Cadillac / Escalade ESV / 2021
2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV problems
Owners have filed 105 complaints about the 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV with NHTSA. Engine accounts for 51.4% of them, far more than any other system, ahead of power train at 11.4%.
Complaints105
Crashes5
Fires0
Injuries9
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Engine 51.4% · 54
Power train 11.4% · 12
Electrical system 10.5% · 11
Engine and engine cooling 6.7% · 7
Fuel/propulsion system 5.7% · 6
Service brakes 3.8% · 4
Forward collision avoidance 2.9% · 3
Seat belts 1.9% · 2
Severity
Of those complaints, 5 describe a crash and 9 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Filings are rising, 85 in the last three years against 20 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 63,304 miles.
In owners' own words
I was driving down the interstate going 80 miles an hour and my engine completely shut off. I had to cross four lanes of traffic, on an interstate where the speed limit is 75 miles an hour, to get over on the shoulder while my car was able to accelerate. It was traumatizing and extremely dangerous and a miracle that a wreck was not caused. Engine would not start up after that. Engine
82.826 miles sounded like a idler pully making dinging noise got louder driving in city went to get on highway sudden lost of power and rattling noise and jerking and lunging got off first exit pulled into parking lot and shut it off. Called dealer they sent tow truck diagnosed it as bad motor 4/6/26 got remanufactured motor on 4/17/26 waiting to see how long this one lasts Engine
Was driving down [XXX] in Arizona when lost engine power pulled over and had towed to dealership. The engine needs replacement it has lifter problems the dealer said. Thankfully nobody was hurt but very scary. Car will need to be at dealer for months engine is on backorder. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) Engine
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…