Cadillac Catera

Owners filed 468 complaints across 7 model years of the Cadillac Catera. The 1997 drew the most (163); the 2002 the fewest (2).

Model years7
Complaints468
Recalls0
Fires9
Deaths0

Every Cadillac Catera model year compared

Complaints per year
YearComplaintsRelative volumeRecallsFiresCrashesMost reportedStatus
20033
0Electrical System › 12v/24v/48v BatteryRoutine
20022
0Vehicle Speed Control › Accelerator PedalRoutine
200130
04TiresRoutine
200067
015Electrical SystemRoutine
199980
044Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › GasolineRoutine
1998123
016Engine and Engine Cooling › EngineRoutine
1997163
038Engine and Engine Cooling › EngineRoutine

Which Cadillac Catera years should you avoid?

On raw complaint volume the 1997 is the weakest year on record, with 163 complaints concentrated in the engine and engine cooling › engine.

Read these numbers with sales volume in mind. A model year that sold in huge numbers naturally accumulates more reports than a rare one, and older cars have had more years to fail. The stronger signal is the severity columns and whether the same component keeps coming up year after year.

Data: NHTSA complaint and recall files, September 2026. Complaints are unverified owner reports.