Used 2005 Cadillac DeVille 4dr Sedan (4.6L 8cyl 4A) Consumer Reviews
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First DeVille
Paul, 07/18/2006
Cadillac DeVille 4dr Sedan (4.6L 8cyl 4A)
14 of 14 people found this review helpful
This is our first Cadillac. We purchased it as a certified pre-owned car at a reasonable price. The warranty and the car have more than exceeded our expectations.
The Everyman's American V8 Luxury Sedan
John, Mentor, OH, 10/19/2018
Cadillac DeVille 4dr Sedan (4.6L 8cyl 4A)
41 of 45 people found this review helpful
Hello All, I hope you find this review helpful, if not too long! I bought this car after my previous car, a 2006 Chrysler 300, was totalled in a highway pileup (too many bad drivers out there). I bought the Deville for $3,000 with 96,000 miles on it - it was finally time. It was a one-owner, owned by an older gentleman who only took it for service to the dealer he bought it from in '05, a HUGE plus and reassurance. I had been craving a V8-powered American sedan for years, and this one won me over. It may be the finest example of a car of my craving for the price. First, a few impressions on the engine, transmission and ride. The engine is the famed Northstar V8, which in this base trim level provides 275 horsepower and 300 (!) lb. ft. of torque. The engine is an absolute gem, it has fantastic power, sounds awesome, and gets very good fuel economy for a V8 (I get 22.5 mpg mostly highway). It is famed for these good traits, but also for some bad ones too, unfortunately. All Northstars are known to be oil burners; mine has yet to need a top-off (in about a month of ownership), but I know most need to be watched with the eye of a hawk, as they can burn oil very fast. Secondly, and more seriously, these engines are infamous for blowing head gaskets, which lead to repairs that can cost anywhere from $2,000 up to even $3,500+. The problem is not the gasket itself, but the head bolts, which often pull out of the aluminum block, lifting the gaskets and causing overheating. 1997-1999 Northstars are by far the worst, stay away at all costs. 2000 saw a lengthening of the head bolts, which helped some. Your best bet is a 2005 or newer Northstar, as these head bolts were not only lengthened, but also had a coarser thread that virtually fixed the issue. Get a 2005+ if possible!! It is well worth it, what an engine. Make sure you flush your coolant at least once a year, to help keep the engine running cool and increase life. The transmission is a 4-speed, which is adequate. Its pretty reliable as long as you treat it well. The car could be infinitely better with a 5- or 6-speed (for fuel economy and performance), but the 4-speed is good enough for a car like this. And the ride - oh man, THE RIDE. It is far and away the best part of the experience. You simply waft down the road. It's incredible. Stepping inside the cab, your comfort experience is further increased with incredibly comfortable leather seats, wood-grain trim, and solid, durable construction that pleases the eye as well as the hand. My Deville is the base model, but strangely, it came loaded with basically every option minus Night Vision, fog lights and stability control. It has heated and cooled power memory seats (front and back are heated, only front seats cooled), sunroof, OnStar, Sirius XM, heated steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control, auto headlights, CD, the works. The seats are supremely comfortable, and the heated seat function is terrific (3 levels of heat). The car comes with 4 power outlets, 2 front, 2 back. There is a vast amount of room as well, tons of space for 5 adults. The radio, cruise control and Driver Information Center controls are intuitive, with many controls on the steering wheel. The fit and finish is excellent. The trunk is also HUGE - the Mafia jokes never cease! There are a few minor complaints, however. The climate controls are a annoying - the buttons are not intuitive at all. I may be old-school, but dials work so well for fan speed and zone - why switch to an up-down button (for both) to navigate? And also, when you press the A/C button, the light indicator "A/C off" turns on, and shuts off on a second press. Why not say "A/C on?" Too confusing! If the icon isn't lit, I believe the A/C is on, if it is lit, the A/C is off, still not sure! Why do this GM?? Second, the battery is NOT in the engine bay, nor in the trunk - its under the rear seat. Yes, that's right! Definitely not a hazard! Typical of 2000's GM.I sure hope there is no leak of any sort - talk about heated seats! The only other thing I can think of is the lack of stability control as standard. I believe every Cadillac should have it standard. All in all, this is a fantastic buy for the price - you simply won't get more for less. It's been problem-free so far. Make sure to have some $$ set aside for potential repairs, but if you can find a low-mileage example, I don't know why you wouldn't pull the trigger. If you dream of Uncle Sam, 8 cylinders, La-Z-Boys and room for all your friends, you can't go wrong here! What a car!
