2013 Cadillac CTS
This year drew an ordinary 72 complaints for a Cadillac CTS — the model's median is 108. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.9% of them mention neck, against 0.4% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 72 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 108 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- neck — 6.9% of this year's complaints, against 0.4% across the model's other years (19.7×). Owners wrote it as: neck, neighbor.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
UNINTENDED ACCELERATION; VEHICLE [VIN] BACKING OUT OF DRIVEWAY AFTER PLACED IN REVERSE WITHOUT STEPPING ON ACCELERATOR; BRAKES WOULD NOT STOP VEHICLE; VEHICLE COLLIDED INTO NEIGHBOR'S TRUCK WHICH WAS PARKED ACROSS THE STREET. THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER SUSTAINED…
I WAS IN AN ACCIDENT WITH MY 2013 CADILLAC, SUFFERING A SEVERED LIP, REQUIRING 24 STITCHES IN MY BOTYOMLIP, LOST TOOTH, AND SUFFERED NECK AND BACK PAIN DUE TO AIRBAGS NOT DEPLOYING.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V394000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V614000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Cadillac CTS was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Cadillac CTS? What happened to yours?
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