I just bought a 2001 Deville and I am scared...

[Shagjaur]

I just bought a 2001 cadillac deville with 80, 535 miles on it last week. I bought this car at a cadillac dealership here in town who has been here for 40 + years. I got the car fax, and this cadillac was a rental for the first 10,000 miles of its life. (not a bad thing thing maybe). After that it was owned locally until the present. The previous owner did have all the service done here at same dealership I bought it from. I read a few of the maintenance in the glove box, but not much there. Now , here is my concerns,

I am 48 years old. I have never owned a cadillac in my life. I knew a few people in my neighborhood who owned one, but they were relatively old rich people. I have owned a 1990 mercedes, and grew up in a family of american owned vehicles.

But the preception in my days are that cadillacs are expensive to fix, and they are not so reliable as a toyota,honda, acura, etc... And, not to mention gas guzzlers.. But, My concern after reading many posts here,,,,

I do know they did a inspection on my car prior to delivery, also, said they did an oil change, but not much else?.. I need to know what type of OIL is in my car, what type of COOLANT, and when that was changed? ANYTHING ELSE?

But most importantly, I would like to know if I need to get service from the dealership or my prior mechanic or someone else who may not know a thing about cadillacs?

I hate dealerships, but if I need to bring it there , I will.

I am scared I have entered into a money pit, as I did with a buick riviera I recently owned. The buick car had sensors, and I spent over 4K replacing sensors and superhargers. And this cadillac has more sensors than a boeing 747 . Please tell me the electrical on this car isnt so bad.

Do you think the dealership did all I need to do service wise for the next 3500 miles or so?. They did go over the codes with me, All codes were clear. So the only thing I should wait on is the oil change? thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Also, I belive in replacing things before they need replacing, but will need to eventually... any of that info would be appreciated as well.

thank you.

[Bruce Nunnally]

and thank you for posting. Congrats on the new-to-you Cadillac. Post up some photos when you have time.

I find that a wide variety of people drive Cadillacs, so some of the stereotypes you might assume don't widely apply. Who wouldn't want to drive a good road car? Who does not want a luxurious, great performing car? Dunno. Certainly I don't think 48 is too young to be able to enjoy a Cadillac. You'll meet 16 year olds with their first Cadillac. I turned 48 recently also, and my 2005 CTS is my 5th Cadillac.

Your Deville sounds like a good car, and well cared for. If you have a lot of worries about repairs it would have been good to get a car with an extended warranty, such as a certified pre-owned example. They would have less than 50K miles, and be warrantied to 100K or 6 years. They also carry a higher price tag of course. That said, Cadillac's initial quality and four year quality have been at the top of the charts, so overall you have a very reliable car by comparison with other vehicle makes. By comparison with a brand new car, your 80K mile vehicle is more likely to have issues. But just deal with things if / as they come up and you should be good for many miles of worry free driving.

For a used Cadillac, I recommend you make NO assumptions on how well the dealer has maintained the car. You just had the oil changed, so good. I would check the other fluids, tire treads, tire pressure, trunk for leaks. Otherwise just keeping checking in here and let us know if you have any issues with your Cadillac. Usually people here can help you diagnose and advise you on how to proceed with repairs or maintenance to get your Cadillac back on the road as quickly as possible if there are problems.

[Texas Jim]

Your car is seven years old (more or less), with 80,000 miles on it.

Cadillac recommends changing the coolant at FIVE years or 100,000 miles. Yours is ok on mileage, but overdue as far as time goes.

If you CAN NOT VERIFY that it has ever been changed, you might want to seriously consider changing it.

General consensus is.... neglecting the coolant can possibly lead to head gasket problems, later on down the line.

If it has not been changed, it would be cheap insurance to change it.

[Ranger]

Expensive to fix? Yeah, if you don't do it yourself. Aren't they all?

Reliable? Depends on who you talk to. I've had relatively few problems.

Gas guzzlers? I average 24 - 25 MPG. Not comparable to a Toyota or Honda, but then it IS a full size luxury sedan with the inherent comfort and safety benefits.

Remember, it IS a 7 year old $45,000 luxury car. It has a lot of sensors and electronics, some of which will eventually fail. These are things that you should have thought about BEFORE you bought it. Personally I would not worry much about it, but you seem to have a different frame of mind. If you are that concerned about it maybe you would be better off with a bare bones Toyota or Honda. I think you are comparing apples and oranges.

Check the owners manual. Your car uses conventional 10W30 motor oil (7.5 qts). Dex-Cool coolant (50/50 Dex/distilled water).

[max]

Expensive to fix? Yeah, if you don't do it yourself. Aren't they all?

Reliable? Depends on who you talk to. I've had relatively few problems.

Gas guzzlers? I average 24 - 25 MPG. Not comparable to a Toyota or Honda, but then it IS a full size luxury sedan with the inherent comfort and safety benefits.

Remember, it IS a 7 year old $45,000 luxury car. It has a lot of sensors and electronics, some of which will eventually fail. These are things that you should have thought about BEFORE you bought it. Personally I would not worry much about it, but you seem to have a different frame of mind. If you are that concerned about it maybe you would be better off with a bare bones Toyota or Honda. I think you are comparing apples and oranges.

Check the owners manual. Your car uses conventional 10W30 motor oil (7.5 qts). Dex-Cool coolant (50/50 Dex/distilled water).

I have a 2000 Deville that i love to drive. I bought it with only 36000 miles on it, and now have 95000 miles. The only parts i have replaced are tires,brakes And a water pump also coolant.I did the water pump myself, That i thought was very easy to do. Just find youreself an honest mechanic and enjoy youre new car.