Summary: Well, shortly after the hurricane, I was tight on cash so this was the car I ended up purchasing... I was attracted by small features the car had... I purchased this car with 101K and a broken radio... At the time I thought I could get it fixed... I wasn't aware of the reputation these cars had at the time... Anyways, Christmas of '05, I drove this car from Shreveport to Memphis and did a turn around... Took about 12hrs doing an average of 120mph... Later that day, drove to Houston to see family... Few days after, went to Arlington and continued back to Shreveport, on to Memphis again, then to New Orleans... All at 120... Finally got pulled over leaving New Orleans to Shreveport doing 118... The engine was very strong and never let me down... Later found out I had an oil leak... My girlfriend was driving the car on day and barely tapped the parking cement block... Few days later, car overheated shooting Dexcool from the closed radiator... Turns out, that small tap cracked the oil cooler, mixing oil and Dexcool... To much to fix, traded it in ($500) for a Mazda6...
Strengths: Engine and tranny had no problems... Very strong motor (beat a modified Saturn)... Used car did 145 (unusual)...
Weaknesses: The smallest tap put it out of comission... Leveling acted crazy when luggage was put in the trunk... Alot of small problems within the car, but powertrain was great...
Similar Products Used: '95 CivicDX/'05 Mazda6I/'01 Grand PrixGT/'99 GalantES/'99 C230K
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Summary: I bought the car about 2 year ago. It looked brand new with less than 30k miles. In the first month I had to spent close to $ 2,000 replacing power steering pump, valve cover gasket, AC. It was a very bad start. With less than 60k miles the transmission had to be rebuild $2,500. This is my wife car and she drive very carefully. AAMCO could not explain why the trainy went bad. Another sensor went bad a month after that ($500). I tought my ford was bad.... I am trading the car in. I am very dissapointed with this car. Because of that I will never buy a Cadillac again. It is a big piece of crap. Still looking excellent but mechanically is very problematic. My honest advice avoid this car.
Strengths: Sound System, interior, exterior.
Weaknesses: Mechanically the car is just trouble.
Similar Products Used: ford Thunderbird, Caprice Classic, Camry
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Summary: The Cadillac Catera is a car all in its own. They are very rare because they are built from the opel omega MV6 in Germany. If you like BMW, Mercedes etc, you will love the Catera. Just remember one thing when you buy any german car plan on keeping it up, because they will cost you more than the Toyota but you will have a very nice ride in the process. The Catera is very nice, try one only if you can afford the repairs.
Strengths: Nice road manners, very close to a BMW for half the price!
Weaknesses: Has common problems but what car don't.
Similar Products Used: BMW,Mercedes, I have owned many BMW and the Catera is much cheaper than them to maintain.
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Summary: The car was in very good shape. The body had no issues and the interior was just short of new. I had a couple of consumer related problems that were fixed for under $500 and the car seems to be running fine. If I drive in snow, I put it in sport mode and it drives reasonably well in those conditions. Overall, for what I paid, (it had 107K miles on it), I'm quite pleased. My mechanic felt it was a good investment as well.
Strengths: Looks, sound system, handling and comfort while driving.
Weaknesses: Slow off the line, but a great car @ 2 to 3K RPM's.
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Rating Reviewed by: Barb(Unregistered User)
Review Date December 28, 2007
Overall Rating 3 of 5
Value Rating 3 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
1.00 votes
Review 5 of 332
Price Paid:
$8500.00
from Lust Chevrolet
Year / Model Reviewed: 2000 Cadillac/Catera
Summary: We had a ton of problems with this car in the first year. The first winter we owned it was absolutely horrible. The car spent approx. 1 month in the shop. Head gaskets, valve covers, some sensor regulating cold starts, etc. The moonroof opened and closed by itself, while the car was not running. All problems fixed and NONE since. But of course it is garaged every night now, don't want the cold weather to scare it.
Strengths: Fun, sporty, decent MPG, every option (my fav - ALL windows have auto up and down)
Weaknesses: rear-wheel drive, should have thought abouth that before buying, SD has crazy amounts of snow and the car has absolutely no weight in the trunk
Similar Products Used: We bought this car to replace my good friend the Pontiac Bonneville SSEI. I was a little disappointed, but the Catera has been a decent car overall.
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