One vehicle had to go: Caddy DHS or the Mark VIII

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VegasMarkVIII

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For the last couple of months I was thinking of going with only one daily driver. I have a one way commute of about 25 miles, so I liked the idea of having two cars to choose from. My '98 Mark VIII has proven very reliable, over the last 3 years, compared to my '03 Cadillac DHS. The DHS has been out of warranty, since 2009, but it had some bugs fixed when it was under warranty. Work on the DHS included, issues with all four power windows, a bad engine mount, a service engine soon light that went out that required replacing the entire instrument cluster, a bad blower motor, and the torque converter had to be replaced. Thankfully, all that work was done under warranty. Since the warranty expired, I replaced the blower motor a second time, and then the "service engine soon" light came on again last month. It turns out the codes for the light were related to the torque converter once again, and the warranty from the dealer for that work had previously expired.
Turns out my decision was easy to make after that diagnosis! I unloaded the DHS the same day of that torque converter diagnosis (estimated 12 hours labor time). The Northstar 4.6L engine had previously developed a small oil leak, so I knew that would have to be dealt with at some point down the road.
The DHS was a plush car, with many over the top features, but in the end, it could not compete with my Mark VIII. I've found the Mark's 4.6L engine to be far more durable than the Northstar engine, and I certainly never had those other issues with my Mark that I experienced with the DHS.
At 132,000, I think my Mark VIII is up for the challenge of a long commute five days a week.
 
Nice decision, but , of course, it wasn't that none of us didn't already know what an "no choice" decision it was to make! That Caddy HAD to GO! :D

All kidding aside, welcome to LOD and quit showing up those Japanese imports!
 
Those Northstar engines are problematic. I heard about 3 in one year that came into a local shop here. Only one of them ran properly and all 3 had floor-dri underneath them cause they leave their mark. A CTS-V is the only Caddi I would ever own. After winning the lottery of course. Give me a Northstar and I'll wreck that engine in two weeks. Somehow, the Intech keeps living on. Good choice.
 
Good choice sir. I bought my Mark VIII with 151K on it nearly 6 years ago and its still running strong at 218K. I have heard the Northstar motos are prone to oil leaks that never go away.
 
I would absolutly love a late 90's/early 00's eldo or sts. But that engine just scares the **** outa me. It really sucks.
 
sbcaprice305 said:
I would absolutly love a late 90's/early 00's eldo or sts. But that engine just scares the **** outa me. It really sucks.
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I don't blame you. The Northstar engines before '00 or '01 were also notorious for head gasket problems. My DHS was an '03 model and it did have a small oil leak, and the last time I was at my mechanic they put some remark about "bad leak" "valve cover". Northstar engines are also notorious for engine mount problems.

Those late 1990's thru '03 Eldorados are beautiful and powerful cars though.... just not worth all the potential mechanical issues at this point.
 
My dad had a '94 STS new when I was 14. Sweet car. Now that same car would be a giant POS.

That's the nice thing about the Mark VIII's. Not hard to work on, and common parts with a lot of other cars.
 
If you had a DTS, you could have driven it like you stole it... :p

I've had 2 DTS's motors on both have been tight, in fact I can't think of a single caddy in the 5 that were Northstars that had any problems.

We had problems with the 4.5, and the 4.1 before that was total junk.

The 4.9 was a torque monster, I guess it was the precursor to the 4.6...
 
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