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[RichieR]

Hello:

I am a loyal Cadillac Owner and I came across this terrific sight . Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Richie. I currently own 2 Caddy's: a 1995 Eldorado - Pearl Red with Black Leather Interior and Chrome Wheels and a 1997 Deville - Silver Mist with Mulberry Leather Interior also with Chrome Wheels (I absoultely love the Cadillac Chrome Wheels and I was willing to pay extra for them). I leased both cars new and purchased them at the end of the lease term. My father and I share the cars although he drives the Deville most of the time. I have to honestly say that I have had virtually no problems with either of the cars. The Eldorado has 89K on it and the Deville has 77K on it. Both cars are maintained meticulously. Both cars have the 275 HP Northstar engine.

Here are the only "problems" that I've had (all of the problems were covered under the warranty):

1. Eldorado - Valet Parked my car and they opened the trunk (inadvertantly I hope - they probably pushed the wrong button on the RKE). Anyway, they were unaware of the trunk pulldown mechanism and they slammed the trunk and broke the mechanism. Fixed by Cadillac - works perfectly.

2. Deville - Level Ride Mechanism stopped working when the car was 2 months old. Cadillac said there was some type of short. They fixed it and it has worked perfectly ever since.

3. Deville - Rattle in front right wheel area - car was approximately 1 year old. I don't even know what the problem was. They fixed it and it has been fine ever since.

That's it! These are great cars and if they are maintained properly - they will give you no problems. I absolutely love both cars. People especially love the Red Eldo. From day one, other drivers honk at a red light and remark what a beautiful car it is. The Deville doesn't get as many compliments, but I still love it.

Other than the 2 aforementioned cars, my family has owned the following Caddy's:

1965 Deville Convertible

1972 Coupe Deville

1978 Coupe Deville

1982 Eldorado

1990 Eldorado

I loved all of them.

I look forward in discussing various Cadillac Topics with other enthusiasts.

All the best,

Richie.

P.S. I attached a picture of the 95 Eldo.

[ted tcb]

I'd love to see the picture, but nothing came up.

Welcome to the board.

[RichieR]

I'd love to see the picture, but nothing came up.

Welcome to the board.

I will try and attach the picture again. Hopefully, it will attach this time.

I'd love to see the picture, but nothing came up.

Welcome to the board.

I will try and attach the picture again. Hopefully, it will attach this time.

I don't know why the picture of the car is not displaying. I have a picture of the car saved as a file on my hard drive and I'm using the "File Attachments" (see below). I'm clicking on "Add This Attachment", then I click on add reply.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong. If someone can tell me why the picture is not showing up, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

[JasonA]

Welcome Richie. My 1997 Seville (Shale Metallic exterior, Shale/Neutral leather interior) has been in the family most of its life. My mother purchased it certified when it was 48k miles. Original owner was a Cadillac employee. I'm the third owner. 153k miles on the clock now and it runs just perfect. These are such wonderful cars.

[adallak]

I'd love to see the picture, but nothing came up.

Welcome to the board.

I will try and attach the picture again. Hopefully, it will attach this time.

I'd love to see the picture, but nothing came up.

Welcome to the board.

I will try and attach the picture again. Hopefully, it will attach this time.

I don't know why the picture of the car is not displaying. I have a picture of the car saved as a file on my hard drive and I'm using the "File Attachments" (see below). I'm clicking on "Add This Attachment", then I click on add reply.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong. If someone can tell me why the picture is not showing up, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

The attachment cannot be bigger than 64 K. If you become a supporting member ($20 per year) you'll be allowed to attach bigger pictures (up to 100 K).

[RichieR]

Welcome Richie. My 1997 Seville (Shale Metallic exterior, Shale/Neutral leather interior) has been in the family most of its life. My mother purchased it certified when it was 48k miles. Original owner was a Cadillac employee. I'm the third owner. 153k miles on the clock now and it runs just perfect. These are such wonderful cars.

As I mentioned in my original post, if these cars are taken care of, they are extremely reliable. What features/extras does your Seville have on it. Is it an SLS or STS?

My 95 Eldo has Leather Interior, Analog Cluster, Power Lumbar Seats, Pearl Red Paint (was $500 more), Trunk Mounted 12 Disk CD Changer (Dealer Installed), Chrome Wheels, Gold Package.

97 Deville - Leather Interior, Driver Side Electrochromic Mirror, Chrome Wheels, Trunk Mounted 6 Disk CD Changer (dealer installed). The Deville has the Digital Dash.

It's funny, in the '80's, the digital dash was an extra. In the '90's, the Analog Cluster was an extra and the digital dash was standard. Why is that?

