Cadillac Motor Division of General Motors Cadillac Catera owners are mis lead by sales and service Detroit Michigan

Hay All,

Thought you would like to know How GM responded to my complaint via State Attorneys arbitration div.

They offered me a $3500 Credit off the sticker price to purchase a NEW CADILLAC!!!!!!
WOW! Thats big of them, Cash for Clunks was $4500 plus trade in. Oh yah they seem to have also forgotten mailing me offers $2750 + trade (kelly Blue book $2000) on their Customer Loyalty program before the recalled parts destroyed the engine, Daaaaaah not to mention offering it to anyone walking in off the street.  Now that's really taking responsibility for selling a piece of junk with multi recalls and special bulletin they won't honor after paying $36,00 new with a life expectancy of 20,654 miles. Guess all the Tarp money is needed for fuel for their private jet's, rather than building consumer confidence for the over priced, inferior piece's of junk their trying to passing off as high quality Luxury automobiles.

Sure Whitcare is advertising a 60 day no questions asked return policy, the problem will begin after 60 days while under the new government warranty that we the tax payers will be paying for the repairs up to 5 years/100,000 miles whichever your unlucky enough to reach, than your on your own because they will stall, put a band aid on it, tell you there is nothing wrong until the warranty has expired.

As for my dead abortion siting it's sitting in my parking spot at my condo, there it will remain printed on it for everyone to to see "Dead at 20,654 miles, this is GM's Quality Assurance"  I will never buy another Cadillac or Any GM for that matter again no matter what they offer, promise, warranty or guarantee from a company that is comparable to a snake oil salesman. 

Sue
Sunny Isles Beach, Fl

Hi. I happed to belong to a catera board for some yrs now. Changed emails and was searching when I came accross this site. I am on a fixed income and could not of bought a worse car in my life! This car is full of ghost problems, which when I would read the emails from the board, everyone has the same issues. This car should have been recalled! I am so angry as I cannot afford a other car, this car is worthless. And as for all the problems and now everyone is aware of them, no one wants the junk! I have two cad dealers where I live, and both managers have admitted to me it is junk. One said why do you think we stopped making them? Well yes, I will never never own a cad again as long as I live. I pay the price with this junk, afraid to go anywhere with it. It was $570.00 just two yrs ago to replace some module in it to smog it. When I got home the engine light was on again! Brought it back, and they said , oh that is something else. We need at least 2 hrs (75 a hour) to diagnoise it. I have read from the board I joined, more people have more money in this car then what it cost new! Some have offed them to junk yards, some say they just sit. IT is a pitty and they should not get away with this, when a lot of fixed income people just can't get a other car. I had many people on the board and if you really look this car up, every person who was unhappy wants a class action lawsuit! They should have to pay something to replace these cars to people who own them. And if you have not noticed, this car is taking a hammer on the book value. It is probably at 0 now! The transmission light will come on, on these cars, then power down. You need to pull over, turn the car off, then on and it goes out. Every problem I have had, I almost want to laugh (instead of crying) I see all these other people on the board complaining about the same problem. Bring it in the shop, it will cost you quite a bit, maybe a few K then before you get home it has a other light on. One of the other managers of Cad where I live, said he does not like to even touch these cars because of that. He told me when the transmission light was on, I did not need nickles or dimes to fix this, just thousands. He would not even give me a fair price to diagnoise the problem. Well thank God anyways , as it seems it is a continues problem with all these cars. I replaced the head gaskets about 8000 miles when I got it. Bought it with 100,000. 0n it. Very clean and the sales man told me it was a excellent car for me, great high way miles and he would buy it if he did not already own 5 cars. So since I am in it now for 14,000.00 total. and I have only drove it and put 30,000 on top of that. Oh and when the head gaskets where done, they told me that was the second time! I had coolant leaking on the floor board of the car when I first got it, forget what they call that, but that was about 600.00. For heater core plug? I hope someone on this board, see's my post and wants to contact all catera owners and start class action law suit! No lawyer would have a problem, as this has to be the worse car every made! cad has even said to me , well it is not a caddilac anyways. What a cop out. Help

