March saw our long-term test Seville doing a clean 1,000 miles in Southern California. Our STS is beginning to show its age in terms of wear and tear. Despite its age, a car this expensive should not be suffering the sort of quality defects we are finding. The paint appears to be coming off the interior buttons again. This makes the buttons look dirty during the day and glow from odd places at night. "It's inexcusable for a $55K car to suffer quality problems like what I see on the satellite radio controls," editor-in-chief Chris Wardlaw said in disgust. He went on, "I can pull the top left corner of the dash up about an inch, exposing the inner workings of the dashboard. This doesn't inspire confidence in quality." The "technologically advanced" suspension is also rattling and creaking over the speed bumps in our parking garage. It sounded to one of our staffers like the wheels were going to fall off. However, this suspension comes into its own on the dipped pavement of the San Diego Freeway (LA's infamous 405). One staffer who spends an extraordinary amount of time on the freeways of California said, "Here the Seville is in its element, and the suspension works beautifully to quell highway hop and excessive body motion over bridge transitions." Our staffer noted, "The computer that controls the suspension is able to react quickly enough to anticipated bound-and-sway and the Caddy runs this stretch of highway nicely. I'm glad I've finally been able to find something nice to say about the Seville's underpinnings."

All attempts to clean this car have still left it looking very used. With the light-color leather on the steering wheel highlighting the grime buildup, the paint-peeling buttons, and the small chips of exterior paint missing due to hard driving in Colorado, it is clear that this car has been through a lot. Nevertheless, one staffer said, "Somebody got this car cleaned up nicely inside. The last time I saw this car, the interior looked like it had seen about 10 years of use." But let's face it folks, Cadillac intended this car for a single driver over a long period of time, not a cadre of automotive journalists with grease on their hands. This writer is certain that this car could have and should have been taken care of a bit better and would be looking like new if it had been.

Having not been in the Caddy for over a year, Wardlaw commented, "It's easy to like the car upon reintroduction. It's quick, it's comfortable, it's loaded to the gills with amenities, it smells good inside -- a very likable car. But the build quality and suspension are terrible. The road-sensing suspension reacts to road irregularities a split second too late, making for a jarring ride over sharp bumps and for a stiff ride over the smooth pavement immediately beyond the sharp bump."

So what did Cadillac have in mind when making this vehicle? Based on our staffer's experiences, it is clear that they wanted the driver to enjoy premium luxury combined with refined power. This month VP Lev Stark used the STS to shuttle his wife to the hospital to have their baby. He used it again to bring wife and baby boy home in style. "It was a most appropriate car to treat the ones you love with class, and the smooth and quiet ride assured that the baby would sleep the whole way home," Stark said with that proud fatherly look on his face.

Stark, who is known for being a gadget man, was surprised when he first got into the car he had not driven in almost a year to find that all the preprogrammed phone numbers he had set in the voice activated system one year ago were still there. "Everything from my parent's house to the old office number were still in the memory," he said. If the voice-activated system is supposed to be extra-easy to program, one has to wonder why several drivers in the last year have not done so.

One staffer who had recently driven the Lincoln LS had this to say: "I drove the Seville nearly 500 miles over a long weekend. The car is supremely comfortable, luxuriously appointed, quite handsome, and genuinely a pleasure to drive. Given the choice between a Jaguar S Type 4.0 and a Seville STS, I'd take the Seville in a split-second." On handling he said, "Running hard in corners, the Seville's performance algorithm shifting also makes for quick getaways after rounding a turn. This transmission operates nearly flawlessly with the monstrously powerful Northstar V8, and really helps to underline how horrible the shift action is in the Lincoln LS. Plus, the guttural growl emitted by the Northstar is easily preferable to the muted whine of the Lincoln's eight. Nice job on the powertrain, Cadillac."

The comments logged during the rainy season consistently praise the Seville's Rainsense wiper system. This month was no exception. We recommend this doodad and find it extremely convenient.

We sent the Seville into Martin Cadillac for an oil change, reattachment of the gas cap tether and its 30K maintenance. In addition we asked them to look into the speaker system that two of our staffers had complained was going out in the middle of songs on several occasions. The guys over at Martin Cadillac were unable to find a problem with the stereo system. We took a look at it ourselves and concluded that the problem only occurs when the radio is playing. It never happens while using the CD player. Our conclusion is that the problem must be stemming from a reception issue on FM stations. The staff at Martin Cadillac was professional but not always responsive. The service advisor, who was assigned the task of getting the car fixed said, "Waiting four hours to hear from Bill was annoying, but it is a busy service department and perhaps delays are to be expected. And the Seville was still ready by the end of the day." To their credit, Martin Cadillac did call us to suggest that since we had new tires, we should not be having them do the standard tire rotation. It is always impressive when a dealer suggests that you don't spend some money.

Total Odometer Reading: 34,773
Best Fuel Economy: 20.6
Worst Fuel Economy: 12.8
Body Damage: $0
Maintenance Costs: $151.11 (includes oil change and throttle body servicing)
Problems: Rattling front suspension, chipped steering wheel buttons.