Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 21,483 complaints for CADILLAC
Incident date: Sep 19, 2022
The recall on the the toe Link adjuster was replaced with a part that does not allow for adjustment of toe in or toe out. As a result, the rear tires had premature wear on the inside tread causing replacement of the tires. The dealer claims the replacement is correct and will not correct the part. The tire store said the part will not allow them to do the alignment to be correct.
Incident date: Sep 18, 2021
There is webbing, delaminated on the touchscreen. It is no longer functioning. Dealership is asking $1700 for replacement. This is something that Cadillac knew and refuses to recall/replace. I cannot afford to replace this. It’s unethical of Cadillac to do something like this. Some type of voucher or assistance would be grateful if Cadillac/GM would step up to the plate and assist with this... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2022
Service airbag light on dash is on. No one ever sits in the passenger front seat. The rear view mirror indicates that the passenger seat airbag is off. I dont know how to turn it on just to see if the RVM will indicate an on position. I took the car in for a diagnosis and it it indicated that the PPS Module needs replacement. ($1280.79) Even if I do find out how to turn it on I would be afraid t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2022
I was in an accident on 8/19/22. I was completely stopped when struck head on by a Ram Truck with a Ranch-hand bumper. The hit totaled my car, bending the frame and pushing the left front of the vehicle up against the firewall and driving my vehicle sideways. However, the airbag did not deploy. The car is now in possession of Texas Farm Bureau Insurance. My head struck the driver's-side windo... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 13, 2022
The camera system has not been turning on intermittenly. Both the rear backup and the side/front cameras bring the screen to a black screen with a red triangle and red camera logo with a line through it (signifying no camera connected?). I have most commonly noticed it when I am parking in my garage at night, but it will work the next day, very hard to reproduce the conditions..
Incident date: Mar 10, 2022
The contact's wife owns a 2012 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while driving 55-60 MPH, the message "Service Rear Axle" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the rear axle was disassembled and it was determined that the rear axle differential seal was leaking. Additionally, the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the failure persist... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
The headlights are cloudy and therefore producing less light a safety issue.
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 Cadillac DTS. The contact stated he became aware that oil was leaking underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the oil pan was replaced; however, the failure reoccurred and the oil pan was replaced again. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 132,000.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2022
Low Beam Headlights are extremely dim and do not safely light road for night time driving. Took automobile into Cadillac Dealership and requested that headlights be tested. Mechanic documented that both headlights were below standards and recommended that both headlight assemblies be replaced. The Dealership mechanic explained that simple replacement of light bulb would not remedy problem and t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated after she pushed the liftgate button located on the driver's side door, she was moving items as the liftgate fell on her back without warning. As the contact attempted to manually push the liftgate back up, the liftgate continued to close. The contact managed to pull her way out from in between the vehicle and the liftgate and fell over back... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 12, 2022
First it started out with the Low Oil Pressure stop engine light had it check out by an independent service center. I was told what the problem maybe, purchase several parts for the SUV but that didn't solve the problem within 72hrs the low oil pressure light stop engine was back on and then this vehicle started cutting off and don't want to crank back again until several hours later. Had a second... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2022
First it started out with the Low Oil Pressure stop engine light had it check out by an independent service center. I was told what the problem maybe, purchase several parts for the SUV but that didn't solve the problem within 72hrs the low oil pressure light stop engine was back on and then this vehicle started cutting off and don't want to crank back again until several hours later. Had a second... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated when she turned on the headlights, she noticed that the passenger’s side headlight was not illuminated. The contact then noticed that the headlight assembly had water on the inside. The contact was able to drain the water out the headlight assembly and the headlight illuminated; however, the failure occurred with the driver’s side headli... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
Low beam headlights are so dim it is unsafe to drive at night.
Incident date: Sep 3, 2022
unknown
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2022) - STEERING
Sep 3, 2022
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
I heard a weird noise from the steering wheel and when I took it to the dealership, they inspected it and found out that the steering gear mead to be replaced after only 2 months from purchasing the vehicle ( it has only 1200 miles on it ) . They said they can’t offer me another vehicle until they fix this problem which per them will take about 2 weeks to replace it and they had me to pick up th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the air conditioning unit could not be turn off or adjusted or switched to the heater making the front windshield defroster inoperable and creating a visibility hazard for the driver. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure but no assistance... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2020
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle would not shift gear properly with the “service rear axle” message displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle received an unknown software reprogramming however, the failure re... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2020
The contact owns a 2020 Cadillac XT6. The contact stated when she placed her vehicle in reverse(R), the rearview camera screen went blank with a line was on the display screen. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the rearview camera was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 16,572.
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2021) - SEAT BELTS
Aug 29, 2022
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V617000 (Seat Belts) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The ma... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
At low speed electric power steering failed. Cannot steer vehicle. Will have vehicle towed to a service center.
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
At low speed electric power steering failed. Cannot steer vehicle. Will have vehicle towed to a service center.
