What is the best year for the Cadillac CTS?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Cadillac CTS
which year?
Compare every Cadillac CTS model year the EPA recorded, 2003 to 2019. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Cadillac CTS year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Cadillac CTS years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect2003
313 indexed complaint reports; electrical system is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2003 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect2005277 indexed complaint reports; power train is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2005 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect2006269 indexed complaint reports; air bags is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2006 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Cadillac CTS model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2018 Cadillac CTS
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 8
- Combined EPA economy
- 17–25 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 6
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,550–4,450
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline · Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelselectrical system 3power train 3air bags 1
Open the 2018 evidence dossier →2019 Cadillac CTS
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 10
- Combined EPA economy
- 16–25 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 6
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,650–4,750
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline · Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelspower train 3unknown or other 3engine 2
Open the 2019 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2019 has 2 more indexed complaint allegations than 2018.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Cadillac CTS by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 10 | power train 3unknown or other 3engine 2 | 16–25 | 6 | $2,650–4,750 | Dossier → |
| 2018 | 8 | electrical system 3power train 3air bags 1 | 17–25 | 6 | $2,550–4,450 | Dossier → |
| 2017 | 27 | power train 9steering 8unknown or other 4 | 17–25 | 6 | $2,550–4,450 | Dossier → |
| 2016 | 31 | electrical system 10power train 9engine 4 | 17–25 | 6 | $2,550–4,450 | Dossier → |
| 2015 | 46 | power train 19service brakes 7unknown or other 7 | 14–24 | 7 | $2,550–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2014 | 146 | power train 84suspension 17electrical system 13 | 14–23 | 17 | $2,650–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2013 | 72 | electrical system 26power train 13air bags 11 | 14–21 | 13 | $2,950–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2012 | 65 | electrical system 10exterior lighting 10service brakes 7 | 14–21 | 13 | $2,950–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2011 | 101 | air bags 23power train 23electrical system 20 | 14–21 | 14 | $2,950–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2010 | 67 | air bags 16electrical system 16engine 10 | 14–22 | 12 | $2,800–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2009 | 167 | engine 49power train 29electrical system 26 | 19–21 | 6 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2008 | 175 | electrical system 39fuel/propulsion system 23engine 22 | 19–21 | 6 | $2,950–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2007 | 217 | air bags 67electrical system 41service brakes 36 | 16–19 | 5 | $3,250–4,750 | Dossier → |
| 2006 | 269 | air bags 97power train 50electrical system 46 | 17–19 | 5 | $3,250–4,450 | Dossier → |
| 2005 | 277 | power train 89air bags 75electrical system 39 | 16–19 | 5 | $3,250–4,750 | Dossier → |
| 2004 | 224 | power train 56electrical system 34air bags 26 | 17–19 | 4 | $3,250–4,450 | Dossier → |
| 2003 | 313 | electrical system 57engine and engine cooling 42exterior lighting 39 | 19 | 2 | $4,000 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.