Lexus Ls400 Vs Cadillac Seville Sts

[lexin n flexin]

hello room, this is my first post.

im intrested in two differant cars, the ls400 from 93-95 and the cadillac seville sts from 96-98

i have read that the lexus is the most reliable car in the world but the parts are absurd to replace. is this true? i am kind of leaning to the seville from a style aspect but have herd the reliability is spotty. and that the lexus is one of the smoothest and quitest cars on the road, is this true? what performs car performs better, straight line and cornering? im looking to spend between 9-11k, any advice would be of great help. thank you

[NeiLtYmE]

Im not a fan of GM... but

Seville does have a nice ride... soaks bumps like nothing else....

Strait line driving ... as far as luxury goes.. the touring suspension on the caddy has got the LS beat.... but there is no cornering ability what so ever on the caddy... you turn, and it tilts like hell

Seville's are actually pretty reliable, but ofcourse not nearly well built as the LS...

the luxury features between the seville and LS dont compare..

caddy is cheap... the leather interior will start cracking immediately..

Power Steering is really nice as well on the caddy... but it has to be the car is a beast...

Sound systems are pretty much both at top end.. when it comes to factory that is....

LS is alot... alot more for the money

Go with the LS...

Hope it helps

[jzz30]

my neighbor hac a caddy i forgot which model but i think it was a 94 and we were fixin things on that everymonth! seriously the parts that broke were irritating stuff like valves that would feed trans oil in to the engine so the engine would burn trans fluid and after a while if you didnt notice cause it was slow your car wouldnt move. other things like idle control were adjusted by a motor that mechanicaly opens throttle that would go out of place so the car wont idle and when you jack the car up the chassis bent so you couldnt open the hood. i would never buy a caddy but thats me :P

[SKperformance]

i like the ls for a smooth luxury ride

it is not a car to be driven hard

but will get you there very sedate

the sts is more geared to be a drivers car

but not a very good one

it is kinda sloppy in the suspension

and it is always falling apart has no resale and the northstar engine is now completly different thant then

save your money and buy the ls its parts are not as ridiculas as merceded or bmw it is inline with any other toyota part

and all models have resale of a good degree

just loook for a power steering pump to be leaking on to the alternator which is abuot the only main issue with the car

other wise go an enjoy

also stay away form an airbag suspension model

it feels great to drive but when it breaks and it does

it is big bucks

[SW03ES]

My dad had an STS before he got his LS400.....

There's no comparison, the LS400 is 100% more car. Ride MUCH better than the Caddy, RWD vs FWD, better powertrain, MUCH higher quality, MUCH more reliable, better performance, more prestigious image. Its just no contest.

He says it best "After driving the Lexus, driving a Caddy again feels like driving a Chevy".

[jmblimo]

The Northstar engine is very rough compaired to the LS400 engine. The Japanese can built a motor. The Lexus is smooth as silk. You will have a few problems with the LS aound 90,000 miles.

[SW03ES]

My dad's 98 has 140k, never a problem. His Cadillac had 65 or so when he traded it, and it was falling apart.

[obergc]

