nice moonroof

where do I start

I wish I would have read a review on this car before purchasing. The transmission is jacked, the lights work when they want, the ride gets worse by the day, the front end is about to fall apart, and the heated seats do not work. This has all ocurred since October. Most recently, the key has been getting stuck in the ignition and major rust is popping up. Getting another Acura as soon as I can get rid of "the car that zigs...sits." If anyone knows of any class action or whatever be sure to let me know. mrsmith1999@aol

Looks good and luxury.

But the engine and trans. is no worth a dime.

This car has coast more than its worth for repairs first the headlight bulb kept blowing every other week then the headlights would pop on and off by theselves after that oil started leaking into my spark plugs and wires causing engine to idle rough then i had to pay 400 dollars to replace radiator hoeses now i'm going to trade it in as soon as i get it running good again. Please think twice before buying one.

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Mazda Millinia runs good 1997

There are no strengths. Waiting for other shoe to drop at any given time.

I foresee more problems the longer we own this car.

This car was purchased new in Nov 1998. It has a little over 23,000 miles on it. Mr. Slaughter had the nerve to intimate that the low mileage may be the problem. It has low mileage because she can't drive it...it won't start. Since August 2002 new alternator, 2 new battery, new relays, etc., etc. It has been in the shop 10 times in the last 9 months. On 5 occasions between Aug 2002 and Nov 2002 when warranty expired. Dealership verbally promised fix car under warranty as long as the problem is documented. Now they are backing off of that. They say they fix the problem whenever it comes into shop, actually they fix the symptoms, they can't seem to find problem. Now they tell us to call Cadillac Customer Service. The problem is the same. Car won't start - goes in shop - get it back "fixed" - 36 hours later-dead in the driveway - Car won't start. Shop says they can't "duplicate" the problem. (Well they duplicated it in my driveway yesterday. Don't know what it is, but it did it in front of service manager.) Is that a new word for we know we have a major problem with this vehicle, but it is too expensive to recall. My mom's 75 years old. She purchased this vehicle because she always believed what my dad said. Cadillac is the best. She thought this would be a safe car with the OnStar -no matter where she drove. Well it's safe in the driveway. The dealership has been less than honest when they say they haven't seen this problem before. I also spoke with GM-Cadillac Customer Service (I am the daughter that has to make the phone calls because my mother cries now everytime we mention the car problems), the man I spoke with Mr. Jonathan Slaughter was less than helpful - he told me that we would need to take the car to another dealership and have it diagnosed at my mom's expense, and if it was a warranty issue they would then discuss what to do. I think Mr. Slaughter got an "A+" in "stonewalling the customer" in Customer Service Training School. Frankly, I don't trust that another dealership will be any more successful than Wood Cadillac at figuring it out. That's good money after bad in my book. He also said: "that they would abosolutely not 'buy back' this vehicle. That is not an option". I ask to speak with his supervisor - he doesn't have one, he speaks for Cadillac. My mom can't afford to purchased another car. My mom needs to go to the doctor, to the pharmacy, to pick up her grandson to visit (he is 7). She can't afford to take this vehicle to another Cadillac dealership and pay for them to "try" to find out what is wrong with the car. I have a bad feeling Cadillac knows what is wrong with this car, they just don't want the expense of admitting to a poor design, poor redesign, bad customer service, recalls etc. We will never buy another GM product...ever. Our friends and family will know about this problem, and I will guarantee that they will never buy another Cadillac. After reading the reviews (that I didn't know about in 1998) I am now worried for my mom's safety in this vehicle. It sounds like this car is not only a LEMON it is also DANGEROUS. I will continue this fight for my mom and other senior citizens who get run over by corporations who are banking on their customer loyalty. Any class action suit please contact us. There are presently 189 reviews about this car, 10% give it a good rating, the rest are horrifying. DO NOT BUY CADILLACS. I will contact Attorney General, AARP, Consumer Protection, Seven on Your Side (TV) whatever it takes to get GM to own up to their coverup of this LEMON the Cadillac CATERA. Do you know anyone on Board of Directors? Do you know anyone with class action going forward? I will give a copy of the 180+ reviews to Wood Cadillac, maybe they can use that information to figure out what is wrong with this vehicle. P.S. Mom still paying on this vehicle. DarleneGobert@aol.com

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Cadillac (15 in parents lifetime); Lexus;

in comparison to how much has to be spent out to keep it running, there are really none.

if you have a lot of money to throw around, everything under the hood of this car is a weakness.

yes, it was pretty when we bought it. all the options with the heated seats, sun/moon roof, adjustable temperature for driver and passenger, chrome wheels, and even the shade that comes up for the rear drivers!! needless to say, yes, all the prettiness amounts to a lot of money spent out to keep the car running....

Looks great love the leather and stereo system Great pick up

in the shop every week

Ok... First off, I will apologize for NOT listening to the MANY voices here warning against these vehicles. I got caught up in the moment and bought one anyway. Big mistake. I have not even had my car for one month, and it has been in the shop three times. Nothing really major (yet) but it is not worth the money paid, for the inconvienance of running to shop once a week. UGH!!!! I want to scream. I am returning the car and getting another one this week.

this car is crap

this car is crap

this car is crap

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this car is crap

You actually get two cars.. The one you drove off the lot. Then the one you have to fix up and buy all over again! You buy one car, then you get a new engine, a new transmission, new brakes, new drivetrain, and the car is gon so long at the dealer and you drive so many other cars while waiting for yours to get fixed...when you finally get it backed, it's like hey, I forgot I had this crap...I mean car. Then you get it back thinking, hey what else could possibly go wrong? Then something else does! My car started of green, and pretty, over time it slowly transitioned to yellow....From a bueatiful lime, I now realize I have a lemon. Ta hell with making lemonade..Catera is the worst car ever made!!!!!!!!!

