2001 Cadillac Catera - Too much unique maintenance
The car looks nice, I will tell you that. Mine was white, with a nice leather and cream-colored interior. The car had decent mileage around 22 to 28 mpg, and handled very well. The problem was how much maintenance needed to go into the car, that ultimately I would never want to purchase another Catera again. I would not recommend this car to anyone at any time.
The car looks nice, I will tell you that. Mine was white, with a nice leather and cream-colored interior. The car had decent mileage around 22 to 28 mpg, and handled very well. The problem was how much maintenance needed to go into the car, that ultimately I would never want to purchase another Catera again. I would not recommend this car to anyone at any time.
Took the car out for a test run along a famous river in the area, where the roads wind in and out. The car turned very well, and was an enjoyable trip.
Took the car out for a test run along a famous river in the area, where the roads wind in and out. The car turned very well, and was an enjoyable trip.
The Cadillac Catera looks great, as a 4-door sedan, it was stylish, while also being conservative. The interior was probably the best thing about the car, which must have been made of quality material to survive such a nice look over 14 years (the car had 80,000 miles on it at the time of purchase). General performance of the car was good also, with excellent steering and acceleration.
The Cadillac Catera looks great, as a 4-door sedan, it was stylish, while also being conservative. The interior was probably the best thing about the car, which must have been made of quality material to survive such a nice look over 14 years (the car had 80,000 miles on it at the time of purchase). General performance of the car was good also, with excellent steering and acceleration.
This car had so many problems with so many different systems. First it was brakes, then it was fuel intake, then the rotors had issues. This went on for a couple other problems, but the kicker was how expensive the parts and service was on this particular car. Apparently the 2001 Cadillac Catera had a couple more unique parts that were harder to work with, and I'm sure it wasn't the mechanic hassling me, since it's our same mechanic of 30+ years.
This car had so many problems with so many different systems. First it was brakes, then it was fuel intake, then the rotors had issues. This went on for a couple other problems, but the kicker was how expensive the parts and service was on this particular car. Apparently the 2001 Cadillac Catera had a couple more unique parts that were harder to work with, and I'm sure it wasn't the mechanic hassling me, since it's our same mechanic of 30+ years.
2000 Cadillac Catera - Drives well but constantly develops issues
The Cadillac brand itself carries a lot of weight, and sounds great when telling someone about what car you drive. This specific model is actually a bit unlike what you usually would think of when you think Cadillac. I have often had people tell me it was not a Cadillac until they came close enough to see the logo. For a Cadillac it just looks a bit too ordinary, but it still have some features that make it stand out from just any sedan. The grill looks great, and so do the rear lights. The interior is beautiful with leather seats, and wood trim to the door handles and dashboard. It comes with a Bose stereo that performs great, the steering wheel has buttons built in to control the stereo, which is a great feature, when it work. Once in awhile these buttons would just stop working for ... (more)
The Cadillac brand itself carries a lot of weight, and sounds great when telling someone about what car you drive. This specific model is actually a bit unlike what you usually would think of when you think Cadillac. I have often had people tell me it was not a Cadillac until they came close enough to see the logo. For a Cadillac it just looks a bit too ordinary, but it still have some features that make it stand out from just any sedan. The grill looks great, and so do the rear lights. The interior is beautiful with leather seats, and wood trim to the door handles and dashboard. It comes with a Bose stereo that performs great, the steering wheel has buttons built in to control the stereo, which is a great feature, when it work. Once in awhile these buttons would just stop working for no apparent reason, and then later all of a sudden they would be working again. This same problem seemed to exist with the controls to the moon roof. The cabin is very spacious with plenty of leg space, and 4 people fit comfortably. The trunk is also pretty spacious, about what you would expect from a sedan class car. This car performs great, and has a surprisingly strong acceleration, however it lags in the handling area I would sometime experience the steering wheel locking up to where it would take a considerable amount of force to unjam. The breaking is average, and does what it is supposed to do without impressing significantly. I haven't taken this car to the shop often, as my boyfriend does the mechanic work himself. That being said, it often needs repairs, and parts can be rather expensive to get because Cadillac for some reason decided to have this models engine built in Germany. The engine is covered, which makes it quite annoying to do mechanic work on. The car developed a leak in several places in the cooling system, and you have to keep checking your anti-freeze levels as it needs to be refilled about once every 6 weeks or so, this becomes more important as the warning light to tell you when you have low coolant is always on, as there is a defect in the sensor. This make and year of Cadillac's have an issue with the headlight assembly where the part that holds the light bulb in place disintegrates with time due to the heat from the sun, which causes the bulb to hang, so it doesn't light up the road ahead of you. This isn't a problem if you drive in areas that are well lit, but I would not recommend driving this car in dark roads, as it becomes very hard to see the road ahead of you. I had to change out the hydraulic bars, that hold the hood open when doing maintenance, twice. Cadillac recommends that you use premium gas for this vehicle, it get's good mileage for a Cadillac, but compared to the competition it doesn't stand out. It is more expensive to get an oil change because this car uses an special oil-filter. On an average day this car, as most Cadillac's, is a joy to drive, but all the issues, especially the, not often occurring, steering wheel jam makes you feel a bit unsafe.
