Who owns a Catera?

[exoilman]

I have a 2000 Catera, need a grill badge-some body tried to pry mine off and broke it.

[lester john]

Originally Posted by ZiaBD4

New Member from Espanola New Mexico

We own a 1998 Catera, purchased new, approx. 100K miles. I found this site while exploring a fix to our problem. The car shuts down, seems to be a lack of fuel, restarts in a few minutes, runs for a while and then shuts down again. The Cadillac Dealer diagnosis was low fuel pressure no trouble codes - needs a fuel pump. I'm not sure if that is really the problem. I would like to know if anyone has had similar problems and could help.
Miguel
The only problems I have had in the past were:

• Replacement of a Gear Selector Switch - covered under warranty
• Battery Replacement
• Eats up front tires every 15-20K miles

hi i work at a car lot in middle tn we buy catara,s all to time a auction,s here in tn we like the so called bad ones 97 to 99 models to fix feathering problem with tires rotate every 3000 miles and set your toe to .2 degrees negitivethis will help alot you wont feel any diffrence unless you going over 120 after this speed thay start to feel sloppy but unless you drive over 120 all the time its better than replacing front tires every 15 to 20k miles buy the way a dealer WILL NOT DO THIS FOR YOU you must got to a privete shop but like i said its worth it

[caterasport0520]

JG I purshased a Catera Sport in 12/05 with 37K for mileage and black exterior. I love it and had been looking for one for some time. After two front wheel automobiles I am glad to be back in a RWD vehicle that handles well. I sold the G20 but kept the Spec V. This one does steer the back end a bit on irregular surfaces but I believe it is due to the tires. (Has 17" with off brand tires.) I purchased some BBS wheels and Contisport Contact tires and will try them out closer to summer. I have them on my Spec V and they work year around very well.

This is a solid well built automobile. I have had a look at some of the parts on the Catera and can see the design, materials, and manufacturing are German quality. The auto trans. is excellent in normal mode and the sport mode has not been all that necessary but I am glad that is there when needed.

Many of the Catera owners are not "car guys". My neighbor has a 2000 (I believe.) with 80K. Both have established professional careers and you won't find them on this site unless they have a problem and I send them here. There are a few others in my housing area but tend to be 45 and older.
I think the CTS owners probably will tend to have a wider customer base. Maybe more 30's and up.

Opel did a good job on this car and Cadillac made some nice improvements particularly on the Sport and using upgraded suspension on it's regular models later in production. The off-set colision test on the drivers side was well rated. I'm glad to have some extra sheet metal around me with all those SUVs and pickups out there as well as the air bags both front and side. The only thing my wife and I question is the cup holder position. A rather less significant detail when every thing else is correct. Hope all is well with you guys, I have exactly no excuses to make on this car. Den

[caterasport0520]

Do you have any info. on the adapter taht would allow the use of a larger filter. Thanks, Den

[wilj97]

Originally Posted by lester john

... we like the so called bad ones 97 to 99 models... to fix feathering problem with tires rotate every 3000 miles and set your toe to .2 degrees negitivethis will help alot you wont feel any diffrence unless you going over 120 after this speed thay start to feel sloppy but unless you drive over 120 all the time its better than replacing front tires every 15 to 20k miles buy the way a dealer WILL NOT DO THIS FOR YOU you must got to a privete shop but like i said its worth it

john,

i just got a 99 cat on 04/08 to replace my 98. and i'm curious about the alignmnt issue...i read a TSB for alignment spec 3 that was introduced at the end of the 98 production yr and was for the 99 model year... is the 99 alignment spec still wrong and forcing the 99 model to digest tires like sally struthers digests food??

thanks

jw

[gixxer_751]

not to many cateras round my hood, I've seen 3 so far since i got mine in Sept of 05

[jimmer84]

Hi, Ive got a 1998 with 129,000 mi and all options but cd changer and sunshade. Ive had some of the same problems, but i'm a technician at a GM dealer. There is an valve cover update. the 1999 (?) and later valve covers, the ones with coil-on-plug design seal better and are actually cheaper then just gaskets for the old style valve covers. there is also an extended warranty on timing belt tesnsioners and waterpumps for 7 years or 100,000 mi. I dont know if these things have been covered, but i thought i'd say something.

overall i love the car, it drives nicer with 129k than most impalas and monte carlos with 30k. but unfortunately my fiancee has the car 200 mi away in school and i only get to drive it on weekends, but still have to pay for it.

[grantii]

I am an owner of a '98 Catera - nicknamed "bishop", due to it's color scheme - dark green exterior with gold stripe, all emblems are in gold (not sure which package that may be), interior is called natural shale (according to cadillac) - just looks tan to me. My friend dubbed it its name based on Bishop Don Juan (if you don't know him, look it up on google) and the slogan for the car is: green for the money.....gold for the honeys.

I purchased this car for $4500 with only 68K miles on it. I thought I was getting it for a steal. I have sunk about 5K in repairs to this car. It's really pretty to look at, but I've had repaired:
Sway Bar and Links
Tie Rods and Adjusters
Engine Oil Cooler
Coolant Lines
Complete tune up with new plugs and wires
new battery and connecting wires
...some type of fix cadillac poured in my engine because the head gasket was beginning to crack. they stated that the coolant and oill were beginning to mix. according to them, the "potion" cured the crack.

and I know I'm missing some repairs, but i can't remember all of them. Right now, I need new tie rods for the back, because during my 2nd alignment, they couldn't adjust the back because the adjusters were "frozen". I need new headlights because the adjusters are "frozen", so I have one beam in the sky, and the other one is pointing proper. I'm experiencing an intermitten overheating issue that cadillac is saying is normal and there's some weird sounding fan that goes off whenever the car is shut off and the temp is over the 1/2 mark on the gauge inside.

But overall.....I'd rather be driving a Mercedes E3 series for the money I'm paying for this car. But I'm gonna keep bishop til I graduate college...then i'll get either the new STS-V or I'll go for the 'yota Avalon. I know those 2 aren't in the same class,but the avalon is a nice one...

[Catera930]

I do - Matter of fact I need some help.
My "Mass Air Flow" Filter is causing my engine to over-idle.
The dealership wants a million dollars to replace it. I heard that I can take it out and clean it and put it back in to solve the problem.
Does anyone know what I should do? Help!

[gary watson]

I do and I'm looking for a plug wire pattern. Any idea where I can find one?