Cadillac Repair: cadillac suspension, google search, replacement shock

Question
Bill:
Have a 95 Deville. The service suspension message comes on every time I drive the car. The reset will turn off the message. The mileage is 100,000 plus and I don't want to spend the $3200 the dealer wants to replace the airride suspension struts. Is there a reasonable replacement shock or strut available at a reasonable cost and if so how can we disable the sensor sending the message about the suspension?
Thanks
Bob

Answer
Hi Bob, I have seen people trade in their Caddy for just that reason. But there shouldn't be any reason to replace all 4 struts just because the message comes up. Usually just one strut is the culpret and replaceing it should be all that is required providing that the other side strut isn't leaking. In fact under warrenty that is all GM would pay for was to replace the bad strut and not a pair. Cadillac had some service bulletins that gave part numbers for replacement struts that didn't have the electronics in them on some models. Sounds like you checked with the dealer or other parts sources in your town already. You might type in gm struts or gm suspension parts in a Google search and see what comes up. What Caddy had us do was replace the bad strut in pairs with non electric struts, unplug the suspension computor and then disable the light by cutting the wire. That was for up to '93 Devilles. If you contacted the Caddy dealer or zone office they might be able to give more insight as I have been away from the dealer now since 2000. I would be curious to know what parts they want to replace and what code(s) came back on a test drive after all the code(s) were cleared that lead them to suggest such a high repair bill. Sorry I can't be more help than that. Bill