I think that what happened to Cadillac is definitely one of the saddest chapters in GM’s history. A lot of it can be explained by saying this is what happens when you put bean counters at the top of a car company versus true gasoline in the veins car guys. I read John DeLorean’s book “On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors” and this started back in the ‘60’s when the early ‘70’s cars were being developed. Unfortunately we all suffered.
Have not read that book but I have read Lutz's book - "Car Guys vs. Bean Counters". The downfall of Cadillac was really a team effort - R&D, engineering, manufacturing, marketing etc. It takes quite an effort to mess up one of the most successful brands in automotive history and GM managed to do it in just over a decade.
I was working at Caddie dealerships 1982. The HT4100 just about killed the Cadillac Brand. Not only motor problems but HVAC-Steering racks-Fan Modules-Transmissions. I could go on. You nailed it.
I bought a 82 sedan DeVille for 45 bucks had the ht4100 200th trans I never pushed a car so much in my life and never would run right it only had 84000 miles on it cause it stayed broken down
Some friends of our parents had a 1982 Eldorado Biarritz. Looks-wise, it was *magnificently* beautiful. As beautiful as it was, it was every bit as a magnificent maintenance nightmare, for *all* of the reasons you mentioned. Such a shame, because it was teal with white leather and white vinyl Biarritz top. So beautiful, but such a *beast.*
Is it true that whenever a ht4100 failed hastily while under warranty that they would go straight to replacing it with a 307, which while not a Cadillac engine is definitely an Oldsmobile engine was probably about as Dependable As It Gets in the 1980s. I know subsequently I've seen plenty of them that have ht4100 plates on the side but have 307s under the hood so I'm assuming that was a warranty replacement guidance. Although I'm curious whether they replaced them with the VIN-Y or VIN-9 307.
IMO, the Catera was a nice sedan, the engine and marketing killed it. Though it was reengineered into the highly successful CTS, with a new platform, powertrains and Cadillac specific styling. THAT generation, and ones after that, became the REAL Caddy that ZIGS.
The. Catera was horrible. They claimed it was the Caddy that Zigs, but still used a conventional steering gear with drag links. It did not have rack and pinion steering. It was also extremely heavy for its size. It was within 60 pounds of the Seville and Eldorado, and only 250 pounds shy of a Deville. The heater control valves would leak coolant. The oil cooler cover would leak coolant. The oil cooler would leak oil (into the cooling system necessitating replacement of all hoses). The idler pullies for the timing belt would come apart leading to pistons contacting valves (there was a recall on these from 1997-1999). The cam covers would leak oil into the spark plug wells causing misfires. The crank sensors regularly failed. The Bosch MAF sensors regularly failed like they did in the mid 1980s. And, the electrical system made no sense. Certain circuits were shared with other unrelated circuits. This is no joke, as I was a Cadillac tech at the time; if your Catera exhibits a condition where the radio only works with the ignition off in Retained Accessory Power, and the power door locks don’t work, it’s caused by an auxiliary electric coolant pump that has developed an internal leak and caused a short, which blows one of the Clamp fuses. Matter of fact, that car had three coolant pumps. The traditional one driven by the belt, one auxiliary electric pump for the heater core, and another auxiliary electric pump for afterboil. This pump would run on hot days AFTER the car was shut off along with the cooling fans for the radiator. I’m glad I don’t have to work on them anymore. Good riddance! The only arguable benefit of the Catera was it lead to the design of the CTS, which was a pretty great vehicle.
Interesting. The Opel Omega was quite succesful in Europe. The V6 was not that common, yet there were not that many problems. I have owned both a Omega A and a Omega B and I still believe that they were very underestimated cars. They offered a lot of value for the money.
I never could quite understand the Catara. Many I heard were familiar with the Opel and liked it but swore that the changes made to it by Cadillac only made it worse.
Back in the day I had Opel Omega 3.2 executive in the Netherlands. Never let me stranded but the biggest weakpoints by far was RUST! Head gaskets, oil leaks and faulty sensors. Typical build quality of Opel in the 90’s..
I worked at a Cadillac dealership cleaning cars as a young kid. Even in the late 90s there were old guys that were still mad about the early 70s Cadillacs. There was a guy named Ernie that was probably 90 at the time he would bring his Buick in every week and make a point to tell someone that he bought nothing but Cadillac until 1973! Now I drive Buicks. He had a beautiful 84 Park Ave in chocolate brown and his wife had a blue Riviera probably like a 90 or 91. He was a good dude always gave me two dollars for extra soap😂.
I read a story about a guy that had a 70s Cadillac, every time he'd hit the brakes, it would make a terrible CLUNK noise. Several dealerships attempted to diagnose it, no one could. He just lived with it for years. One day the window regulator failed in the passenger side door, the door was taken apart, and inside the door, the tech found a full can of beer, with a note on is that said "so... you finally found it." Naturally its removal "solved" the clunk mystery. Needless to say that was his last Cadillac. Maybe it was Ernie!
And even today, V8-6-4 aka displacement on demand, is still problematic. GM, Honda, and others still are plagued with lifter, and cylinder wear issues.
