2016 Cadillac Escalade
This year drew an ordinary 103 complaints for a Cadillac Escalade — the model's median is 43. What they were about is the unusual part: 11.7% of them mention torque, against 3.2% across the model's other years.
Generation 2 of the Cadillac Escalade, which began in 2015 and ran to 2020. 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 | 103 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 43 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 17 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- torque — 11.7% of this year's complaints, against 3.2% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: torque, converter, torque converter, wheels.
- cylinder — 7.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.5% across the model's other years (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: cylinder, misfire, internal, internal mechanical.
- body — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the model's other years (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: body, quality, corrected.
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
SHUDDER / VIBRATION BETWEEN 45 - 65 MPH. CAUSE WAS TORQUE CONVERTER. 85 - 90% OF VIBRATION WAS MITIGATED. CONTINUE TO HAVE STEADY VIBRATIONS 65 -70MPH AND ABOVE. DEALER ALSO INSTALLED NEW TIRES / WHEELS AND I HAVE HAD A ROAD FORCE BALANCE.
Suspension failed at 50,000 miles. At 56,000 miles one of the valve components inside the engine (a lifter) has collapsed. This part controls the opening of the engine valve, and because it is no longer moving, that cylinder cannot build compression and is cau…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V645000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 16V651000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V437000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V256000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
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 2016 Cadillac Escalade? What happened to yours?
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