12th Jun 2006, 19:31

I recently bought a 2001 Seville SLS. At the time of test driving, I was not able to get the speed above 60mph. The ride was perfect. After signing on the line, I drove the car home without incident. The next day when I was able to get the speed above 60mph, there was a substantial vibration at speeds over 65mph.

I can't stand vibration and even told the dealer that when I test drove the car. "Don't worry, just bring it back and we'll take care of you", they said. Don't believe everything you hear. The salesman is often honest and well meaning, but completely insulated from the sharks that rule the pond.

I ended up replacing a bent rim and 4 tires and it still had the vibration afterwards. First set of tires were Continentals, they were horrible! The vibration was equally bad as when the bent rim was still on the car! I called the tire shop when I was only a few miles away and told them the vibration was unacceptable.

Long story short, Discount Tire agreed to take the Continentals back and replace them with Goodyear Assurance tires. Took care of 95% of the vibration. I can live with it now, but it still vibrates. GM, this is why your market share is dwindling. Stop blaming your quality issues on "disloyal Americans" who buy foreign cars.

I learned something valuable about buying new tires, just because they're new doesn't mean they're good.

If they need more than 1 ounce weights to balance your tire, it likely has a lot of tread movement. I watched the tire technician examine the Continental tires and saw the tread moving left to right at least an eighth of an inch.

The Continental tires needed a 2.5 ounce weight on each side to balance them! The new Goodyears needed only.75 ounces or less to balance them out. Even one of the Goodyears were bad so watch the tire shop closely. Look at the tire tread when they run it on the balancing machine for left to right movement.

They are more than happy to sell you bad tires if you're willing to accept them. I figure for $500, I'm not going to accept junk, that's what I took off the car in the first place.

After reading all these comments about the vibration problem in the front end of these Caddy's, I'm not going to waste my money trying to fix it. Know anyone looking to buy a 2001 Seville with new tires on it? <grin>

19th Jun 2006, 02:17

I have 2000 De ville also and I have vibration at the same speed as others, 65 to 75 MPH. I am glad that I have read the reviews. I think the first thing I'm going to try is the additional tire pressure since this the least expensive and I have an air compressor.

Thanks.

MJ.

21st Jul 2006, 14:41

Hi, recently I purchased a CADILLAC DE VILLE 2000 and had problems with vibration as many others on this page described.

Also, my car's engine dies while driving, took it to the dealer and they told me the problem was the crankshaft sensors, which by the way are not covered by the insurance. Has anyone else had the same problem? If so, please let me know, and also if they could fix it. Thank you so much.

12th Aug 2006, 21:49

2000 DTS here, 24,000 miles, owned since new. To the fellow above: crankshaft sensors were a problem, yes. Within the first weeks of ownership, we had ours replaced (fortunately, it was under warranty at the time).

Weeks after our warranty's expiration, the Northstar developed "piston slap." On cold starts, there was a noticeable "ticking" sound from the engine. Our service rep was tenacious and talked GM into replacing all the pistons, rings, etc., at no charge. It would have cost $4-5,000 otherwise.

Along the way, little things popped up. The outside mirror no longer automatically returns to its upright position when moving from Reverse to Drive; we had the passenger side seat belt anchor (the part that moves up and down on the seat back, to adjust for your height) repaired because it was rubbing too hard against the shaft and was getting scuffed up; we had service messages popping up, sensors this, lights that. It's like GM forgot about Quality Control, hoping we'd be so impressed by all the fancy gizmos and LED brake lights that we wouldn't notice that half of them don't work. (I exaggerate a bit: aside from mechanical issues, the car has been wonderful.)

All in all, it's still a nice car, but considering all the problems, the initial sticker price and the cost of future repairs...well, the NEW Caddy's are a LOT better. Still, as far as luxo-barges go, the Deville DTS is a sweet ride...

...except for those of you with the violent vibration issues...

1st Nov 2006, 19:28

Have a 2000 DHS Cadillac with 53000 miles, we are the original owners. The car has been OK no major problems until two months back. Started to feel a small vibration when accelerating slowly at 30 and up. Took the car to two different dealers and they told me the torque converter need to be replaced only $ 3,500.00 for the repair and no more problems, someone is nuts and it’s not me. The spark plugs on these cars are supposed to last for 100000 miles and the torque converter goes at 53000. Has any one on the board had this problem or replaced the torque converter or someother solution to fix my problem.

Thanks Richie.

10th Nov 2006, 19:35

I am the owner of a 2000 Cadillac De-ville DTS second owner, bought with 77,000 miles back in April and now it has 93,000 miles and I have suffered the same vibration issues as most of you have. After taking the car back to the dealership six times within the first three weeks, they finally replaced the left front hub assembly, unfortunately the vibrations continued. About a month after the last "dealership visit" I bought new tires and had them inflate the tires to 38psi before I left. Well guess what? The vibrations stopped and I haven't had them since. I have had to replace the motor mount, engine ground wire; which turned out to be 1213.67 dollars. Other problems I have encountered are: service stability system, burning oil (which they say is normal in a North Star engine, service air bag light comes on/off whenever it wants. Replaced front and rear brake pads twice within eight months. Rear view mirror broke completely when my wife tried to adjust it to her height, heated seats don't work, and a leak in my trunk whenever I raise my trunk after going into a car wash or after it rains my trunk gets wetter than the car does. Other than that I love the car. How many of you have had the same issues? And how did you fix them, if they got fixed?

13th Nov 2006, 07:06

SAME SAME SAME please help if anyone has a updated repair option? 2000 deville, 40,700 miles. A baby. Same vibration issue as stated in the other 70! comments! LOVE the car so much I might just stick it out. I just want to know if it is safe to drive or not? Please help me out.