This is mostly due to extended oil changes and customers not wanting to check or maintain the oil. Ignore the oil life monitor and change the oil regularly at 3,000-5,000 miles with quality synthetic oil and it will likely be fine. Also, check the oil level regularly. The use of low-tension piston rings has proliferated the entire industry, so most engines from all manufacturers consume oil at a rate higher than most people are accustomed to. 1 quart every 2,000 miles is what is generally considered normal by most companies today. If you go 8,000-10,000 miles without checking the oil, your engine may have consumed 4-5 quarts.
@@paulwindisch1423 Worse yet was GM issued a service bulletin and didn't do a recall for the 2010/11 yrs to stop oil consumption. The high pressure relief valve in the pan for AFM/DoD would spray oil up on the cylinder walls and oil would get pulled into the PVC system above. Not to mention sticking AFM valves that would damage the engine. I couldn't wait to rip it off of my 2010 V8 Camaro.
I have owned 2 Cateras (1 currently) and have been very happy with the build quality, ride, interior and plethora of options in the cars. The pricing on them, which attracted my attention in the first place, has been lower than similar vehicles due to a "bad" reputation that I believe has been unearned because they have been labeled as Cadillacs.
Back in the day I had Opel Omega 3.2 executive in the Netherlands. Never let me stranded but the biggest weakpoints by far was RUST! Head gaskets, oil leaks and faulty sensors. Typical build quality of Opel in the 90’s..
In NYC they had a radio ad campaign that humorously mocked the name of Catera….they would say “Lease a Catera today” and someone would ask “who’s Lisa Catera?”
In 1985-86 I bought a mint 1983 Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance w/the Hook&Tow 4100. Had engine and electrical problems all the time. Sold it after only 6 months and went to Lincoln. Never went back to Cadillac.
Happened to my grandfather’s 1967 Buick Electra 225 sedan and my neighbor’s 1968 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, too. I had a 1973 Coupe DeVille that I wish I had kept and still have a 1973 Eldorado by Cadillac without the flaws mentioned in Adam’s video. Hmm.
@@randyfitz8310 The '73 is a beautiful car! I had a girlfriend in high school who's mother had a Coupe de Ville, a new car at that time. We used to borrow it and go "drag the gut" with the other kids! I think the color was called mocha, matching vinyl top and leather interior. Under the parking lot lights that car sparkled like a diamond!
It haunted my dad as well. He had a 71 sedan deville and had the pull strap “hack”. In 73 he bought a Rolls Silver Shadow. He drove that until 86. He passed a year later. Guess who has it now😉
Cadillac's adopted slogan, “The Standard of the World” dates back to winning the 1908 Dewar Trophy, in its day the “Nobel Prize” of engineering for proving the precision interchangeability of its cars i.e., standardized parts - something necessary for making mass production possible for autos. Cadillac itself adopted the slogan in 1910.
it's an easy leap to make, one that Cadillac wanted people to make. The "Standard of the World" was self-anointed, unlike the one time (British) Dewar Trophy which actually went to the Anglo-American Motor Company Limited - Standardisation test of three 10hp Cadillac cars@@brianm6530
Poor Derek with VGG... That's the most frustrated I've ever seen him with a car. I watch him every week. He posted on Facebook, that he has books and parts now for it. Might be a part 2!
My dad had a 1982 deville as a commuter/beater for 2-3 years in the early 90s. Really wasn’t that bad of a car for our family of 5. We had more electrical problems than issues with the engine ht4100. The car did ride pretty well, lot of room and amenities, pretty good mpg for any car 10 years after it was built. For $500 for a clean example, you could certainly do worse.
Adam, Thanks. We know how tough it is for a GM fanatic like yourself to keep producing these 'Bottom 5 Worst' videos which focus on woefully inadequate GM products of the past. Sad as they may be to produce and watch, these videos provide a very valuable public service. 😉
I was in the engine rebuilding business back in the 80's. We wouldn't touch the 4100 because the camshaft ran right in the block without cam bearings. This would directly effect oil pressure and our shop didn't want the headaches of dealing with them.
Unfortunately, I don't know enough about an engine's internal workings to understand what that means, but from a business standpoint I can see why you wouldn't go for such nonsense. I'm sure you ended up working for nothing at times ie: there's no "warranty" for poor engineering. So, this caught my eye because I know of an outside shop to a local Cadillac dealership that did the overflow work on the replacement diesel engines, whether it was to retrofit a conversion to a gasoline engine or just fix or replace the diesel. Anyhow, I heard the were REALLY busy during that time. I ended up buying an 82 Cutlass 4dr with a 350 diesel. It was I think either 1990 or 1991, so it was older but garaged from new AND it had ultra-low mileage. I believe I paid 900 bucks! It drove it back and forth to work from the North Shore of Long Island to right behind Kennedy Airport for a couple of weeks and then it started running crappily and that was the end of it. So I'm stuck with this thing and have no idea who would buy such a car - not running and a car with a bad reputation to begin with. Then I thought of this guy I knew who worked on them 10 years prior. I called the guy and asked if he was interested and he was! Think I sold it to him for $500. The end. 😉
I'll never forget the first time I saw a Cadillac Cimarron. It was at high school around 2005 and a kid had one. I remember thinking how dumb it was that he put Cadillac emblems all over an old Chevy Cavalier. It wasn't until years later that I realized it was actually a Cadillac!