The interior is absolutely beautiful, and extremely comfortable.
I love how the powerful acceleration feels.
The "smooth feel" when driving it.
The cabin is very spacious.
The exterior is rather beautiful, without standing out too much.
It's a Cadillac.
The stereo sounds great.
You can control your stereo with the buttons on the steering wheel.
It has a moon roof.
Rather spacious trunk.
The interior is absolutely beautiful, and extremely comfortable.
I love how the powerful acceleration feels.
The "smooth feel" when driving it.
The cabin is very spacious.
The exterior is rather beautiful, without standing out too much.
It's a Cadillac.
The stereo sounds great.
You can control your stereo with the buttons on the steering wheel.
It has a moon roof.
Rather spacious trunk.
The headlight assembly disintegrates with time, causing the headlights not to light up the road ahead of you very well.
The steering wheel, on rare occasions, locks up, making it very dangerous to drive.
The cooling system develops leaks, and you have to keep refilling with anti-freeze.
Oil changes are expensive due to the special oil-filter the car uses.
The engine is built in Germany, meaning that some parts have to be imported when doing repairs, causing them to be expensive.
The engine is covered, which is an annoyance when doing mechanic work.
The hydraulic bars holding the hood open ... (more)
The headlight assembly disintegrates with time, causing the headlights not to light up the road ahead of you very well.
The steering wheel, on rare occasions, locks up, making it very dangerous to drive.
The cooling system develops leaks, and you have to keep refilling with anti-freeze.
Oil changes are expensive due to the special oil-filter the car uses.
The engine is built in Germany, meaning that some parts have to be imported when doing repairs, causing them to be expensive.
The engine is covered, which is an annoyance when doing mechanic work.
The hydraulic bars holding the hood open needs to be replaced several times.
The buttons controlling the stereo and the moon roof on occasions stop working.
This car uses premium fuel, which is more expensive.
coolant sensor malfunctions, meaning you have to manually check your coolant often.
It Develops a lot of issues, so if you are not good with mechanics yourself, and have to take it to the shop, it becomes VERY expensive in repairs.
2000 Cadillac Catera - Always something
This was the first car I owned myself. I wouldn't make that mistake again though. I bought it used with 70,000 miles and within a week it was in for repair for the first time. It had a computer chip go bad. This resulted in no traction control, non working speedometer, and a non working odometer. Thankfully the car came with a limited warranty so I was not faced with the 1000 dollar bill. Shortly after this the air bag suspension needed replaced. It always seems like once something gets fixed another thing breaks. Two out of the four windows to not work. Surprisingly the car has never left me sit. I had a close call when my alternator died but I was close enough to home to turn around. Overall when the car drives its fine and drives fairly nicely, but just when you're getting used to t... (more)
This was the first car I owned myself. I wouldn't make that mistake again though. I bought it used with 70,000 miles and within a week it was in for repair for the first time. It had a computer chip go bad. This resulted in no traction control, non working speedometer, and a non working odometer. Thankfully the car came with a limited warranty so I was not faced with the 1000 dollar bill. Shortly after this the air bag suspension needed replaced. It always seems like once something gets fixed another thing breaks. Two out of the four windows to not work. Surprisingly the car has never left me sit. I had a close call when my alternator died but I was close enough to home to turn around. Overall when the car drives its fine and drives fairly nicely, but just when you're getting used to that something breaks. Some good things I did like were the leather interior, the moon roof, and the Bose sound system. All of these have held up the 4 years I have owned the car and they show no signs of stopping. The best gas mileage I could achieve while driving this car was around 23 mpg.
Bose Sound System
Leather Interior
Rear Wheel Drive
Moon Roof
Bose Sound System
Leather Interior
Rear Wheel Drive
Moon Roof
Bad Reliability
Poor gas mileage
Bad Reliability
Poor gas mileage
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