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 17, 2021
Cue screen cracked, bubbled up and touch screen isn’t responded to touch.
Incident date: Jun 6, 2021
I bought the vehicle on May 27, 2021. I filled the tank with 87 octane on 3 separate occasions between May 27 and June 4, 2021.The engine (6.2L V8 L86 EcoTec) shut off during a trip on May 31, 2021. I was pulling into a restaurant and there were no indicators of any issues. While pulling up into the drive thru, the engine lost power. No Check Engine Light appeared at all. On a second trip (June 6,... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2021
I bought the vehicle on May 27, 2021. I filled the tank with 87 octane on 3 separate occasions between May 27 and June 4, 2021.The engine (6.2L V8 L86 EcoTec) shut off during a trip on May 31, 2021. I was pulling into a restaurant and there were no indicators of any issues. While pulling up into the drive thru, the engine lost power. No Check Engine Light appeared at all. On a second trip (June 6,... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2021
I bought the vehicle on May 27, 2021. I filled the tank with 87 octane on 3 separate occasions between May 27 and June 4, 2021.The engine (6.2L V8 L86 EcoTec) shut off during a trip on May 31, 2021. I was pulling into a restaurant and there were no indicators of any issues. While pulling up into the drive thru, the engine lost power. No Check Engine Light appeared at all. On a second trip (June 6,... Read more
Incident date: Apr 16, 2021
When driving my car will shut off by its self and it has done this the whole time I have had the car... When it shuts off the car gets reads stuck in park because the key gets stuck in ignition... When nights are on and I turn right my height lights come on... And my passenger air bag light came on and won't go off
Incident date: Apr 16, 2021
When driving my car will shut off by its self and it has done this the whole time I have had the car... When it shuts off the car gets reads stuck in park because the key gets stuck in ignition... When nights are on and I turn right my height lights come on... And my passenger air bag light came on and won't go off
Incident date: Apr 16, 2021
When driving my car will shut off by its self and it has done this the whole time I have had the car... When it shuts off the car gets reads stuck in park because the key gets stuck in ignition... When nights are on and I turn right my height lights come on... And my passenger air bag light came on and won't go off
Incident date: Jun 17, 2020
Rear differential seal leaking Midas told me when I had the oil changed right after I got the car exactly one year and one day ago today and there is like a weird noise when I drive but if I turn the heat or air in it stops
Incident date: Jun 17, 2020
Rear differential seal leaking Midas told me when I had the oil changed right after I got the car exactly one year and one day ago today and there is like a weird noise when I drive but if I turn the heat or air in it stops
Incident date: Jun 17, 2020
Rear differential seal leaking Midas told me when I had the oil changed right after I got the car exactly one year and one day ago today and there is like a weird noise when I drive but if I turn the heat or air in it stops
Incident date: Jun 18, 2021
The accelerator on the car started to excel and shift in traffic where I had to pull over. Over the last few months the car has had some electrical issues with the braking and collision alerts going off and the car stopping which the dealer said they couldn't find the problem. Also the brakes since purchasing the vehicle has had to be switched out several times and now the parking brake light is o... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2021
The accelerator on the car started to excel and shift in traffic where I had to pull over. Over the last few months the car has had some electrical issues with the braking and collision alerts going off and the car stopping which the dealer said they couldn't find the problem. Also the brakes since purchasing the vehicle has had to be switched out several times and now the parking brake light is o... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2021
The accelerator on the car started to excel and shift in traffic where I had to pull over. Over the last few months the car has had some electrical issues with the braking and collision alerts going off and the car stopping which the dealer said they couldn't find the problem. Also the brakes since purchasing the vehicle has had to be switched out several times and now the parking brake light is o... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2021
Air bag light is on .want go off..its Cadillac (EST TRUCK )NOT THE SUV
Incident date: Jun 5, 2021
My car shut down while driving. Unable to brake or steer. Very scary incident.