Incident date: Aug 8, 2022
To recall department, I purchased the above car in Jan 2021 since that time I had to take this car in for repairs 3 times concerning steering brake problem and reducing speed and also the thermostat problem. In reviewing this the consumer reports I found out that this was one of the worst years of making the xt5 and a recall was done for 2017 but for the cars that was manufactory in 2016. if a ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2022
To recall department, I purchased the above car in Jan 2021 since that time I had to take this car in for repairs 3 times concerning steering brake problem and reducing speed and also the thermostat problem. In reviewing this the consumer reports I found out that this was one of the worst years of making the xt5 and a recall was done for 2017 but for the cars that was manufactory in 2016. if a ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2022
To recall department, I purchased the above car in Jan 2021 since that time I had to take this car in for repairs 3 times concerning steering brake problem and reducing speed and also the thermostat problem. In reviewing this the consumer reports I found out that this was one of the worst years of making the xt5 and a recall was done for 2017 but for the cars that was manufactory in 2016. if a ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2020
The low beam headlight is very dim and I can’t drive at night. I found out there was a recall sent out to owners to repair/replace the low-beam headlights. We didn’t own the vehicle at that time. Apparently the previous owner didn’t take care of. I reached out to Cadillac and GM.. I was told the cutoff for the repairs were May 28,2020. We purchased the vehicle September 3, 2020. It wasn’... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2022
The car just blew out the airbags and the steering locked up
Incident date: Aug 26, 2022
The car just blew out the airbags and the steering locked up
Incident date: Aug 26, 2022
The car just blew out the airbags and the steering locked up
Incident date: Aug 23, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac CTS. The contact stated that while starting and also while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal loud roaring noise detected from the rear end of the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed him that the failure was due to the rear differential. The local dealer was contacted but the... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2022
CUE screen cracked and is unresponsive and now handsfree safety options don't work.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Swaybar mount is ripped from the frame. Only on the passenger side
Incident date: Aug 19, 2022
The headlights are not bright enough to see the road when on regular setting> The only way to see the roads at night is to drive wit lights on high beam. I have replaced the bulbs, and they are still weaker than the turn signals.
CADILLAC
ESCALADE NA
(2021) - SEAT BELTS
Aug 19, 2022
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
Hello, I own two 2021 Cadillac Escalades that I brought into my local Cadillac dealership to get the recent "Third Row Seatbelt Retention" remedied. They both return with no repairs needed after a thorough inspection was completed. May I ask how long does it take for my vehicles to be cleared/remedied on the website? My dealership has already sent in the paperwork to NHTSA to get it evaluated. VIN... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac ATS equipped with Bridgestone Tires, Tire Line: DriveGuard Plus, Tire Size: 225/40/R18, Dot Number: EJ17CMM0922. The contact stated that while attempting to change a flat tire on rear passenger’s side of the vehicle he noticed cracks on the tire. The contact inspected the other three tires and noticed the same cracks. The contact stated that all four tires where ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2022
The top roof panel separated while driving on the highway, and almost struck another vehicle causing it to swerve to miss it. The vehicle then proceeded to follow me as he though I was to blame. Once I got off the highway he got out of his car an violently started screaming at me for almost causing an accident.
Incident date: Jan 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 Cadillac CTS. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle vibrated abnormally. Additionally, the "Service Air Bags" warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was advised by the mechanic that the failure could be related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V34... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2022
The contact owns a 2004 Cadillac XLR. The contact stated that fuel had begun to leak from the fuel pump without warning. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the failure and informed him that while the motor was running, the fuel would leak from the rear driver's side wheel; the leak would stop once the engine was shut off. The mechanic later discovered NHTSA Camp... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension). The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer where the recall remedy was completed. The contact stated after the repairs were completed, she felt the rear side of the vehicle would sway side to side and she would notice it would be worst in the rain. The contact stated on 8/1... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated she received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000(Suspension) and she took the vehicle to the dealer for repairs. The contact stated after a couple of weeks the contact noticed that the rear end suspension had damaged both rear tires. The vehicle was taken to the dealer again, where they attempted aligning the rear end with the f... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2018
The contact owns a 2012 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated she noticed that the headlight of the vehicle was lower than usual. The headlight was replaced. On a separate occasion, the contact had the vehicle diagnosed by a mechanic who stated that the body control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 100,000... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2018
The contact owns a 2012 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated she noticed that the headlight of the vehicle was lower than usual. The headlight was replaced. On a separate occasion, the contact had the vehicle diagnosed by a mechanic who stated that the body control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 100,000... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2022
I am deaf and the “service Air Bag” and the symbol came on several times and I took it to a certified mechanic who spent two days checking. This is the what he said upon diagnosis, “ The part you need for the air bag light has been discontinued not available anymore.” I met him in person and he said the same thing. This is a safety issue. Please help! Thank you!
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
2011 Cadillac ATS 3.6, Rear Differential went out, Repairmen has stated that this part is not available anywhere, and that Cadillac should have recalled this in the ATS, because there is a shortage of this part. Due to the inefficiency of the Rear Differential. But, Cadillac would have been out of a lot of money. Without this part, the Cadillac is undrivable.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
2011 Cadillac ATS 3.6, Rear Differential went out, Repairmen has stated that this part is not available anywhere, and that Cadillac should have recalled this in the ATS, because there is a shortage of this part. Due to the inefficiency of the Rear Differential. But, Cadillac would have been out of a lot of money. Without this part, the Cadillac is undrivable.
Incident date: May 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Cadillac XT5. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate upon depression of the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure mostly occurred while in 4th gear or after a complete stop. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer but the dealer has been unable to duplicate the ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle started shuddering and decelerating independently. The contact exited the highway and was able to drive to an independent mechanic. The independent mechanic diagnosed that there had been a misfire on cylinder number three (3). The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was towed to another independen... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Cadillac DTS. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "Alternator Not Charging" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that oil was leaking onto the alternator and exhaust manifold. The alternator was replaced. However, the contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was a significant a... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Cadillac DTS. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "Alternator Not Charging" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that oil was leaking onto the alternator and exhaust manifold. The alternator was replaced. However, the contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was a significant a... Read more