Cadillac

CTS (1st)

2003-2007 · Midsize Sedan ยท 7 engines
Best Engine โœ… Recommended (3.8)
1,299 NHTSA Complaints
12 Recalls
25 Fire Reports
128 Crash Reports
View all 3 generations of the Cadillac CTS → ๐Ÿ“‹ Inspection checklist

Engine Reliability Ratings

LS2

6.0L 8-cyl
โœ… Recommended (3.8)
22 complaints 11.0 per year Gasoline
View details

Complaint Breakdown

transmission
7
brakes
6
fuel system
4
electrical
4
suspension
2

Known Issues

Transmission Issues (7 complaints)
Brakes Issues (6 complaints)
Fuel System Issues (4 complaints)

LD9

2.4L 4-cyl
โœ… Recommended (3.5)
21 complaints 21.0 per year
View details

Complaint Breakdown

safety systems
8
brakes
5
electrical
5
fuel system
3
transmission
2

Known Issues

Safety Systems Issues (8 complaints)
Brakes Issues (5 complaints)
Electrical System Issues (5 complaints)

LP1

6-cyl
โš ๏ธ Caution (2.4)
144 complaints 48.0 per year
2 fire reports
View details

Complaint Breakdown

safety systems
60
brakes
41
electrical
30
transmission
16
engine
12

Known Issues

Safety Systems Issues (60 complaints)
Brakes Issues (41 complaints)
Electrical System Issues (30 complaints)

Cadillac CTS Unidentified Engine

โš ๏ธ Caution (2.1)
194 complaints 38.8 per year
4 fire reports
View details

Complaint Breakdown

transmission
40
other
26
electrical
25
engine
25
safety systems
22

Known Issues

Transmission Issues (40 complaints)
Electrical System Issues (25 complaints)
Engine Issues (25 complaints)

LS6

5.7L 8-cyl
โŒ Avoid (1.6)
87 complaints 43.5 per year Gasoline
2 fatalities
View details

Complaint Breakdown

transmission
59
suspension
13
brakes
8
wheels tires
6
safety systems
5

Known Issues

Transmission Issues (59 complaints)
Suspension Issues (13 complaints)
Brakes Issues (8 complaints)

LA3

3.2L 6-cyl
โŒ Avoid (1.1)
251 complaints 125.5 per year
9 fire reports
View details

Complaint Breakdown

electrical
64
engine
57
brakes
41
safety systems
35
cooling
33

Known Issues

Electrical System Issues (64 complaints)
Engine Issues (57 complaints)
Brakes Issues (41 complaints)
Show 1 additional engine variant with limited data
These engines appear in fewer than 10 owner complaints and aren't included in the main ratings above. Low counts can mean a genuinely clean record, but they can also reflect VIN-decode anomalies in NHTSA data. Treat as informational, not as a confident rating.

LFW

3.0L 6-cyl
โœ… Recommended (5.0)
1 complaint 1.0 per year Gasoline
View details

Complaint Breakdown

transmission
1

Known Issues

Transmission Issues (1 complaints)

Battery & Propulsion Reliability

Mild Hybrid

Battery & propulsion complaint analysis for the 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS

โœ… Recommended
0 battery-related complaints 0.0 per year 1 battery-related recall

That's near the typical rate for mild hybrids in this dataset (median 4.0 per year). Within the normal range for the category.

Battery & propulsion recalls (1)
07V589000 POWER TRAIN:AXLE ASSEMBLY:AXLE SHAFT:SEAL

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, THE REAR AXLE PINION SEAL DOES NOT MEET ALL OF THE SPECIFICATIONS AND MAY EXPERIENCE A FLUID LEAK.

Consequence: A REAR DIFFERENTIAL FAILURE MAY CAUSE LOSS OF MOTIVE POWER AND POSSIBLY LOSS OF CONTROL INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Source: classified from NHTSA complaint and recall data. "Battery-related" includes high-voltage propulsion battery, charging system, hybrid drivetrain, electric propulsion, regenerative braking, 12V auxiliary battery, and thermal-event complaints. Other complaints (suspension, steering, brakes, infotainment) appear in the engine and vehicle-level sections. Rates are absolute counts, not normalized per-VIN โ€” high-volume models naturally produce more raw complaints than low-volume ones. Self-reported death and injury counts are capped per complaint to limit form abuse.