Hi. I happed to belong to a catera board for some yrs now. Changed emails and was searching when I came accross this site. I am on a fixed income and could not of bought a worse car in my life! This car is full of ghost problems, which when I would read the emails from the board, everyone has the same issues. This car should have been recalled! I am so angry as I cannot afford a other car, this car is worthless. And as for all the problems and now everyone is aware of them, no one wants the junk! I have two cad dealers where I live, and both managers have admitted to me it is junk. One said why do you think we stopped making them? Well yes, I will never never own a cad again as long as I live. I pay the price with this junk, afraid to go anywhere with it. It was $570.00 just two yrs ago to replace some module in it to smog it. When I got home the engine light was on again! Brought it back, and they said , oh that is something else. We need at least 2 hrs (75 a hour) to diagnoise it. I have read from the board I joined, more people have more money in this car then what it cost new! Some have offed them to junk yards, some say they just sit. IT is a pitty and they should not get away with this, when a lot of fixed income people just can't get a other car. I had many people on the board and if you really look this car up, every person who was unhappy wants a class action lawsuit! They should have to pay something to replace these cars to people who own them. And if you have not noticed, this car is taking a hammer on the book value. It is probably at 0 now! The transmission light will come on, on these cars, then power down. You need to pull over, turn the car off, then on and it goes out. Every problem I have had, I almost want to laugh (instead of crying) I see all these other people on the board complaining about the same problem. Bring it in the shop, it will cost you quite a bit, maybe a few K then before you get home it has a other light on. One of the other managers of Cad where I live, said he does not like to even touch these cars because of that. He told me when the transmission light was on, I did not need nickles or dimes to fix this, just thousands. He would not even give me a fair price to diagnoise the problem. Well thank God anyways , as it seems it is a continues problem with all these cars. I replaced the head gaskets about 8000 miles when I got it. Bought it with 100,000. 0n it. Very clean and the sales man told me it was a excellent car for me, great high way miles and he would buy it if he did not already own 5 cars. So since I am in it now for 14,000.00 total. and I have only drove it and put 30,000 on top of that. Oh and when the head gaskets where done, they told me that was the second time! I had coolant leaking on the floor board of the car when I first got it, forget what they call that, but that was about 600.00. For heater core plug? I hope someone on this board, see's my post and wants to contact all catera owners and start class action law suit! No lawyer would have a problem, as this has to be the worse car every made! cad has even said to me , well it is not a caddilac anyways. What a cop out. Help

Hi. I happed to belong to a catera board for some yrs now. Changed emails and was searching when I came accross this site. I am on a fixed income and could not of bought a worse car in my life! This car is full of ghost problems, which when I would read the emails from the board, everyone has the same issues. This car should have been recalled! I am so angry as I cannot afford a other car, this car is worthless. And as for all the problems and now everyone is aware of them, no one wants the junk! I have two cad dealers where I live, and both managers have admitted to me it is junk. One said why do you think we stopped making them? Well yes, I will never never own a cad again as long as I live. I pay the price with this junk, afraid to go anywhere with it. It was $570.00 just two yrs ago to replace some module in it to smog it. When I got home the engine light was on again! Brought it back, and they said , oh that is something else. We need at least 2 hrs (75 a hour) to diagnoise it. I have read from the board I joined, more people have more money in this car then what it cost new! Some have offed them to junk yards, some say they just sit. IT is a pitty and they should not get away with this, when a lot of fixed income people just can't get a other car. I had many people on the board and if you really look this car up, every person who was unhappy wants a class action lawsuit! They should have to pay something to replace these cars to people who own them. And if you have not noticed, this car is taking a hammer on the book value. It is probably at 0 now! The transmission light will come on, on these cars, then power down. You need to pull over, turn the car off, then on and it goes out. Every problem I have had, I almost want to laugh (instead of crying) I see all these other people on the board complaining about the same problem. Bring it in the shop, it will cost you quite a bit, maybe a few K then before you get home it has a other light on. One of the other managers of Cad where I live, said he does not like to even touch these cars because of that. He told me when the transmission light was on, I did not need nickles or dimes to fix this, just thousands. He would not even give me a fair price to diagnoise the problem. Well thank God anyways , as it seems it is a continues problem with all these cars. I replaced the head gaskets about 8000 miles when I got it. Bought it with 100,000. 0n it. Very clean and the sales man told me it was a excellent car for me, great high way miles and he would buy it if he did not already own 5 cars. So since I am in it now for 14,000.00 total. and I have only drove it and put 30,000 on top of that. Oh and when the head gaskets where done, they told me that was the second time! I had coolant leaking on the floor board of the car when I first got it, forget what they call that, but that was about 600.00. For heater core plug? I hope someone on this board, see's my post and wants to contact all catera owners and start class action law suit! No lawyer would have a problem, as this has to be the worse car every made! cad has even said to me , well it is not a caddilac anyways. What a cop out. Help

