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: Jun 14, 2021
My front passenger side brake keeps locking and overheating. I have replaced the calibers 2 times, my brake pads 2 times and the brake hose all in a period of 3 months. My back rear brake light also gets stuck and stays on after i put my car in park and turn off my car. In order for me to release it, I have to press down firmly on the brake pedal and or restart the car, drive around put it back i... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated that the front driver’s and passenger’s side seat belts were inoperable. The passenger’s side air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed that the front driver’s and passenger’s side seat belt pretensioners and anchors needed replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer wa... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated that the front driver’s and passenger’s side seat belts were inoperable. The passenger’s side air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed that the front driver’s and passenger’s side seat belt pretensioners and anchors needed replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer wa... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2021
2011Cadillac SRX owner. Car has know water issue that collected inside car at the time of rain ruining the tailgate module. Since that time I have had all of the warning lights as indicated in the recall of August 2021. Stabilitrak Service, Slippery Roads, Shut off engine now etc. I have been waiting for the recall part to be produced since August and have been without a vehicle. I contacted Arro... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2021
2011Cadillac SRX owner. Car has know water issue that collected inside car at the time of rain ruining the tailgate module. Since that time I have had all of the warning lights as indicated in the recall of August 2021. Stabilitrak Service, Slippery Roads, Shut off engine now etc. I have been waiting for the recall part to be produced since August and have been without a vehicle. I contacted Arro... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2021
2011Cadillac SRX owner. Car has know water issue that collected inside car at the time of rain ruining the tailgate module. Since that time I have had all of the warning lights as indicated in the recall of August 2021. Stabilitrak Service, Slippery Roads, Shut off engine now etc. I have been waiting for the recall part to be produced since August and have been without a vehicle. I contacted Arro... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Cadillac XTS equipped with Vogue Tires, Tire Line: Signature V, Tire Size: 245/40/R20, DOT Number: (Unknown). While driving 35 MPH, the rear passenger’s side tire experienced a blowout. The contact stated that prior to the failure, a mechanic informed her that all four of the tires appeared to have splits in the sidewalls of each of the tires. The contact believed that it... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2021
The contact owns a 2015 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the air bag warning light was illuminated. The dealer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that he needed to pay for an unknown sensor replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2020
2006 Cadillac SRX turn signals burn out within months or replacement. I made 2 videos of me fixing it, put on YouTube with over 35, 000 views. That must mean there are lots of folks with this problem that don't know where to report it. While driving, the indicator flashes a bit faster than it should - the only clue it isn't working. You think other drivers know your intentions and they don't. This... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2020
2006 Cadillac SRX turn signals burn out within months or replacement. I made 2 videos of me fixing it, put on YouTube with over 35, 000 views. That must mean there are lots of folks with this problem that don't know where to report it. While driving, the indicator flashes a bit faster than it should - the only clue it isn't working. You think other drivers know your intentions and they don't. This... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2019
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH and making a right turn, she heard abnormal sounds coming from the rear end of the vehicle. The stability warning light illuminated. The contact stated she veered to the side of the road for 15 seconds per the Owner’s Manual. The contact stated that as she drove the vehicle and was attempting to make a left turn, the f... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2021
The Sunroof popped and shattered. I was on the highway with very light traffic - cars were at least 200 feet apart - when I heard a loud boom and then felt and saw the sunroof cover start vibrating. It was not the small smack of a rock - it was a loud pop and I wondered if my muffler had just fallen off the car. But when the sunroof started vibrating I knew that my sunroof was gone. I had not op... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
Transmission cooler line fittings have dissimilar metals causing the threads inside the radiator transcooler to strip and dump coolant into Transmission lines and on road along with what was the transmission fluid as well as steam rolling out blocking vision through my windshield going uphill on a dangerously busy road crossing.This is a well known manufacturing defect that has yet to be handled. ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
