2008 Cadillac CTS problems
Owners have filed 252 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Cadillac CTS. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 15% of complaints. After that come engine (12%) and fuel system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 252 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 15 and 8
- Injuries and deaths
- 8 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 65,000 miles 179 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 35 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 30 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 23 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 20 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 28 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 16 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 14 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 5 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 179 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 65,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 74,000 miles (21 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 15 complaints mention a crash; 8 complaints mention a fire; 8 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the Cadillac CTS with enough data (96 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Airbags did not deploy in a massive front end collision. That failure caused me physical injury which possibly would not have occurred had the airbags deployed. I don’t know how many 2008 Cadillac CTS are on the road at this time but feel it is an important enough matter that should be investígated. This was never recalled. Thank you, [XXX] , [XXX]
I took the car in and they let me go with the ABS light on and the stability track light on. If I knew the that this car was undrivable with these safety fixtures out I would have never picked up the car.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 cadillac cts. The contact stated that while stopped, there was an increase in engine rpms and the vehicle surged forward abnormally. The vehicle surged forward until crashing into another vehicle. The driver of the second vehicle suffered minor injuries. The vehicle was in the process of being towed to an authorized dealer to be examined. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 38,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 cadillac cts. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning. The vehicle traveled over a curve and crashed into a tree. The contact sustained whiplash and neck injuries. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection however, the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and sent an engineer to further inspect the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 cadillac cts. The contact stated that while driving approximately 1 MPH, there was an unexpected increase of acceleration as the vehicle failed to slow down even though the brake pedal was depressed repeatedly. The vehicle traveled over a boulder and then came to a complete stop. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. The technician was unable to locate a problem. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 14,000.