Hi. I happed to belong to a catera board for some yrs now. Changed emails and was searching when I came accross this site. I am on a fixed income and could not of bought a worse car in my life! This car is full of ghost problems, which when I would read the emails from the board, everyone has the same issues. This car should have been recalled! I am so angry as I cannot afford a other car, this car is worthless. And as for all the problems and now everyone is aware of them, no one wants the junk! I have two cad dealers where I live, and both managers have admitted to me it is junk. One said why do you think we stopped making them? Well yes, I will never never own a cad again as long as I live. I pay the price with this junk, afraid to go anywhere with it. It was $570.00 just two yrs ago to replace some module in it to smog it. When I got home the engine light was on again! Brought it back, and they said , oh that is something else. We need at least 2 hrs (75 a hour) to diagnoise it. I have read from the board I joined, more people have more money in this car then what it cost new! Some have offed them to junk yards, some say they just sit. IT is a pitty and they should not get away with this, when a lot of fixed income people just can't get a other car. I had many people on the board and if you really look this car up, every person who was unhappy wants a class action lawsuit! They should have to pay something to replace these cars to people who own them. And if you have not noticed, this car is taking a hammer on the book value. It is probably at 0 now! The transmission light will come on, on these cars, then power down. You need to pull over, turn the car off, then on and it goes out. Every problem I have had, I almost want to laugh (instead of crying) I see all these other people on the board complaining about the same problem. Bring it in the shop, it will cost you quite a bit, maybe a few K then before you get home it has a other light on. One of the other managers of Cad where I live, said he does not like to even touch these cars because of that. He told me when the transmission light was on, I did not need nickles or dimes to fix this, just thousands. He would not even give me a fair price to diagnoise the problem. Well thank God anyways , as it seems it is a continues problem with all these cars. I replaced the head gaskets about 8000 miles when I got it. Bought it with 100,000. 0n it. Very clean and the sales man told me it was a excellent car for me, great high way miles and he would buy it if he did not already own 5 cars. So since I am in it now for 14,000.00 total. and I have only drove it and put 30,000 on top of that. Oh and when the head gaskets where done, they told me that was the second time! I had coolant leaking on the floor board of the car when I first got it, forget what they call that, but that was about 600.00. For heater core plug? I hope someone on this board, see's my post and wants to contact all catera owners and start class action law suit! No lawyer would have a problem, as this has to be the worse car every made! cad has even said to me , well it is not a caddilac anyways. What a cop out. Help

