2023 Cadillac Escalade
This year drew an ordinary 125 complaints for a Cadillac Escalade — the model's median is 43. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.8% of them mention call, against 2.6% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 3 of the Cadillac Escalade, which began in 2021. 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 | 125 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 43 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 16 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- call — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.6% across the other years of this generation (3.4×).
- pulled — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: pulled, pulled over.
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
The vehicle shut off while cruising at 70-75 mph on the highway. A "Press Start Button" message appeared, followed by the Check Engine Light. I pulled over to the shoulder and had the vehicle towed to shop.
Driving and power started to die and engine warning lights came on. Pulled over immediately and engine stopped. Wouldn’t come back on. Towed by Cadillac and discovered engine blew. Apparently a know issue with many similar in the shop awaiting new engine.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 22V903000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V642000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 24V674000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 25V274000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 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 2023 Cadillac Escalade? What happened to yours?
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