Comments: 1-15, 16-25
Radiator needed replaced (Cracked plastic holding tanks).
Tie-Rod Ends failed.
Pinion seal in rear differential.
Starter replaced at 130,000.
Traction Control Light on steadily.
This car is the best. I cannot honestly complain about anything yet. The seats are comfortable and the car is ideal for long trips, however most of my driving is around town. The LT1 motor has ample power. This car always turns heads and I get compliments about it all of the time. It took forever for me to find one in the color combination I wanted-triple black. GM was really foolish to stop making these. They are the last true Cadillacs.
Why did they stop making it?
GM wanted to use the Arlington, TX factory where they were building the B-bodies to build more SUV's, which were apparently more profitable.
So it was goodbye Roadmaster, Caprice, Impala SS and all the other B-body models.
I wrote to GM in 96 pleading with them not to stop making the B-Bodies... they told me the same thing that SUV were more profitable. I was most upset about the Impala SS..They said don't worry.. it may return in the future...I'm still waiting for it.. and NO the current line of Gimp-alas can't even come close.
I agree they should have kept making the B and D bodies. In my opinion, if they aren't gonna make small cars that really beat their small imported counterparts, then the only thing that American car makes have over them is their luxurious size. Now if they could make a fuel efficient big fleet-wood, that would be the best car ever!
There's nothing better than riding along in a "living room on wheels" and its safety/comfort/music listen ability has made it the best car I've ever ridden in and owned. I hope Cadillac comes to the philosophy it had in the 40's and 1993-96, that its better to make a few great cars than a lot of the same old good cars/SUV. But I'm just glad they left me with one true land yacht to get me by until they decide to revive the grand old school.
This Fleetwood Brougham is the Best Car we have ever owned. With almost 140,000 this car still drives and feels like a new car. Can you imagine that this car gets better gas mileage than my 1967 4 cyclinder Porsche.
We purchased our 1994 Fleetwood Brougham Used in 1997 with 36000 miles on the odometer. The car never had to go into the shop for repair during the first two years of ownership. At around 87,000 miles we had the car die at speed, but it later started OK. This happened again before we got the car to the dealership who after much experimentation replaced the water pump which had a leak allowing the water to flow back over the ignition at high speed.
The car has never been in the shop for a tune up. At 97,000 miles I asked a friend of mine to help me change the spark plugs because I was afraid that they might get welded to the block because of electrolysis.
I did have to get the heater core replaced because when I changed the hoses and belts I must have broken a connection on the heater. We replaced the brakes with new front rotors at 99,000 miles.
We moved from the San Francisco area and drove the car to Houston, Texas and immediately had to repair the air conditioner. The Dealer here in Houston replaced the water pump under warranty. One day in 2004 the car would not start which turned out to be a loose bolt on the battery connection.
In other words in over 8 years of our usage and over 100,000 miles we still have a car which looks beautiful, rides wonderfully and gets 23 miles to the gallon on road trips. What more can a person ask for in a car.
All I can say is that if gm did not get greedy, trying to make cars overseas & if they kept the plants in america alive and continued to produce great big amerian cars (fuel efficient) the shares of gm would not have tumbled as they have tumbled today.
I have always loved owning a cadillac. Presently I own a 1991 cadillac fleetwood & a 1996 cadillac brougham. Both are a beauty in showroom condition & I take great care of them & they have never been towed by a tow truck. they both are very reliable & an absolute pleasure to drive long distance. the comfort & safety in both these cars are top notch.
Only if gm can bring these pride of america cars back on the road with fuel efficient engines the stock of gm will go back up.
Puny little japanese imports are not for me nor for my grand kids.
This, the biggest of modern Cadillacs is a rare sight on the roads today.
You see 20 of Lincoln's equivalent, the Town Car, for every Cadillac Fleetwood.
Pity, as I think the Cadillac loks better.
I'm disappointed at the incredibly ugly angular styling on new Caddies - anyone else agree with me?
