2009 Cadillac Escalade
This year drew an ordinary 58 complaints for a Cadillac Escalade — the model's median is 43. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.9% of them mention seized, against 0.3% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Cadillac Escalade, which began in 2007 and ran to 2014. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 58 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 43 |
| Involving a crash | 1 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 14.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- seized — 6.9% of this year's complaints, against 0.3% across the other years of this generation (23×). Owners wrote it as: seized, addition.
- wife — 6.9% of this year's complaints, against 0.9% across the other years of this generation (7.7×). Owners wrote it as: wife, drifted, wipers, wipe.
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.
What owners wrote
MY VEHICLE STOPPED [VIN] ON THE FREEWAY WHILE DRIVING. I HAD MY WIFE AND 3. KIDS IN THE CAR. I DRIFTED THEN PUT THE CAR IN PARK WHILE MOVING AND RESTARTED IT. MY WINDSHIELD WIPERS DO NOT STAY ON THEY WIPE ONCE THEN SHUT OFF.
WHILE AT A STOP LIGHT, THE VEHICLE SEIZED. IN ADDITION, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO START ON OCCASION AND THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATOR HAD BEEN ILLUMINATED FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO EARNHARDT BUICK GMC (6501 CENTENNIAL CENTER BLVD, LAS V…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V050000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V052000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V053000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 09V154000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 10V240000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
How this was worked out
Every year of the Cadillac Escalade 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 2009 Cadillac Escalade? What happened to yours?
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