Dear Brent, This article is very helpful althought I do not know if it will serve me in any way. I too have gotten stuck with GM's abortion, I am the original owner of the now infamous 98 Catera. It has been problematic since the day after we took it home. GM will not take ownership of the damage caused by defective parts. Let me sum it up I have 20,654 miles on the vehicle when the Tensioner Pully failed causing the Timing Belt to snap thus damaging approximately 12 valves. As we all know the timing belt does not need replacement for 100,000 miles. I use this car for only local shopping as it is my 2nd vehicle so if I put 50 miles a week on it it's a lot. GM is giving me the run-a-round as you clearly indicated saying the Tensioner Pully & Timing Belt that failed was a newer issue therefore does not fall into the recall campaing # 02041 and will not honor the Special Policy Bulletin # 02018 for repairs cased by the failure of the recalled parts that I am still within the 7 year limit. OK so why did the Tenioner Pully fail & Timing Belt snap at 20,645 miles if it was not defective?????. The dealer then charges me $1146.71 to replace the Tensioner Pully & Timing Belt knowing full well the valves would be damaged and it would not repair the vehicle.

Customer Care stat's the car is too old for them to do anything about it, their not interested in the low milage, or the recall that I was never notified about or informed when I brought the car in to the dealer for service or any complaints, that they never found anything wrong with, while I was under GM warranty or extended GMAC. GM has never taken ownership of any of the problems I have had with the dealers for either this car or my Vette. GM knows this is a Known failure on this vehicle regardless of age, it only took this long to fail because of my minimal use & low milage. When it was 2 years old I wanted to trade it in for New Car and the Dealer offered me $10,000 on a car I paid them $36,000 so the depreciation was so low and I paid cash and owned it, I just kept it. 8 years later the car is worth $5000 and they want $6300 to repair it!!!!

This is the last straw, I will sell my beloved Vette that has been flawless, and buy anything that is NOT a GM. They make JUNK and stick the consumer no wonder they are in bankruptcy.
* just 1 last note, my family has been Cadillac owners since 1956 Good by to Bad Rubbish. I can't even recover the $1146.71 to junk it. I will scream it from the roof tops to anyone that will listen why I will never buy another GM Product.

I couldn't agree more strongly with what you have said, guys.

My wife and I shopped around early this year for a nice, inexpensive luxurious car. We found that Cadillac Cateras were the hottest thing... you could find one here and there. $11,000, $12,000 - for a car that was a few years old. Every conceivable feature, nice looking, rode nice and luxurious.

We did our homework - or so we thought! I drove over 1 1/2 hrs each way to look at it and to pay the guy who was selling it to us (a private sale). He had our check, we had his title (I hadn't signed it yet).

I don't know what possessed me to be more curious(maybe because there was a "slight smoking from the motor). However, I searched even further. The site was something like www.carreport.com, maybe carreports (one word). In any event, Catera owners shared horror stories. Only a few people had no problems, yet. Motors blew, tires wore out very quickly. Caddy gave them the run-around. Someone said that caddy reached it's limit of what they could afford to cover under warrantee (because there were so many motors they had to replace, etc.).

Long and short of it all, I called the seller of the Catera and was VERY apologetic to him, asking to return my money - in exchange for his title back. He seemed quite sincere and oblivious to the anticipated problems that may lie ahead for the new owner. I drove back there again and made the switch. Wow, close one!!!

We bought a Nissan Maxima, based on the above website - and they were right... it is nice.

Research first. Luxury and features aren't exciting if you can't leave your driveway!

Dear Brent, I must thank you for posting this informative Rip Off report about the Cadillacs. I have always felt that they are GM over priced junk.

I will be passing out copies of this informative Rip Off report at the next phoenix auto show, it will be fun.

Just think of all the senior citizens that will get Ripped Off by GM with this poorly designed car. Shame that GM does not have the ability like Infiniti or Mercedes Benz.

I also will fax copies to all local cadillac dealers here in Phoenix. This will make my day. Thank you Brent.

If have any more inside info on GM's, Post it when you can.

Foot Note to LUND CADILLAC in Phoenix. Put this Rip Off report in your pipe and smoke it.