Faults:

Rear brakes replaced. Cost to turn rotors, $20, new rotors, $26. Rear brakes had rust build up and caused a slight vibration. Total rear brake rebuild, $240.

Relay problems. Auto headlights relay bad, swapped it with the horn relay. Traction control rely intermittent first time it snows. Use it a few times and the problem goes away.

Battery drain. Battery checked out good, but replaced it and no problems. Heavy electrical use and requires a good battery.

Gremlins that come and go. All minor and not of any importance.

Very minor oil leak as do most. Cadillac juice. Does not burn oil, but you cannot baby this engine.

General Comments:

The North Star engine is outstanding! The handling is surprising and very responsive. 30 mpg highway/17 city on mid-grade fuel.

Great visibility and comfort.

You never forget what you are driving.

Faults:

Electric radio antenna doesn't work any more.

General Comments:

Or 1997 Seville has been a pleasure. We have had it from 83k to over 115k, and about 4 years, and have not spend a nickel on it. It is powerful, smooth, comfortable, etc. etc. The interior is good, and it is a pleasure to drive. We keep it garaged, and it is our 'long distance' car, so there is not many 'stop and go' miles, which may help. But it has been a pleasure to own. It has gotten 26 mpg on long distance interstate driving, and consistently average 21 mpg.

NICE car.

General Comments:

I want to report an incident that I had not heard anything about until after my accident.

On July 1, 2007, I had a hydroplane accident. That is to say it was raining heavily and I ran upon a layer of water, which caused my 97 Seville SLS to spin out. The vehicle crossed into the oncoming lane and and spun out.

I realized I could not control it and put my head down and closed my eyes. I wanted to protect my neck so I closed my eyes and yelled "In the Name of Jesus!" When the car came to a stop, I was in the ditch on my original side of the road and had torn down the fence to someone's pasture.

I realized I had escaped what could have be instant death, several ways. I missed all oncoming traffic. I missed the drain pipe and passed over the top and off to the side of it. I missed a metal fence and hit the barbed wire fence instead. And finally I stopped several feet prior to the telephone pole.

When I was looking to purchase a replacement car, as it was totalled, (http://www.intellichoice.com/) I found a note that the 96 and 97 Seville SLS had a design flaw, which made driving on slippery and wet surfaces a problem, and that the problem was being corrected in the 1998 models. I don't know how Intellichoice found out, but I would think if they know, the manufacturer knows.