Vehicle-Level Issues

These issues affect the Cadillac CTS regardless of engine variant.

Safety Systems Issues (281 complaints)
safety_systems critical
Electrical System Issues (241 complaints)
electrical critical
Brakes Issues (238 complaints)
brakes critical
Transmission Issues (212 complaints)
transmission critical
Engine Issues (179 complaints)
engine critical

Recalls (12)

14V542000Sep 8, 2014serious
Fuel System

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2007 Cadillac CTS-V vehicles manufactured October 6, 2003, to March 15, 2007, and 2006-2007 Cadillac STS-V vehicles manufactured June 23, 2005, to March 15, 2007. In the affected vehicles, the electrical terminals of the fuel pump module may overheat resulting in the melting of the flange material.

14V394000Feb 6, 2014serious
Electrical System

This defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. Until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. The key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring. General Motors LLC (GM) notified the agency on July 2, 2014 that they are recalling 554,328 model year 2003-2014 Cadillac CTS vehicles manufactured August 16, 2001, to April 28, 2014, and 2004-2006 Cadillac SRX vehicles manufactured March 20, 2003, to August 11, 2006. In these models, the weight on the key ring and/or road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine.

10V644000Dec 16, 2010serious
Air Bags

GENERAL MOTORS IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2005-2007 CADILLAC CTS VEHICLES. SOME OF THESE VEHICLES HAVE A CONDITION IN WHICH REPEATED FLEXING OF THE PASSENGER SENSING SYSTEM MAT IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT MAY CAUSE THE MAT TO KINK, BEND, OR FOLD. THIS FLEXING CAN BREAK THE CONNECTIONS IN THE MAT. IF THIS OCCURS, THE SENSOR MAY NOT DETECT THE PRESENCE OF A FRONT SEAT PASSENGER AND WILL DISABLE THE AIR BAG.

10V105000Mar 16, 2010serious
Service Brakes

GENERAL MOTORS HAS NOTIFIED NHTSA OF A DEFECT IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2003-2007 CADILLAC CTS VEHICLES CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN OR ORIGINALLY SOLD IN CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, VERMONT, WASHINGTON D.C., WEST VIRGINIA AND WISCONSIN. SOME OF THESE VEHICLES HAVE A CONDITION IN WHICH THE FRONT BRAKE HOSE FITTING AT THE CALIPER MAY CORRODE DUE TO SNOW OR WATER, CONTAINING ROAD SALT OR OTHER CONTAMINANTS, ENTERING AND BEING RETAINED IN THE ROUTING SLEEVE. IF THE FITTING CORRODES SIGNIFICANTLY, THE BRAKE HOSE-TUBE INTERFACE MAY DEVELOP A LEAK.

07V589000Dec 19, 2007serious
Powertrain

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, THE REAR AXLE PINION SEAL DOES NOT MEET ALL OF THE SPECIFICATIONS AND MAY EXPERIENCE A FLUID LEAK.

07V468000Apr 9, 2007critical
Structure

CERTAIN VEHICLES FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 118, 'POWER OPERATED WINDOW, PARTITION, AND ROOF PANEL SYSTEMS.' UNDER THE STANDARD, THE SUNROOF MAY ONLY BE CLOSED WHEN THE IGNITION IS ON, OR AFTER THE IGNITION IS TURNED OFF, BUT BEFORE EITHER OF THE FRONT DOORS ARE OPENED. THE AFFECTED VEHICLES MAY EXHIBIT A CONDITION WHERE THE SUNROOF CAN BE CLOSED AFTER THE IGNITION IS TURNED OFF AND THE DOORS ARE OPENED.

06V020000Jan 24, 2006serious
Fuel System

CERTAIN VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH V6 ENGINES MAY HAVE A CONDITION WHERE FUEL IS NO LONGER SUPPLIED TO THE ENGINE. THIS CONDITION OCCURS WITHOUT THE ILLUMINATION OF THE FUEL LEVEL LOW INDICATOR LIGHT OR THE WARNING CHIME.

