1998 Cadillac Seville STS from North America - Comments

Blown head gaskets at 89000 miles ($3500 for the engine and $900 for labor) and leakage at power steering pump at 87000 miles ($320). stock Eagle tires have horrible traction in snow and wear fast. front door Bose subwoofers are poor quality and only last a few months. cadillac uses very rare speaker sizes and ohms so you have to buy replacements at dealer price.

Do not buy this car. you will eventually have to replace the northstar engine due to cracked heads or blown gaskets. the engine cannot be repaired, it must be replaced. the engine will cost about $3000 new and labor no less than $1000. the northstar is a powerful, but unreliable engine. cadillac says it's because of improper maintenance of the coolant and oil, but it's actually because they built an engine that is crap. Suggestion: change the coolant every year, not every 100k miles as they recommend, change the oil every 3000 miles, not whenever the dashboard tells you to, don't redline the car under 45 mph, don't buy this car.

Bose 8' subs in the doors and the rear 12' sub are horrible. They bust easily and are expensive to replace. Suggestion: go to BestBuy and have them install an aftermarket sub in the trunk (lifetime warranty on workmanship). The rest of the speakers in the car sound crisp and are very durable so don't change them.

The car is the most beautiful car on the road. Get pearl white diamond (mine), crimson red, or black and you will get stares gallore. I have 20's on mine, but all cadillac sedans look handsome with the 17 inch factory wheels.

The northstar is actually a good engine, but it must be properly maintained. IT IS A MUST to change the oil every 3000 and the coolant once a year. If you let this thing overheat, you will be replacing the whole engine. $$$$$

I'd also have to disagree with the "don't buy any Northstar" comment. My dad bought a used 1994 Cadillac Seville with the Northstar. Even with 150,000 miles when he bought it, it has run flawlessly and now has 166,000 miles on it. Never a problem, and it gets 27 mpg on the highway doing 65.

Interesting how some people attack a good product. The thing with these cars, excuse me, all cars, is that the driver is expected to follow maintenance procedures for the vehicle, usually outlined in the owners manual. If YOU let the northstar overheat this will cause a problem. There is a reason for the dummy lights and the temperature gauge. Some people expect so much from a car. They drive around half the day with the temperature gauge in the red, then spout off insults when the car is no longer able to deal with the abuse. As for the sound system, the author must have very picky ears. I think the sound system is exceptionally good. No reason to fool with something that works so well. Cars will run forever if properly taken care of.

I agree with the original review. Do not buy a caddy with a Northstar LOL; you're asking for trouble.

First of all, GM states that the Dex-Cool is good for 100000 miles. This of course WILL kill the engine if left in there that long. The OP had only 89000 on it. The Northstars ARE garbage engines. Regardless if they are maintained MUCH more frequently, they can still fail. VERY unreliable.