Incident date: Jan 29, 2021
The 2007 Cadillac DTS has heated/air-conditioned front seats. They went out. Looking on the Cadillac users' website it seems to be a common problem. The connectors burn out, even though they are connected to a 30 amp fuse. Having an electrical system short out under the passenger seat can be life threatening. Request a recall on the faulty connection box under the passenger seat. The heated rear s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2021
The contact owns a 2013 Cadillac XTS. The contact stated while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed with nothing needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact then stated 3 months later, the vehicle stalled again. The vehicle was then taken back to the dealer wh... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2021
The contact owns a 2013 Cadillac XTS. The contact stated while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed with nothing needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact then stated 3 months later, the vehicle stalled again. The vehicle was then taken back to the dealer wh... Read more
Incident date: Jun 9, 2021
Left front & rear right turn signal failure. Unable to signal other drivers of intent to turn
Incident date: Dec 1, 2017
My Cadillac has had and currently has a cracked spider web screen where you control the vehicles settings, GPS, Temperature for the car and so forth. Due to this I have lost any control to these settings since the cracked screen has caused the touchscreen to not even work and there is no response when you tap the screen. Have reached out to Cadillac and they say it’s not their problem but the s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2021
Cadillac Case number is 9-6766521074. The Cadillac CT6 has a flaw in the intelligent braking assist(IBA) software. When no collision is imminent, pushing the brake even slightly results in extremely hard overbraking causing all items to fly forward. There is no way to turn off IBA without disabling the entire Automatic Emergency Braking System. To be clear, it is OK that the car senses inaccuratel... Read more
Incident date: Jun 11, 2020
Headlights are dim causing it hard to see at night.
Incident date: Oct 26, 2020
This Vehicle has a design flaw with sunroof which leaks water into the car from floor board passenger side. Sunroof Drain lines undersized even for a standard sized sunroof. As of result of this, the drain lines, at best are barely adequate for light rain and intense rain cloggs and rain enters the car. I have taken to dealer twice paid $651.00 repair and not fixed. Dealer should have correct inf... Read more
Incident date: May 29, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac CTS. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 mph, there was a loud sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The speed was reduced however, the sound became louder. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the rear differential had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer was contacte... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2018
There needs to be a better system on alerting used car buyers. When I purchased my car from Carvana used in 2017 at 83k-ish miles, I had no idea that there was an extended 10 yr/120k warranty on some models of GM vehicles. I have been experiencing issues with my car and just learning 1 yr and 30k miles too late that there were known issues, and that my issues most likely were related to the timing... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
The contact owns A 2016 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The dealer replaced the lower engine mount, the lower control arm, and the battery. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 88,000.
Incident date: May 27, 2021
My 2019 CTS Cadillac CUE screen shattered for no reason. I was not driving the car. I went out to the car on Thursday, May 27, 2021 and the screen had shattered over night. The system is still working but it is hard to see the screen. The car is leased and only has 20,586 miles. I have only had it 2 years and 5 months. Is this my responsibility to repair or is it covered by warranty?
Incident date: May 30, 2021
The seal used in the headlight housing is of cheap quality. It rained yesterday and both the headlights of my car were filled with moisture. The car has never been in an accident not there are any dents or broken parts around the headlight housing that will cause this issue. The headlights stopped working and it became hazardous driving condition. This has been a common problem in this year and ge... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2021
Transmission is shifting roughley
Incident date: May 28, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac CTS. The contact stated that the rear differential was making a loud grinding sound. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was informed that the rear differential needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Incident date: Sep 28, 1981
Inside Spider Crack on left side of the screen cue.
Incident date: May 18, 2021
The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac XT4. The contact stated that while driving in stop-and-go traffic, the contact rear-ended a vehicle in front. The contact crashed the vehicle at approximately 5 mph; however, the collision caused severe front end damage to the vehicle. The air bag did not deploy and all electrical safety features failed to operate after the collision. There were no injuries report... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 18, 2021
The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac XT4. The contact stated that while driving in stop-and-go traffic, the contact rear-ended a vehicle in front. The contact crashed the vehicle at approximately 5 mph; however, the collision caused severe front end damage to the vehicle. The air bag did not deploy and all electrical safety features failed to operate after the collision. There were no injuries report... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 14, 2021
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated with an abnormal sound. The contact changed the spark plugs, wires and coils however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the lifters to be replaced. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2020
At 38,000 miles, rear differential leak discovered. Dealership repaired leak. At 42,000 dear differential leak discovered. Prognosis: rear differential failure. Dealership replaced rear differential, shocks. Cost repairs paid by me (cadillac rejected paying repairs).
Incident date: Nov 15, 2020
At 38,000 miles, rear differential leak discovered. Dealership repaired leak. At 42,000 dear differential leak discovered. Prognosis: rear differential failure. Dealership replaced rear differential, shocks. Cost repairs paid by me (cadillac rejected paying repairs).
Incident date: Mar 26, 2021
Front shocks had to be replaced on our Cadillac 2015 Escalade. Right Front shock was leaking oil at 81K miles, repair 26 March, Red Noland Cadillac, CO. Informed service associate at the time, and then worked with the Service Manager after that. The Service Manager informed me of the GM service number I could call 1-800-333-4233 for customer service/good will request. At that number, Julia with G... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2021
Went to work came out and my radio screen was shattered. I called local dealer and they said this was common for radio screens. Why hadn't things been change so screens don't shatter when no one is around??? This car is only 4 years old.
