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This is the car that I got after trading in my '97 DeVille. It is also a base-model DeVille so it features the detuned 275hp "Northstar" 4.6litre overhead-cammed engine which provides plenty of power and has been returning around 23 miles-per-gallon -compared to the 20-22 my '97 got (of course no real Cadillac owner would ever care about fuel economy...)
A nice feature is the "traction off" button at the end of the gear shift lever, which is useful for teaching those POS $10,000 "sport compacts" a lesson at the stop lights.
Like my '97 this Cadillac is missing even more of the old Cadillac "trademark" features -most notably the power trunk pull down. The Cadillac dealer said they had to stop putting them in because of warranty complaints from people slamming the trunk and breaking them. I'm guessing a drunk senator got his fingers caught under the lid while stowing away a dead intern. It probably was the same guy who made rear cigarette lighters an option (of course you could never fit a cigar in one of those little ashtrays anyway.)
So as of the 2000 model year the power trunk pull down has suffered the same fate as auto-dimming headlights, rear footrests, opera lights and two-tone interiors....
I am pursuing some power-trunk pull down units from eBay and once I have retrofitted one into this car I will post the results.
As soon as I purchased this car I ordered an E&G Classics grille for it from a trim shop in Madison -the Cadillac dealer says "they don't do those things anymore" and wouldn't send the car up to them so I had to order the grille mail order. Three days later I have a real metal grille:
However when I got the credit card receipt in the mail I found they charged me sales tax on an out-of-state sale. After speaking with the a$$hole of a president of the company whom acknowledged that it's illeagal to charge sales tax on out-of-state mail order sales he told me his "accountant would bill him for it" and he wouldn't refund the $24.75 -even after I offered to bring the car up there myself to have some chrome rocker panels and phaeton roof installed -so this guy threw away an easy $2,500.00 sale over $24.75 -I pay more then that for a bottle of Hennesey...
For those of you whom didn't take 4-years worth of accounting courses: when a business files for income tax there is a line where you fill in your total dollar amount of sales, and a line under it where you subract any out-of-state sales -so this guy is either doing his taxes himself and has no clue what to do, or he tried to screw me out of $24.75 which would never have gone to the Wisconsin state government. Five minutes later and one call to Visa and all is well -except now I have to find another dealer to order the rest of my E&G stuff from...
But I have the pleasure of owning the only grille like it in the county
3/21/04 New and improved with stainless steel fender trim:
Today I installed some stainless steel fender trim from eBay, after exchanging the incorrect trim they had sent me. But at $49.95 it was worth it. My quest for chrome continues as I try to find a source for some E&G chrome rocker panels.
More to come....