2001 Cadillac Catera from North America - Comments

I have a Catera and the car broke down before I left the parking lot. The dealer checked it out and said that it had to reset itself due to a new radiator, I don't know much about cars, but that seemed too suspicious.

Within 24 hours of having the car, every light came on; the coolant light, which will not, no matter what, go off, although it is full.

The oil light came on; I put oil in the car, the right kind according to the manual, and put it in the right place. The oil light went off and shortly after the check engine light came on, which I now want go off, the brake light, the leveling light, all came on and go off and come back on.

The car has a bad toxic fumy smell that sometimes comes in through the heater that can be unbearable. I have a hand held scanner to check for codes and it will give me one code one minute than 5 the next, but I always get code p440, which I looked up and means evap malfunction.

And some how oil keeps getting into the coolant, and I'm not putting it in there, and I know nobody else is, and on top of that the A/C doesn't work.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the car will make a loud popping noise, and the radio will disable, and when the radio disables, the buttons beside the radio will disable, which if you have a Catera, you know that the trunk popper and the fuel door popper will disable, and when it's having this spell, the keyless entry will not even open the fuel door or trunk. There is no key hole to open the trunk, and you can't just open the fuel door with your hand, it has to be popped (unlocked). In other words when this occurs I'm S.O.L. if the gas is low, because I have no idea at any given time how long it will be before the radio and those buttons on the sides (trunk, fuel door) will come back on; sometimes it's 5 minutes sometimes it's an hour.

When the car runs, it's very smooth but it hardly runs. I did test drive this car for about 30 minutes, and it seemed perfect, but when I came to the dealer to pick it up a few days later, I have had nothing but problems.

I have only had this car for five days, and have all these problems. I want the car, so does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with it and how much it will cost to fix?

Don't buy this car. Ever since I bought mine 2 years ago I have had one problem after another. Trust me, save yourself the headache.

It sounds exactly like your body computer is at fault. This computer module which is in the passenger foot compartment at the right side just ahead of the front door behind the kick panel, controls all these components (trunk, fuel door, sunroof, radio, locks etc.)

Check the connector going to it and make sure it is clean. A common problem with these cars is the cabin filter drain hole getting plugged and allowing water to enter the passenger side floor are. When this happens, the moisture can corrode the body computer connector and cause a fault. Especially suspicious of this because it is not a consistent problem. You may want to try moving the connector around or tapping the module housing as you watch for signs of the defect (ignition on, engine running). If you can cause the problem to re-apear, you'e on the right track.

Check the drain hole at the bottom of the cabin filter area and make sure it is clear.

The gas cap can be popped from inside the trunk. The release is behind a flap of soundproofing.

I needed a new head gasket around 150000 miles.

The wheel alignment never seemed right, and I had a lot of tire wear and a few flats, mostly front right.

Same electrical problems everyone talks about, but mainly when it rained or was foggy and wet. But when it worked, it was smooth and elegant in every way.

I loved this car, which I understand was actually a European made vehicle from Opel. My wife totaled it, and the issues were bad enough that I wouldn't be able to highly recommend it unless you can afford the occasional repair bill in the four figure range.

If money isn't a big deal, this is a sporty but elegant ride, and it is a classic now because it was discontinued when the contract ran out with Opel. They won't be making these little gems anymore.

Too bad about the quality issues, because otherwise the running gear etc and pretty well everything else throughout the vehicle seemed fairly heavy duty and well made.

Doesn't oil in the coolant mean your head gasket needs to be replaced?

If you're getting oil in your coolant, then your head gasket needs replacing.