2000 Cadillac Seville Reviews

Cadillac's elegant and tasteful 5th generation Seville
was introduced in 1998, and while it didn't make a
huge impact on sales of BMW's 5-series and
Mercedes E-class, it helped Cadillac establish itself
as more than a maker of luxo boats. This car had
the moves to back up it's power, and an interior
which was the highest of all GM vehicles. It offered
more features than any vehicle the General had to
offer, and is still a great buy on the used car market
today.

The '92-'97 Seville was a gigantic success, but
could never match the levels of refinement and
poise the competition had to offer. So for '98,
Cadillac used that formula and improved on it big
time giving us the Seville STS. The lines were still
sleek and elegant, but now more European looking
vs. the 4th gens Italian look inspired by the
Pininfarina Allante. The overall theme was still the
same: SLS was the more luxury oriented model
while the STS was the performance model. Both
were powered by Cadillac's excellent 4.6L DOHC
32V Northstar V8, putting out 275hp in SLS and
300hp in STS. All of this power was driven through
the front wheels, which some people thought of as
a curse. i personally think it was a fine decision, as
GM was able to save money by improving greatly on
the 4th gens K-body platform. The differences
were pretty amazing, making the old Seville seem
like a marshmellow. The '98 Seville was by no
means a sports sedan: too much body roll and way
to much understeer prevented the car from being a
true BMW rival, but the car was great in its own
right. The handling was neutral, great for highway
cruising and could handle the curves without too
much complaining.

The interior was much of the same story, a hit or
miss situation. While the leather was sumptuous
and the materials were soft to the touch, many
cheap bits ruined an otherwise good interior. The
visors and headliner material are a mouse fur-like
fabric, the door sills are made of Cavalier grade
plastic, and the weatherstripping was known to pop
off low mileage cars. However, the instrument
panel was very Lexus-like in design, and the gated
shifter and loads of Zebrano wood helped improve
the interior greatly. Seat comfort was high for long
ranges, but for carving corners the seats fail to
hold. The back seat is comfortable with room for
two, but a bit smaller than most would think. If a
3rd person is stuck in the back, they’d better prey
it isn’t for longer than 30 minutes. Otherwise,
they’d might try jumping out the windows. Oops,
wait they can’t. The rear windows only roll down
half-way. Smart, Cadillac. Give us a $50k sedan
with fully retractable rear windows. The trunk is
large with low lift over high and plenty of space to
store luggage, and the center of the rear seat folds
down for longer loads.

Changes for the Seville was few: ’99 gained
massaging lumbar seats and a few new color
choices. ’00 Seville’s now ran on regular fuel
thanks to some tuning to the Northstar engine. ’01
gained an infotainment system which allowed used
to read e-mail while driving. ’02 gained SLS
appearance package while mimicked the STS to a T.
The ’03 was arguably the best with the introduction
of the Magneride Suspension system, also used in
the ’03 50th Anniversary Corvette. This system
allows the shocks to adjust to road conditions every
few milliseconds and handling was greatly
improved. ’03 was the last year for Seville STS, as
that car was discontinued to make room for brand
new ’05 STS. ’04 SLS saw few changes, and the
Seville name was layed to rest.

Good car!  Fast and handles well.  Too much maintenance costs for the price of the car.  Should hold up better.