General Motors and its Cadillac brand decided back in 1996 that is was the time to have an entry level Cadillac to the line up. So in 1997 the Catera was introduced as a new luxury small sedan that could be made affordable to a lot of North American consumers. What most people in North American didn’t know was that the Catera was a different version of the Opel Omega (Chevrolet’s European brand) but with more luxury amenities to go with it. Even with many Automobile awards given to the Catera, it was a short lived experiment and Cadillac stop production back in 2001. My research will be on Cadillac used cars (the Catera model) as a used vehicle to look at.
Cadillac decided to get into the midsize-compact luxury market because of the overwhelming success of such vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the BMW 3-Series models. Cadillac also leaned heavily on General Motors German division to help with competing with two other brands I mentioned above. Some standard things you get with the Catera are 16-alloy wheels, power windows, fold down rear seats, steering wheel radio controls, power seats, anti-theft system and air condition. Some of the options that are offered are leather upholstery, power sunroof, Bose sound system and chrome wheels just to name a few.
I could only find one fuel stat for the Cadillac Catera and it was for its last year in production (in 2001). Cadillac used cars like the Catera had a fuel rating of 13.8-litres, per 100km for city driving and 9.2-litres, per 100km, for highway driving. For a small luxury sedan this is not a great fuel stat when comparing to a mid-size luxury vehicle like a 5-Series model. The 5-series model averages 11-litres for city driving and 7-litres for highway driving (for that same year).
There was only one engine for the Cater from 1997 to 2001. The Cadillac Catera had a V6, 3.0-litre engine and this produced 200 horsepower, with 192 pounds per feet of torque.
Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of the Cadillac Catera as used vehicle:
1- A leading online consumer watch dog gave the Catera a bad rating for reliability as a used vehicle.
2- There are problems with valve cover gaskets leaking.
3- There are problems with the alignment.
4- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave it a good rating for a frontal crash test done to it.
I hope this helps when looking at Cadillac use cars like the Catera.
