Its been awile since ive been in the caddy scene since my last deville got screwed up at the shop when they were replacing he headgaskets and they overtighend the head bolts and striped the threads. Well anyways i need some help in buying another caddy.

I recently found a 98 SLS on craigs list for $3500. i had called him and he told me that the engine has been replaced with one that hasless than 5,000mi.(has the paperwork)The car itself has 88,000mi. the only thing majorly wrong was the fact that the airbags went off for no reason going byover a large dip at 40mph. He said he wasnt aware that the dip was there since it was dark and it just happened two weeks after replacing the engine. He said that the car runs great and the only reason is because he has putenoughmoney into this car replacing the engine and doesnt feel like puting more into it to fix the airbags. I looked at ebay and its $175 to get both airbags, but thats not my main concern. Anywayshere is the site: http://lincoln.craigslist.org/cto/908472740.html

Now my question is does this seem like a good deal that i came across or should i be looking for other problems as well. He said this car runs greatand the body is clean. Kelly blue book is $5,020 in fair condition and 5,595 for good condition.Give my some advise as to anything i should know about on these models so i can look for it before i buy it. Thanks

 

reason for air bags going off seems a little weird to me..... hope he didnt wreck the car after they went off!! lol.... can you tell if the car just got put back together??? ya know? new engine and all???
my second thought is how much are you going to pay to have the air bags installed???

are you able to inspect the car??? will he let you take it to your wrench, so he can give it a once over??? what other history comes with car??? good luck dad other things you should know before buying.... if it doesnt go 150mph...... DONT BUY....lol kidding of course
rickyd

 

yea i had asked him also about what happend when they went off he said he stoped immediately cuz he said that if he wasnt leaned back in his seat than it would have hit him in the face and he may have crashed then. He said the body is clean and has minor scratches if any but has never been in an accident since he bought it.The engine was put in at 83,000miles and that he drove it for about two weeks before the bags went off. I was going to atleast fix the driverside air bag and possibly make a fiberglass insert with a dvd screen for the passenger side but im not sure what it would cost to have them installed. As for your other info i wish it would have the 150mph limit like the STS's but anyways that may be a priority down the road.

 

lmao..... good luck dude
rick

 

i Called him back today after searching the web i typed in "98 airbag Cadillac SLS" and got this site: http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=19842

He had told me the same story so atleast i can give him some credibility as his story was the same. He also advised me that the winshield is cracked but thats no prob for me i can get windshields for list price. I didnt even tell him that i found his post online and he gave me all the info i needed to know he also said he'd go down on the price since he needs money to move back to Arizona. so i figured if i see this car in person and it is what it is im going to fix it and make out good in the end. Also the tranny was replaced as well andHe has all paper work for all repairs as proof to include with the car.

 

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. New motor and tranny so you really cant beat it!!

 

Sounds good to me, but the air bag thing would scare me. Not becuase of fixing it, but if a dip in a traveled road set them off, when you replace them and it happens to you, are you going to be as lucky as him and not wreck? Why did they go off? a dip in the road shouldnt set them off, you need an IMPACT from my understanding. I know a spot in the road could possibly do it, but it would have to be a HUGE one, and then i would be concerned with the suspension. A spot in road that would set off a properly working air bag may have cuased more problems. And if it was just a wierd thing, then I would be worried a bump or other "normal" road hazzard would set it off again sometime. Again the price of airbags and replacments, no biggie, driving 70 and hit a bad spot in traffic and having a air bag go off.. that could be a big deal.

 

well it sounds as though you have made your mind up! see what onee can do when they think before they act..... good deceicion!
rickyd

 

Im hopfully going to pick up this cady on thursday nxt week and offer him $3200 and leave me a few hundred to get the widshield fixed atleast and then try to get the dash pad. One other question about the air bag system, if i replace the driverside bag and not connect it (just incase this happens again) will it send any warning signs or would i be ok. Im looking at replacing this stuff but i also want to have it looked at to see if the settings for the airbag sensors are too sensitive or if it has faulty sensors just want to prevent any possibility of this happening again. Anyways im excited to have got another chance at getting back in the cadylac scene.