1996 Cadillac DeVille review from North America

Replaced water pump 112,000 miles $300.

Replaced heater blower motor (twice) at 116,000 miles. Second time was under warranty at least... $400.

Replaced fuel pressure regulator at 130,000 miles. $200.

Replaced both front wheel bearing hub assemblies at 165,000 miles -- one was shot the other was getting there. $900.

Car eats brakes... I drive 100 miles/day to and from work, 99% highway. Brakes last about a year. Bizarre.

CVRSS (Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension) Module died about a year ago. Doesn't seem to do all that much, except cause static on the AM radio. I pulled the mini fuse to the CVRSS module (fuse and module both located in trunk) ; now I get a SERVICE RIDE CONTROL message, but the static is gone. Not worth the $800+ bucks to replace the CVRSS module.

Despite the several costly repairs above, this really has been a fine car for me. I bought it for a song ($10K) at 102,000 miles / 3 years old (obviously they were mostly highway miles to put that many on in just 3 years), and considering the cost of a new DeVille vs. putting cash into this one, it's been a pretty easy call.

For a highway car, nothing beats it. I love the smooth ride.

Northstar engine is awesome. Cannot believe the power it still has after 168,000 miles.

Any kind of service on this car will lead to some serious bucks (I mean, $321 for the part alone for a blower motor almost made me blow my stack), so if you buy one just make sure to have cash in reserve for those big whacks.

Considering that replacing it would run close to $50K, I'll run this one into the ground.