[Bruce Nunnally]

Welcome, glad you found Caddyinfo.com. Also, if you post the images at photobucket.com or similar sites, it is easy to link them back here: http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=9759

[JasonA]

As I mentioned in my original post, if these cars are taken care of, they are extremely reliable. What features/extras does your Seville have on it. Is it an SLS or STS?

It's an SLS. I prefer the LD8 (275 hp) powertrains. As you know, you can drive almost 80 mph and still be under 2000 rpm on the road. It's easy to get 30 mpg on the interstate.

My 95 Eldo has Leather Interior, Analog Cluster, Power Lumbar Seats, Pearl Red Paint (was $500 more), Trunk Mounted 12 Disk CD Changer (Dealer Installed), Chrome Wheels, Gold Package.

My '97 has the sport package (center console, analog gauges, bucket seats) and the leather package. It didn't come with the CD changer, but I added it with parts from eBay. Works fantastic. It also apparently didn't come with the chrome wheels from the factory (according to the RPO codes), but the correct chrome wheels were added before mom ever bought it. You can see photos by clicking the link below.

97 Deville - Leather Interior, Driver Side Electrochromic Mirror, Chrome Wheels, Trunk Mounted 6 Disk CD Changer (dealer installed). The Deville has the Digital Dash.

My '97 has the driver side electrochromic mirror and interior auto dimming mirror. Tell you what -- after driving that Cadillac for so long, with the driver side dimming mirror, those headlights sure are bright driving a vehicle WITHOUT it, like our Grand Caravan. That feature is wonderful on the Seville.

It's funny, in the '80's, the digital dash was an extra. In the '90's, the Analog Cluster was an extra and the digital dash was standard. Why is that?

Fads. Years ago, FWD cars made sense. Now, all of a sudden, the automotive press is telling us we all need RWD. Whatever. Stuff goes in and out. I love my FWD Northstar powertrain, and have really taken to FWD in general, after SWEARING I'd never own one. I just don't ever drive at a level where RWD is advantageous, so I'll take all the benefits of FWD, thank you Motor Trend and Car & Driver.

[RichieR]

[attachmentid=2679]Wow Jason. That car is mint! You really take care of it. Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera, so I can't post clear pictures like that. I scanned some pictures onto my hard drive from some poloroids that I took. I was told that the file had to be smaller than 64K, so I will try to repost the picture.

I love the dashboard and controls on the '96+ Sevilles/Eldos. My '95 Eldo has the previous analog dashboard and controls (I believe '95 was the last year of that style of Analog Dash). I like yours much better. Also, when I got the '97 Deville, aside from the fact that it's digital, all of the other controls for climate control and fuel display are the same as the '95 Eldo. The Deville Concours had the Analog Dash and updated controls that are on your Seville. The base Deville and D'Elegance had the older controls. Actually, I wasn't unhappy that the '97 had Digital, but I feel that they should have put the updated Climate Control / Fuel Display, etc that was included with the Analog Cluster.

What could I do? First of all, I really wanted a 6 Passenger Car (the base Deville has the column mounted shift). We use the Deville for family trips, etc. Also, the Concours was a lot more money than the Base Deville that I got.

You have a beautiful car. I posted a picture of my '95 Eldo. The picture will probably not do it justice since I had to condense the file quite a bit. Hopefully it will post.

Richie.

[RichieR]

Here's a picture of the '97 Deville. It's not a good picture. Just wanted to give you an idea of what it looks like.

[attachmentid=2680]

[JasonA]

Thanks Richie. You have some good looking rides too.

I agree -- the interior update on the Sevilles/Eldorados for the 1996 model year is a great improvement over the previous. I also very much prefer the updated HVAC controls vs. the older design with the limited control buttons up by the gauge cluster. But I'm with you on the base DeVille concept. If I had a pile of money dropped in my lap tomorrow morning, I'd head out to buy a 97-99 DeVille base or d'Elegance in White Diamond or Shale Metallic. I love the 97-99 DeVille body style, and one with the base wheels in chrome with thin-line white stripe tires (like a Michelin Symmetry) just looks so classy and elegant.

[winterset]

Welcome Richie. Your deville looks like seafoam green. - same color as my '96, and If I understand, a color only avail in '96 and '97. 3 things I notice about that color.

- because of the '97 seafoam color, when my car is parked or driving next to a '97 seafoam deville, they look exactly alike. - given the drastic changes between a '96 and '97 deville.

- it's funny, there really is no rag roof that matches with that color. every time I saw one on either a '96' or '97, I say "what were they thinking" - it was usually a dark olive color or something.

- the interior (I believe it's called emerald green) matches so perfect. I am not sure if any other exterior color has it's own matching color interior. - most have to work with "neutral shales"

[RichieR]

Welcome Richie. Your deville looks like seafoam green. - same color as my '96, and If I understand, a color only avail in '96 and '97. 3 things I notice about that color.

