NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

I thought my 1994 Ninety Eight and 1991 Toronado ended up in the junkyard. Nope. The insurance company totaled them. I found out a year later my first Ninety Eight was repaired and then it was back on the road. The last time I checked, it had 80,000 miles on it. The Toronado I think was fixed too and I think someone did some v.i.n washing because I saw the exact same car on Autotrader with a slightly different vin number. It was in a different state.

It is in some cases the parts And the labor. This is why you end up paying so much. The others here said it well whop has the proper tools and the yard and the time? Some things you can do yourself, some things you cannot. My engine has more issues than just the head gaskets. The blown gaskets lead to other problems. Well stated.

Thank you for the update. This is indeed good news so far. I think this was a costly option, and maybe that is why it went away. It is good to know you got satisfaction. I wonder who said something to GM on your behalf. Your situation is good PR, but this needs to be consistent.

Congrats to you and your new vehicle. Congrats to you staying loyal to Oldsmobile. I hope to see photos soon. My co worker as a Aurora 3.5. I helped her buy her car. She has been very happy with the choice. I think you will be too.

That is not insane. That is cheaper than what I was quoted for the Toronado. Try 1,000-1,500 before labor. That is another reason why I am going with a newer engine.

You are getting offer cheaper than me Mustang. As for the 3800 Series I trinacriabob, my Toronado would tell you different on the intake manifold issue. That is one of the reasons why I am getting an new engine. Sadly, something else may be wrong with the engine impacted by this issue. You fix that, then you will have to repair something else. It is up to you to decide what you decide to do. I just know on my Toronado which is 3800 Series I, I have to get a entirely new engine. Other parts will need to be replaced because of oil in the coolant, and coolant in the oil. I have no choice to fix my Toronado because: 1. They do not make it any longer. 2. The option package I have is rare. They made more Trofeos. 3. It took a long time find the Toronado because of production numbers, and the condition of most of the ones out there. 4. I want a return on my investment. 5. The scrap yard won't give you what you paid for it. They will turn around and sell parts at a profit. Let us know what you decide in the end. These people are offering good advice. I do feel you on this issue.

Get the Intrigue by Oldsmobile. Start something. The best source are people who have owned the cars.

That Crown Victoria may be outdated and have a funny looking new grille for 2008, but it is dependable.

Very good news indeed. Thank you Maxximus. These parts of the article I liked are highlighted in bold: Buick ties Lexus for No. 1 in car reliability Survey finds Detroit brands making headway against Japanese competitors. August 9 2007: 3:56 AM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For the first time in 12 years, Toyota's Lexus luxury brand has to share its top rank in J.D. Power and Associates' annual Vehicle Dependability Study. And it has to share it with an American car. General Motors' Buick brand tied Lexus in the study, which measures the number of problems owners experience with their cars after three years of ownership. Following Lexus and Buick in the rankings were GM's Cadillac luxury brand, Ford's Mercury brand and Honda's Honda brand. Toyota's mass-market Toyota brand ranked sixth. "Consumers don't neccessarily need to pay premium prices to obtain high quality and dependability," said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis for J.D. Power and Associates. "With three non-premium nameplates - Buick, Honda and Mercury - ranking within the top five," he said, "and particularly with Buick tying with Lexus for the top rank, consumers seeking a vehicle with strong dependability have good choices at various price levels." J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from more than 53,000 original owners of 2004 model year vehicles. Owners of the top-ranked Lexus and Buick vehicles experienced 145 problems per 100 vehicles. Owners of second-ranked Cadillac vehicles experienced 162 problems per 100 vehicles. The lowest-ranking brand was Land Rover, Ford's European luxury SUV brand. Land Rover owners experienced 398 problems per 100 vehicles, according to the survey. J.D. Power and Associates also ranked specific vehicles within their respective categories. The top-ranked sub-compact car, for example, was the Scion xA from Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand. The top-ranked compact car was the Honda Civic and the top-ranked "Sporty car" was the Mazda Miata. The Chevrolet SSR, a low-slung convertible pickup, and the Ford Mustang tied as the most depenible midsize sporty cars, and the Ford Crown Victoria ranked as the most dependable large car. Lexus vehicles topped five categories, more than any other brand. Lexus had the top-ranked premium SUV, large premium SUV, premium sporty car, large premium car and midsize premium car. Toyota's Toyota brand topped four categories. 2007 Nameplate Ranking Problems per 100 Vehicles Buick 145 Lexus 145 Cadillac 162 Mercury 168 Honda 169 Toyota 178 BMW 182 Lincoln 182 Subaru 192 Oldsmobile 196 Jaguar 197 Acura 207 Mercedes-Benz 212 Infiniti 215 Industry Average 216 Jeep 219 Pontiac 220 Scion 220 Ford 221 GMC 222 Chevrolet 226 Hyundai 228 Mitsubishi 228 Volvo 230 Audi 234 Dodge 236 HUMMER 242 MINI 247 Chrysler 249 Porsche 252 Nissan 274 Saturn 274 Kia 288 Mazda 289 Volkswagen 298 Saab 319 Isuzu 322 Suzuki 324 Land Rover 398 Top Three Models per Segment Car Segments Sub-Compact Car Highest Ranked: Scion xA Hyundai Accent Chevrolet Aveo Compact Car Highest Ranked: Honda Civic Toyota Prius Toyota Corolla Compact Sporty Car Highest Ranked: Mazda Miata Mitsubishi Lancer/Lancer Sportback Toyota Celica Midsize Sporty Car Highest Ranked: Chevrolet SSR (tie) Ford Mustang (tie) Toyota Solara Midsize Car Highest Ranked: Buick Century Buick Regal Mercury Sable Large Car Highest Ranked: Ford Crown Victoria Mercury Grand Marquis Buick Park Avenue Compact Premium Sporty Car Highest Ranked: Honda S2000 BMW Z4 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class Entry Premium Car Highest Ranked: Infiniti I35 Cadillac CTS Lexus IS 300/IS 300 SportCross Midsize Premium Car Highest Ranked: Lexus GS 300/GS 430 Acura RL Lexus ES 330 Large Premium Car Highest Ranked: Lexus LS 430 Lincoln Town Car Cadillac DeVille Premium Sporty Car Highest Ranked: Lexus SC 430 Ford Thunderbird Chevrolet Corvette NOTE: Models with multiple trim levels are combined for ranking purposes. Top Three Models per Segment Truck / Multi-Activity Vehicle (MAV) Segments Compact MAV Highest Ranked: Toyota RAV4 Honda CR-V Honda Element Midsize MAV Highest Ranked: Oldsmobile Bravada Buick Rainier Toyota 4Runner Large MAV Highest Ranked: Toyota Sequoia GMC Yukon Chevrolet Suburban Large Pickup Highest Ranked: Toyota Tundra Ford F-150 Heritage/F-150 Lightning Ford F-150 LD Midsize Pickup Highest Ranked: Toyota Tacoma Ford Ranger Mazda B-Series Van Highest Ranked: Oldsmobile Silhouette Mercury Monterey Honda Odyssey Midsize Premium MAV Highest Ranked: Lexus GX 470 Lexus RX 300 Infiniti FX-Series Large Premium MAV Highest Ranked: Lexus LX 470 Toyota Land Cruiser Cadillac Escalade EXT NOTE: Models with multiple trim levels are combined for ranking purposes.

