2008 Cadillac STS
This year drew an ordinary 50 complaints for a Cadillac STS — the model's median is 53. What they were about is the unusual part: 16% of them mention unable, against 5% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 50 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 53 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- unable — 16% of this year's complaints, against 5% across the model's other years (3.2×).
- illuminated — 18% of this year's complaints, against 6.9% across the model's other years (2.6×).
- mileages — 10% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the model's other years (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: mileages, vehicle inspected, current mileages, mileages 000.
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
WHILE DRIVING 35 MPH, THE CONTACT WAS INVOLVED IN A HEAD-ON CRASH AND THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT ONLY THE FRONT END WAS DAMAGED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE CONTACT INFORMED…
WHILE THE DRIVER WAS DRIVING DOWN A HILL INTO A GARAGE, THE BRAKES FAILED. THE DRIVER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND CRASHED INTO THE GARAGE WALL. THE DRIVER FRONTAL AIR BAG DID NOT DEPLOY. THE DRIVER WAS NOT INJURED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. [VIN…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 08V108000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING 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 2008 Cadillac STS? What happened to yours?
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