2006 Cadillac CTS
Complaints about this year name air bag far more often than the model's other years — 21% of them, about 6× the usual rate of 3.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 272 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 93 |
| Involving a crash | 23 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 19 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- module — 9.6% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the model's other years (3.4×).
- panel — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the model's other years (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: panel, instrument, instrument panel.
- indicator — 7.4% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the model's other years (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: indicator, indicator illuminated, warning indicator.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- sensor — 13% of complaints, 8× usual
- module — 10% of complaints, 9× usual
- abs — 7% of complaints, 18× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING AT A LOW SPEEDS, THE ABS WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE AIR BAG MAT SENSOR IN THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF…
WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE, THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG SENSOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO REPLACED THE PASSENGER PRESENCE MODULE. THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT THE MODULE WAS PREVIOUSLY REPLACED UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 1…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V542000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 14V394000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 10V644000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 10V105000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 07V589000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 06V020000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Cadillac CTS was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2006 Cadillac CTS? What happened to yours?
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