2000 Cadillac Catera review from North America

Head gasket blew.

Electrical system malfunctioned.

Ignition switch stopped working.

Timing belt was shredded.

ALL cams were miss-firing.

Car would shake every time the brakes were stepped on.

This car has been trouble from the minute I bought it.

A week after I bought it the head gasket blew.

A few weeks later, the car wouldn't start. It had major electrical problems that needed to be repaired.

A few weeks later the car started to shake uncontrollably. The check engine light came on. After bringing the car to the first auto shop who couldn't figure out what the problem was, I brought the car to Cadillac who figured out that when the head gasket was placed, it was put on wrong. It was causing the timing belt to shred and all cams to miss-fire.

2 days after the car left the Cadillac shop the ignition switch died. I turned the car off, took the key out of the ignition, and the car was still running. It would have been funny if I wasn't so angry.

While driving to the auto shop to get the ignition switch fixed, the check engine light came on and the car would shake every time I stepped on the brake pedal. I told the shop, "don't even bother to fix it; just replace the ignition switch". Once that was taken care of, I traded that car in. I didn't even care about the loss I was taking by trading it in 6 months after I had bought it. I was just so happy to get rid of it! It spent more time in the shop than on the road. Everything takes longer to fix because its so hard to find parts for that car.

Do yourself a favor, and don't buy a Catera!