Factory specifications, fluid capacities, torque values, EPA fuel economy and the federal safety record for the 1979 Seville.
The 1979 Cadillac Seville registers a reliability record marked by minimal documented issues, with just one owner complaint—singled out for tires—and zero recalls on file. When set against the model’s complaint history from 1990 through 2004, which saw annual grievances range from a low of 17 in 2004 to a high of 131 in 1996, this model year’s solitary reported problem positions it at the most favorable extreme of the observed data span. This sparse complaint volume indicates the 1979 example encountered substantially fewer reported failures than those logged for any year within the 1990–2004 range.
Engine, drivetrain, dimensions and economy.
| Overall length | 202 in |
| Overall width | 72 in |
| Overall height | 55.1 in |
| Wheelbase | 114.2 in |
| Curb weight | 4290 lb |
0–60 mph, quarter-mile, horsepower and torque from independent road tests.
Independent road tests for the Seville of this era, listed by trim and engine — this page spans more than one engine, so no single horsepower figure is shown.
| Year | Trim / engine | 0–60 | ¼ mile | HP | Drivetrain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Diesel Sedan 5.7L Diesel V8 | 16.80 sec | 21.10 sec | 120 hp | RWD |
| 1980 | Elegante Diesel Sedan 5.7L Diesel V8 | 19.70 sec | 21.50 sec | 105 hp | FWD |
| 1976 | Sedan 5.7L V8 | 14.00 sec | 19.00 sec | 180 hp | RWD |
| 1986 | Elegante Sedan 4.1L V8 | 11.70 sec | 18.20 sec | 130 hp | FWD |
| 1989 | STS Sedan 4.5L V8 | 8.90 sec | 16.80 sec | 180 hp | FWD |
Owner-reported issues, recalls, investigations and service bulletins on record with NHTSA — an unfiltered look at what owners actually experience.
The provided federal record spans 1990 through 2004 and does not include the 1979 model year, so no direct year-by-year comparison is possible for the target vehicle within this dataset. The only target-year data available shows a single complaint in the Tires category, with zero crash complaints and zero fire complaints recorded — an extremely thin record, though this likely reflects the limited federal complaint capture for vehicles of that vintage rather than a definitive clean bill of health. The generation arc visible in the data (1990–2004) shows complaints rising from a baseline of 23 in 1990 to a peak of 131 in 1996 before declining, with recalls sporadically distributed (0 to 3 per year) and no clear pattern tied to model-year aging; however, this arc belongs to a later Seville generation and cannot be extrapolated backward to 1979. The data does not specify any root causes, known issues, or investigation outcomes for the 1979 model. **Takeaway:** with only one recorded complaint and no crashes or fires in the federal data, 1979 appears minimally flagged — but the absence of a comparable generation record means buyers should rely on independent inspection and marque-specific resources rather than this dataset alone when evaluating a used 1979 Seville.
All 1 complaints on record, top 1 components.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaint database.
No recall campaigns on record with NHTSA for this vehicle as of the last data refresh.
The most common OBD-II codes for this vehicle's emissions system. These are standardized SAE J2012 definitions, not vehicle-specific fault reports.
Decode factory build data for a specific vehicle by VIN.
Cross-vehicle references for the kinds of data on this page.
NHTSA lists 0 recall campaign(s) for this model year. Check your specific vehicle by VIN.