Cadillac Catera Luxury
Cadillac Catera Luxury
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[Feb 01, 2002]
David
Strength:
heavy deliberate steering and braking which seems to emphacize feel of the road for the lucky driver (some may not like this feel). Looks great, sounds great, feels great, and all at a good price. Seems cheap to insure for such a sporty car! Also car alarm is all automatic and doesn''t honk the *&@#^*& horn when armed/disarmed. A well thought out car overall.
Weakness:
Who doesn''t want more power. We love this car. Excellent and comforatble on road trips. Handles sufficiently well on ice. Rear wheel drive is more fun to drive. We''ve had zero problems thus far. Perhaps the ''98 model year is better than the ''97s? Wears out tires exactly as fast as any other auto of similar weight driven in a similar manner (Principle of local action, for you continuum mechanics fans). Ratings subject to change as experience with this car accumulates, but so far so good. Similar Products Used: Buick Regal. |
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[Jan 31, 2002]
Henry Williams
Strength:
Looks, stereo, comfort, you won''t need a garage for this auto, it spends more time in the dealership than in your own driveway, that''s it!
Weakness:
It''s a CATERA. In German it must mean, "Expensive Piece Of Junk That Needs Fixing All The Time" Oh Man, What Have I Done? I will express that immediately. After doing my research on used autos I still went ahead and purchased the Catera after I read all the bad reviews on it. You don''t even want to begin to listen to the MANY problems I have had with this car in the 3 months I have had it. 1. Car get''s hot (Major Problem) 2. There is a coolant smell coming from under the hood. 3. Car is pulling to the right. 4. Mechanic got locked in the car when being fixed for about 15 minutes (I''m sure it felt longer to him) 5. Traction Control light goes on when it feels like it. 6. Rear glass is showing some kind of warping. 7. I won''t go on anymore, I have spent enough time letting you know this car is a Lemon. For anyone who is considering buying one be prepared to have extra money to pay for repairs and make sure you carry rental insurance as well. |
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[Jan 17, 2002]
PEPPYWA
I bought this car Nov 11th 2001. The dealership says that they did their so called "120pt" inspection on the car and everything is great on it. Less then three days of having the car I had to bring it back in for an oil leak and a coolant leak. One week later new brakes, calipers, and rotors were put all the way around. Less then a week after that it had to go back in the shop to have the transmission "rebuilt" Of course national warranty is too cheap too a put a remanufactured one in or even a new one in for that matter. The car only has 54,000 miles on it. The car has been in the shop since 12/20/01 and the date is now 1/17/02. Don''t buy a cadillac catera!!! |
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[Jan 04, 2002]
Merckx
Model Reviewed:
/Catera
Strength:
Excellent Steering-very Germanic. Very roomy,front and espically rear,considering car''s trim profile. Currently undervalued in marketplace. Very sporting nature.
Weakness:
Reliability still a huge question. Gas tank a little small-short range. A little sluggish. In it''s first 5,000 miles,it has been a wonderful car. So many owners of the earlier ones have posted of catastrophic failures,and mine did need to have its waterpump replaced at 800 miles and its climate control panel replaced at 3,500 miles. That is troublesome,sure,but considering what I paid for it brand new,I really can''t complain. It drives magnificently. I''d say it has about 75% of the goodness of a Mercedes E320,but only 50% of its price. I do think the car is WAY undervalued,and wouldn''t hesitate a minute to reccomend buying a 2000 or 2001. It is very tight;the controls have more of a tactile,quality feel than the US Caddilacs costing $10,000+ more. Similar Products Used: Vw Passat |
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[Jan 03, 2002]
staci_ashton33
Model Reviewed:
/catera
Strength:
good interior with lots of extra
Weakness:
no storage space inside, always breaking down. DON''T EVER BUY A CADILLAC My husband and I bought our Cadillac from my father, who sells Chevy''s. The first few months we thought it was an awsome car. Then the recalls started to come in. Which since it was under warranty was fine. We moved to California, and that is when the trouble started. It was constantly in the shop. We had a rental car more often than we had the Catera. The final break down for us was one month after the warranty expired. (But still under the 50,000 mile mark) The timeing belt broke which cause the engine to go every which way. Cadillac quoted us $8,000. That is a lot of money! We called many other dealerships trying to get a cheaper quote and all of the told us that Cadillac should be paying for it. ALL of it. Well they didn''t. It turns out that this happens so much that they can''t afford to pay for it any more. So we got stuck with the bill. I always thought that Cadillacs were suppose to be great cars that will last you a life time. But on my first purchase I learned the truth. Cadillacs are LEMONS and they should be taken off the market. One day I hope everyone will know the truth about them...I will see that they will. My father has now sworn never to sell Cadillacs again. And I have sworn never to buy them again. Similar Products Used: Nissan |
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[Jan 03, 2002]
kkamazing
Strength:
The chrome rims look good.