My father bot a '73 Calais 2 door, lemon. He traded it for a '75 Calais, both slick tops to which he had vinyl top installed. The '75 was his fav. His '80 was nice, then his '84 Eldo was a burnt orange stripper, no cassette or wire caps, and stolen exactly 1 year later. His '85 Eldo 4.1(?) cam went flat @ 85k. His 1990 CDV was his last, he passed away New Years Eve 1995 😢😢😢 ❤
The V8-6-4 and the HT 4100 and the Cimarron were what was on the road--and in the shop--in the 80's when I started my career. It's a wonder I've spent 35+ years in this industry after starting off working on these cars. As far as Cadillacs for me, I've owned '66, '67, and '70. Those were fine cars!
Bless your heart! Just watched VGG and was astounded by the trials of Derek wrestling with the coupe de ville from HELL! His show, like yours is a pleasure to watch and heartens an old sixtie and on driver like me. I owned a 78 Sedan DeVille, an 81 Seville and an 88 Coupe deville and regardless of trevails, loved them all. Love the show too now even more as you and Derek are the kindred spirits of old detroit as I suspected. Kudos!!!
That era (error) in the late 70s/early 80s with the 4100, the 8-6-4 engine, and the Oldsmobile diesel was a really bad time for Cadillac. It was like they couldn't do anything right. There were more than a few traditional Cadillac customers that went over to Lincoln and never turned back.
After 30 years of Cadillac ownership, I experienced two Northstar engine failures. Switched to Mercedes and never came back. Cadillac now makes angular styled rent-a-car vehicles.
Seems any recent sweet spot for Cadillac would be '88-mid 90s with cars that didn't have either the HT4100 (briefly installed on the Allante I think) or Northstar engines. Can't say any of the post-Northstar cars have caught my eye, and I'd be willing to buy an Eldorado ETC, with the caveat that the engine would be a pain in the tail at any given time. I will never acknowledge the Escalade as a Cadillac.
The Vauxhall / Opel Omega was actually very well regarded here in Europe, in fact the UK police used them as motorway patrol/pursuit cars. I can only imagine the different engine used in the Cadillac version along with the US build quality issues are what gave it the poor reputation over there.
Nope.. they were exactly the same other than the grill and badges. Back in the day I had Opel Omega 3.2 executive in the Netherlands. Never let me stranded but the biggest weakpoints by far was RUST! Head gaskets, oil leaks and faulty sensors. Typical build quality of Opel in the 90’s..
US bild quality? As far as I remember the Cadillac version was assembled on the same production-line in Rüsselsheim/Germany as the Opel/Vauxhall Omega.
@@eggbirdtherooster strange, I worked for a Vauxhall dealer here in the UK at the timr & don't remember those problems? They were used by the UK police because they were so dependable. Maybe the German built Opel version was lower quality?
I think the DTS and any Cadillac with the Northstar engine should be on this list, I’ve worked on these cars and they’re an absolute nightmare, especially if you have to change the water pump on these cars.. electrical issues oh they’re just a mess.
I had a used 85 DeVille, Hook and Tow engine notwithstanding, it was a very pleasant car and a nice size. My HT4100 problems were limited to a failed oil pump, I was driving and shut down in about 2 seconds after seeing the oil pressure light. The replacement pump was the upgraded one used in the 4.5. As time went on, my trust in that car was minimal, so selling it was really my only choice. To this day I miss the very comfortable and quiet interior.
Completely disagree with the 1971-73 models. You’ve harped on them before. They are always the ones I seek out at car shows. Beautifully styled. Super durable cars. Great ride and one toe power brakes. A friend owned a 1972. Just a glorious tank to drive.
I had an '82 Sedan DeVille with the 4100. Lovely, comfortable car that, sadly, couln't get out of its own way with that anaemic travesty resting in the engine-bay.
Well excuted. Well stated. I liked how you covered so much and said it so well. I see why Cadillac lost goodwill, customers and market segment. It was the engines. It is sad. Just think if they had the 4.5 and 4.9 in the early 1980's. I think time was not on Cadillac's side with the Cimarron, the 4100 V8 and the other engine. They had some great styling after the period you mentioned, but it was the impact this left on the bnrand. By the late 1980's they had to work on getting back on track. The downsing era did not help at all( 1985-1989). The thing I think that kept Cadillac going was the Brougham and the upsized 1989 Deville and Fleetwood. The 1992 Eldorado and Seville helped into the 1990's. I could have bought Cadillacs, but I bought Oldsmobiles( 98 and Toronado) with the 3800 V6 and still got what I wanted. I recall the Catera. I know two people who owned them and got rid of them for the many reasons you stated. The Holden Commodore was better.
I have a 1990 DeVille that I bought in 1993. Still runs great with 189K miles. 25+ mpg on highway, and around town/suburban I'm getting 17.7 mpg for the last few hundred miles. Best overall car I've ever owned.
The thing about the v8-6-4 was that it was based on a rock solid engine-essentially a de-bored, de-stroked 472 resulting in a 368 cubic inch engine. The same engine without the variable displacement was used in 1980. And it was rock SOLID.
