After 17 years in the old chariot, I want a newer ride. At least 6 cyliners; better with 8. Something softer, quieter, but with a strong engine. I was thinking of a cadillac seville, maybe 5 years old or so, with maybe 50-75,000 miles on the motor. But I’m hooked on used cars (lower insurance, no payments). Is 75,000 miles too much? How many miles can you reasonably expect out of today’s more efficient engines?
Thanks
SG
Since you like big 8-cyl. boats, consider the Crown Vic or Grand Marquis. Anything well maintained under 70k miles should be good. I’ve known people to put 200-300k miles on the car.
There’s a reason cabbies use them.
An older Seville (make sure you get one from 1992 (?) or later, which was when they introduced the Northstar) would make an excellent choice. If you can find one more recent, even better, and if you can find a more recent STS, as opposed to SLS, even better, as they have more power and are generally nicer.
Cadillacs will go pretty much forever. Northstars do have occaisional oiling issues, but nothing too major, and they should have anifested themselves by 50-75K miles. You should be able to put 200K on one, no problem.
When I opened this thread, I was going to suggest a Northstar Cadillac. I guess great minds think alike.
Introduced for the 1993 Model year, the Northstar 4.6L V8 is truely a work of art. Quiet, smooth, oh-so-reliable, and good for about 300 horsepower (depending on model).
I personally favor the Eldorado to replace my aging '87 Deville, but if you want a four-door, go for the Seville Touring Sedan. Stylish, powerfull, a thing of beauty. Don’t let the “image” (old men who go 30 in a 55 zone) distract you from an excellent car. Bravo, Cadillac.
You can probably find a decent BMW 5 or 7 series for $10K. I would guess maybe early 90’s. Maybe even find a Mercedes.
I would avoid any GM product like the Creeping Death if it is over 5 years old or has over 50k miles. There are reasons why the auto graveyards are chock full of them.
The worst thing in the world is having a car with every power option, and half of them don’t work. Windows that don’t go down, antennas that won’t go up, cruise control that won’t, trip computers that don’t…
A Gay Bishop? Can’t beat that!
BMWs are money pits, and so are Jags (don’t know much about Mercedes). “European” doesn’t mean “the best”. I would wager that you could get a much better Cadillac than BMW for $10,000.
Furthermore, there’s a reason the Cadillac Division of GM (the so-called “Art & Science” wing) is fairly autonomous, with their own engines and platforms: They make excellent cars that sell well, when left to their own devices. In my tours of various junkyards, the only Cadillacs I see are either wrecked or ancient.
Go for the Seville, I say.
Ditto what Mythos45 said. Cadillac is not GM in the way that Chevy or Buick is GM.
And no one who can only afford a $10K car should look at a $10K BMW, unless he or she is a BMW mechanic and has a parts hookup. A recommendation like that is just irresponsible. 
I gotta disagree with you on the BMW thing. They are built for the long run. You may need to replace bushings and small stuff as they age, but if you compare design, materials used and quality of craftsmanship (a word that doesn’t even apply to GM products) they are simply a better automobile.
Caddys are nice when they are new. But too often the systems just don’t hold up and fail, because they are made out of cheap plastic junk. Like I say, full power options, like windows, seats, trip computers, cruise controls, electronic suspension trickery are great when they work, but suck when they don’t. They frequently don’t on older GM cars. Having a car that you can’t operate the windows in is a pain in the butt, and expensive to fix.
Buts its all just my opinion. And I agree on the Jag. I wouldn’t touch one with a 10 foot pole. They make Jeeps seem reliable! 
Never kiss an animal that can lick its own butt.
How about a VW Jetta or Passat with the VR6 engine? Reasonably well-built. The VR6 goes like mad.
Gotta echo gatopescado on BMWs. I’m driving my third, and I wouldn’t be if I’d found them to be dogs. The first two were purchased for less than $10K, and the first one (a 4 year old 3 series purchased for $7900) I drove for 11 years.
Look at Autotrader.
I got a 98 Honda Accord v6 with 73,000 miles for $10,400. I recently took her in for the 90k check-up, and the mechanic said she looked as good as the day she was driven off the lot ;).
But, it sounds as though you’re looking for something with a little more personality…
Peace,
~Mixie
This is excellent advice; thank you all. I’ll take it to heart when I go poking around. I’ve never had a cadillac but rode in a few new ones; they were cushy. I did one own a BMW 728. It was a nice car, too, but in a different way… but still, comfortable. SG