2006 Cadillac STS
Complaints about this year name sts contact far more often than the model's other years — 19% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 6.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 141 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 50 |
| Involving a crash | 17 |
| Involving a fire | 6 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- seat — 18.4% of this year's complaints, against 6% across the model's other years (3.1×).
- panel — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the model's other years (31.9×).
- think — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 1% across the model's other years (6.4×). Owners wrote it as: think, zero, law, engineering.
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
- came — 14% of complaints, 5× usual
- seat — 18% of complaints, 3× usual
- illuminated — 17% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
THE AIR BAG OFF LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND FAILED TO ILLUMINATE WHEN THE SEAT WAS OCCUPIED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 68,0…
WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE PASSENGER SEAT AIR BAG SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE [VIN] WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS N…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V542000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 06V007000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 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 STS 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 STS? What happened to yours?
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