All you had to do was disconnect one wire connector from the transmission and the engine would always be in 8 cylinder mode. Super reliable car and engine after doing this.
My father had an 81 Fleetwood with the V8-6-4 that once the system was deactivated was reliable as could be. It was not powerful for the displacement, but offered up decent acceleration and on the highway respectable fuel economy of 22mpg. The DFI or digital fuel injection system had on board diagnostics, that for the time was quite sophisticated. If I recall correctly, the 6.0 Cadillac was used up until 1986 in the commercial chassis Fleetwood with the Rochester 4 barrel carburetors. For 1982 Cadillac would have been better of to put the Olds 307 or Chevy 305 in rather than that bi metal boat anchor, the HT4100. The 307 was used in the later RWD Fleetwoods that carried the Brougham name from 86 until 88 or 89.
In the mid 1980s, the son of a local appliance dealer bought one of those 1981 8-6-4 disasters, a Fleetwood .It didnt take long for it to suck a valve down, trashing the engine. I had a 1975 Cadillac that was sitting around wrecked, my ex-girlfriend and I pulled out the 500 and dropped it in the 81. Other than the throttle linkage it was a bolt-in swap as the 368 was simply a smaller displacement version of the 500. It was an absolute screamer, being a half-ton lighter than the Sedan de Ville donor car. We took it out on I-70 east of Denver at night (after making sure the CSP/county sheriff was nowhere to be seen) and put the pedal to the carpet quickly burying the needle on the speedometer as the car continued to accelerate. I have no idea how fast we got it up to (we left the 200-4r overdrive trans in it, electing to not use the THM 400 from the de Ville) but Im sure it was well north of 120 mph. Gave it back to the owner and he whined that the stupid fuel economy display no longer functioned, I told him never mind that stupid stuff...just DRIVE THE CAR. Never heard any more complaints about it. Amazingly, the allegedly weak THM 200-4r and the rear end held up to the massive torque those 500s made, at last until he sold the car some years later. We did a similar swap dropping a Pontiac 455 out of an old Grand Ville into a 1978 G-body Grand Prix. That one was a perfect sleeper, beat a lot of guys who thought they had a quick car.
You, my friend, are a true hot rodder! With a gear head girlfriend too! it doesn't get much better than that! I had a '78 GP with the 301. It got me to work and back, was terribly rusted, but I sold it for a couple hundred bucks to a friend of my son who wanted a work car. It had a nice velour interior, but hot starts were tough. (None of my business, but I hope you kept the girl!) @@donreinke5863
The Olds 307 was actually in Fleetwood Broughams/Broughams through 1990. As much as it was better and way more reliable than the Highly Troublesome 4100, I think the worry was people at the time would find it unacceptable to buy a Cadillac that was powered by a lower-division engine. The Olds 307 is still lacking in power, though. I’m not sure why they didn’t at least put the high-output version of that engine in these full-sized beasts, but perhaps it was the terrible GM decision to avoid the gas guzzler tax. If I had been a buyer back then, I would have easily paid it to get a more powerful engine!
Imagine you are Cadillac planners back then. You watched customers on the west coast start to buy Mercedes in the mid 1960s and instead of talking to those buyers and thinking ahead, you bring the 1971 cars to market. They were successful, but began the beginning of Cadillac's malaise era slide with the the build quality problems. Cadillac finally got an "international" car going with the Seville in 1976 and didn't get a smaller Eldo in the showrooms until 1979. But two oil shocks had made your vehicles uncompetitive again so you look at Mercedes and say "hmmmm, that diesel seems to work ok. Don't we build railroad diesels? How hard could it be?" Well that sucked too. Then they screw up the 6.0L big block with the V8-6-4 tech. Then in desperation the Cimarron is brought to market, two years too early in terms of a design that would not be confused for Chevy. And finally, the piece de resistance, the 1982 HT4100. How bad was this engine? Why on earth would you even offer the Buick 4.1L V6 alongside the HT4100 when they had the same mileage???? The only answer is that someone in Cadillac was hedging their bets in case the HT4100 truly sucked (and it did). So not one, not two but four shitty engines in fives years (can't forget or forgive the Cimarron's first 1.8L I4 engine.
There were many different v8 engines options within GM at the time the HT4100 "LT8" was introduced. Oldsmobile 260/307. Chevrolet 267/305/350. All of these engines could have easily have been built with fuel efficiency in mind. I always wanted to ask whomever was in charge of the Cadillac in 1980's why they went out of their way to make such a horrible engine. Maybe Adam has the answer.
Also, I think the bloated styling around the headlights of early 80’s GM autos across the board is my least favorite styling trend historically. So my vote goes for worst construction AND styling.
I can't believe the interior on that 1971-73 Cadillac. Even after prefacing that they were bad, I didn't think it would be that bad. It looks like the interior of a tow truck with a pattern embossed on the vinyl seats.
You clearly touch a nerve with some people with these videos. Keep it up. I like the Best Of videos as well - the porch chats. Highlights and Lowlights alike are touchstones of what American brands were going through.
I'm surprised the 1985 DeVille/Fleetwood and 1986 Seville aren't on there. At least the early 1980s Cadillacs still looked like Cadillacs and drove like them (other than the engines). The 1985 DeVille/Fleetwood and 1986 Seville were obviously tarted-up Buicks. They still had HT4100 engines, too. It wasn't until 1988-1989 with the facelifts and the much improved HT4500 engines that things really started to improve. As a brand I feel like Cadillac reached its low around 1986. December 14, 2023 11:48 pm
I had a 1983 Sedan de Ville in the 90s that I bought from a senior who quit driving. My expectations were exceeded. At 55K miles the car was in good condition and drove well. The HT 4100 engine used around a quart of oil every 1500 miles but I never saw smoke under any conditions so the condition was minor. It was reliable for the most part. The low power was the problem. The ride quality was great compared to how most all cars try to be sporty now. It was a couch on wheels. The interior had the cheesy fake wood appliqué everywhere but the crushed velvet seats and vinyl trim were reasonably okay in that it did not feel or look super cheap. If I still had it I would spend the money to have someone just put in a Chevy 5.3 or 6.0 in it and integrate things so it would work as if it had come new like that. Nothing like a large body on frame car to handle the poor road conditions.
GM should have kept using the Oldsmobile V8 in Cadillacs like the original Seville. And save the HT4100 for the later downsized cars. GM's insistence on exclusive powertrains for Cadillac has done nothing but cause the brand grief since 1982.
Great videos Adam. Thank you! I owned a 71 Eldorado Conv. a few years ago. I loved it but I do remember that it had issues. I own two Buick Electras now. A 62 Conv. And a 72 Limited. I really loved the videos you’ve done on your 70 limited. I’m waiting for you to go through the Electra history. Pretty important in the Buick line up for over 30 years. Thank you! Keep it up!!
Took a Catera in on trade when I sold new Mercedes like 12 years ago. Guy was a judge and had taken perfect care of it, even had a stack of service records. Thing was we didnt sell non Mercedes and it wasn't just destined for the wholesale auction, it was gonna be sent straight to the scrap yard. Judge guy was a but upset but I told him I'd leave all his service receipts on the passenger seat so at least they'd know what could be harvested off it.
He either owns one of those cars with that engine installed and is afraid to admit it, or was responsible for marketing, designing, etc any of those cars. Otherwise I cannot understand how any of those cars were not mentioned, and this nearly includes a decade long timeline. They are much worse than any of the cars listed on this list and should be #1 by default. That's why they are essentially worthless today and have been for a long time now.
I currently work for a chevy dealership. Im kinda just disgusted with the overall quality right now. So much plastic right now on the interior and the fresh glue from the factory smells like dookie when they come off the truck. Altho GMC division still seems to be attending to detail somewhat. And i havent seen a caddy come on the lot in months. Kinda curious of your opinion on the current GM stuff?
I worked at a Cadillac Service department in the early 2000s. I can confirm the Catera was indeed one of the most frequent visitors to the shop for a litany of repairs. A close 2nd was anything with a Northstar that had more than 50k miles on it. We also had a lot of unhappy customers of the ‘00-‘02 Devilles and Sevilles. Lots of electronic gremlins.
Yeah because it's an Opel. I live in europe, and here in my country we have a backronym for Opel: O - Otima (steals) P - Pare (your money) EL - Elegantno (elegantly)
As an Opel Omega in Europe I loved this car. A little heavy on maintenance, but a great engine in the BMW straight 6 diesel and very comfortable for it's time.
Dad bought an 81 diesel Eldorado. It had so many problems the dealer took it back and sold him an 82 diesel Eldorado with all the available options for a discount. Other than being tragically slow the second one worked fine for years until my sister forgot it was a diesel and filled it with regular gas. Dad had a 350 dropped under the hood and drove it for a couple more years. He never bought another Caddy after owning 4 in a row.
The Vicegrip episode is freakin' EPIC. My Dad's first NEW (all the others were used caddies) Cadillac was a '72 Brougham. Even at age 7, I could tell is was crap compared to our '68, or the '66 it replaced. Plastic-y and downright tinny. In the 90s I inherited my grandmother's '87 Fleetwood with the HT4100. Yeesh. And they wonder why they lost market share to Lexus and Acura 80s startups.
As a European I can say that Opel Omega was quite a decent car in it's own right, with good 4cyl gas and diesel engines under the hood. But dressing it up and parading it as a cadillac is a joke.
I had an Opel Omega Station Wagon with the BMW straight 6 engine, and it had its fair share of problems too. The engine tended to heat up way too quickly, especially when going uphill, and the on-body frame right behind the front wheel was prone to rusting away. In the end, the engine still worked okay, but the body was beyond repair, forcing me to part ways with the car. Despite all its flaws, I still loved it. By the way, I love your content and always enjoy watching and learning something new about classic cars! All the best from austria
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Northstar Caddies. These engines with their notorious head gasket failures are a big black eye to both their owners and Cadillac's reputation. Oldsmobile Aurora owners bore the brunt of the failures with all of this model. On a car that was designed to turn Oldsmobile's fortunes around, this did not help them one lick in that effort, clearly.
