98 Repairs for What it's worth
 

At a Cadillac dealer south of Washington DC

85K miles exactly on the odo

Complaint - rattles in front over bumps

replace motor mount
replace sway bar ends

mount - 179.89
2 link ends - 249.06
labor - 312.50
total - 741.45

Complaint - AC getting weak at speed/no AC at idle

diagnose AC
replace compressor/orifice/ac***ulator/retainer
recheck AC system for leaks and performance

diagnose - 125.00
comp rem - 458.75
orifice - 21.69
ac*** - 37.34
retainer - 2.91
labor - 562.50
test fixed AC- 133.71
total - 1341.90

Complaint - throttle sticks off idle
fuel system cleaning

cleaner - 67.74
labor - 125.00
total - 192.74

should add up to $2389.13 - OUCH!!!!!!

The car idles much smoother and the accelerator doesn't stick when you are trying to take off, the AC blows cold, and there are no rattles from the front end and a "hum" in the steering wheel on sweeping left turns is gone! The "test fixed AC" seems excessive but if it works with no problems, I guess it is worth it.

chuck
98 Deville Concours

national average auto payment is $495.00 per month, X 12 = $5940.00 - $2389.13 = $3550.87........ how ya feelin now?

if it makes you feel any better, I will be parting an '88 "A" due to similar issues that I have chosen to not fix - not economical.
I can replace the car for less.

I additionally have
steering pump issue,
wheel bushing issue
rear seal leak

she still does 100+ mph on demand & stops on a dime, but the issues are way, way too expensive to fix.

rickyd,
I know, fixing it is definitely cheaper than buying another. Especially as it would be hard to find one in as good condition as this one. I do believe in repairing cars, I have a 77 Bronco I have owned for 31 years and a 78 Chevy Pickup I have owned for 26 years-both are still in use. The Cad is a new car at my house-only 11 years old!

chuck
98 Deville Concours

I haven't driven the Deville much since getting it back 'cause I was out-of-town on business. But driving the car to the airport early last week I started getting the "Service Ride System" warning. It was somewhat intermittent but getting more frequent on the way home from the airport. I looked up the DTCs and found C1761-Right Front Sensor Input Failure. The dealer had worked on the front sway bar just two inches away from the suspension sensor! I pulled the right front tire and low and behold, the Suspension Sensor Link was disconnected from it's ball on the lower control arm. I put it back on-it took a hard enough push to put the socket back on the ball that I wouldn't think it just coincidently popped off. Looking at the location relative to the sway bar, it would be easy to knock it off while working on the sway bar links. So much for dealers having superior repair/quality assurance capabilities. I have written a letter of complaint to the dealership-I will see what comes of it. I wouldn't mind getting a couple of hours labor at their rate for my troubles.

chuck
98 Deville Concours