Weakness:
Every thing above the rims. Worst car ever. Like most people I have realized a fear in taking it out of my driveway. I now carry my cell phone from work to call a tow truck. Car purchased with 55k on it. Two weeks after I had it one of the coil packs went. I am presently replacing a second coil pack and more wires. The only redeeming quality is that my actually goes straight, of course thats straight to the shop. Ive had the daytime running lamps and brake lights fixed. My steering wheel squeaks incessantly, the doors seems to have a mind of their own. I believe the humidity causes the electrical systems to go haywire. Perhaps all of us Catera owners should move to a dry climate where all the roads bend to the right. I will be dumping this car as soon as possible so that perhaps my future can go to college. Similar Products Used: None |
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[Jan 02, 2002]
keitho
Strength:
Handeling, comfort, decent performance for its''s size.
Weakness:
Frequency of repairs and cost of repairs. At least the dealer I take the car to is good about working on it. I have owned my 97 Catera for 18 months and 30,000 miles. The first few months were trouble free, then the fun began. 300. to fix a valve cover gasket leak (warranty), 500. to fix an intermittent abs/traction control problem (warranty also), 1100 to replace timing belt, idler pulley, water pump (died at 54K even though manual said it was good to 60K),300 to repair a coolant leak, 58K transmission died - required complete rebuild and they are still TRYING to fix it, to date 2500 in repair bils for the transmission. If anyone has similar problems please contact me. This car is truly a love hate relationship. I love the car when it runs, it is an enjoyable rear drive sedan, however in the past 6 months I have put more miles on rental cars than mine because it has been in the shop. Similar Products Used: None |
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[Jan 02, 2002]
Bruce
Model Reviewed:
Catera
Strength:
looks-bose stereo
Weakness:
everything else Gee,after owning it for 5 years, Where do I start. I can only suggest that- ONLY MECHANICS SHOULD BUY THIS CAR. It is a constant repair headache. If its not one thing,its another. And Cadillac should be ashamed of this cars repair history. Similar Products Used: None |
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[Dec 21, 2001]
Mindstab SV rider
Strength:
Mainly the comfort. I get my speed fixes from my 0 to 60 in 3.5 sec motorcycle. But it is nice to know my car has some reserve power.
Weakness:
Small problems? I am extreamly satisfied with my Catera so far. It has 20,000 miles on it. I absolutly love the comfort, style, and performance. I really like the crome wheels. I just hope it doesn''t turn out to be as much a piece of crap as others have. I have had a few small problems so far. My driver side heated seat is out (it is under woranty still , I just have not taken it in yet.). It appears that I have A very slow and small oil leak, and sometimes my ignition key gets stuck. So far I have been able to get it out after starting the car then puting it in gear then puting it in park again. After a few tries at that it usally comes out. It has not been doing it lately though, because I figured out if I put the key in with the Cadi logo faceing me problem is solved.(so far) Also sometimes the air condition and radio displays iratikly pulsate, but they haven''t given me any problems(still work) If it will just stay togather for five more years I will be stisfied. Similar Products Used: None |
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[Dec 17, 2001]
Scott Logan
Strength:
Looks, Bose Stereo, Price for what you get, chrome wheels
Weakness:
storage space, needs more horsepower We''ve been extremely satisfied with our Catera so far, and we''ve had it just about 5 months now. No sign of any problems. The car had 43,000 Km when we purchased it, and has about 48,000 at present. The tires were replaced when we bought it, and the car gone over, to make it an "optimum" used vehicle. I saw the original tires, they weren''t worn that badly, but we won''t argue over getting new tires! Our previous Nissan Maxiam needed new tires before the 40,000Km mark, so the Cartera seems to be no harder on tires than the Maxima. We have the leather, chrome wheels. Bose Stereo, power Moonroof and all the options, and just love the car. It could use about 30-40 more horsepower, just because of it''s tremendous weight, but I don''t think the 200HP is overly weak. A small V8 would be ideal in a car like this. I''ll post if we have any of the problems listed, but hopefully not. Nothing leaking, no pulling to the right, no dead batteries (and it IS the original battery in there) no excessive tire wear...haven''t seen nay signs yet. Similar Products Used: Nissan Maxima (the Maxima was a great car, but had some electrical problems, and massive rust, at only 7 years old) The brake lines rusted out and blew at 6 years. Have an old truck that''s an 88, an |


