AutoUtility currently tracks 21 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Cadillac CT5. Electrical System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 7 complaints (33.3% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 filings cite a crash, 2 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 21 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Electrical System (7 reports • 33.3% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Body & Structure (5), Wheels & Tires (2)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2021 Cadillac CT5
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Electrical System
Body & Structure
Wheels & Tires
Powertrain & Transmission
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #25V148000 POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Air Bags & Restraints
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #21V421000 AIR BAGS:SRS MALFUNCTION WARNING LAMP/LIGHT
- Campaign #21V611000 AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW:CURTAIN
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2021 Cadillac CT5
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"The door opening mechanism has failed on the drivers outside door handle. It locks and unlocks fine but it will not open. I can use an alternative by the getting the emergency access key out of the fob and popping off the handle and open with that key. Or I can go in thru another door and open it..."
"All 4 of my door handles suddenly stopped working and they will start working from time to time. Most of the time it’s 3-4 days where i cant open my door’s from the outside. I have looked into this and have found that MANY other CT5 users have had the same experience where they are unable to open..."
"We own a 2021 Cadillac CT5 that we bought used in 2024 from Sewell Cadillac in Houston, Texas. During our first year of ownership, and while still under warranty, we started having intermittent issues with the rear doors. At times, one or the other rear doors would only open from the inside of the..."
"The door(s) would not open from the outside. I had the driver side door handle replaced first - took weeks for the part to come in - this was a safety issue because I had to climb through the passenger side to open the driver side door. (the key entry would not work either) After weeks, and me..."
"I've had my driver side door handle switch replaced beacuse it was faulty and I could not get into my car through the driver side. Now I am having the same issue with the passanger side. In a case of an emergeny if I can not get into my car I fear for my or my passanger's safety. I fear the quality..."
Complaint History for Cadillac CT5
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2020–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Cadillac CT5 | 38 | 2 | 4 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Cadillac CT5 Current Page | 21 | 3 | 4 | Current |
| 2022 Cadillac CT5 | 10 | 0 | 2 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Cadillac CT5 | 11 | 3 | 1 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Cadillac CT5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Cadillac CT5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Cadillac CT5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2021 Cadillac CT5
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 12 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Air Bag Malfunction
On April 9, 2021, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE21-010 to investigate instances of air bag malfunction indicator light (MIL) illumination and potential for frontal air bag non-deployment in several vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The vehicles included model year (MY) 2020 through 2021 CT4 and CT5 passenger cars, Sierra and Silverado trucks (1500/2500/3500 models), XT4 and MY 2021 Escalade, Suburban, Tahoe, Yuko...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
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