I HAD A 1995 CADILLAC CONCOURSE DEVILLE WITH THE NORTHSTAR , IN THE BEGINNING WITH 48 K ITS WAS A SMOOTH RUNNING CAR , AT 54 K THE ELECTRONIC FRONT STRUTS WENT OUT , AT 64 K IT STARTED DROPPING OIL FROM THE OIL PAN AT 80 K THE HOT EXHAUST MANIFOLD MELTED A HOLE IN THE HEATER BOX , WHEN I CALLED THE DEALER TO GET AN ESTIMATE TO FIX THE OIL LEAK , I WAS TOLD WE CAN FIX IT , WE HAVE TO DROP THE CRADLE AS AN ASSEMBLY IT WILL BE 4 K TO FIX IT !!! I TOLD THAT SERVICE WRITER THIS IS THE VERY REASON THE JAPANESE ARE KICKING OUR A.... !!! AND I HUNG UP I WAS PISSED , A CAR THAT COSTS 50 K + NEW AND THE IDIOTS CANNOT SEAL A DAMN OIL PAN GASKET !!! ITS LIKE THEY WERE SETTING PEOPLE UP SO THE ENGINE WOULD BLOW - UP SO THEY COULD THE WARRANTY GOING !!! A NEVER STAR , I’M DONE ITS A LT - 1 OR NOTHIN ‘ !!!
What about later, when they introduced the ohc Northstar V8's? They also had problems, with the heads warping from various gasket sealing issues and other problems. Once these things happened, it was cheaper just to replace the engine. If I remember correctly, the engine had to be dropped from the underside of the engine compartment, which required special equipment and made it a pain to do major work. I had a couple of friends with these cars and once the engines went, it was basically better to get rid of the car. Too bad, they were kind of neat cars.
The engine and trans-axle had to be dropped from the bottom. The problem was poor head bolt design. GM didn't get around to fixing the head bolts FOR TEN YEARS, instead they blamed the grenaded engines on lack of maintenance...yanno, the customer's fault. The head bolts were not the only problem that the Sh!t-Star had. Recently I was driving behind a Cadillac equipped with the 4.6. The car was producing so much black/blue smoke I thought it was a Russian aircraft carrier at first.
@@MrSloika Even if it was the customer's fault, the customers were used to being slack. You NEVER tell the customer it's their fault. Which seems to be something that Disney with their movie debacles at the box office and shows on Disney+ have not learned. The object of a business is to make money, not lecture. It's a buzzkill even for people that haven't bought the product, because it's bad PR for future products.
I had a Northstar Eldorado and it was definitely a nightmare. Ended up trying to part the car out and couldn't even sell hardly anything so I had the scrap yard just take the whole mess off my hands.
I'm honestly stunned that Adam didn't place any North Star engine equipped cars on this list. That particular engine was probably the absolute worst engine Cadillac ever installed into their cars, far worse than the 1.8 liter 1982 Cimarron engine. That's why essentially any Cadillac made from 1994-2002 is literally worthless even with very low mileage and excellent cosmetic condition. If I made this list the Northstar cars would be #1 by far over the other choices. I guess Adam either drives a car with this pathetic engine in it or was responsible for marketing or designing those cars. Otherwise it's very hard to understand why it completely missed this list.
My first (and only) classic car was a beige 1981 Cadillac Coupe DeVille with the infamous 368 ci 'V8-6-4' engine. It was a Michigan car its whole life; it only had 15,000 miles on it when I got it (the original owner took notes when they drove the car.) However it was stored for God knows how long, and the old girl was in dire need of a restoration. A restoration that I was unable to come close enough to start, so after 2 years of puttering around in "Charlotte the Battle Barge" I moved her along. If anything, I got to check off 'own a classic car' off my bucket list, even if it wasn't a _true_ classic.
Your opinions just aren’t worth much. The Opel Omega (Cadillac Catera) was a great road car and if you had even moderate capability, maintenance was no more difficult than a BMW or a VW, and they’re not difficult. GM botched just about everything about it, as they’ve done with others, such as the Holden Monaco (Pontiac G8) and the Opel Astra (Saturn Astra.) Won’t own another GM vehicle. Would have another Opel Omega/Cadillac Catera in a heartbeat.
I remember on the Catera there was a door you could open in the glove box to let the a/c blow in and turn it into a sort of cooler. My retired neighbor bought a new 1981 Coupe de Ville with the 4.1L, four barrel V6. I don't recall her having any problems , and she did a lot of traveling with it.
Got to Cadillac point in life early 90's. Couldn't choke down that lousy aluminum block/iron head 4.9. Settled for a 91 Olds Touring Sedan in maroon. 3800 baby.
There's literally nothing lousy about the 4.9l engine. Super reliable and quite powerful for its time. Way better than the horrific North star engine that came right after.
I’m a child of the 90s and remember laughing at those Catera commercials. They also made a big deal that one of the ducks on the Cadillac emblem was reversed. They thought they were really clever with that. 😂
When you consider that all 5 were within a 25 year span and 3 were within 5 years, it's remarkable that Cadillac survived at all. Horrible product planning, even with the myriad challenges presented.
