NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2013 Cadillac ATS. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
WHILE DECELERATING TO MAKE VARIOUS TURNS OR STOP AT AN INTERSECTION THE VEHICLE SHUTS OFF WITH NO WARNING. ALSO THE STEERING AND BRAKES BECOME HARD. ON ONE OCCASION WHILE MERGING ONTO THE HIGHWAY IT OCCURRED AGAIN, ALMOST CAUSING ME TO CRASH INTO A VEHICLE THEN LOSE CONTROL. *TR
THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON, STABILITRAK, AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHTS CONTINUOUSLY ILLUMINATE MY DASHBOARD. IT HAS HAPPENED APPROXIMATELY 6 TIMES. EACH TIME THE DEALER HAS FOUND BASICALLY NOTHING WRONG, JUST REPLACED A SPARK PLUG EACH TIME, CHANGED THE OIL, AND CLEARED THE CODES. THE CAR HAS STALLED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. I WAS ALMOST REAR ENDED BY SOMEONE BECAUSE A LIGHT TURNED GREEN AND MY CAR WAS STALLED. PRIOR TO IT STALLING IT VIOLENTLY SHAKES, WHICH IS JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE ROUGH THAN THE CONSTANT SHAKING IT ALWAYS DOES. ALSO RECENTLY IT HAS BEEN HAVING TROUBLE STARTING. EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE RELATED AND IS GETTING WORSE. THE DEALER EXTENDED MY WARRANTY TO ALMOST 90,000 MILES BUT I FEEL UNSAFE IN THIS CAR BECAUSE OF ALL THE PROBLEMS THAT IT HAS AND ALL THE NEW PROBLEMS THAT KEEP COMING UP. *TR
2013 CADILLAC ATS 6MT STALLS WHEN DECELERATING WITH AN ENSUING LOSS OF POWER STEERING. CADILLAC HAS COME UP WITH A SOFTWARE FIX FOR THIS ISSUE. SOFTWARE WRITTEN TO PROTECT THE FLYWHEEL WAS MODIFIED TO ELIMINATE THIS PROBLEM. *TR
THE 6-SPEED MANUAL ATS HAS AN ISSUE WITH STALLING, USUALLY WHEN COASTING TO A STOP, AND LESS FREQUENTLY ON INITIAL ACCELERATION. IT IS NOT DUE TO POOR RELEASE PRACTICE WITH THE CLUTCH. THE CAR WILL DIE UNEXPECTEDLY WHEN COASTING, WHICH KILLS THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING, WHICH MAKES FOR AN UNSAFE SITUATION. THIS HAPPENS INFREQUENTLY, AND I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT COMBINATION OF THINGS LEADS TO THE STALL. I HAVE CHANGED THE WAY I DRIVE THE CAR IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE COASTING OR USING THE TRANSMISSION FOR DECELERATION. THIS HELPS, BUT THERE ARE STILL TIMES WHEN I GET SURPRISED AT AN INTERSECTION BY THE CAR BEING DEAD WHEN I'M READY TO ACCELERATE. IT IS A VERY QUIET CAR, ESPECIALLY AT IDLE, SO IF I'M WATCHING TRAFFIC AND NOT THE DASH, IT CAN DIE AND I DON'T KNOW IT UNTIL I HIT THE GAS AGAIN. *TR
WHILE TURNING INTO A PARKING LOT EXPERIENCED LOSS OF POWER STEERING. MESSAGE IN THE DIC INDICATED "SERVICE POWER STEERING, DRIVE WITH CARE". UPON RESTART OF ENGINE THE POWER STEERING BEGAN TO WORK AGAIN. DEALER SAW C0545 STEERING WHEEL TORQUE SENSOR FAULT, DEALER NOTES INDICATE THAT THE CONNECTOR WAS CHECKED AND WAS OK. ALSO CHECKED EBCM SOFTWARE, WHICH WAS UP TO DATE. NOTHING FURTHER WAS DONE, NO PARTS UPDATED OR REPLACED. I RECEIVED THE SAME DIC MESSAGE ~4 TIMES IN THE PAST 3 WEEKS WITHOUT THE LOSS OF POWER STEERING PRIOR TO THIS EVENT WHICH PROMPTED A VISIT TO THE DEALER. *TR
