10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
29,562 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2014 Cadillac CTS:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #21

May 012020

CTS

  • miles
My 2014 Cadillac Cts vsport is part of GM recall N192279370 (failure of roll pins in the rear axle differential). In early July, I began the process to have the repair accomplished, but the dealer (bob moore Cadillac in edmond, Oklahoma) told me there were no parts available to accomplish the recall. Six weeks have passed since that intial contact and there are apparently still no parts in stock at any level. This is an important safety recall, with the possible consequences of the failure (locking up of both rear wheels at highway speeds) being very serious. I implore the NHTSA to pressure GM to come up with the necessary assets to get this accomplished on all 2866 affected vehicles, or provide equivalent transportation until such time it can be done.

- Dexter, KS, USA

problem #20

Jul 282020

CTS

  • 94,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac Cts. The contact stated while driving 30 mph, the contact stated an abnormal smell was coming the rear of vehicle. The contact pulled over to a local gas station and found out that there was gear oil on the exhaust and muffler. The vehicle was taken to local dealer mossy Cadillac located at 241 frontage rd suite B, picayune, ms 39466 where it was diagnosed with the rear differential needing to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired as of yet. The manufacturer had been informed of failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 94,000.

- Slidell, LA, USA

problem #19

Feb 052020

CTS

  • 49,000 miles
Recall id 20V038. The Cadillac dealership has had my car for a month for a recall initiated in Feb. It is now Aug and GM customer service high level representative will not return and calls or emails. The dealership will not give me a loaner car or reimbursement for a rental. The dealership says it it unsafe to drive but refuses to offer any solutions.

- Port Orange, FL, USA

problem #18

Jan 232020

CTS

  • miles
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac Cts. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V038000 (power train) however, the part needed for the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. Len dudas motors (3305 main St, stevens point, wi 54481) was contacted and confirmed that the remedy part was not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA

problem #17

Jun 032020

CTS 6-cyl

  • miles
I cannot get my vehicle repaired in the allotted time due to parts not being on hand according to the dealership.

- College Station, TX, USA

problem #16

Jan 012019

CTS 4-cyl

  • 93,000 miles
The rear end differential broke while the car was in motion on the highway. Which made driving the car very unsafe. I pulled over and I got the part repaired by the Cadillac dealership. I have had an on going problem with the front seat heater. When weather is cooler and I activate the seat heater I experienced the seat getting excessively hot and I nearly burn myself. I had to turn off the heater seat and cover the seat so I don't get hurt. This happened while I was driving the vehicle causing me to pull over immediately during to how hot the seat had got. Last but not least, the shifter selector cable detached as I was operating the vehicle on the street (vehicle was in motion) I was driving and pulled up park and notice the shifter knob was moving but the indicator was stuck in the wrong selection. I had to put on emergency break and order a tow to the nearest dealership because the car was unsafe to drive and I didn't know what gear the carbwas in or could I change gears. The manufacturer had recalls for these items on similar vehicles but denied to help me because the recalls are VIN specific which I did not know and my VIN didn't qualify. I am left with a huge car repair bill for defected parts sold when I brought the car.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

problem #15

Jan 012020

CTS

  • miles
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac Cts. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V038000 (power train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. After contacting hennessey Cadillac (3377 satellite blvd, duluth ga) and the manufacturer, the contact was informed that the parts needed for the recall remedy were still not available and no estimated time for receiving the parts could be provided. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Cumming, GA, USA

problem #14

Apr 082020

CTS 6-cyl

  • miles
Rear differential at risk of failure. I contacted Cadillac customer service and they did not see the recall in their system and advised me to contact NHTSA. They said that the NHTSA did not show a recall for that vehicle. The consumer stated the vehicle had numerous safety defect repairs. The consumer requested that the vehicle be bought back.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #13

Mar 102020

CTS

  • miles
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac Cts. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V038000 (power train) however, the parts 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. Bommarito Cadillac located at (4190 I-70 North outer rd, St peters, mo 63376, (636) 928-2300) was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact experienced a failure with the indicator lights flashing at vehicle start-up. The contact also stated that while driving at 40 mph, the vehicle ceased in gear and failed to accelerate. The failure mileage was unknown. VIN tool confirms parts no available.

