2013 Cadillac CTS problems
Owners have filed 107 complaints with NHTSA about the 2013 Cadillac CTS. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 24% of complaints. After that come drivetrain & axles (12%) and air bags (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 107 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 20 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 17 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 25,000 miles 75 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 | 31 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 22 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 7 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 75 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 25,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 14,000 miles (18 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 20 complaints mention a crash; 17 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 89% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2013 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the Cadillac CTS with enough data (82 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.
Unintended acceleration; vehicle accelerated 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 neck and back injuries.
I received a set of from tiny keyrings ( GM## 23271934) to place on my rke transmitter to satisfy recall 14v394. Instead of replacing the perhaps defective ignition switch they sent me about a dime's worth of cheap key rings that will keep me from having my house key and other keys normally carried on the key ring. I would have to carry two key rings, one for the car and one for the rest of my keys. I find this unacceptable. If the ignition switch is defective and dangerous it should be replaced.
Solenoid that communicates with the transmission and the computer. (this was causing the the stability trac to kick on and sometimes shut the car off while driving or sitting still turning) they also discovered that the entire rear differential had to be replace. This is a 2013 cts coupe 69000 miles when purchased. I contacted GM corporate office for assistance. (p0101 ,p0100, u0101, lost of communication to TCM.