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Used 1997 Cadillac Catera Consumer Reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
68 reviews

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2.13 out of 5 stars

I hate this car

Cory Bouton, 07/31/2009
1997 Cadillac Catera 4dr Sedan
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

I bought this car from a private seller, and it worked fine for a few years then when one thing broke and it was just down hill from there. Currently the AC and heat don't work because of electrical problem I can't even afford to have diagnosed professionally, I have a major radiator leak that won't be worth the repair cause when I do fix it, something worse will just come up. So now I just carry extra fluid with me. The tranny failed, twice, thank goodness for warranty, and now that the tranny is fixed I got smoke coming out the exhaust. So I don't drive it unless I have to. The Sunroof was working until I brought it back from tranny shop, now it don't work, again. I hate this car.

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1.88 out of 5 stars

Catera ,german for "No One Can Fix it"

Captain Canuk, 10/18/2002
1997 Cadillac Catera 4dr Sedan
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

We bought this car off of lease with only 45k on it. At first we thought we had a great car. The ride was great and the handling was beautiful. After the first couple of months things started to go, front left signal light just fell off(poor plastic???bracket)then the tires started leaking (rusting rims after 50K same problem they had in the 70'S),water pump,air conditioner pump,leaky oil cooler,driver side mirror discoloration, front breaks and finally the timing belt (recall). Our warranty is coming to an end in May and we are going to ditch the car for an import maybe we will upgrade to a Corolla!!

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2.75 out of 5 stars

Avoid at all costs

foster5j, 02/28/2003
1997 Cadillac Catera 4dr Sedan
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

What a money pit! Timing belt broke at 38k miles, oil leaks, water pump,needs tires every 2 years, front brakes $500. at 43k miles, fog lights broke, brake switch NG, oil cooler seal went, runs hot, needed new heads, tensioner, valves. Poor, poor quality - high, high cost. Yuck.

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2.88 out of 5 stars

Catera

dp, 12/10/2007
1997 Cadillac Catera 4dr Sedan
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Don't buy a Catera! We bought one in Feb. 07, and it ran great for 2 days total. Needed a new head gasket..it only had 60k miles on it. Great ride, great looking car but not reliable at all. The day we picked it up we were told by a mechanic that did not inspect the car that it was a piece of junk! He predicted either head gasket problems within 6 months. Two days after we got it, had a new radiator put in. Then, everything was leaking (transmission fluid, oil, water, brake fluid). We finally sold it for less than 1/4 of what we paid for it after 4 months..apparently everyone else knew about those problems but us!

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3.63 out of 5 stars

Paying for the name only

mary, 09/09/2010
1997 Cadillac Catera 4dr Sedan
0 of 3 people found this review helpful

This car is a great ride. That's it. I can not find anyone to fix whatever is wrong. Dealers laugh at the cost to fix it. It runs for a week and then quits. Over and over again. I feel like driving it through a dealer window, but bought it privately. I will stick to Toyota from past experience. I thought since the motor was made in Germany that it would be a good car. I was wrong! This car needs to have permanent retirement in a junk yard. I would feel guilty selling it to anyone as gullible as I was. I should have known better (what was I thinking not buying a Toyota?).

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