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My good friend had a Catera, it also gave him check engine light problems and other lil problems. It made him so sold it to his sister and bought a GS 400. It was a spacious car and it drove well but the interior was like a Sentra and not of the luxury level of the ES.
Saw this thread and just had to add my experience. I bought a new '97 Catera, eventually putting over 30K miles on it. I've never had so many warranty repairs on a vehicle. Guages, new Trans, door locks, and many more too numerous to mention. Will say it drove well when it worked.
After taking all I could, I called GM and told them this reliability was poor for the money spent and that I expected better from Cadillac. Believe it or not, they bought it back from me, and for more cash than I originally paid for the car 30K back.
I had experience with Toyota Camrys in the past and decided to order a new Lexus ES300 to replace the Catera. When I took the Catera to the Caddy dealer to give them the car and get my check from GM, you should have seen the salespeople, they were itching to sell me another car from their stock. Think they got the picture when my wife pulled into the lot behind me in a loaner ES300 the Lexus dealer gave me until my new car arrived.
I've since owned two Es300 models, a '99 and now a 2002. Each time I am driving and pass a Caddy dealership, I quietly thank them for helping me buy my Lexus...and no more reliability issues.
Originally posted by Pianoman72 They start out bashing the Lexus but then change their tune after having problems with the caddy. Thought you guys might enjoy.
Wasn't the Catera just a rebaged Cimaron? My friend's parents had one before, and had problems too. Eventually, they got rid of it and bought a '94 ES300 instead.