1998 Cadillac Seville

When Cadillac released the Seville, we anticipated many things. Performance, attractive styling and excellent attention to detail were just a few of the attributes we expected to be wowed with. Greg Anderson, Edmund's senior features editor, was not wowed during the month he spent with the Seville.

Anderson does not like the Seville's power front seats. He claims that the servo motors sound like machine gun fire when operating, and that the memory seat positioning system actually tried to kill him. Okay, maybe "kill" is a strong word. Nevertheless, our gangly editor was crushed into the steering wheel when his elbow accidentally hit one of the seat position memory buttons on the driver's door. This harrowing experience led Anderson to describe the Seville's front chairs as sentient torture devices in his notes this month.

"Though I could see my right knee being crushed into the dash just below the ignition switch, the seat's power mechanism was oblivious to my pain and continued its impression of a medieval vise chamber."

Anderson also didn't enjoy driving the Seville that much, claiming that the suspension feels marshmallowy, and that the brakes require too much leg strength to operate. Guess he wants true European performance out of this import fighter. Somebody should have told Anderson that Cadillacs aren't BMWs, no matter what the ads say.

Anderson does like the Bose stereo and the way the big, Northstar V8 heats up the Caddy on cold, winter days. Nice to know that there are some things about this $50,000 car that continue to impress us.

We took our Seville to Red Noland Cadillac in Colorado Springs when the instrument panel light indicated that it was time to get our oil changed. Again, Anderson was disappointed. The problem this time was that he was told it would only take 30-45 minutes to get the Seville serviced, when in reality it took two hours. Complimentary hot cocoa and doughnuts smoothed Anderson's feathers as he sat wasting time in the dealership reception area, but he did muse that part of the reason people buy luxury cars is for V.I.P. treatment, and that nothing makes him feel like less of a V.I.P. than waiting around needlessly for service work.

During the two hour wait, Anderson was able to discover that getting the scratches out of the front and rear bumper and taking care of the "leaf etchings" in the hood's clearcoat would cost $428.

Total Odometer Reading:: 9,663
Best Fuel Economy: 15.6 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.1 mpg
Maintenance Cost: $30.87
Problems: None