I still say again you know something. I notice in a lot of these threads on this forums you keep saying the same thing in different forms. I was a Pontiac fan back in the day. They stopped offering the kind of car I like a long time ago. I admit, I think the last Bonneville was nice, and almost bought one, but chickened out because too many deficiencies in the interior. It was not the exterior. I do worry for Pontiac because they are getting the squeeze inside and outside of GM, they have no distinct products because everything they have is shared with someone else. I know after the loss of my division, you see things differently. You see the reality of the situation. Most get caught up in the emotions of the car or the brand, and forget business is still business at the end of the day. The question then becomes .. What makes a Pontiac a Pontiac? I have said it before.. the dust has not settled, and either GM cars will die or another division will die. You know something PCS. You may joke a lot, but I can READ BETWEEN THE LINES. That G8 fails, it is curtains..

You keep doing that.. I swear.. I think you know something.. It is almost as if you are waiting..

I have no idea why they do not use it. They must have some reason continue with it. I thought it was being phased out any way.

You do not know where I got the info from, so do not assume. That is on you. I know and I did speak to many owners of the cars with that engine. Do not call me a liar. That is how things got out of hand before. I am not your child, and I do not know who you "think" you are talking to. You should respect others. I was not just referring to just my mechanic. You do not know "everything" either. What you said came off as rude. It was offensive to me. Maybe you should work on your approach if you have something to say. And you reasons at to why they charge more are ALL WRONG. Making assumptions...... You do not know WHAT experience I had have with those cars. Do you live here? Unless you live around the corner from me, you do not know. Just so you know, the price for those struts is correct. On my first Ninety Eight, the struts went out. It was over 1100 dollars from the dealer to get new struts. I know because I paid it. I had no choice. I know they cost more on a Cadillac. I made my point. I cannot dictate what others say or think, but I am leaving this thread alone before I get into an argument with you again over something silly and leave this site. It is simply not worth it. You are entitled to your opinion. That does not make it law or make it right. Peace to you and your opinions....

Thank you for the explanation. It is appreciated in its approach and presentation. Have the engine issues been fixed? Sadly no. I checked. GM lost another buyer today. I spoke to a man who has a Cadillac with the Northstar V8. He said the whole oil burning issue, and air conditioning issue and the fact he has been back several times has turned him off. He said Toyota will be his next vehicle. I could not say anything to to him. I could not change his mind. His wife drives a Pontiac Montana. That vehicle was worse than the Cadillac. He said the last or best GM car he had was the 1985 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight Royale Brougham coupe. He said Oldsmobile was a real winner, and they put the miles on that car. He said his old boss had a Ninety Eight, and they did business trips in that. He said he loved that car. He said shame about Oldsmobile leaving in 2004. He would have considered them. He was not a fan of the "new" Oldsmobile. The 3.8 might be old, but at least it is reliable. I think that is why Buick uses it.

It was silver. If you were at the Causley Cruise, it was a silver arrow. I went to another website and saw photos.

Scary, but interesting you are saying that..

My sympathies go out to you. I am sorry because this is a bad impression on GM at a time when they are trying to turn things around. You try to support them and they make you feel this way. It is about money. You feel leery, and wonder is it really worth it. I know how you feel "betrayed" by them. I know more than you. I heard something just as sad from a current Cadillac Eldorado owner. He is going Toyota because of the issues he had with the car. People do not want or need their lives disrupted. I hope you can find the solution you desire. Please keep us informed.

I am so sorry. This is indeed sad. I sure hate you are going through this. This is one of the reasons for Pontiac's bad image too. I hope they can find a fix for you. This is the kind of thing that impacts GM and market share. It does matter. Please let us know what happens. This is so frustrating.

This is agreed upon and true. I own two of them at this moment.

