1998 Cadillac Seville SLS review from North America
"New ones are pricey"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
So far nothing wrong with the car.
General comments?
The car is great. Fast, handles well, drives smooth and is comfortable. I have just purchased it (an immaculate used 1998 Seville, 72,000 miles) from my neighbor. Very happy with the car, he took impeccable care of it. He just purchased a brand new Seville. When he got the 98’, he went through the same tire vibration as everybody talks about (dealer replaced parts and pieces, but to no avail). Using the dealers Hunter GSP9700 balancer (that is able to account for road force) they solved the problem with new “hand picked” tires. The car has no vibration now.
He picked up his new Seville in Cleveland, OH and drove it back to Memphis, TN. Yes, the vibration was present! Went to the dealer and the Hunter, after 3 tires or so he has no vibration. Both cars run on Michelin's.
To say these cars don’t have a problem with delicate/critical tire balance would be an omission of obvious facts (far too many postings of the same problem). I don’t believe it has anything to do with tire brand… I still love the car, and for the $10,000.00 that I paid for it, I feel I got a great deal.
Now, what will I do when I need new tires (in about 15,000 miles or so)? I will go to my local tire shop (that has a Hunter or other balancer that can account for road force), explain the issue, and make sure they will stand behind the tires. Other than waiting for GM to do something about it, what else can I do? I am open to suggestions…
Bottom line, (from what I have gleaned from the info available) this is a suspension design problem that presents itself when tires do not roll with equal pressure (road force) against the pavement. The analogy being that you can balance a football to spin true around an axis perpendicular to its length, but it certainly will not roll on the ground this way. Keep in mind; road force will not only be caused by a tire being out of round. A “hard” spot in the tire composition will also cause this. In this regard a tire company with a better Q.C. System in place will likely have a better tire…
By the way, mine also uses just over 1qt of oil per 1,500 miles. I can deal with that.
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| An overpriced, under-served, highly engineered machine |
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| 1998 - Seville sts 4.6 V8 North star Hopefully the engineers will fix the oil loss problem and front end vibration with the new STS |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Don't Know |
| Year of manufacture | 1998 |
| First year of ownership | 2003 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2004 |
| Engine and transmission | Northstar Automatic |
| Performance marks | 10 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 72000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 76000 miles |
| Previous car | Volvo 850 |
| Date of Entry | 8th January, 2004 |