2000 Cadillac Catera

Typical pattern

6.3% of complaints about the 2000 Cadillac Catera came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2000 vehicle — around the middle of the 213 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 5.9 yr in service. The most-reported system is electrical system (23 complaints), typically at 6.3 yr or about 69,715 miles.

Complaints: 95
Median age at failure: 5.9 yr
Median mileage: 70,000 n=48
Crash / fire / tow: 11.6% of reports
Safety recalls: 0

In owners’ own words

Electrical system mileage not reported 1.2 yr in service crash / fire / tow

WHILE DRIVING INSTRUMENT WARNING LIGHTS WILL ILLUMINATE, AND VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF, LOSING ALL POWER. DEALER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. *AK STALLING OF THE VEHICLE WHILE ON HIGHWAY RESULTING IN ACCIDENT. THE VEHICLE WAS AT DEALERSHIP THREE TIMES FOR BRAKE WORK. *YH

Electrical system mileage not reported 1.8 yr in service

CONSUMER PUT KEY IN SWITCH AND IT WOULD NOT TURN THE SWITCH. CONSUMER STATED THIS IS WAS SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED. CONTACTED DEALER. *AK CONSUMER STATES VEHICLE HAD PROBLEMS WITH BATTERIES ALSO. CONSUMER NO LONGER OWNS VEHICLE, IT WAS TURNED IN AS A LEMON. *SLC

Electrical system mileage not reported 1.8 yr in service

CONSUMER PUT KEY IN SWITCH AND IT WOULD NOT TURN THE SWITCH. CONSUMER STATED THIS IS WAS SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED. CONTACTED DEALER. *AK CONSUMER STATES VEHICLE HAD PROBLEMS WITH BATTERIES ALSO. CONSUMER NO LONGER OWNS VEHICLE, IT WAS TURNED IN AS A LEMON. *SLC

Engine cooling mileage not reported 1.0 yr in service

WHILE DRIVING ABOUT ANY MPH VEHICLE WILL STALL WITHOUT A PRIOR WARNING, AND LEAVING CONSUMER STUCK IN TRAFFIC FOR A COUPLE MINUTES. HAD TAKEN VEHICLE TO DEALER FOR CHECK UP, BUT COULD NOT FIND ANY THING WRONG.*AK

Other Catera model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2000 Cadillac Catera

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

In owners’ own words

Other Catera model years

How to read this