05V024000Jan 19, 2005cosmetic
Air Bags

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, AN INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SENSING AND DIAGNOSTIC MODULE AND VEHICLE'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM MAY CAUSE THE DRIVER'S FRONTAL AIR BAG AND/OR ROOF-MOUNTED SIDE IMPACT AIR BAG TO DEPLOY WHEN THE IGNITION KEY IS TURNED TO THE "ON" POSITION.

04V273000Sep 5, 2004serious
Steering

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES INVOLVED IN THIS CAMPAIGN, THE LOWER CONTROL ARM BALL STUD NUT/WASHER ASSEMBLIES WITH WASHERS WERE MADE OF THE WRONG MATERIAL. THE WASHERS MAY FRACTURE AND BECOME LOOSE OR FALL AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE, REDUCING CLAMP LOAD. SEPARATION OF THE CONTROL ARM BALL STUD AND STEERING KNUCKLE, DUE TO DISENGAGEMENT OF THE TAPERED ATTACHMENT AND RETAINING NUT, IS POSSIBLE.

03V346000Sep 28, 2003serious
Seats

CERTAIN PASSENGER AND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 207, "SEATING SYSTEMS." ONE OR BOTH FRONT ANCHOR TABS FOR THE FRONT BUCKET SEATS ARE NOT ENGAGED IN THE FLOOR PAN REINFORCEMENT SLOTS. A SEAT WITH ONLY ONE TAB ENGAGED OR NEITHER ENGAGED WOULD NOT MEET THE STATIC REARWARD LOADING TEST REQUIREMENTS OF THE STANDARD.

03V115000Mar 23, 2003serious
Steering

SOME PASSENGER VEHICLES HAVE A CONDITION IN WHICH THE INTERMEDIATE STEERING SHAFT BOLT MAY BE LOOSE.

03V250000Jul 14, 2003cosmetic
Equipment

CERTAIN MINIVANS, PASSENGER AND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 225, "CHILD RESTRAINT ANCHORAGE SYSTEM." THE OWNER'S MANUAL DOES NOT EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF THE LOCATION SYMBOLS FOR THE CHILD RESTRAINT LOWER UNIVERSAL ANCHORAGE SYSTEM.

Alternatives in Midsize Sedan

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most common 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS problems?

The 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS has accumulated 1,299 NHTSA complaints. The most frequently reported problem areas are Safety Systems, Electrical System, Brakes. As with any used vehicle, an inspection before buying and a vehicle history report are recommended.

Which Cadillac CTS engine is most reliable?

The 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS was offered with 8 engine options. Based on NHTSA complaint data, the 6.0L 8-cyl has the lowest complaint density and is considered the most reliable choice for buyers.

Is the 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS a good used car?

The 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS can be a sound used car depending on trim, mileage, and maintenance history. With 1,299 total NHTSA complaints on record, prospective buyers should review the known problem areas and check for open recalls before buying.

How many NHTSA complaints does the 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS have?

The 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS has 1,299 complaints filed with NHTSA as of our latest data pull. Complaint counts reflect owner-reported issues and do not necessarily indicate defects or safety risks on their own.

What recalls affect the 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS?

There are 12 NHTSA recalls affecting some 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS vehicles. Recall status varies by VIN โ€” check the NHTSA recall database at recalls.nhtsa.dot.gov with your specific VIN to confirm which campaigns apply.

What should I check before buying a used Cadillac CTS?

Before buying a used Cadillac CTS, verify all open recalls are completed via the NHTSA VIN lookup tool. Pay particular attention to Safety Systems, Electrical System, Brakes, which are the most commonly reported problem areas. Request maintenance records, have an independent mechanic inspect the vehicle, and run a vehicle history report to check for prior accidents or title issues.

Does the CTS have NHTSA crash test ratings?

NHTSA has not published crash test ratings for the 2003-2007 Cadillac CTS. Not all vehicles are tested each year. For the latest NHTSA safety information, visit nhtsa.gov/ratings.

Data from NHTSA federal complaints database. 1,299 complaints analyzed. Data confidence: high. Last updated: 2026-05-23.

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