I was saying: "I have heard that before". It is true. It was said before. GM went on the same way saying that. Immediately, this turned in to I was talking about Oldsmobile and how different SAAB is. Folks.. this is business. That HAS NOTHING to do with Oldsmobile. What I said was not about Oldsmobile. It was the impression on the words that were used. GM has said things before and the total opposite happened. Anything is possible at the state with SAAB. Anyone thought Saturn would turn into the Opels of North America? No. Smell the coffee.. That same line was used before, and SAAB is not doing so hot right now. I have no issues with SAAB. I just know not to blindly follow and defend GM even when it is wrong and even business decisions are made. It is not like Buick and Pontiac are out of the clear now either. Before you start in on how different this is and how Oldsmobile had it coming, you need to "see the whole picture". This HAS NOTHING to do with Oldsmobile. This has everything thing to do with what is being said. I stand by what Rick said at the time of "Oldsmobile's" demise. NO brand, car, or division is sacred. This is showing to be true. Monte Carlo is gone, Grand Prix is next and STS and DTS are up next. More cars will die before the dust settles. If GM gets desperate for cash, we will see how long SAAB is still around. "That will not have anything" to do with Oldsmobile.

I heard that before in 1992. You know what was announced December 12, 2000 and what transpired in 2004. I am not trying to be a downer, but I learned the hard way with GM expect the unexpected. I also learned to do not blindly follow GM. That same phrase was used in 1992. That division is gone.

More: 97 Cadillac De Ville (Concours, 300HP) with oil consumption problem. My Northstar powered Caddy used to drip a tiny amount of oil due to common oil seal failure. I had that fixed just after the warranty expired, but still at only 39,000 miles (Grrr). Since then I have had to bring the car back every few hundred miles, and always for something different. Now, at 42,500 miles this car is "losing somehow" a quart every 500 miles. It doesn't drip any, and I don't see any smoke exiting out the back. My A/C compressor failed next, then the engine mounts failed, the water pump failed right after that, and a few other things all since the repair at 39K (less than a year ago). Makes ya' kind of wonder doesn't it??? I've noticed a drop of 4-6 MPG in highway driving lately too. Also, sometimes the trunk refuses to open. The remote, the push button and the trunk key all have no effect. Starting/moving shutting off/restarting and then pushing the trunk button will work though. As for my feelings about the Northstar engine... I really wanted to keep this car for sentimental reasons. It has been serviced at regular intervals by the dealer since new, and has never been abused or wrecked. I'm about $8,000, out-of-pocket, spent since the oil seals were replaced; and am thinking I've learned my lesson about owning another Cadillac too. It's a shame since the Japanese won't build really big, roomy, powerful cars like this. Japanese cars, like my son's Nissan, are too fragile, too narrow, and don't fit large and extra large American adults very comfortably. Another: We've had about 6 sevilles and devilles ranging from 1995 - 2004 in the last year and all of them have oil consumption problems. Everytime we put gas we have to add a 1/2 - 1 quart of oil. If we don't the oil light comes on and that's not good... They are CRAP CRAP CRAP... A law suit needs to be filed against GM regarding this. Another: I've owned a 1998 Deville since 2000. I bought the car with 26,000 miles, and now it has 130,000. If you are not mechanically inclined, or you do not have a mechanic competent to work on Cadillacs DO NOT BUY ONE. In my experience, the dealer techs are not competent to work on these cars. The car was consuming coolant, and I supposedly suffered from the infamous "head bolt failure" at 83,000 miles. The dealer charged me $2000 after getting them to knock off $1000 and GM to kick in another $1000. I now believe I only needed to add the coolant system sealing tablets into the radiator hose to fix the leak. That would have been a $5 fix. I've replaced the shocks ($1000), strut links ($250), headlight ($150), and other parts. These are expensive cars to own and maintain, but they are cheaper than BMW and Mercedes. What's nice about Cadillac is they depreciate so rapidly, you can buy a lot of car for very little money. The parts are cheaper than luxury imports. www.rockauto.com is a good place for parts. Make sure you have a competent mechanic your you can do the work yourself. If you don't/aren't, YOU'LL BE VERY SORRY. Another: I just bought a 1997 contours, beautiful car, but... thank God that I bought an extended warranty, climate control sensor, over $1000.00 needed replaced, blower motor over $500.00 and stabilizer bar and bushings over $500.00 all covered by warranty with $100.00 deductible. What was not covered was fuel gauge sensor $250.00, now the leveler compressor isn't working and the air conditioning compressor just shut down as being low on refrigerant. What next! The car has only 63,000 miles on it less than 9,000 miles per year driven. The defrost vents on the dash board keep popping up and I'm told that the dash padding needs replaced to fix, so I just glued the thing down. Now at times in daylight when the day time running lights are on the entire headlight system turns on. I'm using over 3 quarts of oil for each 1,000 miles. It's a beauty to drive, but with so many sensors etc too many problems. Quality is not Job one here. Does not seem so funny now does it? Different owners all having the same problems. I can go find more.