Transmission cooler line fittings have dissimilar metals causing the threads inside the radiator transcooler to strip and dump coolant into Transmission lines and on road along with what was the transmission fluid as well as steam rolling out blocking vision through my windshield going uphill on a dangerously busy road crossing.This is a well known manufacturing defect that has yet to be handled. ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
Transmission cooler line fittings have dissimilar metals causing the threads inside the radiator transcooler to strip and dump coolant into Transmission lines and on road along with what was the transmission fluid as well as steam rolling out blocking vision through my windshield going uphill on a dangerously busy road crossing.This is a well known manufacturing defect that has yet to be handled. ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2021
The front headlights are extremely deem. Found moisture inside the light assembly, having no damage to cause such moisture buildup. The front headlights both low beam and high beam failed at night on 16th September 2021 due to but not limited to moisture and then i discovered this was a known defect, but I did not learn officially of this until the 17th Sept 2021.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2021
While out driving, the vehicle would not shift gear into park upon arriving at a parking lot. The car was transported to an nearby garage and the transmission shift cable was found to be melted/severed upon undercarriage inspection. This is a recall for other models of 2013-2014 ATS. If the transmission shift cable detaches while the vehicle is being driven, the transmission gear selection may no... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2021
While out driving, the vehicle would not shift gear into park upon arriving at a parking lot. The car was transported to an nearby garage and the transmission shift cable was found to be melted/severed upon undercarriage inspection. This is a recall for other models of 2013-2014 ATS. If the transmission shift cable detaches while the vehicle is being driven, the transmission gear selection may no... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2021
When it rains my trunk fill with water where my spare tire is without any windows or sun roof being open .
Incident date: Aug 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part for the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the "Service rear axle" warning light was illuminate... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2021
transmission shift cable detach. The gear selected does not change for the vehicle to operate correctly.
Incident date: May 5, 2021
rear axle differential failed.
Incident date: Sep 15, 2019
The contact owns a 2013 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while driving at night, the low-beam headlight did not provide adequate illumination for safe driving. The high-beam headlight was used to provide adequate illumination to drive safely at night or in low-light driving conditions. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who stated there was nothing that could be done except replacing the h... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2021
I was driving the car all day and just had jumped back on highway doing around 65mph and all of a sudden the car threw itself into first gear it felt like and started accelerating on decelerating on its own jerking very violently if I wasn't wearing my seatbelt I would of went through the front windshield because it threw me forward i went from doing 65mph down to 10mph in less then 5seconds I was... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2021
I was driving the car all day and just had jumped back on highway doing around 65mph and all of a sudden the car threw itself into first gear it felt like and started accelerating on decelerating on its own jerking very violently if I wasn't wearing my seatbelt I would of went through the front windshield because it threw me forward i went from doing 65mph down to 10mph in less then 5seconds I was... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2021
Side Impact air bags did not deployed on side impact. Available for inspection. Got hit from the side and air bags did not deployed. Driver did not received protection from the crash. The problem has not been confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. Vehicle was seen by the police at the crash site. The component has not been inspected. There were no warning signs or messages or symptom... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) 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 contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was swaying from left to right. Th... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2021
I called on August 25 to get my Cadillac serviced at the Luxury Automall in Sioux Falls, SD. I had been experiencing toe link issues (service stabilitrak error message and jerking and swaying from the back end). I was bounced around from operators at the dealership before being told I wouldn’t be able to be seen until Sept. 14th (20 days later) and that I should stop driving the vehicle. I work ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2021
Headlights are very dim and I cannot see at night. Cadillac refused to provide financial assistance.