Incident date: Apr 24, 2019
Purchased car used from buckalew chevrolet 4/27/2019 headlight was a little dim.headlight it not bright ei to see now.i was not told of a headlight problem when I purchased vehicle and I never received any notice from the manufacturer since I have owned it about a headlight issues.noe I'm told it will be thousands of dollars for me to fix what should be a factory recall due to safety
Incident date: Apr 19, 2021
The contact owns a 2006 Cadillac DTS. The contact stated while inspecting the vehicle, he became aware that the oil pan was leaking. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the oil pan needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mile... Read more
Incident date: May 18, 2021
The headlights are not bright enough they've never been bright enough it's almost like you don't have any headlights at night time if it's dark out. I even change them out once and it's like there wasn't enough power to them to make them bright. I have not very good Vision at night and I can't even really drive the car at night unless it's in the city. A couple of people I have told me they had th... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2021
The dim headlights are so dim you can’t use them. Looks like water in the headlamp. Have seen that this is an ongoing issue with GM and can’t find recall. They say pay for it now (which is more than I can afford) and they will reimburse in couple months. Car was this way when purchased but did not know and can’t get money back.
Incident date: Apr 21, 2021
WHITE HAZY WEB LIKE OBSTRUCTION SUDDENLY APPEARED ON THE DISPLAY OF THE CUE SYSTEM. IT OBSTRUCTS 35% OF THE SCREEN AND MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO UTILIZE THE BACK UP CAMERA. IT WAS FINE ONE DAY AND THEN THE OBSTRUCTION APPEARED THE NEXT DAY. IT IS GARAGE STORED AND I HAVE 44,000 ORIGINAL MILES.
Incident date: May 10, 2021
THERE WAS A VERY LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE BACK OF MY VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING. MECHANIC SHOWED ME THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL FLUID HAS METAL SHAVINGS IN IT AND HE SAID THE CAR WAS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE. DEALERSHIP TOLD ME TO CALL GENERAL MOTORS AT (800) 222-1020 AND THEY TOLD ME TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND GAVE ME FILE NUMBER 9-6712786810. IT IS AT IG BURTON, MILFORD, DE, NOW FOR DIAGNOSIS.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2021
VEHICLE WATER LEAKS THAT POOL ON FLOORBOARD, CAUSING MOLD
Incident date: Aug 1, 2019
THE CUE SYSTEM (CONTROLS RADIO, NAVIGATION, WEATHER ALERTS, CLIMATE CONTROLS AND VEHICLE SETTINGS) IS NON RESPONSIVE. I CANNOT ACCESS THE SYSTEMS TO MAKE SPECIFIC ADJUSTMENTS TO CLIMATE CONTROL SETTINGS (DIRECTING THE HEAT OR AIR TO THE FEET OR CHEST AREA) PROGRAM NEW RADIO STATIONS, ADD A NEW CELL PHONE FOR HANDS FREE OPERATIONS, INPUT VEHICLE NAVIGATION DESTINATIONS OR MAKE SETTING CHANGES TO T... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2020
THE CUE SYSTEM IS CRACKING AND NON RESPONSIVE TO ANY TOUCH INPUT. I HAVE FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESETTING THE SYSTEM BUT THIS DOES NOT CORRECT THE LACK OF RESPONSE NOR THE SCREEN CRACKING.. I CANNOT CONTROL THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM, RADIO, SPECIFIC CLIMATE SETTINGS, LANGUAGE OF THE INSTRUMENTATION (CURRENTLY STUCK IN FRENCH). THIS IS NOT COVERED NOW THAT OUT OF WARRANTY AND THE DEALERSHIP W... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2021
CADILLAC ESCALADE. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO UNUSUALLY BRIGHT LOW BEAM DRIVING LIGHTS. *LD *JS
Incident date: Mar 1, 2021
I BOUGHT THIS CADILLAC 2017 XT-5 USED WITH 4,000 ON IT IT HAS 11,000 ON IT KNOW. I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR TIRE ROTATION & OIL CHANGE. THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT THESE TIRES MICHELIN PREMIER LTX 235/65 R 18 TIRES ON THIS YEAR 2017 ARE BAD TIRES. THE TREAD ON THE TIRE WAS MEASURED . 5/32NDS AT 11,000 MILES THESE TIRES ARE WARRANTYED TO 40,000 MILES. THEY SAY YOU SHOULD REPLACE... Read more