2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV Complaint Log

Ever since the lifters broke in the new vehicle (which the dealer now tells us is a defect in the engine and that the lifters keep breaking; it was not a "bad delivery of lifters" as we were initially told), the car idles very rough and has power surges. Today sitting at a red light with the foot lightly on the break, the car lunged forward against the break during one of the power surges. If we had been closer to the vehicle in front of us, or if we had been up against a cross walk, there would have been a collision.

I have been waiting on the dealers to fix this recall for now 2 months and no solution has been found. I need to list my vehicle on turo website and need this recall to be cleared.

The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V617000 (Seat Belts) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms part not available.

Back in August of 2022 my 2021 Cadillac Escalade started having severe engine roughness, a check engine light, and an error saying that most of the collision safety features had been disabled. I was able to limp the vehicle into a GMC dealer who informed me that Cadillac had received a bad shipment of lifters and that one or more of the lifters had broken. When the vehicle detects an engine problem, it apparently disables most systems in the car. The GMC deal had the car for weeks trying to repair. They told me that Cadillac only authorized replacing 1/2 of the lifters. Since that time, the vehicle has continued to idle very rough ; the RPMs fluctuate and power surges at idle and while driving. I have been attempting to reach the Cadillac customer service people, am routinely told that I'll receive a call back "within 2 business days" but never receive a call back. Last week the vehicle died due to a problem with the automatic software update (it completely drained the vehicle). The Cadillac Rescue service jumped the battery and told me I had to take it to an actual Cadillac dealer and not the GMC dealer who had performed the initial repair. The vehicle had multiple errors including one that said the ABS system needed service. I took the vehicle into the dealer and they charged me for an oil change and 15k mile service. They said there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and that the 6.2L V8 engine was known for having engine roughness and surging problems. A few days later (last Saturday). the check engine light came on and we received a diagnostic text message saying that the engine and transmission required serviced within "1 day." We called the dealer, and they said to bring it in. I called them this morning and apparently they haven't even looked at it and suggest they will not do so until an appointment they created for 12/30!? Is this car safe to drive? Can I get it back?

Bought one of only 4 available in the entire USA. Flew to Atlanta to drive it back to CA 11 weeks ago. Since then it’s been at dealership 5 times for a total of 9 weeks for an electrical ghost they can’t fix! Cost us over $60,000 in income this month and paying approx $1500 month insurance while it sits there in a workshop with no resolution. Now working with GM and the BBB. Summary below: ISSUE - only at low speeds, idling, or at start up the car suddenly throws on the heater, service lights going off like lights on the Vegas strip of warning to service just about everything, loses power steering, and won’t shift past 2nd gear even if you could keep driving…restart it and it’s fine except for check engine light if you drive freeways most days. But codes all informational and no real helpful error pinpointing. Dealer can’t find any problems and chasing a ghost so even after calling in top software engineers, they say manufacture won’t approve replacing parts other than one of the hubs. Then tell us they are working on it when we can clearly locate the vehicle through OnStar and see it parked for days at your offsite lot!! We beg them to just try changing battery and wiring since seems basic if it only happens at under 10 mph, idling, or at start up in the morning… all times where battery pull is the highest . But they say we test the simple things first like I’m dumb… ok we’ll explain my video of the battery voltage meter jumping all over the place like ghost hunter spectrometer at Area 51!! This is ridiculous for a 2021 flagship Premium Luxury Platinum ESV model.

The rear, third row passenger vent will occasionally put out very hot air. This results in the back seats becoming overheated especially on hot days. This is putting my young children at risk for heat related injuries and possibly death as the front seats remain cooled but the rear compartment heats up substantially. The dealer was unable to reproduce the problem but it occurs at random so reproduction is difficult. No error codes are shown. The problem will resolve once the vehicle is shut off for an extended period of time but will then recur at random putting all rear passengers that are sleeping or too young to complain about the temperature at significant risk.

The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V036000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

On November 29th 2021, I cranked up my ESV headed to work. To my surprise, I heard which to me sounds like metal hammers clanking together. I immediately turn off the truck. In my experience it sounded like lifters and pistons out of sync. If I had been traveling to work this would have left me stranded on the freeway. I called roadside to set an appt to flatbed the truck to the dealership where I just purchased the ESV 8 months ago (11,100k mi). Currently, the last update was the upper half of the ESV engine has to be rebuilt due to damaged cam, lifters & piston rods. When asked, the service writer mention there have been 2021 Escalades along with Denali's with the same engine malfunction returned back to the dealership. Also, the tow driver informed me that he has responded to the same exact noise coming from 2021 Escalade models frequently approximately 3 or more monthly. That's a lot for a $100k vehicle of any luxury model. The inspection for these defective of back part has only been looked at by the dealership. I expect to also see these damage parts as well. No new engine was repaired the issue. The breakdown determined the bottom half of the engine was fine and only the top portion of the engine was in need of rebuild. Upon cranking the ESV, there were NO warning lights, symptoms, diagnostic prompts that alerted me of the noise. In conclusion, as of Jan 6th 2022, my Escalade ESV has been at the dealership now over a month. Shipping issues with damaged parts along with diagnostic issues post previous rebuilds has keep the ESV inoperable, yet Im left with the tag of paying the note for a vehicle I do not have in my possession.

The contact owns a 2021 Cadillac Escalade ESV. The contact stated while her husband was driving 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the electrical system and engine to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.

At 3,000 miles on this new car, the motor began to rattle, shake, and then heat up to 240-260 degrees when the dashboard flashed and the vehicle and lights turned off. The brakes were not powered and because I was towing a trailer at night, I nearly crashed. My wife and 5 children were in the car with me. I have since learned that there is a major problem with these new Cadillacs, but if I would have know the motor was going to grenade and then turn off the car, I would not have spent $110,000 on this car.

2021 CADILLAC ESCALADE. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS T0 ENGINE FAILURE.