- because of the '97 seafoam color, when my car is parked or driving next to a '97 seafoam deville, they look exactly alike. - given the drastic changes between a '96 and '97 deville.

- it's funny, there really is no rag roof that matches with that color. every time I saw one on either a '96' or '97, I say "what were they thinking" - it was usually a dark olive color or something.

- the interior (I believe it's called emerald green) matches so perfect. I am not sure if any other exterior color has it's own matching color interior. - most have to work with "neutral shales"

Actually, it's not seafoam green. The car was parked under a tree when I took that picture plus I used a poloroid, so the quality is not good. Anyway, the color of my Deville is called Silver Mist and it has the Mulberry (maroon) interior - a good contrast to the silver. I believe it was a brand new color for '97. It was actually my favorite color at the time. It's a medium silver with a very strong metallic (firemist) fleck to it which really brings out the shine. When we went down to the dealer to pick a color, we were very interested in the frost beige. Then, I saw one of the Silver Mists being prepped and I told my father that's the color we're getting.

Regarding the color of your Deville, I have the '95 and '98 Color Charts in front of me. (The color charts fell out of my '96 & '97 Brochures - yes, I collected many of the Cadillac Brochures). There were 2 greens offered in '95 - Polo Green and Calypso Green. The Polo Green is a little darker than the Calypso Green. There were also 2 greens offered in '98 - Polo Green and Emerald Green.

Do you know what color your Deville is?

[RichieR]

Thanks Richie. You have some good looking rides too.

I agree -- the interior update on the Sevilles/Eldorados for the 1996 model year is a great improvement over the previous. I also very much prefer the updated HVAC controls vs. the older design with the limited control buttons up by the gauge cluster. But I'm with you on the base DeVille concept. If I had a pile of money dropped in my lap tomorrow morning, I'd head out to buy a 97-99 DeVille base or d'Elegance in White Diamond or Shale Metallic. I love the 97-99 DeVille body style, and one with the base wheels in chrome with thin-line white stripe tires (like a Michelin Symmetry) just looks so classy and elegant.

Yeah, I really like the post '95 Analog Dash/Controls. As I said, the '97 Deville Concours has your Dash/ HVAC Controls, etc. but not the base Deville. It's actually surprising that they didn't put the updated HVAC/Fuel Data controls on the base Deville and D'Elegance. You would think that all the Devilles would be manufactured uniformly. Actually though, it's not that I don't like the controls on the '97 Deville - it's that it's almost identical to my '95 Eldo with the only difference being the '97 Deville's controls are chrome colored whereas the '95 Eldo's are black. It's a good thing that my '95 Eldo doesn't have the digital dash - it would have really looked like the Deville's. The one thing that they added to the '97 is the passenger temperature adjustment. It's on the passenger's armrest - a knob that turns 4 notches in either direction to set the passenger temperature 4 degrees warmer or 4 degrees cooler than the set temperature. You push the knob to activate it.

Regarding the styling of the '97 Deville - that's the reason why we got the Deville that year. Many of the changes were subtle, but they really made the car. I like the open rear wheels. The stance of the car changed in '97 as well. It sits a lot higher in the back than the '96. It's also more rounded. It really is a great riding car too - so smooth.

Also, I believe that the gas mileage improved in '97. The '95 was rated at 16 MPG in the City and 25 on the highway. I believe the '97 was rated at 17 MPG in the city and 26 MPG on the highway. I've gotten more than that on the highway.

How did they accomplish the improvements in gas mileage given that the engines are virtually identical?

[JasonA]

I believe Sea Foam Green was only in 96 and 97, as winterset suggests. The color chart in my '97 brochure shows it.

There must have been three or four different silver-type colors that year (97). Silver Mist, Frost Beige, Shale Metallic -- they're all very similar. I agree -- a Silver/Maroon car would look sharp. My very first car was an '84 Cutlass with a white exterior and maroon velour interior. It was so classy.

[The Fred]

That seafoam green is a sexy color and those 97-99 DeVilles are a sexy automobile.. 97-99 DeVilles are one of my favorite Cadillacs I tell you what!

[RichieR]

That seafoam green is a sexy color and those 97-99 DeVilles are a sexy automobile.. 97-99 DeVilles are one of my favorite Cadillacs I tell you what!

I believe the color was actually called sea-mist green. Regarding the styling of the '97-'99 Devilles, I couldn't agree with you more. In 1997, I already had a '95 Eldorado. My father loved that car, but he was looking for a 4 door car. When we saw the redesign of the Deville for '97, we loved it. It's a great mix of the traditional Deville look with some great enhancements that give it a very modern, updated look. We probably wouldn't have gotten the Deville if they didn't change it in '97, but when they did, we went right out and got one. It's Silver Mist with a Mulberry leather interior. It really is a great car.