Hi everyone,
I have decided to part with my 1985 Seville. It's low mileage, in very good condition. With a little work it could be a show car. Originally came from a collector in Palm Springs. I have it on Ebay, but just wanted to let you know.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203609807621?hash=item2f68171b05%3Ag%3AzGMAAOSwuvthRP1-&LH_ItemCondition=3000%7C1000%7C2500
Mike
#20545
Hi everyone,
I have my 1985 Seville for sale again on Ebay. I had no takers the last time, so I have relisted it at a lower price. It's a really nice car, I hate to sell it but I'm ready for something different. Merry Christmas everyone!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203762348351?hash=item2f712eb13f:g:QWYAAOSwrJ5hw1s2
Mike
#20545
Hi Mike,
It's just my observation but you are a CLC member, if you've owned it and enjoyed it for a while I would make it known that you aren't just flipping it. I would give people some more information which would tell people, without saying it directly, it's not just a flip from someone who doesn't necessarily know Cadillacs.
It does look like a very nice car. The bottoms of the doors look good and the carpets appear to be in great condition. On the down side it has the HT4100. If the turn signal functions I suspect it's a bulb but I would never say it's could be a quick fix because people will want to shout back then why didn't you fix it if it was significant enough to mention.
I would consider adding the following:
-Tire brand if they were premium tires (I don't know but white walls are getting harder to find)
-Is it original paint? It looks to me like it may have been painted but hard to say.
-You are from Chicago so if it's never been driven in winter or salt I would say that
-There are only 2 indicators of corrosion state. The corners of the doors look wonderful. I see some small signs of corrosion on the upper radiator support piece.
-I would as well take a look at some of the best auctions you've seen and borrow their photo format. The first 2 photos seem like they would look nicer if they were taken in landscape, at least when they're enlarged, with the car taking a higher percentage of the image.
-It's not always easy to do but a photo sitting in the back seat of the front dash area looks nice if it's done well.
-Probably not possible without driving in salt but it would be great to have an under body photo.
-Others know the protocol for keeping the HT4100 healthy or at least monitoring the health. If you've done anything like that I would want to know but I'm not certain how it would be viewed as general info in an auction. There are only a handful of people brave enough to own the HT4100. When I looked for my car I only considered 1979 but I would have now added 80 and 81.
Did anyone bid on the Sept auction? How high did it go? I'm not an expert at listing cars on eBay but maybe starting low with a reserve is a good idea. I believe eBay also allows you to change the reserve during the auction... at least they allow lowering it.
Scott
PS: Just trying to help. I'm not interested in another car.
Edit: The photo format and angles in this auction are pretty good. Something I don't think looks quite right about their main photo but in all I think they were well done.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234340225121?hash=item368fc41061:g:xIYAAOSw1dthvOxL
Thank you Scott, you're right there is a lot of information left out. I'm not that good at Ebay, it's not something I've used that much.
But I can give you guys a rundown. I bought the car in May of 2016, and it had I think 42,000 miles on it. The car had been owned by Bob Reed of "Fleet of Cads." He still has very good photos of it on his website:
http://www.fleetofcads.com/1602cad.htm
I didn't buy it from him however. A gentleman in the Detroit area bought it and had it shipped out from California, but decided he didn't want if right after he got it, and he listed it on Ebay and that is when I bought it.
It still had the Vogue tires on it up until just earlier this year when I replaced them with American Classic whitewalls, 215/75R15.
The paint is all original, I have done nothing to it other than keep it waxed and washed all the time.
As you say I live in Chicago, so it was driven occasionally during the winter. It was not a daily driver, however, since living in the city I take public transportation to work. It was a weekend driver. I had an 85 Eldorado convertible I drove in the summer, so the Seville was only driven occasionally in the summer.
This is the second 85 Seville I have owned, and as I said the 85 Eldorado, so I am familiar with the regime that needs to be followed to keep the HT-4100 engine in good condition, which is flushing the radiator and putting in new antifreeze every other year, including the GM stopleak pellets, and changing the oil every 3 months even if it hadn't been driven that many miles (using 10W30 synthetic Mobil 1 oil). And of course you NEVER want it to overheat, which it won't do as long as your properly maintaining it. Lack of diligence with maintenance is the primary cause of HT-4100 failure, in my opinion.
The engine has never given me a bit of trouble. I did have the 4th gear solenoid replaced in the transmission, and the heater core has been replaced. A couple years ago the shocks were replaced, and it has the functioning air shocks in the back.
I have always tried to keep everything fixed, using all the correct GM or ACDELCO parts. It has some nagging little issues currently, which are that the front door power locks don't always get the doors locked, they are sluggish. I had a body shop put in new power door lock solenoids, but it didn't help. My previous Seville did the same thing.
The left signal indicator bulb in the instrument panel does not light up. It doesn't affect the actual turn signals outside. I haven't had the initiative to try to take out the instrument panel to see what's going on.
Another little thing, the passenger side seat belt does not retract when the door is opened. It's something to do with the button in the bottom of the door jamb, which is not electrical, it's some type of ratchet release. If you just give the seat belt a tug it will retract fine. Again, decided not to tear into that!
I just bought a 1993 Seville SLS (4.9 engine!) with 53,000 miles on it, so that's my new toy. I have also sole the 85 Eldo convertible and decided that I can no long afford to maintain two cars. So as a compromise, I wanted a car with an astroroof, which the 93 Seville has.
