NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2023 Cadillac Escalade. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
My 2023 Escalade Sport that was purchased new has had two engines seize up while driving. The first time happened was July 17th, 2023, when we were traveling for vacation. It had 10,697 miles on it. We were driving 70 down the highway with the cruise set and it just died. No warning at all. There was no shoulder, the side of the road was steep and muddy so my husband had to time it to get it in someone’s driveway safely. We were pulling a 14ft trailer. We were NOT close to the max weight, so that had nothing to do with it. How it happened was not safe at all. It was scary having that happen with no warning and we were not close to a city. We had to call family to come offload our car as we had suitcases for vacation. We also had to have another family member bring a truck to pull the trailer home. We lost days of vacation over this. The car was towed to our cadillac dealer and we were told it needed a new engine. Making another claim for the 2nd engine that failed in this same car.
While riding after a stoplight, the engine started malfunctioning and not responding. Noise came out apparently from the engine heads (sounded like the valve lifters) . Driver was unable to accelerate and take a street exit almost hitting another vehicle The truck was towed
INCIDENT: I was driving on the highway when I heard a strange "whistling noise." Thinking the noise originated from an old van in front of me, I passed it. The noise grew louder; the vehicle slowed very suddenly and, I pulled to the side of the road. The "low oil pressure" light came on just as the engine entirely blew. There were NO OTHER WARNING LAMPS, MESSAGES or OTHER SYMPTOMS. On-Star did not send roadside assistance for six hours and the battery died from extended use of the emergency lights. DANGERS: Experiencing catastrophic engine failure while driving on a highway presents obvious dangers as does sitting roadside for six hours (with a dead battery and no emergency flashers). INSPECTION: The G.M. Dealer (manufacturer representative) inspected the engine and confirmed that it was a catastrophic engine failure, requiring a new engine. The issue was also reported directly to G.M. The engine core, if need of further inspection, is likely either at the dealer, G.M., or a GM remanufacturing facility.
Please explain your complaint in detail: Every Cadillac dealership in the area is refusing to service my vehicle for a serious safety recall •GM #: N222384930 Trailer Brake Control Switch. When I call the dealerships to set up an appointment, they tell me there is a note on my account to not service your vehicle. The vehicle is brand new and was purchased from Brotherton Cadillac. All of the Cadillac dealerships are working together to block any service of my vehicle.
Friday 03/03/2023 Off hwy 34 was on i25 for about 5 minutes going 75 I accelerated to 80, to get in my right lane and out of the fast lane got over and a pop up came on my dash board, said press start. I then realized my car lost power on the interstate with cars going 75-80+ mph and I had no way of starting or pulling off the side of the road, as there was construction and temporary road w/ barricades on both sides. My car was stopped in highway traffic, I was pumping my brakes to notify the semi behind me that something was wrong so he wouldn’t hit me. How is a 2023 vehicle going to stop on the highway with evening traffic, no where to pull over and hope I don’t get in an accident, it was dangerous and there was no notifications on the dashboard telling me what was wrong. My fuel was full, battery was fine and oil life was good. There could have been several fatalities as it was on the interstate and I was in the right lane with moving traffic in both. Approximately 6:50pm. I do have photos and video of the incident. I hit the onstar button, was holding for several minutes, it disconnected, so I hit the SOS emergency button and the operator took my info including my location on I-25 near mile marker 255 prior to the exit near the park n ride. She advised she was sending cdot to get traffic controlled, traffic in the left lane was still moving fast, people were honking and going around the semi. My sister was in her Cadillac in front of me stopped with her hazards so traffic behind could see the hazards. Cdot arrived about 15 minutes later, and then followed by a State Patrol officer. He advised ME TO GET IN MY SISTERS VEHICLE, and go to the park n ride at exit 255 and the tow truck and office would meet me there.
when i took delivery of my vehicle in November of 2022 my rear parking and pedestrian guide lines worked perfectly and a month later they stopped working and is no longer active. Given the huge size of the Cadillac escalade this is major safety issue and could result in a rear collision or a pedestrian being injured. I contacted Cadillac and there is no fix for this and when i start my vehicle a blue hourglass appears on my center info screen
System Failed: Back up lights are not working. Safety Concern: Cannot reverse in dark and putting self, family and others in danger. Problem reproduced at dealership: Fred Beans Cadillac in Bucks County Pennsylvania. Dealership Response to problem: They said GM is aware of the issue and it is related to software issue, no ETA of when it will be fixed however telling me it is safe to drive. No warning lamps however do have a blue hour glass in backup camera (not sure if that is related). "Cannot see anything when reversing as no reverse lights are working". Please see picture, driveway lights are on, front headlights are on, but no lights are working for reverse.
When reversing this huge SUV, there is no visibility. Currently, I have to keep pressing my brakes to get the red light to see little however it is not enough. I have taken it to the 2 different Cadillac Escalade dealership and they keep giving it back to me that it is working properly. This has been a problem since I bought this car, unfortunately when we went to test drive it was in a very bright parking lot. During the day it is fine, however if I reverse at night and god forbid hit someone/something - GM will be liable as this should not be on the road and they refuse the fix this big safety concern. Please note this is a 7 passenger SUV- It is too big to lack reverse visibility.
I hooked up a 20' car hauler trailer with trailer brakes to my 2023 Cadillac Escalade and proceeded to go on a trip when immediately I received a message on the dash that said, "service trailer brakes" and then proceeded by another message that says "trailer brakes have been disabled". I took the trailer to a trailer shop where they checked all of the wiring, connections and brakes on the new 2023 trailer and they said everything was working perfectly when they hooked up their electrical device to the trailer. They said the problem was with the 2023 Cadillac Escalade internal brake controller. I took the Escalade to Cadillac of South Charlotte on Dec 30, 2022 and they confirmed that there is a problem with the controller and there is no fix. This is consistent to what I have read on the 2021-2022 GM vehicles that have this controller. This is a safety hazard should anyone try to trailer assuming their brakes are working on their trailer and they do not.
Vehicle: 2023 Cadillac Escalade purchased in Oct 2022. At the time of new vehicle delivery the Dealer in Atlanta Peachtree Blvd, informs the Reverse Camera is not working completely - Has issues - 1.) Missing Gridlines 2.) Blue Hour Glass reducing the visibility while reversing the vehicle. Dealer states this is GM Cadillac issue and they cannot solve it. 3.) There is an irritating vibration sound while driving this 2023 Escalade above 70 mph ( like a flag on top of vehicle). The dealer in Atlanta, Peachtree Blvd cannot fix the problem even after 4 service center visits, and keeping the vehicle for more than 10 days . It is now almost 8 months since the new 2023 Escalade was purchased. Called up GM Cadillac Customer Support many times on 800 333 4223 since one month and registered the complaint case and even GM Cadillac does not know and does not have a clue on how to provide any solution. The customer support provided by GM Cadillac Customer support team is pathetic. No response to customer complaints !!!!! The GM Cadillac Customer Support team is not qualified to deal with customer issues / pain. It is pathetic to have companies like GM Cadillac to ignore problems with their premium vehicle like Escalade. I do not see any other solution, hence reporting the issue with NHTSA. Manufacturers like GM Cadillac should not sell vehicles with known issues, without informing customers.
The backup camera has no guidelines. GM has a bulletin but no fix and has not issues a recall. Document ID is 6153943. My dealer has told me they cannot do anything. This is a brand new car! Here is link to forum where frustrated owners have discussed the issue: https://www.cadillacforums.com/threads/backup-camera-grid-lines.1124433/ Here is link to youtube video to illustrate the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUYXcroezZE