1998 Cadillac Catera review from North America

Bad coil pack (my fault, pressure washing engine and blasting coil-pack).

Heater control valve leak (fixed $60 later).

Passenger side front caliper dragging (my fault for getting frustrated with a bolt).

Fuel pump went out (actually just got a corroded connection. pulled it out and wire brushed the connections and it's like new).

For some reason the car has a leak in car-washes.. only at the end when the turbojet dryers are going.. I get water in my floorboard, so I just don't go there anymore..

I am a proud owner of a 1998 Cadillac Catera with 157,000 miles on the original engine! Still runs like a beast. Hit the sport mode button and you are flying..

The camber on the rear tires is at a slight V, which causes wear, but other than that, I'm loving the 8 speaker Bose system.

I get about 400 miles on a tank on the interstate. Record gas mileage is 32 mpg.

I love the look of the car. I bought some black headlights on ebay (originally designed for the Opel Omega), did a little bit of rewiring and it's a G-ride..

When I first saw the car I really liked it. So I bought it for $1,065.. oh yeah, insurance auction (theft recovery). It was dirty, but I cleaned it and now this machine is bulletproof.. let's just say I keep up on it.

I will most likely have this car till the day I die unless someone wants to buy it for $1,000,000...

I drove this car from Tennessee to Colorado and back again. And then to Colorado again (Texas gas mileage sucks). I'll tell you all the problems I have had and what I did to fix them..

Really low oil pressure (light comes on); put in 20-50W full synthetic oil.. brought it right up and is perfect all the time now.

Overheating??? Took out the thermostat.. (fuses blow in the fusebox by the battery, make sure to use 30amp and not 20amp)

Erratic shifting on transmission. Flushed tranny and put in a new filter, ZERO shift shock now..

Squeaky brakes... psh. I took off my rotors and had them turned, and while in the process I damaged the passenger side front caliper and now it rubs against the rotor and squeaks while stopping..

Current problems..

Transmission gets stuck in overdrive

remedy: (buy a new TCM, transmission control module) $100 on ebay.

Sluggish taking off at stoplights.

Remedy: new plugwires. (cheaper on ebay)

Broke the brake life sensor, so the brake light is always on..

For some reason the car has a leak in carwashes.. only at the end when the turbojet dryers are going.. I get water in my floorboard. so I just don't go there anymore..

Here's my opinion.. for everyone out there giving this car a bad review. If you use your head it's not that hard to figure out what's wrong with the dang thing.. if you can't afford to fix it why did you think you could have a Cadillac? As a cheap way to make you look rich? no way. Take care of this baby and she will be good to you...