1989 Cadillac Seville from North America - Comments

The ignition system in the steering column broke. The car has an automatic anti-theft system with resistor chips in the keys, and we frequently had to wait three minutes to start it when it began having difficulties. When the locksmith tore into the column, it turned out one wire was completely broken, and only made contact occasionally. The gear between the ignition switch and the ignition module broke when the ignition module went out, and I couldn't turn the car off without major effort.

The starter was replaced at 110,000 miles.

Currently it's having problems with the brake hydraulics, and the master cylinder will be replaced next week. The brakes still work, they're just mushy and trigger the anti-lock system when they don't need to.

The lumbar supports in the seats don't work, but they didn't when we bought it.

The digital dash display sometimes flickers or goes out, and just needs a wiggle of the dimmer switch to get them back on.

This car has incredible power. It's very easy to get well above the speed limit when merging or passing on the freeway without even noticing the speed. It handles extremely well at all speeds.

It's very comfortable for long trips.

Gas mileage isn't that great, about 18 in town and 23 on the highway, but we just can't give it up for a more economical car. It's too much fun to drive.

This car handles very well in high wind situations. When other cars are being blown all over the road, this one cruises along smoothly. You barely notice any wind gusts.

This car loves curvy, hilly roads. It hasn't found a mountain yet that's steep enough to slow it at all.

I highly recommend this car to anyone.

My goodness, where do you live that cars are "blown all over the road?" Or is it that you drive during hurricanes and tornadoes?

I recently purchaed a 1989 seville for 1400. the driver side seat will not move back and forward. the computer screen flickers on and off, but for the most part stays off, which enables me to control the a/c, which I belive I don't have anyway. the car has plenty get up and go and for the most part I love it. I know that you have to put money into any used car, but these cadillacs cost a grip, to get them fixed. it sucks, but if you don't have a new car you will end up paying out the backside.

Coming off a lovely 1987 Eldorado that we pushed to 200k miles without a major problem and getting into a 1989 Seville STS. This STS is gorgeous! The car runs nice and tight and the computer is showing no trouble codes, there are no leaks. It's had a major tune up done by the local Cadillac dealer, but only gets 21 mpg on the highway @70 mph using the cruise. There are problems and here they are. The previous owner spent $277 to replace the ignition lock cylinder and the first day we had the car it wouldn't turn off, next day it wouldn't start. The problem wasn't the lock cylinder, it is the "rake" which is the rod that travels through the column from the ignition cylinder to the switch. I took off the driver side lower panels to gain access to the switch and removed the ignition switch from the column. I shortened a "bic" ball point pen with a hack saw blade and ran a stiff wire (cut from a paint roller) through the pen and put a 90 degree bend in the wire and inserted that into the switch and then made a loop on the other end so that the wire could be pushed to start and pulled to stop with the thumb and fingers of the right hand. I used electrical tape to secure this new rod to the ignition switch itself and then secured the switch back to the column on the other side from it's original position with nylon tie straps. Problem solved, but the lower dash panels have to stay off. I'll junk yard another column eventually. Another problem, also on the first day was the radio dying, the tuner works, but no sound comes out of the speakers, it was working and then it wasn't. I took it out of the dash and will also attempt a junk yard replacement. The front end is out of alignment and the edges of fairly new tires are completely worn so it will need an alignment and new tires to replace the new tires. And the lumbar support on the drivers side doesn't pump up, the pump runs, but the bladder doesn't inflate, that bit took a week to fail. Other than that, the paint it shiny, the leather interior is nice, the burl wood finish is excellent, no fading or cracking, the headliner is still secure, all the electrics work, the instruments light up, the A/C blows cold, can't think of any other problems.

I bought a 1989 Cadillac Seville earlier this year. unfortunately, I had ti spend about $300.00 because I the ignition switch became inoperable. I have read several reports which lead me to believe that this is /was a major flaw in the car. The security feature has prevented me from entering the starting the car on several occassions. I would have to wait much longer than the three minutes the owners manual suggest. If anyone know how I could disengaged this feature please respond to this email. I am ready to get rid of the car for this fact alone. It a good car when it's running. When it shuts down it's a bummer.

You can go to your cadillac dealership they should be able to put a resistor in the ignition and the problem will be no more. That's what I did cost about 100 Canadian.

I'm a third generation of my Papa's 1989 Cadillac Seville and love it more than any new car on the market today, has never broke down and is in beautiful shape, only has 70k miles. Only issues is that I had to get a new paint job because the Arizona sun is hard on cars. She also has the 4.5L Northstar V8 engine.

Measure the resistance of the "chip" in the ignition key, and buy a resistor to match. They're available for less than a dollar at the local electronics supply outlet. The anti theft ignition circuit is the pair of thin orange wires coming out of the steering column, disconnect this small harness at the small black connector and jump the circuit with the matching resistor to the key.

Also, the 4.5 engine is not the 'Northstar'. See Wikipedia for the history of Cadillac engines.

Update to Sept 14, 2005.

I've now put 20,000 miles on the 1989 Seville STS, currently the car has 98,000 miles. The engine and transmission are flawless. The car is a high emitter though and the State of California required it to be inspected at a test only station again this year (2007). It passed the California smog test just barely, again. The fan control module failed last July. I temporarily wired the fans directly to the battery with a ground switch inside the car. I grabbed the first ’89 Seville/Eldorado fan control module I found at a junkyard a few months ago, installed it and it works fine. I pulled a Seville STS steering column (the Eldorado/Seville columns are identical, but the STS has a unique color) out of junk yard STS. The price was $40 at the counter and I elected not to buy it, the stiff wire push pull system I rigged up works fine, still.

The ABS is giving problems and there are multiple symptoms. The brakes cannot be relied on to stop the car in a hurry and the Teves system is a $950/$1,000 part not including labor to replace, it is not repairable. I am considering replacing the ABS with a conventional master cylinder and power booster from a similar E body car. Unrelated to the ABS unit problems, one or more of the brake rotors have recently warped, the brake pedal pulses severely. I hit a pothole and bent a rim; though not the fault of the car itself the car shakes at most speeds because of this.

The front tires were replaced and are wearing evenly and moderately so I was mistaken about an alignment issue. The right rear tire was severely cupped when the car was purchased indicating a failing shock. Now that tire has worn down smooth. I’ve been told that the shocks and struts should be replaced at 100,000 miles anyway.

I junk yarded a replacement radio, the cassette does not work on the replacement and will not accept a CD player adapter either, but the radio sounds beautiful. I bought a second junk yard radio in the hope that that cassette player would work, that radio was completely dead. One day the power antennae would not stop cycling, my ’87 Eldorado had the exact same problem. I disconnected the power and just pull the antennae up manually and leave it up unless going through an automatic car wash. The interior courtesy lights and the lighted door lock no longer work. The side molding fell off the right fender and the side molding broke on the left rear door. The finish on the elm burl wood trim on the doors is beginning to crack, I believe this is due to sun exposure. The rest of the interior is very good, headliner, seat and door panel leather carpets, dash etc.

In 1989, the security system for the Deville was a dealer add-on. I am having problems with my security system, and I want to remove it completely, but I need a wiring diagram for the System VSS-300 Remote Control Security unit which was the dealer add-on.

My 1989 Cadillac Seville keeps having ignition problems every 3 to 5 years, and activating my theft system so the car will not start. We end up towing the car to the dealership as they charge us $404.00 in order to fix a problem that I feel Cadillac should recall and fix. Cadillac must know they have this problem with there cars, why are they refusing to fix it? I will Never Buy another Cadillac and will forever tell people they are junk.