13th Mar 2007, 15:30
I own a 1997 catera and it is now dumping oil on the garage floor... it was anti freeze before...but before that the air conditioning quit working... I bought this P.O.S. used and have never been burnt this bad on a car... Cadillac should be ashamed they associated themselves with this car.
24th Apr 2007, 18:29
I was going to buy a Catera today, so I took it to my dealer, and right when he turned it on, he said there is something wrong with the engine. He said it is only running on 5 cylinders, and it is 6, so there is something wrong.
I didn't see any other problems with the car, and neither did he, it has 200,000 km.. well just a bit under, but yeah, after reading all your coments, I'm having really bad thoughts about getting it... has anyone one got any helpful suggestions?
4th May 2007, 22:55
I'm so glad I don't own one, in the shop I work in we replaced rear brake pads and rotors, it was 500 dollar job, ouch!!
17th Jul 2007, 09:14
It's a Cadillac, so of course the parts are more expensive. The tires are Z rated, better for turning at a higher speed, that is why they are priced higher. The only thing I don't like is the fact that it has one set of flimsy cup holders. I had a brand new car before this and things went wrong with it as well. Any used vehicle definitely needs repairs, I just happened to pick a Cadillac.
27th Nov 2007, 10:40
I have a '97 Catera which I bought new in October of '97. It's the best car I've ever had. Until this year, the only repair on it (besides an early oil temp indicator which was covered by warranty) was a valve in the cooling system (about $175). Recently the fuel door opening motor went out; I did not have it replaced. My dealer just rigged it to stay unlocked. Yesterday I had a fuse go on the AC system, which may be an indicator of a compressor problem, but they couldn't find a problem. It has 67,000 miles on it and still runs beautifully. Its only problem is that it is really hard on tires, and the tires it uses are expensive to replace. I believe I am on my third set of tires. It gets great mileage, up to 27 mpg on the highway, usually 20 or less in town. I use premium in it.
10th Jun 2008, 14:37
I just bought a 97 cadillac Cat era. It's used... just realized that my tail lights doesn't work and it's pouring oil from underneath it... Any suggestions on what I should do?
23rd Jun 2008, 18:30
Well here are some suggestions. This site helped me to save hundreds of dollars. I know you'll find answers to your problems. This forum is dedicated to people that own Cadillacs: http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadillac-catera-cimarron-forum/
13th Jun 2009, 13:22
Hi! I'm Rob, I own a Cadillac Catera 1998. It has 160,000 on it so far. Since May of 2007 I've only spent on regular tune ups, maintenance, oil filter, brakes, coolant, etc.
Like every other car, wear and tear is acceptable!
I like my Catera 98, I bought the repair manual straight out of the dealer. It helped me a lot! I work on my car myself! New or old, they still break!
11th Aug 2009, 16:31
I wrote this review well over 2 years ago. Nice too see there were comments left. If it means anything up to a day like today, I still see Catera's broke down on the side of the road. Thanks to the guy that corrected me on the origin of the Catera. Honestly I hope it helped!
16th Sep 2009, 18:17
I bought my used 2001 Catera for 7K with around 37k miles on it about 2 years ago. I guess the previous owner had problems with it looking at the Carfax, but since I have had it, I haven't had many problems.
It's kept blowing a fuse for the radio for some reason (all stock), and I did the redneck fix and put a bigger rated fuse and haven't had problems since.
Check engine light has been on forever, but that's GM all the way.
Since I put a cold air intake in, it runs a little rough at idle, but the gas mileage and the hp boost was well worth it.
This car has been the best travel car I have ever had, very comfy, drives smooth and plenty of room for stuff, great AC.
I think the older models were definitely lemons reading the forums, but the 2000's seem to have some bugs worked out, even though I have heard of the valve cover gaskets notoriously leaking. I use premium gas and fully synthetic mobil 1. Maybe I just didn't get a lemon.
25th Feb 2007, 11:55
Don't let the Catera spoil your image of Cadillac. The Catera was an isolated disaster that everyone should run from! Other Cadillacs, although not perfect, are pretty sound choices. The new CTS is great! If you see a Catera, do not get near it as it will cause even non-owners some sort of grief.