Pretty much, am I wasting my time? I live in a climate where this car will see snow, and it will be my daily. Is there anything that I need to worry about? The only prob with this car is there is a little damage on the drivers side rear quarter. Its a 97 with around 80K on her, all the electronics work, but I just have an uneasy feeling about it since the only thing the lady kept saying to me was "You buy now, you come back tomorrow?" anything specific that I should be lookin at or for?

Thanks...

 

Catera owners tend to fall in to the ones who love them and the one who hate them very few in between. Car was built by Opel in Germany and imported to U.S. Germans tend to be proud of their parts and non-factory parts availability may limited since Opel stopped selling cars in U.S. years ago. The biggest common problems with early Cateras is leaks, and the drain for HVAC air inlet where cabin filter is located gets blocked causing right side of interior to flood with rain water after hard rain. Being your are in the land of snow and ice tie rod adjusting sleeves will seize if neglected. Engine is done if you lose timing belt also. Their re-sale is not so great also. That's the bad. The positive there was a recall on timing belt. Take VIN to dealer prior to buying to see if recalls were done & when (free), belt should last 100K. Owner tend to like their size, handling,ride, and fuel economy. As with the purchase of any vehicle have it checked out by an honest tech / shop to advise you as to what they see during a pre-purchase check out. See if owner has service records - more records of maintainence vs repairs normally the better. Unless records are mostly oil changes, and repairs may have been ignored.