2004 Cadillac Deville Realibility?

[bruticus122]

Looking to get another cadillac... and have been checking out the 2003-2004 cadillac deville dts. Any thoughts if they are pretty realible cars? since my 1996 cadillac seville has been nothing but headaches. Dont get me wrong when the car runs its a beast and definitely eye candy to look at...but half the time its breaking down...just dont want to have the same experience. Also has any one installed an a/c bypass pulley in a cadillac? Is it fairly easy?

[93SixtySpecial]

2004 was the last year the changed the head bolts and there shouldn't be any issues after those years. I think they also fixed the issue with the P0741 TCC lockup by that year also, but I'm not sure. If you were looking for around that year, definitely go for the 2004.

[KHE]

I hate to break it to you but any 16 (almost 17) year old car will have some issues... A 2003 will be 10 years old and is bound to have some issues to be worked through. A new Cadillac won't have any issues and will be under a warranty. The trade-off is no car payment but a few maintenance items to be paid for vs. a new car payment and no issues to work through. If you've owned your '96 Seville for any length of time, the money you spent on repairs amoritized over a monthly basis will be less than a new car payment.

That said, Three years ago, I purchased a 2005 Deville that had 39,000 miles on it and it has been trouble free.

[BodybyFisher]

Haha, nothing but headaches, gotta love it. I won't repeat what KHE stated about the age, but hell come on. You come on to an enthusiast site like this and spit on the floor with a stupid statement, hahah I had a 96, I eventually JUNKED it because the cost to repair it exceeded its value, not to mention the effort required to do the work. Fixing it meant that yes while the engine would be terrific, the tranny had 135,000 miles on it so it was a ticking time bomb. Not just these cars but all cars get to the point where stuff wears out, bearings dry up and get rough and loose, plastic gets brittle, seals get to their end of life, the cooling system is no longer efficient due to seal leaks and it runs hotter than it should (only a few degrees but it matters), it just deteriorates even though they physically look incredible. Unless you are a DIY, who understands the value of these cars and that does PM to renovate the wearing items, you will get one problem after another, I don't think it is too obvious to know and understand that about aging equipment of any type. PM or Preventative Maintenance is required to extent the longevity of anything.

That is why being a DIYer mechanic, you can replace everything when you do a job, not just the part that goes bad. For instance, if you have bad struts you at the same time can replace springs, strut mounts, brake pads, strut rod bushings, hub bearings, stablizer links, stabilizer bar bushings, brake hoses, etc as needed during the job while most mechanics are not going to do the same, not that you could afford it if they did expand the job for PM reasons. As an owner mechanic I constantly assess my car for performance, noises, etc and make it my business to repair and remedy the problems

If you dont know how to diagnose problems, if you dont have the service manual and if you dont do your own work and must take these cars to your mechanic I would advise against purchasing an older high mileage model. And that recommendation stands true for all manufacturers not just GM/Cadillac even the space shuttle which was often grounded for months due to seal problems,. leaks and sensor glitches.

There is no free lunch, buy a new one with a warranty and pay a payment or buy a used on with no warranty and pay for repairs. Heck, even under warranty cars need repairs, my Hyundai needed a new engine at 29.000 miles due to 10 PSI oil pressure that was juuusst high enough to turn off the oil pressure warning light and it destroyed bearings. Thank heavens it was under warranty. They did a crappy job R&Ring the engine as I smell coolant and many fasteners are missing, a really sloppy job.

The good thing is that the 2004 Northstar received heartier head bolts, so the engine is sounder overall.

[bigtone]

2004 was the last year the changed the head bolts and there shouldn't be any issues after those years. I think they also fixed the issue with the P0741 TCC lockup by that year also, but I'm not sure. If you were looking for around that year, definitely go for the 2004.

Actually they changed the headbolts sometime during the model year. On the other Caddy forum, a GM parts guy named Rippy (great guy) posted some info as to how to tell what headbolt pitch you may have in an 04.

[PAUL T]

You don't need a bypass pulley to bypass the AC compressor, just a shorter belt.

[Cadillac Jim]

In my 15-year-old Cadillac, when I did the struts I changed everything but the springs. The strut mounts were still good but I had new once so they were replaced anyway. I left the springs alone because I measured the ride height and it is right on the money, front and rear, according to the FSM (although the rear is a given because of the ride height control). But the tranny is just fine at 165,000++ miles, and I have a lead foot, and I have NO CODES.

It really depends on how the car was cared for. Keeping it garaged as opposed to parking it outside at night and when it's not being used is important too, particularly in the salt belt and the hotter desert areas. For example, leaving frozen salt slush underneath the car all the time will eventually result in lots of undercar issues from leaking struts to rusted-out brake lines, but it will melt off and dry out if the garage is over 35 degrees or so.

[joeb]

An 04 with 40k miles might be better than an 02 with 133k miles? Might even look better. Most folks dismiss high miles. Ah, it looks fine. Has lots of life left and so on. But I think a low miles mint condition car is going to be less prone to issues. No data or proof but it sounds good.

[93SixtySpecial]

My 232,000 miles Deville had less issues than my current Deville with 69,000 miles. It's all on how it was taken care of and what maintenance was done. Some people ignore problems when the arise and they end up building up for the next person. Also highway miles are a lot easier on a car than in-town miles.

[bigtone]

I think most of the typical Cadillac problems were related to age, not miles. A few years ago I bought a clean one owner 02 Deville with only 44k miles. I knew it needed a few things before I bought it. I ended up replacing the rear shocks, plenum, mode actuator, steering column and a few other things that I had just recently replaced on the 2 2001 Devilles that we had, and they had in excess of 120k miles. After I traded the 02 in on the 2010 DTS we now have, the guy who bought the 02 said the ac compressor started failing, just like on our 01's . So even though the 02 had less than half the miles of the 01's, it was following right behind them in component failures, according to my unscientific research.