Not the best engine but can buy the car for a song, as long as someone can keep it running. lol

And you're dreaming. lol
Yeah, maybe a little "classic" in styling but not outdated for 1990, IMO.

 

Repairing the engine costs like $7,000. It’s not a question of keeping it running. That’s why they all got junked and why they have no value.

You need to look at some other interiors from 1990 lol. My dads Continental for one, that Cadillac interior is 15 years behind it’s time in 1990. Have you ever been in one? The build quality is horrible. No airbags when all the competitors had at least a driver bag and some had dual airbags…

 

That may be true, but people liked them like that.. My Dad had a 1990 Seville that had a decent interior, I don't remember any glaring flaws. It was pretty nice actually.

And wow on that Northstar bill I didn't know it was THAT much.

 

I don’t think people liked poor quality, plastic wood, crappy plastic and no safety equipment, I think it was what they were used to things that way and they never really shopped outside of Cadillac. In the 80s and 90s Lincoln was making better cars and they were cleaning Cadillacs clocks in sales, that’s why Cadillac dramatically stepped up their game in 92-93 with the new Fleetwood, Deville, Seville and Eldorado. They were much, much better and more appealing products

 

Well that's good news they stepped their game up.

No wonder they depreciated so much.

 

The northstar or "deathstar" engine really is that bad, it has two issues that are engine out/massive work to repair and are normally never worth doing. It's bad enough that I have zero interest in one, not even worth it to me to buy a car for $500 due to the level of work needed.

For the sake of fairness if you do have the fixes done it's actually fine after that but at the end of the day you are left with a fail wheel drive V8 that is barely competing with the contemporary Japanese V6s like the MZ/VQ engines.

 

what is fail wheel drive mean?

 

The thing that sucks is, minus that the Northstar was a very potent engine. They had it sorted out by the last of the '05-'06 DeVilles I think.

But otherwise, yep. Junk. About 80k is when they blow.

Jill, Fail Wheel Drive= front wheel drive. Not that desirable with a V8.

 

Northstar was also used rear wheel drive.

 

There were several successful applications of V8s and FWD, not just the Northstar. Some years of the Ford Taurus SHO used a Yamaha-built V8. GM also did FWD V8s in some versions of the Impala SS (not the large RWD Impala SS), Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, and Buick Lacrosse Super.

 

I had the slightly smaller version of their 32 valve SC motor in my 06 STSV. Ran great, always. Other ‘glitches’ made it an undesirable car as it aged. Having to remove the exhaust, driveshaft and fuel tank just to replace a cracked and leaking fuel pump for example.

 

I don't think it was unsuccessful, just the engine was junk. Most buyers didn't know nor really care what wheels are driven. My Dad's didn't have any torque steer, and it had gobs of torque. The old OHV engines were quite good before the Northstar is the thing.

I owned a V6 SHO, lol. It was fine FWD, same for Maxima. But now I'm spoiled by RWD characteristics having driven the LS for 11 years.

 

The rear drive/SC versions never had these issues, the rear non-SC sometimes does. It's a much better engine in RWD since the power is useable and it's far easier to work on and the price of those cars reflects that.

 

I agree with that interior being stuck in the 70's when automakers were introducing the likes of the LS400, Acura Legend, etc. I couldn't imagine driving something like that, even in 1990.

 

The sales figures explained why Cadillac still had vehicles and interiors like that in the 1990s. They sold.....particularly to Boomers and their parents. Those of the WWII Generation bought them for decades. I knew one woman who got a new Cadillac DeVille like clockwork every year for 48 years...until she passed. She would always order the latest new color.