Interesting replys here and most obviously have never owned a caddy. I happen to own a 94 Cadillac Concours and a 93 LS 400. No doubt that the Lexus is quieter and smoother but Cadillac chose to give the Northstar engine a throaty V8 sound deliberately The handling you get with the Seville depends on what model you buy, the SLS is a softer ride while the STS is a sportier ride and I guarantee you that it doesn't waddle and lean around in the turns as some would have you believe. With the FWD caddy, you really have to watch it when you floor the throttle if you have the steering wheel turned like as when pulling out to pass, the engine torque can almost pull the steering wheel out of your hands if you aren't ready for it, you will never feel that in the Lexus with the RWD. The caddy Northstar engine does have some issues to beware of, some burn oil, some leak oil, some do neither, if you overheat it you can end up with a very, very expensive repair job. Some people prefer FWD while others prefer RWD, I personally like the power to the rear wheels. No doubt that in a standing start, my caddy will run away from the LS 400 from the stop light but the LS probably has a better top speed. Overall, I like the engineering in the LS400 a little better, for instance, both cars have an electronic speed sensor in the transmission. In the caddy, it is a common fail item that only costs a little but it's about $2000 labor to replace the part since you have to drop the entire engine/transmission to replace the part. The caddy's have an electronic diagnostics function for all the cars electronics that the Lexus engineers would do well to copy. You can access all of the trouble codes for the engine, suspension system, body computers, etc. through the message center, no scanners, jumped pins, counting light blinks, etc required. There is a big difference in the mileage between my LS400 and the 94 Concours with the LS at 100K and the Concours at 40K. Other then oil changes, I have done absolutely nothing to the Caddy, in fact the car still has the original tires on it with good rubber left. I have only owned the LS for about 3 months now and have had to replace the a/c compressor, condenser, expansion valve, repair the outside mirror control, the adjustment switch did not work, repair the instrument panel cluster, the speedometer and tach would work only occassionally, had to pull it out twice before I finally got it repaired, and had to replace the power antenna mast. The leather seats and interior of the caddy are still in perfect shape, my LS has a small split in the leather on the drivers seat seating area. The caddy leather is softer while the LS leather feels heavier and firmer. I think both cars are fine autos in their own ways. The Seville will have an active suspension system where the individual shocks are very, very expensive and replacing the shocks with OEM parts can cost thousands of dollars. My LS does not have the air suspension and I am thankful for that because I'm sure that the shocks would be equally expensive. My LS already had a new power steering pump, alternator, and a timing belt replaced shortly before I bought it. Any car will have parts that will wear out through normal wear and tear, like windshield wipers, brake pads, water pumps, alternator, a/c compressors, etc. I think the LS 400 engine/transmission drivetrain will be more trouble free then the caddy in the long run but you will find many caddy owners with over 200K and still running strong. You will definitely pay more for the LS in a same year with comparable mileage. Lexus, definitely better resale value without a doubt. But that means you can pick up a comparable caddy cheaper, right? I would advise you to look the car/s over well and look beyond the paint job to find a quality car. If you are looking to buy a caddy, you would be well advised to join the cadillac owners group and listen to the problems that they are encountering and learn how to access the electronic fail codes before you make the leap. Could save you thousands of dollars.

Curt

[VMF]

you just happen to have an ls400 that was not properly serviced or used. i have an ls400 with 130k miles and my paint is still shinig and leather is really soft with noscratches except 2 minor ones on drivers seat and i didnt do anything except regualr maintenance. and btw i "raced" with SLS and lincoln ls v8. on the first gear nothsrat kicked lil more torque then mine 1`uzfe, but after 40 mph ls400 is the king. mb s430 and bmw 530 are the only ones that can argue with ls400 on the highway. my uncle had sls and he traded it in after only 25k for ml320 due to regular visits to the dealership. every 3-4 weeks he had to replace something wasting whole day. american cars are comfy and even some of them are fast. but when it comes to reliability nothing can even be around them. (except buick ) check the current reliability stats for this year if you dont beleive me. i worked for vallet parking for 3 years couple of years ago and thats why i bought lexus, ive seen and driven moslty any car that you have out there and i had plenty of chanses to compare them. Lexus is the best in reliablity and quality of ride.

[jbarhorst2]

I am from a GM family. My father worked for GM for 34 years. That's what I was raised on. I used to be proud to say that I had only owned Cadillacs. 1987 Sedan deVille, 1991 Seville STS, 1995 DeVille Concours, 1997 Eldorado Touring Coupe, 1999 Seville STS, 2001 Seville SLS. My first two I purchased used and the last four I drove right off of the dealer's lot. I was the youngest person to have purchased new cars from this dealer. However, the last 3 made many trips back to that same lot. All three of those cars were riddled with electronics problems. I even had the engineers down from Detroit to look at my cars. Each was different. Even though those 3 cars had many of the same systems, they didn't all act the same. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't. Should you have to be 6 inches away from your car for the keyless entry to work --- I don't think so. Should your electric steering wheel just decide to not work and then move while you are driving down the road --- I don't think so. Should the engine in your $54,000 STS simply die while driving down the highway at 80 mph --- I don't think so. The gauge cluster in my SLS died and they had to send it to Texas to be repaired. OK, no problem, right?? Wrong. In this age of overnight shipping it took them 30 days to return my car. All of this while I'M the one being labeled as the problem. While my car was at the dealership one of the final times it was damaged -- both rear doors were dented. The owner of the dealership told me that I damaged the car and was just trying to get them to fix it for free. He lost my business that day. And I never had a Northstar engine that didn't use oil (about 3 quarts in 5,000 miles) or make a lot of noise (cam chains). These are just a few of the problems I have had. I put 23,000 miles on rental cars in the 2 years I owned the 2001 SLS. My 1997 SC now has 114,000 miles on it and is running great. I bought it last year at my local dealer with 82,000 miles on the clock. Extremely good experience. I liked it so well that we went back this year and bought my wife a 2001 RX with Navi. I can definitely tell you that GM will not be getting my business any time soon (even with the discount through my father). I already have my next car picked out; a pearl white LS430.

[jzz30]

you cant compare a caddy with a lexus. :magic: