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Coolant leak, left front tire rod, broken shocks in rear and left rear axle boot :lemon: .
Can not wait to get rid of this car worse purchase ever and will never buy another.
I have the same thing happening. Did you ever figure it out? Any advice would be so helpful. I like this car, and we are still paying for it, so I guess I'm in for the long haul. I'm about ready to get all new gaskets too, but I need to know it's not having some other catastrophic issue. The pressure is low, but it runs fine and has oil...
Thanks, Tom
:sick:
To be honest, I have no clue where it was leaking, sorry. I took it in and a day later told me it would cost $400 to fix. 3/4 of the cost was labor and the part was the remainder. Well, it lasted approx. 3 months and now the engine light and radiator light is back on. TSK TSK
Now I am hearing the coolant leak has to do w/the water pump. I have chosen not to fix the car and park for awhile. I just don't have $1200 to fix my car. Such a tragedy as I love my Catera. Good luck.
I just purchased a 2000 Catera with 74,000 miles on it. The remote locks and unlocks all door properly, however, I cannot open the drivers door (even when unlocked) without putting the key in the door. I do not need to turn the key... just put the key in the door and then it will open. The door opens properly when you open the door from inside the car (the inside door handle. Is this normal? I doubt it. Also, the rear power windows do not work. Any idea of repair costs? Mostly concerned about the door though.
Hope to get a response.
Thanks!
Don't buy GM
With all the mechanical failures and over-priced specialized parts the cars ability to handle the road and sound sytems doesn't make up for the impudence of Cateras.
We have only had this Used car about 7 months now and it was one problem after another especially since it was bought through a secondary dealer Brumos International Motors. They sold a lemon with problems and knew they sold us a lemon and won't stand behind it either. Cadillac won't touch the car since it was not bought through a Cadillac dealership.
I bought my car in 2003 and it had 32,000 miles on it and this car has been in the shop twenty times since I bought it for misc. reasons. Right now it is in the shop for the same reason, low voltage and not starting except when the car is jumped. I took it to the repair shop due to it not starting, they replaced the battery the next day it won't start, they replaced the starting switch or sensor, forgot the exact terminology for it. Two weeks later it won't start again, this time I am told it is the alternator, they replaced that then three days later it won't start again, I was told it was a bad alternator, well one month later it wouldn't start again, so it is in the shop again. I noticed when the air is on and I am running around in the car the alternator voltage almost hits the red mark. I think it has something to do with the car running w/air and very hot outside, this is just my observation on this problem. Funny thing when the car sits over night it starts right up and the voltage needle doesn't move until the car runs a while.
Did you (cat2ksi) ever receive an answer on your problem with low voltage? I am up to my eyes with problems on this car and I would really appreciate any help with this problem.
Thanks.
They have been telling me that for 6 months now on an rpm problem that goes up to 3800 when excellerating to 25mph after sitting for 8 hours intermitantly. no error they cant fix it. they finally started to work on that after I drove with a video camera to record it. It has been in there service garage for 4 weeks and Detroit's hot shot team hasn't figured it out yet. Because there is no error code they wont change anything out. The other day Detroit said they didn't think it was the Engine or transmission may be the wiring. I said then change the harness there answer we cant just change parts out Guess why "THERE IS NO ERROR CODE. Friday they said to me that they are going to have to give me the car back if they dont find anything this week. Because there is no code. and its intermitant and they cant duplicate the problem. They must of thought there was a problem to send the tape to Detroit. Needless to say this is the last GM car I'll ever buy and I get an employee discount all the time
Problem solved. STEALERSHIP got me for $500 plus in unneeded repairs and battery replacements (3).
Biggest problem was that I had to replace the head unit that controls the A/C twice. First under warranty, and the second time just after the warranty wore out This was a $1,000 job.
Besides that, the car has been pretty trouble-free. A little problem here and there, but mostly normal wear and tear. I now have 80,000 miles and really enjoy driving it, especially on the highway, where it is quiet, responsive, solid feeling and nimble. It is a well engineered car. Good sound system, too.
Biggest problem: other than dealerships, few mechanics want to work on them. It is an orphan child.
I would give it a B+ / A- as an overall experience.
replaced which cost $1300 when car was picked up from shop after being told it was fixed, we drove around and notice still white smoke, took car back mechanic attempt to do more work on car. well three days later we pick car up and still white smoke. after threatning to take mechanic to court for not fixing my car, i drove it around for few weeks and smoke cleared up, but noticed when air conditiong is running temperture gauge very high, well last week car started fluttering like wants to cut off when idle, and check engine light on, took car to advance auto he says needs mass air flow sensor that cost $299 after locating part at local salvage yard for $65 we put it on and car still doing same thing, idling very high, transmission seems to be shifting funny. can anyone help me im about to give up on this car i own a volvo and never had these kind of problems. everyone i talk with says i need to get rid of it, but i would really like to keep car, very nice i just dont wont to spend fortune. HELP!!!
Long story short: My car was due for an oil change, so I brought it in, after calling ahead, to have the oil changed. The service writer (Joey Davidson) came back shortly thereafter to tell me that “The drain plug is stripped so we can’t do it, you’ll have to bring it back Monday.” “What do you mean, the drain plug is stripped?” I asked, “Do you mean that you stripped the drain plug? The car’s never been serviced anywhere but here since it was new.” He went to check on this and then returned to confirm this. “We can’t do anything with it now,” he told me, “It’s stripped and we can’t get it out.”
At this point I've driven 45 minutes to the damn dealer from Decatur to discover they can't do a simple oil change. I'm really, REALLY not happy, and no, I don't have time to bring it back on Monday, I WORK. This is after the car has had a problem with overheating on the freeway with the A/C on, and they cannot find it after it's been sitting there three times. I want to call/write the local office and complain, does anyone know how to do that? I don't want to waste any time talking to some call centre peon who is going to mouth platitudes at me. (I apologise to all call centre peons because I was one once and so know how much power they have.) So if anyone knows how I can get in touch with someone who might care please let me know. :mad:
Fist, excuse my bad english cause I'm french.
I have a cadillac catera 1998 and it has an intermitent problem. It happens regularly that I cannot start because the battery was completely emptied. I changed the battery once but the problem is always present. The dealer does not find any solution with my problem. Would you have an idea where the problem come from please?
Thank's in advance for your help.
Sylvie
Thanks for your help.
TRADE IT IN!!!!!!!!!