Appreciate the comments on the quality of 71-73 Cadillacs but wouldn’t rate them so lowly. Plastic instead of leather buttons. In the words of Bob Lutz, that is the island of WGA……….The Cimarron sure but as you know we both have one and love them. They actually sold quite a few and, typical GM, they did sort it out over subsequent years. Even though I have a later, V6 one, I wouldn’t mind a first series due to its pure rarity.
Did you know that the Chevy Cavalier was based on a European mid-size Opel? A freaking 80s Opel... That was what the Cimarron was ultimately based on. Unbelievable.
While i agree with your list. (besides one exception)Surprised you didn't include the Allante. My mom drove the 1981 Coupe Deville problem free for 15 years. I drive the 2008 DTS with the EVIL Northstar (2nd Generation) 143,000 miles without major service.
My bad Cadillac stories almost all occurred in the 80’s. First I bought three Eldo’s from a collector, a 69, a70 and a 71. They were good clean cars with low miles but I was shocked by how cheap the 69-70 dashboards and door panels looked and felt, especially given the very high original price point. Also they rode lousy, noisy rough suspension and despite having 375-400 horses they were not quick by any means. The 71 rode much better but the interior quality was even worse and the extra weight and lower horses made it feel like a 305 not a 500. Next my uncle bought a new 180 Fleetwood with the olds 350 diesel. He never had any troubles with it but it could barely maintain highway cruising speeds on any kind of incline on a turnpike. I do recall borrowing it to go skiing in Vermont and being amazed at mileage in the 30’s. Unheard of at that time. However I also recall being unable to maintain 50 mph on some uphill stretches of I-89. A year later my mom bought an 81 Seville with the 368 6-8-4. It drove quite nice and quiet apart from soft brakes and front drive torque steer. She had it 3 or 4 years and surprisingly never had any issues. Power was pretty good by 1981 standards thanks to the big for that year displacement. My uncle then traded his 80 diesel for an 82 Fleetwood with the 4.1. If at all possible, he hated that gutless engine even more than the diesel and it was gone in a year. After 20 years of Cadillacs he bought a Mercedes and never even considered a caddy again for the rest of his life. I was never into Caddies but I can appreciate the style, presence and quality of mid 60’s Cadillacs.
17:03 what a beautiful Cadillac!!! Imagine if they had just used simple proven Chevy V8s and a robust 4 speed proven Chevy automatic transmission.....if so you'd still be seeing lots of them still on the road...I remember people junking these 4100 cars by age 6-9 from blown engines...
1971 was when the General Motors Assembly Division took over control of the assembly plants, thus the poor quality control and loss of quality reputations that were built over decades. The Catera would have been a great Buick/Opel, if GM had kept importing Opels. The HT4100 was a rush job, when the V8/6/4 was a critical flop.
Yes please, I'll happily take all the 71-73 Cadillacs that nobody else wants! They're flawed vehicles and far from the best of breed, there's something that speaks to me about these early malaise, GM cheaping out, pre oil crisis vehicles. I'd rather have a 65-70 Cadillac (especially 65 or 67-68), but I really love pretty much everything the company made prior to the 1981 model year, warts and all.
Dad had a ‘84 Seville with the HT-4100. It was glacial but never had other problems. He also had a 1980 Fleetwood with the diesel. THAT was glacial and had problems running; even though he kept it in the garage. The Seville he kept for 12 years. The Fleetwood was gone in about 18 months.
The 97 Catera, as an Opel Omega is actually a really good car, the "Elite" range were highly equipped, build quality was pretty decent, the 3.0 and 3.2 had a top speed of 155mph, very popular in the UK as Police cars
Catera: I have to disagree with you. I leased a 1999 Catera that looked exactly like @19:07 mark in the video. It was a beautiful car. It had a Bose sound system with a 12 disc CD changer in the trunk, a single CD in the head unit with a casette player. So all audio bases covered. The sound system sounded amazing. It rode extremely well, got above average gas mileage, was very quick off the line and sounded great doing so. The sun/moon roof was multi-adjustable. I took it on a week-long road trip with four full-sized adult males and the trunk swallowed all of our luggage with ease. The only issue I ever experienced in 36 months, was in the first month the HVAC system went south. It was fully covered under warranty. After that unfortunate incident, I had absolutely no issues with the car. I am glad I spent 3 years with my Catera. For me, it was a great experience.
Back in the day I had Opel Omega 3.2 executive in the Netherlands. Never let me stranded but the biggest weakpoints by far was RUST! Head gaskets, oil leaks and faulty sensors. Typical build quality of Opel in the 90’s..
I am no GM fan. But I used to be. Now four of my cars are FoMoCo but even then all their current stuff is crap. I hate to see myself say that. In 2018 I rented a Cadillac XTS for 9 days and just could NOT find fault with it. However, the one and ONLY reason there isn't one in my garage is because of the garbage 3.6 engine. If GM had a more reliable engine I would have bought one. Instead I'll stick to my 20 year old technology that's bulletproof.
If they just kept the 425, and the Turbo 400 transmission everything wouldve been fine. Cadillac buyers dont care about the cost of fuel. The full size cars were good looking, but the drivelines... Blame the bean counters at the corporate offices..