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2005 Cadillac DeVille for sale near you
3 of 34 listings
- Base SedanMSRP: $9,350202 mi away
- Livery Fleet SedanMSRP: $7,000270 mi away
- Base SedanMSRP: $5,990324 mi away
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1st caddy
chrisptown, 06/19/2010
Cadillac DeVille 4dr Sedan (4.6L 8cyl 4A)
15 of 16 people found this review helpful
purch. cert. used. 1st caddy. the only drawback and it's a big one is the seats. Watch if you're buying with cooled seats, they are very firm, and the leather trim is quite low quality. the upscale DTS DHS have softer leather.
American Dream
merlincat, 01/22/2009
Cadillac DeVille 4dr Sedan (4.6L 8cyl 4A)
17 of 19 people found this review helpful
Bought out of an estate sale with only 24k on it. Virtually new 4 year old car. It's every thing a Caddy should be. Heavy, big, roomy, plush, and you can get 4 bodies in the trunk.It gives you that aaahhhh feeling at 80 floating down the interstate. She gets almost 29 mi/gal on cruise at 80 and that's in the Rockies at 7000 ft! So sad the big Caddys are going away for BMW size posers. I imagine they are fine cars but the American dream sled will be another thing we Americans did really well and quit. Got caught in a Colorado blizzard and the heavy 350 sitting over the front wheel drive made her move like an Abrahms tank through the snow. Amazing. If you can find a clean one, buy it!
Awesome First Car
reginaumbras, Austin, TX, 05/20/2020
Cadillac DeVille 4dr Sedan (4.6L 8cyl 4A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
My great-aunt gave me this car in 2015 when she stopped driving. I had previously driven my mom's Toyota Avalon and 1998 Suburban, so driving an extremely long sedan was not a problem for me. I could even parallel park it if I needed to, but getting out of tight spots required multiple point turns. When I first got the car she rode like a dream. Smoothest, softest ride I've ever experienced, and low road noise. She loved going fast and I got pulled over for going 86 mph on a highway because I didn't realize how fast I was going! I never got her mpg over 26 on road trips and it hovered around 13 in the city, which was not ideal. Fortunately the big gas tank meant not having to fill up too often. She was absolutely a road trip car. During the four years I had her, I spent about 200 hours putting about 16,000 miles on her in road trips alone. She got me safely between Georgia, Ohio, and Texas every time I had to travel. I found the seats extremely comfortable (5'7", 140lb) and took good care of the leather so it never cracked. Some of my heavier passengers found the passenger seat belt uncomfortable and hard to use. The trunk is massive and I was able to fit almost everything I owned into the trunk and back seat the multiple times I moved in this car. In 2017, I had owned the car for two years. I was driving on a four-lane road and a truck merged into my lane. I swerved to avoid a collision, but I was going 60 mph and the car couldn't correct fast enough. I lost control and fishtailed down the road before hitting a telephone pole on the shoulder. Thank goodness I was in this heavy car, otherwise I might have flipped and had a much worse accident. The rear quarter panel, rear bumper, and rear passenger door were destroyed along with the rear axle and one of the tires. Because the car was under 100k miles and everything under the hood was working fine at the time, my mom's mechanic purchased a junk car and repaired mine with its parts. From the outside you could not tell the difference, but she never rode as smooth after that. At some point during the 2018/2019 school year the air conditioner stopped working completely, which made for an uncomfortable drive from Texas to Ohio in May 2019. When I was almost to my destination in Ohio, the car overheated while I was sitting idle in a parking lot. I managed to get where I was going, but once I got the car to a shop I found out that there was a leak in the head gasket. Repairing it would have cost much more than the car was worth, since the engine would have to be removed. The entire air conditioning system needed replacing as well, so I sold the car for parts to the mechanic. If you're looking to buy a car like this, look at the maintenance history. The head gasket leak is a known issue with the North Star engines used in Devilles from 2005 and earlier. If it's already been repaired, the car is probably solid. But if it hasn't happened yet it is only a matter of time, and you'll be stuck with a car you can't use without shelling out more money than it's worth. Otherwise, it's a great car to drive and is very spacious.