Incident date: Jun 24, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer and another dealer Bill Luke Chrysler Jeep Dodge RAM (2425 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85015) were mad... Read more
Incident date: Apr 14, 2021
GM safety recall N212340980. Nine (9) warnings are specifically listed within the Recall letter; I have been experiencing 6 of 9 warning messages during an active driving session of this vehicle. In August 2021, visited Cole GMC / Cadillac service location for an assessment of parts needed to repair safety items. Refused service request despite previously scheduled appt. time; dealer required ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 14, 2021
GM safety recall N212340980. Nine (9) warnings are specifically listed within the Recall letter; I have been experiencing 6 of 9 warning messages during an active driving session of this vehicle. In August 2021, visited Cole GMC / Cadillac service location for an assessment of parts needed to repair safety items. Refused service request despite previously scheduled appt. time; dealer required ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 14, 2021
GM safety recall N212340980. Nine (9) warnings are specifically listed within the Recall letter; I have been experiencing 6 of 9 warning messages during an active driving session of this vehicle. In August 2021, visited Cole GMC / Cadillac service location for an assessment of parts needed to repair safety items. Refused service request despite previously scheduled appt. time; dealer required ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2021
The contact owns a 2011 Cadillac SRX. The contact had received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle would jerk. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 80,... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
My vehicle is only 5 years old and the Cadillac Cue Screen has failed. After reading online that it has almost 100% failure rate, it is not part a recall. It is not just the SRX, it is all models of Cadillac and yet GM has done nothing to solve the issue with the replacement screens. After two failed lawsuits against GM, why is the government not stepping in and protecting the consumer for this fa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 13, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while his wife was driving 55 MPH, she heard abnormally loud sounds coming from the rear of the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that no issues were found however, the failure persisted. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspens... Read more
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2017) - POWER TRAIN
Sep 11, 2021
Incident date: Sep 8, 2021
I parked my 2017 Cadillac in a parking spot put the car in park shut it off and put the brake on went in side the pharmacyand my daughter was in the passenger seat with the windows downwind the car went Forward and hit a pole then rolled back and wrecked in the two cars with the car shut off in park a man tryed to stop it and the brake pedal was hard as a rock and the car was still in park . I g... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 10, 2021
The 2011srx the low beam is so bad you have to drive with the high beam at night there are a lot of complaints on this and nothing is being done other safety problem.please look into this problem hard to see road at night unless bright lights are on.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac ATS. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the gear shifter was engaged but the vehicle failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission shift cable had detached, and the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V338000 (Power Train). The dealer was ma... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
2014 CADILLAC SRX. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO HEAADLIGHTS PN VEHICLE. CONSUMER STATED THAT THE HEADLIGHTS ARE TOO DIM. THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED AND STATED THE REFLECTOR MATERIAL HEADLIGHT DETERIORATES. IT WAS NOT OFFERED TO BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE ENTIRE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN RECALL N212340980.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
2015 CADILLAC CRX. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO REAR SUSPENSION TOE LINK SAFETY RECALL.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
2013 CADILLAC SRX. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO REAR SUSPENSION TOE LINK SAFETY RECALL. THE CONSUMER REFERENCED RECALL N212340980. THE CONSUMER STATED THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME TO COMPLETE A RECALL REPAIR.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
2012 CADILLAC SRX. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO HEADLIGHT AND COVERS SAFETY RECALL. THE CONSUMER STATED THE SAFETY RECALL EXPIRED. THE CONSUMER WAS UNAWARE THAT RECALLS EXPIRED. THE CONSUMER STATED SHE WAS A NURSE AND WAS WORKING THE PANDEMIC WHEN THE RECALL NOTICE WAS SENT. THE CONSUMER REQUESTED ASSISTANCE HAVING THE RECALL REPAIR COMPLETED.
Incident date: Aug 23, 2021
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal grinding noise detected. The stabilitrak and ABS warning lights were illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who stated that the pa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2021
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal grinding noise detected. The stabilitrak and ABS warning lights were illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who stated that the pa... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
On multiple occasions I have experienced an unexpected temporary loss of braking. Peddle went to the floor requiring pumping of brakes to come to a stop. It lasts days and unexpectedly returns to normal. No warning signal to check brakes etc. For days after I have to pump the brakes and adjust my braking response time in order to avoid hitting another car. Each time this happened I have had it che... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac CTS. The contact stated while driving approximately 10-15 MPH, there was an abnormal whining sound detected coming from the rear axle. The contact called the local dealer and inquired about an estimate. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no further assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2011 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that during an oil change, the independent mechanic informed her that there was a malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2011 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that during an oil change, the independent mechanic informed her that there was a malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2019
The contact owns a 2013 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and while parking, the vehicle would sway to the opposite direction of where the contact was steering. The dealer was made aware of the failure but informed... Read more