That is fine if all of you want to disagree with me. My opinion will not change. I know from experience and what I saw. You can laugh and think it is funny. I do not think it is funny especially when someone is stuck with those repairs. I know I would not buy a 1997-1999 Deville as much I liked the car for the simple fact what is under the hood. This is something we will never agree on. Try using more tact when you want to laugh at someone. It looks tacky. So you are telling me that the 350 cubic inch 5.7 V8 in the CTS V is smaller than the Northstar V8? Just so you know from several Northstar owners: 1997 Cadillac DeVille : "Motor stinks!" What things have gone wrong with the car? Uses 1 quart of oil per 678 miles and the dealer won't honor the service contract. General comments? I purchased my 1997 Cadillac Sedan De Ville with 89K+ miles a few months ago. It now has 94K+ miles and it if it wasn't for the high oil consumption, it would be a great car. But it does have a major oil consumption problem and that has just ruined my experience of buying a car I thought was really special. Cadillac has put all their money into commercials, not cars. After buying my 97 Cadillac I drove it normally and then 3-4 weeks after the purchase, the check engine oil' warning came on. It had just been serviced at the dealer! I checked and found it to be over two quarts low. The car had been a one owner purchased at the Salem, Oregon Cadillac dealer and serviced there regularly according to the salesman so they must have known about it's problems. A week or so later I had the car serviced (lube, oil, filter, etc.) and put in Valvoline 10-30. I've always had a lot of faith in Valvoline. A couple days later I went back to the dealer's service department and started getting the �oh, you'll have to let us do an oil consumption test'�we can't take your word or anyone elses�.blah blah blah. So I said, OK, do it. Change the oil and start your test' and they did. At 90,334 miles they started the test. At a week or two later they added quart (looked lower than that to me, but it's their test). At 92,281 they added 1 quarts. At 93,390 they added 1 quarts again. The last (4th) check was at 94,579 and they added 2 quarts. That's 6 � quarts of oil in 4242 miles. Looked at another way, that's 678.72 miles per quart of oil. Basically the car is in town and freeway (I-5) driven to and from work 70 miles each week day. I asked what were they going to do about it and was told they could do the ring decarbonizing for $500 (I pay, not covered in the extended service contract) or they could tear down the engine (15 hours just to take it apart) and if something was BROKE, the 24 month/24,000 miles service contract would pay. But if it was WARE (worn out) that caused the oil loss, I would have to pay! As they service manager representative explained, that is $1500 just to tear the motor apart to find out what is wrong. What would you do? The service contract states: "Coverage is limited to the parts described below for the plan selected on the schedule.." (24 month, 24,000 miles) "Engine---All internal lubricated parts; manifolds; expansion plugs: harmonic balancer; pulleys, engine mounts; oil pan, rotary engine rotor housing; supercharger/turbocharger (factory installed) housing, internal parts, vanes: timing belt/chain and tensioner; timing chain cover; valve cover (s) ; water pump; seals and gaskets within component group. Cases, housings, engine block and cylinder heads are covered only if damaged by the failure of an internally lubricated part." That's what it says and my car that I bought with a 24month/24,000 miles extended service contract the dealer sold me at 89,000 plus miles uses more oil than any car or truck I've owned since 1969. And the 4.6 liter Cadillac V-8 isn't going to get fixed because the Chevy/Cadillac dealer and the service contract they sold to me for $1997.00 isn't worth a damn! I really have had good luck with the 83 Firebird, 94 Blazer, 90 Chevy S-10, 96 Chevy S-10 and one or two others. Their V-6 engines held up great and used very little if any oil. But this Northstar V-8 4.6 liter is a the worst oil burning engine I've ever seen or heard of since my 1964 Ford Galaxy 390. And that's General Motors premier top of the line engine!!! Damn, I really like the car! But the engine is horrible. It doesn't leak the oil, it burns it out the exhaust pipes. 