That's the whole story guys!
Mike
Mike,
I think if you can condense but convey similar to what you wrote above for eBay it would go a long way to sparking interest in people.
You could test descriptions on us here :)
I wish I had your discipline to focus on a single special car. That's the advice I give people but I tell them it's what I would do differently and advice I wish someone had given me (no guarantee I would have listened though). I do like the 1993 Seville body style. I think Cadillac really got that right. It's probably the car which changed my view of always thinking the 2dr version was nicer. They did a nice job on the Eldorado but the Seville IMO was much nicer in 1993. I think you can guess my preference from 1979-1985 by my name on this site.
Scott
Scott, thank you for the advice, I might change the description if I can figure it out.
I do love the 79-85 Eldo and the 80-85 Seville. The best thing about the 84-85 is that they went to a 4-speed transmission (overdrive), but also supposedly made modifications to the engine to help with the head gasket issue. The styling is great, it's too bad about the HT-4100. Besides the reliability (which hasn't been an issue for me), they are so underpowered. I'm already enjoying the added power of the 93 Seville 4.9! I no longer get nervous about merging onto an expressway with a semi bearing down on me.
Mike
Mike,
Based on my experience I would prefer the 3spd. The gear ratio was much lower numerically for the 3spd; you could get either 2.14:1 or 2.41:1 in 1979. I have a tach in my 1979 Toronado and at 70 the engine is running around 2100 RPM (with the 2.41:1 ratio). I had an 84 Toronado with the 307 Olds. The 4spd transmission was the weak point and I found myself preferring to run it in "D" unless I was on something like a major route. Mine failed with essentially no warning and I wasn't abusing it. The engine compartment in the 1979 Toronado is my favorite. Even compared to the Eldorado the Toronado is the tidiest as it was one year before air pump systems and what later looked like someone dumped a wheelbarrow of wires and hoses under the hood randomly. The 79 Eldorado isn't bad either but the EFI system adds some lines and wiring; still quite nice.
That was a good point you mentioned about being careful not to overheat. As I know Cadillac never offered an analog dash temp gauge. I think Anthony (Smokus) mentioned his digital dash is missing it as well. For something so sensitive to an overheat issue that seems inexcusable. I'm working somewhat slowly on adding an analog gauge but integrated in the dash with the idea it will look like factory.
Scott
I think the starting price of $7500 will hold back potential buyers. It's less like an auction and more like an ad. Whoever places a "bid" on the car is contractually obligated to buy it.
Many eBay buyers have searches triggered by price, so potential buyers may not even see the ad. Obviously you don't want to give it away but you might consider a RESERVE auction that at least gets bids and looks.
Mike,
I would also say that there's a comparable offering with the Cadillac 368 which someone listed in this same section 52K miles:
https://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=166971.0
Regardless I think Bryan has a point. On eBay you can always start lower and keep a reserve. Based on that 1981 on Craigslist though, either that car is listed too low, or yours is too high. I haven't investigated that car thoroughly but that would be my initial impression.
Scott
Scott,
Good point, although some of the members mention that car looks like it's been repainted. There's only one photo of the interior, and it looks a little worn compared to mine, but still you've made a good point. I'm going to let it ride over the holiday and next week I'll do something with it. I really appreciate the advice, thanks!
Mike
I've sold several Cadilllacs on Ebay of this vintage, and my process involves the engagement of a local, reputable service station. I inform them that I'm preparing the sell the car on Ebay, that I want all the fluids changed, I want the car assessed for its drivability and general condition and that I'll pay extra for their time to do this assessment and that my expectation is that they'll talk to serious bidders toward the end of the auction. Doing this provided a level of confidence for potential purchasers.... now having said all this, of the four cars that were sent around the country and purchased in excess of my reserve, no one was entirely pleased with their purchase. I suspect everyone who bids on Ebay expects "show room condition" and comparable performance with modern cars, and these cars simply don't perform that well. All that said, if I were in the market for a well maintained Seville like yours, your price, considering the mileage, seems like good value. As I stated, I'd want an independent evaluation and I think that would help your sale. Respectfully, James
Sold? No longer available...
Bryan,
Mike's second post has the correct link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203762348351?hash=item2f712eb13f:g:QWYAAOSwrJ5hw1s2
It has 1day and 18hrs remaining as of posting this reply.
Scott
Sold the car, thanks all of you for your input.
Mike
Mike,
Great news! I guess there is such a thing as over thinking it :)
How far will it travel and will the new owner need to arrange a transport?
Scott
I have owned several HT4100 Cadillacs and they have been fine with the above mentioned careful service. I always used to warm up the engine first before driving them so the cast iron block and aluminum heads and intake would expand gradually together. I also used a heavier viscosity oil to help slow down the camshaft wear which was an issue on earlier models. I always loved the 1980-85 Sevilles and had an 84 and an 85 with only 21K miles on it. I also had an 85 Eldorado Convertible and an 83 Eldorado Biaritz with 14K original miles that I sold to Bob Reed as he is just a few hours drive from me. He has some amazing low mileage Cadillacs. Unfortunately it wasn't the HT4100 engine that has convinced me not to buy another late 70's or newer Cadillac but rather the crazy California emissions regulations since any car 1976 or newer has to be smog checked every two years and now most smog shops won't even look at a pre OBD II car and many don't even know how to check things like timing if they can't plug a laptop into it. Sorry about the rant but I just get worked up about this emissions stuff every time I encounter it.