Hey Adam. Can you share other RU-vid channels you watch like Vice Grip Garage? Didn’t know about it thanks for my RU-vid algo and it’s amazing. Thanks for sharing on this video.
I remember walking home from school in Anaheim CA on Loara with our friend and her Dad on occasion would pull up and a gorgeous "65 red cadillac convertible and give us a ride the next 3 or 4 blocks home...White leather and sparkly red outside,,,And they had a pool in the back yard!! Pretty happy 10 year old!
My grandpa did trade a 67 for a 71 fleetwood and loved the car. He had it up till 81, then never bought another cadillac. Personally I never cared for the 73-74 exterior.
We had a '72 Cadillac and it was in many ways the epitome of what Cadillac was at the time, huge V8 and huge interior. But with what would be laughably low miles today at 100,000 it had a lot of issues and we jut couldn't afford the maintenance. Later got a '77 Cadillac though we should have known better, same thing. You can't have Cadillac dreams on a Toyota budget
Thing is.. i don't think Cadillac has made anything i'd want since they killed the fleetwood in 96. But more so.. the late 60's.. Certainly wouldn't give a second look at anything they make now.. basically just badge engineered chevy stuff..
Having watched a few of your videos makes me aware of your very low knowledge base of Cadillac. You should include a disclaimer as to your lacking factual based opinions/posts are for entertainment purposes ONLY!
Caddy was really caught flat footed with fuel economy regs in the late 70s, early 80s. Buyers still wanted that ultra luxurious full sized car with power. But GM scrapped all its good Caddy V8s. The 364 was ok with the 4-6-8 system deleted. I've worked on several that were. In fact, that was Caddy's "fix" eventually. The 4.1 is still the butt of many jokes, but at the time, mechanics had a nightmare situation of trying to fix an engine that couldn't be fixed.. I recall even into the mid 90s, customers would come in complaining of leaks of all sorts on relatively low mile cars. Our corporate headquarters actually told us to fix it as best as possible, but told the service manager not to warranty ANYTHING. ( which was done with a big red stamp on the customers' invoice) 1 shop near us was replacing 4100s with the improved 4.5s that came out around 1988 ish. As for the Catera..We would see them come in all the time with blown up engines, or engines mechanically out of time. I recall at 1 point we had 3 of them in the yard waiting on crate engines. Recall they used that duck as a mascot in their advertising? We would call Cateras the lame duck.
The 4100 was a turd regardless of year model. I worked in a Caddy dealer in the mid 80's and part of the make ready for new Cadillacs fresh off the transport was to bring them up to full operating temp, lightly load the engine in gear and listen for main bearing knock. GM had to make main bearings in .001" increments for these engines, and it wasn't unusual to have to put main bearings in brand new engines. The cylinders were free standing in the block, meaning no deck surface, which in turn lead to head gasket issues. The long head bolts threaded in just above the pan rail area. Torqueing the heads back down during gasket replacement could easily pull the threads out of the aluminum block which instantly made the engine non-repairable. GM made sealant tabs to be added to the coolant just for these engines to help keep them from dripping at the head gaskets. Add in distributor and cam gear incompatibility issues that destroyed the cam, detonation issues, unreliable electronic engine controls, the aforementioned oil leaks and intake leaks.... and the fact that the transverse mounted FWD V8 designs were enough to make a preacher cuss from a serviceability standpoint..... the 4100 gets my vote as one of the top three worst designs ever penned by an American manufacturer.
I just bought a 1985 cadillac Eldorado in Miami and drove it to Virginia. It has the ht4100 and it broke down on me 3 times up. And once I got here it blew the water pump. And now it’s spent more time off the road than on the road.
I knew the Catera was gonna be on there... my buddy had one and I couldn't believe it was a Cadillac. I thought for sure he had just put different symbols on a Ford Taurus or something...lol
Catera, I remember these when I was looking for cheap transportation. I would see these everywhere back in the early 2000's rotting away. They looked great but everyone was just outside of warranty and dumped with a myriad of problems. Owned my last Cadillac, SLS, in early 2000's and never looked back due to all the issues. Now only Infiniti and most recently Lexus. Great ideas by Cadillac but horrible execution and lackluster dealers. America I know can do better.
What I remember was on my SLS, the bumpstops in the rear suspension were cracked and dry. I wanted to replace them after I replaced the struts DIY. I was told they only come in sets of 12 and the dealership would not sell them to me and quoted me $1200 to install them. This while my SLS was sitting in the air in my garage waiting for me to install. That was the last straw. I only needed 8 in total and they insisted on selling me 12 AND I had to use Cadillac service.
Back in the day I had Opel Omega 3.2 executive in the Netherlands. Never let me stranded but the biggest weakpoints by far was RUST! Head gaskets, oil leaks and faulty sensors. Typical build quality of Opel in the 90’s..
My parents 82 Buick LeSabre Limited had the 4.1 V-6 engine under the hood, it was a dog when it came to acceleration, I wanted them to get the V-8 instead because it would have been a better choice, in the time my folks had the car, my father wanted to go to arbitration on account of how bad it was, the bottom line was that it was a bad engine/transmission combo, they traded it in for a new 86 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with the Olds V-8 under the hood