Worst "Cadillac" ever made!! A 5 year production run?? Shoulda named it 'THE CRAPERA'

I must admit I was lucky...I had no problems up until it was out of warranty...and the extended warranty would have done me no good.. I'm so glad I didn't waste that money! But at 55k, there go then pulleys, water pump...and the engine... It wasn't being covering under 'silent recall' at the time so I said hey, 'what the heck, I'll fix it, nobody else is havin a problem'.. $6,000 gone, but hey it's a Cadillac right? I still see 77 Deville's rolling around. Then they recall it. This was in almost 12 months after I got it fixed. Has Cadillac reimbursed me yet? HELL NO! They want me to do this, and send them that. I had a slew of problems with this German made disaster..At 70k the transmission goes...so on and so on...but here's something you don't here everyday, good news about a Catera. At 78k that death trap/money pit/collosal blunder is gone! Will I ever buy Cadillac again? Highly unlikely...Cadillac should cut all Catera owners a $30,000 check for wrongdoing and pain and suffering!! If not, can you say CLASS ACTION?!?

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2001 Lexus GS 300, 1995 Cadillac Sedan Deville, 2003 Buick Century, Huffy Sonic6...superior ride quality and endurance relative to the Catera, And my to feet...having to walk somewhere after the Cater

Hugs the road with AUTHORITY. You will not find a better set of tires on any vehicle in its class. All the torque is in the higher RPM BAND which means the car will launch through 2, 3, and 4th gears with authority. Room and comfort of a 5 series BMW. Good pre-owned vehicle purchase if you are able to find a mechanic who is able to service the car. The Catera is an importa and needs to be serviced as such. Mechanical aspects of the car are solid.

Stereo needs a better balanced sound. The car's build quality is likely to begin to show around the 75k mark.

The Catera was a great idea on paper but its execution in the US domestic was a real disappoint. Where I was somewhat skeptical in buying this car for the shear fact that I feared that the build quality would not be comparable to that of other German bred sports sedans, I often wish that I had bite the bullet, paid the higher insurance premium and bought the 3 serires BMW. Interesting, I test drove the touring edition of an Infiniti J30 and chose the Catera for is better handling, tighter steering, and the Eagle RSA's which have proven to be far superior in wet weather traction than any tire I have ever driven. Other aspects of the Catera that I found superior to other cars in its class was it "glued to the road" handling. If you are an experieced real wheel configuration driver. Handling this car is a piece of cake. So where in my opinion does this car fail. Built quality. At over 30,000 a car that cracks light bulbs faster than a squirel is able to devour a bag of peanuts, is a car that didn't get alot of attention to detail. At 16K this car is a steal for the level of luxury and performance you get. Still there are aspects of the car that will force you to always wonder if the BMW or the Mercedes would have been a better choice. Do not compare this vehicle to front wheel drive Japanese sports sedans, they are not the same. This is German Bred sports sedan and should only be compared with its peer group.

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3 series BW

-Considering it's a GM car, if you examine the qualilty of materials on the car compared to other GM or American cars, it is very good. -There are a lot of small, neat gadgets - power rearview mirror, all windows are express up and down, etc. Nice touches that I have not seen on other "American" cars. -The way it drives is more refined than other used cars you can buy for the same price. -Car weighs a lot (3700lbs) for its size and held up very well during my accident!

-Recalls and problems, just read the rest of the reviews of the car on this site. Maybe I was lucky, but I didn't have too many problems.

I bought my Catera back in '00 and really have not had *that* many problems with it. I was smart and bought an extended warranty. Besides changing the oil and normal wear and tear, all that went bad was the water pump, a headlight bulb and an instrument cluster bulb. The water pump was covered under the extended warranty. The car was nice to drive while I had it and probably SAVED MY LIFE when I had the accident that ended up totaling the car. After an encounter with a snowy mountain @60mph, doing a horizontal 180 then a vertical 90 and skidding backwards on the passenger side, my passenger and I walked away without a bruise. The car was still running, CD still playing, no broken glass. After we flipped it back over, the doors on the passenger side still opened and shut. There is a lot to be said for the car weighing a lot. The drivetrain and electronics may not be solid, but the physical build held up in my case. From reading the reviews, I probably had the accident at a good time in the car's life. I replaced the car with a BMW 740iL, which will hopefully save my ass again if I have another accident.

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'87 Oldsmobile Delta 88 (1st car), '84 Chevrolet Corvette, '95 Oldsmobile Aurora, '97 Cadillac Catera (this car), '95 BMW 740iL (current car)

handles great, smooth ride with pepy engine, radio,leather seats still looks and feel new, looks sharpe.

heavy car, 17 miles per gal, storage space.

i bought this car new in 2001 and it's been great. i've had no problems with it. a fun car to drive, a very happy customer. traded my 2000 honda accord EX (bad tranny)for this catera, same price. when i pay this car off, i'll buy the CTS next.

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2000 honda accord EX, 1990 caddilac coupe