2nd owner: I purchased my 1997 De ville roughly 2 years ago with 82,000 miles on it. The car was a 1 owner and well maintained. After having the car for 6 months the blower motor went out. Luckily at that time I was covered on a service plan that I purchased for an additional $1500.00. This service plan carried a $100 deductible per occurrance. Had I not purchaed this plan it would have been $500.00 to replace. This is not dealer price either. This is my mechanics price. Shortly after, the car would idle rough with a distinctive lope. I took it to my mechanic again and was told the plug wires were shot and needed to be replaced. This was out of my pocket and not covered under warranty. This set me back $324.00. Shortly after that, the car would at certain times not start and would tell me "Security system" on the digital read out. If it did start, when I would be driving down the road the radio, a/c and all dash componets would shut off. I came to find out that using the door key to unlock the door too many times would do something to the security system. I guess it recognizes the keyless entry as some sort of safety device. Once I replaced the battery and began using keyless entry that problem went away. The round speaker in the passenger door fell out and was hanging by the wires when I picked up a friend of mine. All he did was shut the door normally. The back of the drivers seat was hanging off because the clips broke. When I contacted the dealer about this obvious poor quality in a luxury car, I was told the clips were $75.00 and the speaker would be $100.00. I paid to have the speaker replaced and got the clips from a local wrecking yard. The plastic strip that goes across the dashboard (on the top with the red eye sensor" is popped out of place and teeter totters left and right and won't snap back in to place. Today, I am replacing the front struts as the car is a low rider in the front and bottoms out on the smallest dip and chews tires. I called many parts houses around and nobody seems to carry these struts. My particular car is non-electric struts. I found 1 company outside of OEM that makes the struts for my Cadillac. I purchased both of them for $177.00 with shipping and tax. I am putting those on today 4/1/2004 and selling this car as fast as I can. There are only two good things I can say about this car. They would be; The performance of the North Star engine is impressive and the car will get up and run, and of course, the smooth ride of the Cadillac. Everything else is a big thumbs down. If you're thinking of purchasing a used De ville run away. You may send me an email if you like to.

That is no joke. Those are real actual costs. You think it is funny, it is not. I am telling you I know for a fact they charge more to fix Cadillacs, plus I saw the prices at the dealership myself. My mechanic charges more to fix Cadillacs too. Not only that, I had a new student come in yesterday. He just sold his shop he has here to come back to school. I got a wealth of information from him. He said the oil pan design is faulty on the Cadillacs with the Northstar. He said he buys cars too. He said a man tried to sell him two Cadillacs with Northstar V8's and no one will touch them. He said pretty much all mechanics in the industry charge more to fix Cadillacs. He said Cadillacs are awesome, but expensive as hell to fix and repair. He is a big GM fan, and would tell anyone not to buy a Cadillac with a Northstar. He said that 3.6 liter V6 is fine. He said himself that engine is prone to oil leaks just like I said earlier in these posts. I told him about this thread too. That is up to you to want to not believe it and laugh. I know the facts. He said if anyone buys a Buick Lucerne, he would tell them in a heartbeat to get the 3800 V6. He said too many people buy out of emotion and not thinking long term.

Very nice indeed... Like the wheels. They spice up your vehicle.