- Windfield, MO, USA

problem #12

Mar 022020

CTS

  • 0 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac Cts a. the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V038000 (power train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that dimmitt Cadillac of St. Petersburg (located at 3333 gandy blvd suite D, pinellas park, fl 33781) confirmed the part was not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

- St. Petersburg, FL, USA

problem #11

Feb 172020

CTS

  • miles
My car is a 2014 Cts vsport. I have owned the vehicle since August of 2017, and it had 42,563 miles when I purchased the vehicle. I have had 'tire issues' with the car since day 1. the 1st week I owned the vehicle, the tires had to be replaced, although they had just been replaced prior to my purchase, the car was making very loud noise while driving and it was determined they had 'uneven wear.' Along with this, the 'rear axle system off' light would occasionally come on. Nothing the dealer could find with it and it always seemed the light would turn off when it was at dealership. Now 2 additional sets of tires, and the 'rear axle system off' light not turning off, I was told rear axle 'pieces' need to be replaced to include the rear axle pins and pump, costing $2700. Along with this repair the car will need to have tires realigned due to uneven wear and rear brakes. The dealer stated they cannot replace the rear axle under the recall because the recall is 'incomplete with no solution.' In addition, they told me my car is unsafe to drive due to risk of the rear tires locking up while driving the vehicle.

- Spring Lake, NC, USA

problem #10

Feb 032020

CTS

  • 37,000 miles
I am writing this because I have a complaint. I have never been notified that this car has a recall with the differential. Not from the dealer nor GM. I have read that cars have locked up at high speed resulting in near crashes.I am also reading that there is no fix for this yet. There are cars sitting at Cadillac dealers for months with nothing done yet. This concerns me this could happen to me and my car. The real problem is I have not been notified and I bought this car as a cpo from valenti Cadillac in hartford ct. If I hadn't looked around I would never have known this car has a rear differential recall that is dangerous.

- Eastwindsor, CT, USA

problem #9

Jan 142020

CTS

  • 101,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Cadillac Cts. The contact stated that when driving at 60 mph, a loud noise emitted from the vehicle rear of the vehicle. Control of the vehicle was lost and headed head on to the opposite of the highway to oncoming traffic. The brake pedal was applied but the rear tires seized, as a result the rear of vehicle skid and smoke emitted from the burning tires. The vehicle came to a halt in the middle of the incoming and outgoing highway. The vehicle was not drivable and police officers remained on the scene directing traffic around the vehicle in order to avoid a collison in the meantime the towing company arrived. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed to ron carter Cadillac (18101 gulf freeway building B, friendswood, tx 77546 phone (832)-369-8228). The dealer advised that the rear differential was faulty and caused the rear tires to fail. The vehicle was pending to be repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 101,000.

- League City, TX, USA

problem #8

Aug 012019

CTS

  • 90,000 miles
The rear differential in my vehicle had to be replaced. Two of the main bearings failed. We noticed a grinding noise from the back as we drove. In August of 2019, I took it to my regular mechanic and he rode in the vehicle with me. He heard and felt the grinding. He recommended that I take it to a reputable transmission mechanic. I took it immediately to bay area transmissions. My vehicle was on the brink of a catastophic failure according to the transmission mechanic. He took me for the test drive and upon return, immediately put it up on the rack. Removed the plug and showed me the black fluid and metal shavings on the plug. He said that the pinnion and rar bearings were shot and that the whole unit needed to be replaced because the parts for this are non-existant. He found a refurbished unit and replaced it at the cost of $1800. I had called our local Cadillac dealer service dept. They quoted me a new one for $2600 but, didn't have one in stock and couldn't tell me when or if they could get one. The cars drivetrain warranty was expired as we had 90000 miles on our vehicle. We purchased it in October 2018 with 68000 miles on it. We started noticing a noise from the rear back in June of 2019. There were approx. 80000 miles on it at that time. I wrote Cadillac a letter and sent them a copy of the bill asking for help on this as I felt that this failure should not happen with a well maintained, luxury vehicle such as Cadillac. They returned a call to me saying there was nothing more that they could do. I told them that this failure could have resulted in a major accident and loss of life. They don't seem to concerned. I informed them that I was going to contact the NHTSA. I'm writing because I've read that this type of failure happens in these vehicles more often than GM would like to admit.

