Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Cadillac CTS

What it says about you

Opinion

The car that made Cadillac interesting again, all sharp creases and rear-drive. Yours signals a specific decade.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

15 model years on record, 2,032 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2014 (differential), 2009 (timing chain), 2006 (air bag), 2005 (air bag). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • module 2006, 2007 peak 14.2% of that year's complaints
  • indicator 2006, 2009 peak 7.8% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2019 0 recalls 10 complaints
  2. 2018 2 recalls 8 complaints
  3. 2017 2 recalls 47 complaints
  4. 2016 4 recalls 61 complaints
  5. 2015 3 recalls 93 complaints
  6. 2014 differential 282 complaints
  7. 2013 2 recalls 72 complaints
  8. 2012 2 recalls 67 complaints
  9. 2011 2 recalls 108 complaints
  10. 2010 3 recalls 1 complaints
  11. 2009 timing chain 334 complaints
  12. 2008 2 recalls 175 complaints
  13. 2007 6 recalls 218 complaints
  14. 2006 air bag 272 complaints
  15. 2005 air bag 284 complaints

What does a Cadillac CTS say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.