Cadillac CTS reliability by year
22 recall campaigns and 1,633 owner complaints across 15 model years. Best year to buy: 2017. Year to avoid: 2007.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 2 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and others. Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 15 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 51, more than the 22 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the CTS aggregated across 15 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Cadillac CTS?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2017 Cadillac CTS scores 8.0/10 — the strongest in the 2005–2019 range. 27 complaints on file, 2 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Cadillac CTS year should I avoid?
The 2007 Cadillac CTS scores 5.8/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 218 owner complaints with NHTSA, 6 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2007 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Cadillac CTS should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2007 (high-risk ownership — brakes: 42 complaints, classified severe); 2006 (high-risk ownership — brakes: 48 complaints, classified severe). The cleaner years on the data are 2019, 2017, 2013, 2012, 2016, 2015. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the Cadillac CTS are tracked?
15 model years (2005 through 2019) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 22 distinct recall campaigns and 1,633 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 51 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Cadillac CTS?
powertrain is the most-reported category — 336 complaints across 14 model years. Average shop repair runs about $2,500.