortable and dependable. The only problems the car has had are the knock sensor and the brake fluid switch sensor. The car doesn't burn any oil at all. I have driven 3500 miles with absolutely no oil burning. It also does not leak oil. I drive this car hard and if it was going to break it would have done it by now. I am a dedicated Cadillac owner now that I have owned one. Definitely a good buy.

4th May 2004, 20:06

My 97 STS with only 70k on it developed an oil leak. It is above the oil pan and It looks VERY expensive.

2nd Jun 2004, 17:35

I am 6'5", 220lbs, and I fit in ALL 5 seating positions perfectly. This car has tremendous accelleration, and is the most comfortable car I've ridden in.

1st Aug 2004, 20:20

I am a 39 year old male, and I've had 6 Cadillacs, and after I had the Seville, I won't buy another one. What a shame.

I bought a 1996 Seville SLS in 1997 for 39k in Houston. The car had 40k miles on it. I had the car for two weeks, and brought it back to the dealership where I bought it because the engine burned 2 quarts of oil in 1000 miles. The dealership didn't want to put a new engine in the car and rebuilt the existing engine. Once I got the car back, the same thing happened. Thank goodness I bought the extended warranty. The engine was replaced, after I'd written several letter to the dealership, GM, and the Better Business Bureau.

I drive the highways often due to work and family trips. This car and engine has a ton of power. It's fantastic on the highway as well as in the city. This is one comfortable car. This car can beat anything on the street, and believe me I've tried. This is a luxury Cadillac with a very powerful motor.

I've had normal wear and tear experiences with this car, and normal maintenance issues, after the new engine was installed. I didn't really have anything major happen for several years until 2004, when the car hit 100k miles. I spent over 4000 dollars on this car in 2004. All at once many "switches" and electronics went bad. The oil pump, oil sending unit, oil switch, transmission switch, O2 sensors, a/c blower motor, a/c, wiper motor all went bad in April of 2000. It was awful. It seemed that as soon as the car hit 100k miles, the entire thing fell apart.

There was a trans switch that went bad, and the car shifted really hard, like the trans was going bad. It took them 3 weeks and 3 trips to the shop for them to figure out what was wrong. They had to pull the transmission out of the car to get to the switch - what a bad experience.

Once I got the car out of the shop, the car began burning oil again, as it did when I bought it. I decided to get rid of the car and trade it in for a non-Cadillac.

What a beauty of a car. I am a Cadillac lover, but I'll only be looking at them from a distance after my experience with the Seville SLS.

Sorry GM and Cadillac - you lost me.

Frank in Atlanta.

2nd Jan 2006, 17:06

As a 33 yr old male I bought my 97 SLS 3 years ago in 2002 with 55 k miles. After replacing the rear rotors (warped), alternator and battery, the car has been a good daily driver. I am getting alittle worried as I rack up th mileage reading the past entries, I too burn oil at about 1 qt. per 1000 miles. AND the front struts are on their way out. excessive bounce on the front. Besides that not too much to complain about. Yes expensive to repair, but fun to drive. I to use the low octane gas from the recommendations from a Cadillac posting board and my MPG have not been effected greatly, about 1 mile loss. Some hard starts in cold weather, but after that no issues. As of this day the car has 85,000 miles and runs strong. Looking at a vette as next car. Anyone looking for a used low mileage caddy?

1st Sep 2006, 13:05

One comment on driving the engine hard. If the engine is hot and you drive at high RPM's, you can blow your head gasket. I've done it. If you start seeing your engine temp doing wierd things and start finding your coolant mysteriously disappearing, you could be on your way.

My recommendation is that if you don't want to cough up 3 to 5K, don't drive it hard under hot conditions (which implies AC on).

7th Sep 2006, 18:02

Well well well the great Cadillac has defects. I just bought a 97 SLS with 130,000 miles on it. After no oil leaks or other problems it started giving off white smoke from the tailpipes. Took it to a mechanic and he said somewhere along the car had overheated and caused a blown head gasket. Who would have knew that with nothing else going wrong. End case. the dealer says a new gasket would be about $2000.00 and a new engine about $5000.00-$7500.00. That is psycho!!! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

26th Sep 2006, 20:40

I just bought a 97 Deville--with 145k on it--I use to own a 1993 and sold it when it had over 200k--I wish I still had it--I sold it 2 years ago and the buyer still drives it--back to the 97--I bought it drove it for 2 days and my garage floor was covered in antifreeze--the car was bought as is from a local small lot--I'm in real trouble--it costs over $2,000 to fix the head gaskets or $4,000 for a used motor... buyer beware--buyer beware--I'm 53--I should have taken the car to a mechanic to look at it... shame on the sales lot and me...

9th Oct 2006, 11:23

My 97 Cadillac Seville is at the mechanics as I write this. It doesn't seem to have an oil leak that I could see, but it runs low on oil fairly quick. It has started overheating way too much and all the dash says is "change engine oil", which I just did. Overheating, burning oil, and on top of it all the drivers side window Won't roll up for several minutes after I roll it down.

Update: just got off the phone with the mechanic. It seems the car has a leaking water pump = overheating and burning up oil. So, that answers that.