- Bay City, MI, USA

problem #7

Nov 212019

CTS

  • 60,000 miles
I was driving down a 4 lane road going 45 mph - when without warning a loud bang came from the back of the car and the wheels locked up and I went into an uncontrolled spin for ~ 75 yards going sideways down the road at 45...and then came to a stop in the middle of oncoming traffic - the roads were wet as well...I fortunately did not spin into oncoming traffic. I avoided traffic behind me - I was driving with 2 passengers who hopped out of the car to warn drivers approaching we were disabled in the middle of oncoming traffic. The car would not move at all - I turned it off and on and then put it into N to see if we could push it to safety. I tried one last time to put it into gear and it went into reverse so I backed it into safety - I could have been killed - and am very lucky - so, I research this and find out that cadiallic knows this is a problem on their Cts - especially on the Cts V sport - see the attached link I have provided. So, the car is 'supposedly' being repaired at cadiallac dealer - but how can I ever trust this car again? I won't put my grandchildren in the back seat and the passengers who were with certainly don't trust the car...if I had been driving on the freeway, I would have been killed or if I have swerved into oncoming traffic. Now I have a vehicle I can't trust - this car is unsafe and has engineering issues and Cadillac / GM know it. I am going to get repair invoices and other documentation -

- Mesa, AZ, USA

problem #6

Sep 182019

CTS

  • 39,800 miles
Vehicle displays 'service rear axle' 'service stabilitrak' 'park assist temporarily unavailable' 'automatic seatbelt tightening unavailable'. 4 separate and unique occurrences. Some have also included 'reduced engine power'. typically the messages come on and reduced power occurs after expressway driving, followed by stop and go city driving or traffic. Also ambient temps are over 80 degrees with each occurrence. Lastly engine bay is extremely hot after the service messages are displayed. Engine temperature gauge does not indicate overheating (displays under the halfway point of the gauge). I have 2 separate video documentations that can be uploaded to youtube. 1st occurrence resulted in cylinder head replacement under warranty. The next 3 occurrences have all happened after the warranty service. Dealership has been unable to replicate the issue after the car cools down. Cadillac customer service said a second dealership review was required even though the car was brought to the dealer with the above service messages present. Attached documents display first warranty service, and second record service messages being present. Similar tsb issued for the ats-V LF4 engine for 'service rear axle' or 'rear axle off', also the LT4 engine has a tsb for engine overheating and going into reduced power mode when the charge air cooling system is not refilled properly via vac-N-fill method. This vehicle has a similar liquid to air, charge air cooling system, requiring the same type of fill method. Full disclosure I am a General Motors employee.

- Howell, MI, USA

problem #5

Aug 042019

CTS

  • 33,000 miles
The rear differential locked while driving at 45mph on a straight, four lane road. It made a loud thump and felt as if the brakes were slammed on. The car pull hard left and the rear tires were smoking. Managed to get the car back to the right and stopped after hitting the curb. Fortunately no other vehicles were involved. The elsd is on backorder and will not be available for 90 days.

- Gilbert, AZ, USA

problem #4

Aug 212017

CTS

  • 25,000 miles
Axle half shaft bolts backed out breaking mating gears in differential. Vehicle was in motion when a vibration that felt like a wheel was extremely out of balance started. The vehicle was pulled over to inspect. After seeing nothing I attempted to drive away so it was put in drive and as the brake was released the gears broke disabling the vehicle necessitating a flat bed tow to the dealer.

- South Elgin, IL, USA

problem #3

Nov 272017

CTS

  • 88,000 miles
Complete rear differential assy failure, at my expense of $4590 GM did kick in $2500 but even with the repair there is no fix for the replacement that is currently being fixed. A full recall with repair, reimbursement or buy out should be demanded, this is a life and death safety issue.

- Seguin, TX, USA

problem #2

Dec 192014

CTS 4-cyl

  • 400 miles
My wife was driving and made a right hand turn into a parking lot. The car by itself automatically shut off and the gear shift went by itself from drive position into park. The car did restart. The dealer cannot find anything wrong with the car.

- Coral Springs, FL, USA

Read the next 1 complaints »