1997 Cadillac Catera

Summary:

Flush, the sound of money going down the drain!

Faults:

A month after I purchased the car I hit a pothole and dented the alloy rim. $400 for the rim and $120 for a new tire I was on the road again.

Six months later the electrical unit inside the car that controls the heat and ac broke costing me over $500 to replace.

The timing belt snapped and destroyed the engine, Cadillac issused a recall and refunded the money, but as a college student it was tough waiting on the check to arrive.

Around 100,000 miles the transmission went out and was replaced and now 18 months later it is on the verge of going out again.

Just recently the blower for the A/C unit went out leaving me without Air during the summer in a black car in the South.

Just recently the engine block cracked. I am selling the car for salvage because that is pretty much all that it is worth at this point.

General Comments:

Buy this car if you prefer handing your $ over to the repair shop instead of actually flushing it down the toilet.

I will never buy another GM automobile because of the experience that I have had with this car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th October, 2005

1997 Cadillac Catera

Summary:

GM should be embarrassed by the high maintenance Catera mechanical failure rate and cost of repairs

Faults:

Ignition switch failure intermittent starting problems until repaired.

Coolant leak caused starter to fail. Starter needed to be replaced.

Traction Control / ABS dash lights stay amber dealer says controller and labor $1000.

Trunk lid stop lights not functional. To expensive to have repaired.

General Comments:

Mechanically not reliable.

Exterior and interior are beautiful.

Very comfortable car.

Handles extremely well.

Each visit to the dealer averages $450.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 11th December, 2004

1997 Cadillac Catera

Summary:

Worth it if you have the money to maintain it

Faults:

When I first bought it the next day the AC went out, but the dealer fixed.

The tail lights were not working, it was fixed by itself one night that the brake shift switch broke down. To by pass the switch it was 80 dollars to tow it to a shop, 35 dollars to bypass it.

Check engine light on. It was an O2 sensor. 220 dollars to fix it.

Rattling in the Catalic converter.

Passenger front door if try to open in the moment you are switching to Parking it breaks, I fix it my self, nothing hard. Back passenger door the same thing, fix it too.

Stereo sound quality sux, when I bought the car the speaker were not good, replaced them, sound at max is loud, but not enough, it needs more bass and I'm not a bass guy.

A hose broke between the cooling fan and the engine, the hose needs to be ordered from Cadillac because it's special. Dimension in Diameter is 3/8 of an inch, and about 1 inch in leght, the cost was 21.75.

The fogs light are not working now.

The gauges of oil pressure and the battery at times turn off. I just found out it's a problem in the ignition switch. At time the fuel gauge goes out, just tap on the glass and it goes back to work.

Check engine light on again and lost of power, same problem as before, I think it's going to be the O2 sensor again.

Now beside all this problems please note, I'm 23, I'm always flooring it. In 10 months I have put 18000 miles and always running and pushing it. Since I'm always on the go I really don't maintain it I have to admit that.

General Comments:

Besides all the problems great engine and transmission.

Engine is strong and I love to put it in sport mode, it flight... and don't worry if the road is wet, Traction control will keep you safe. Unless you turn it off then you'll be riding on soaps.

The inside is really nice. I love the power windows... hold it down for 2 seconds and they all go up automatic, no holding down until it completly closes or open, just press and let them go up or down, you keep doing your thing.

Trunk is nice, you can fix like 2 dudes in there.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 13th October, 2004

10th Feb 2005, 11:03

Yeah I have a Cadillac Catera and I have a problem with the Fog lights not coming on. They did when I first got it, but they don't now. And I have a problem with the shocks, they make a loud noise. And it really bugs me.. Another thing is that when I put my foot on the brakes it has a hard tug to the left and that's not what it is suppose to do. And the fog light in the front is very loose and I don't know how to fix that.. Kt23.

1997 Cadillac Catera 3.0 DOHC

Summary:

Hope you're rich

Faults:

Timing went after about 2 months of ownership.

Tune Up, Sounds simple enough right? Wrong the wires alone cost $380 and the plugs are $20 each.

General Comments:

I am very disappointed in this car. The resale value has been reduced by the fact of the timing issue. This is a quality issue that GM has admitted to be their fault and has fixed these repairs free of charge. But still it effects the resale. Very few GM mechanics are able to work on this car. You need to find a dealer and pay the price.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th October, 2003

22nd Dec 2004, 20:11

I did a little research on parts prices for the Catera. Your $20 per spark plug is out of whack. I searched for "GM parts" and came up with a ton of websites. The first one I clicked on listed Bosch platinum 2 spark plugs at $3.37 ea for this car. Also a Bosch spark plug wire set was $130.68. I'm not sure where you got those prices from, but come on. I have a 1990 BMW 525i. Now that plug wire set is around $400 from my local dealer. On the net you can get it for under $200. If you do a little checking around you can find bargains.