Who owns a Catera?

[thuss239]

Thanks, that does help!!

[Proman]

I have a 1998 Catera. I love my car. It does not seem to have as much issues as some of the other owners. (except for the rocker cover gasket issue)

But in my area where the temperature is real real cold i keep having to replace body mouldings. (they curl and break when i open the doors)

[caterakid]

I have a 2000 cartera, so far i tinted the windows installed a spoiler Put on custom duel exhaust, and a cold air intake with pure white headlights

[91TexasSeville]

Originally Posted by Proman

I have a 1998 Catera. I love my car. It does not seem to have as much issues as some of the other owners. (except for the rocker cover gasket issue)

But in my area where the temperature is real real cold i keep having to replace body mouldings. (they curl and break when i open the doors)

Unfortunately this forum is where the Cadillac owners with problems normally arrive looking for answers to their delemma. The forum was built and is supported by Cadillac "lovers".

You may find more negative Catera statements than positive only because the majority of posters are suffering with payments and unresoved problems with their Catera.

The truth is, the Catera is no more prone to problems than any other vehicle without proper maintenance. There are more detailed problem resolutions available from your local Cadillac or General Motors dealership network. All you have to do is ask (in person) at the service desk. If you do not get the information you are looking for, or get snubbed, go to another dealer and ask. Report the lazy dealers to your local Cadillac district office. You are entitled to information pertaining to your Cadillac, especially recall information. All dealerships, Cadillac or not, should be more than happy to provide you with answers to questions pertaining to proper maintenance, pertinent service bulletins, or recall information. If they are less than happy to accomodate you, or want you to bring the car into the service bay to have a "look", report them. It is NOT customary to have a "look" without first asking the customer's permission. If all you want is information, then that is your request, nothing more.

Trim curling and breaking off is a production flaw that has been addressed in a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) as are other customer complaints.

[tuttlejr]

I did all the proper maintenance and still had problems. The original salesman told me that their dealership would no longer sell the Catera because of the problems. He advised me to get the extra warranty. One of the service advisors called my car a piece of crap. Part of the problem was it being the first year model (1997).

[Cheryl]

Hi Everyone,


I own a 1998 Catera. I have had it only about two months. My husband bought it from a salvage business who had bought it from an insurance company. All we had to do was replace the front bumper and fog lamps and have the bumper and hood painted. We deep cleaned it ourselves top to bottom. Under the hood was nearly immaculate. It's book value is two and half times what we paid for it.

I have to say so far I love it, especially the heated seats, sun roof and bose stereo. Oh, and it rides and drives like a dream.

Of course, I hope not to experience any of the 'horror stories' I have read on here! My husband knows vehicles inside and out, but I welcome any tips on taking care of it!

Cheryl

[Brando]

New to Forum... just purchased a 1997 Catera for my son for $5,000 and and has just rolled to 90K miles since purchase. When he drove it home (he lives 2 hours away with his mother) He called me from the highway. The "CHECK ENGINE" linght had come on and when he slowed to go through a toll booth, the car ran VERY rough. He shut it off for about 5 minutes, restared and the roughess went away, but the light stayed on. Any ideas?

Everything else on the car seems fine, it is his first car, and he is VERY excited.

[tuttlejr]

That happened to me once. It was one or more of the spark plug wires but they replaced all of them and solved the problem. That should be checked first.

[stevehogan]

If you purchased the car from a dealer, then head back to them. The Check Engine light can indicate any number of problems for very simple (cheap to fix) items to much more expensive things (such as an ignition coil). If you purchased it from a private party, contact them and see if they have the service records. Reading those might give you a hint. The 97s have some reliability issues but can be very good cars. You should contact a Cadillac dealer and verify that all of the recalls have been done (most likely so, but it doesn't hurt to be safe). The roughness coming and going could be a number of things. If you can get the dealer to read the engine codes, that will give you a lot of information. Or if your son is a mechanical type, he can get a cheap code reader (<$100) and a set of service manuals on eBay (<$50) and then he can begin to waste his afternoons and weekends keeping his new car in top shape. Tell him "welcome to the club" and have him read through the old posts on this site. There is a ton of good information and a lot of very helpful people here. Also, there is a Catera user's group on Yahoo that has some very smart people. Good luck.

[APatterson]

yeah i own a 98 catera.. white.. i havent ran into any problems, i must be the lucky one that actually gets one that doesnt fail..
of course.. i did buy it used, so.. the other owner may have had these problems .. oh well.. goodie for me..

all stock.. sadly.. but hopefully not for long...