While I love my 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood, I wouldn't actually mind seeing the new DTS Sedan (angular "mean" styling and all, reminiscent of a "shark") stretched to full-sized proportions. Perhaps a New Fleetwood could be born? I'm sure it could be known in new GM-speak as "F-Class."
Until then, the Grande Dame of Autos soldiers on. At 69,000 miles, she still purrs like a dream. It's so much fun to blast past a Honda or Toyota and know what the U.S. Auto Industry can do. :)
Toyotas are still indicative of what the US auto industry can do though. The vast majority of Toyotas and Hondas sold in America are, in fact, built in America by American workers. Toyota even sources most of the steel used by their American plants from mills in Pennsylvania and the Mid West. There are more models from each of Toyota, Nissan, and Honda made in the US than from Chrysler (only the Sebring is made here).
I drive over 100 miles a day for work and nothing rides better than my 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. I have replaced several parts on this car, but nothing major and it has never left me stranded. Everybody who has ever ridden in this car has absolutely loved it. I have owned over 14 Cadillacs in the past, but I think I may have to hold onto this one.
> All I can say is that if gm did not get greedy, trying to
> make cars overseas & if they kept the plants in america alive.
Here is why its US plants must be allowed to die -- before they strangle the company to death:
http://georgereisman.com/blog/2006/04/where-would-general-motors_114546924375859992.html
I bought a 1996 Fleet-wood Brougham June 7, 2006 with just over 16,000 miles on the odometer. I am getting rid of a 1999 Mercedes CL500 with 49,000 miles because I want this gorgeous big American made automobile instead. I drove every new Cadillac prior to buying the 1996 hoping one of them would be a car I would like driving as a personal car. There is no car out there I want now that I have my 1996 Fleet-wood Brougham.
Unless, I find another 16,000 mile white one. I do think I will put TVs in the headrest to give the rare backseat passengers a treat. They might think they are riding in a classy limo.
Q: Why did GM stop making B bodies?
A: short answer: because they're idiots.
A: Long answer / conundrum:
Based on what a previous post stated, that the Buick Roadmaster/Cadillac Fleetwood etc. were stopped to build SUV's instead (because they were gaining popularity).
Something here doesn't make sense... They stop building land yahts/big boats to make SUV's that are approximately the same size and have basically the same fuel consumption as the B bodies they replaced. Huh? Yeah... I don't get their logic either...
Okay, I can see them stopping B body production to make more fuel-efficient, compact (or just smaller) cars/vehicles, but not SUV's.
Thanks for your time.
The trouble was that the Chevrolet Caprice was the only model of B/D-Body cars that had any measurable market share in its segment. The Roadmaster, Fleetwood, and Impala SS were all pretty much loss-leaders for GM, they both had their core of diehard fans (including myself, proud owner of a '96 Fleetwood that just turned 91,000 miles), but did not have the mass appeal to be really profitable. The market had moved on, people wanted SUVs, not big landyachts, so that's what GM decided to give them.
Just compare the sales stats, between 1993 and 1996, the Lincoln Town Car (the Fleetwood's closest rival) sold between 120,000 and 140,000 examples PER YEAR- that's more than the total second-generation D-Body output over all 4 model years combined. The Fleetwood, in its best year, barely managed 30,000 sales, and its final season was less than half of that. Things weren't much different for the Roadmaster, and were even worse for the Custom Cruiser (which wond up being dropped after only 2 model years). The Caprice single-handedly kept the Arlington plant in the black thanks to all the police and taxi fleet operators, but it just wasn't an efficient use of GM's resources to keep building cars that the market didn't demand.
I have two 1993 Cadillac Fleetwoods and they are the true Last of the Big Boy Caddys! I could never see why they stop making one of the best ever made. At 90,000 on my white one. and 130,000 on the blue one. They both drive better than new cars on the road today! Caddy til I die!
I myself wonder why GM stopped making the Fleetwood. maybe more people would rather prefer a Deville since it's a bit smaller.