I HAVE TWO ISSUES TO REPORT THAT MAY BE A SAFETY CONCERN: 1) THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE TIMES WHEN DRIVING IN WET CONDITIONS (RAIN/SNOW) WHERE I WILL GET A 'POWER STEERING FAILURE' WARNING. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE POWER STEERING DOES ONE OF TWO THINGS. IT EITHER ALMOST LOCKS UP AND BECOMES EXTREMELY HARD TO TURN THE WHEEL, OR IT WILL STILL MOVE EASILY, BUT IT WON'T AUTO CENTER WHEN MAKING TURNS. I HAVE REPORTED THIS TO THE DEALER AND THEY SAID IT WAS A BAD STEERING ANGLE SENSOR. THEY REPLACED THE SENSOR BUT THE ISSUE IS NOT RESOLVED AND NOW THAT IT'S SNOWING IT'S HAPPENING MORE AND MORE CONSISTENTLY. 2) THERE HAVE BEEN 3 CASES WHERE I WAS DRIVING AND COMING TO A STOP AND THE CAR WILL JUST RANDOMLY SHUT DOWN. I LOSE ALL ABILITY TO STEER (SINCE IT'S ELECTRIC STEERING) AND BRAKE. THIS STALL IS DIFFERENT THEN A STALL ASSOCIATED MISUSE OF THE CLUTCH. THE CLUTCH HAS BEEN PRESSED IN ALL THE WAY IN WHEN THIS HAPPENS AND THE CAR DOESN'T SHUTTER LIKE A CLUTCH STALL, JUST TOTALLY SHUTS DOWN QUIETLY. LUCKILY THERE HAS NOT BEEN AN ACCIDENT YET, BUT IF THIS HAPPENS WHEN THERE ARE MULTIPLE CARS AROUND ME IT WILL BE DIFFICULTY TO AVOID ONE. *TR
WHEN COASTING TO COME TO A STOP THE VEHICLE ENGINE WILL STALL. THIS HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE THE FIRST INCIDENT IN JANUARY. THIS IS A 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION EQUIPPED VEHICLE, AND THE TRANSMISSION IS EITHER IN NEUTRAL OR THE CLUTCH PEDAL IS DEPRESSED SO THAT THE ENGINE/TRANSMISSION ARE DECOUPLED. I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WATCH THE TACHOMETER WHEN IT HAS STALLED TWICE, AND IT SEEMS TO GET TO A LOWER RPM THAN NORMAL (<500RPM) AND THEN THE ENGINE JUST SHUTS OFF, VERY ABRUPTLY. IT HAS ALSO HAPPENED WHEN SLOWING TO TAKE A TURN WITH THE CLUTCH PEDAL DEPRESSED, WHICH IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET BACK STARTED AS YOU ARE TRYING TO DRIVE AND NOT CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. I HAVE REPORTED THIS TO THE DEALER, AND THEY HAVE TRIED TO DIAGNOSE IT, HOWEVER NO FIX HAS HAPPENED. IT WILL NORMALLY STALL ABOUT ONCE EVERY WEEK OR SO, IT IS VERY INTERMITTENT AND SEEMS MORE OFTEN WITH A HIGHER LOAD ON THE ENGINE (HOT DAYS, A/C RUNNING, ETC...). THE DEALER WENT AS FAR AS TO BLAME ME FOR STALLING THE VEHICLE, THEY SAID I DIDN'T DISENGAGE THE CLUTCH AT A HIGH ENOUGH RPM WHICH IS COMPLETELY UNTRUE AND REGARDLESS THE CAR WAS IN NEUTRAL AND I WAS COASTING TO A STOP (THEREFORE IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO STALL THE VEHICLE IN GEAR). I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS ISSUE, THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS PEOPLE ON FORUMS COMPLAINING OF THE SAME ISSUE. *TR
ROUGH IDLE WHEN IN DRIVE AND STOPPED AT LIGHT (ALWAYS), I DID BRING IT IN FOR SERVICE FOR THE ROUGH IDLE AND DEALERSHIP STATED NOTHING SHOWED UP ON COMPUTER SO THEY WERE UNABLE TO CORRECT PROBLEM. *TR
WHEN TAKING A CORNER THE CAR APPEARED TO OVER STEER. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS ME SO I WENT TO TURN THE WHEEL TO CORRECT IT AND IT FELT SLUGGISH FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD. ALMOST INSTANTLY AFTER THAT A WARNING CAME UP ON THE DASH THAT INDICATED SOMETHING LIKE "SERVICE POWER STEERING, PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY". THE WARNING OCCURRED TWO MORE TIMES IN A MATTER OF A COUPLE MILES BUT I DID NOT REALLY NOTICE ANY STEERING ISSUES THOSE TIMES. *TR
THE BRAKE AND GAS PEDAL ARE SO CLOSE TOGETHER THAT WHEN BRAKING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEPRESS THE GAS PEDAL WHILE BRAKING RESULTING IN AN ENGINE SURGE CONDITION. THIS ONLY HAPPENS IN BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC OR WHEN STOPPING AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT. *TR
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026