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Cadillac · NHTSA safety record

2017 Cadillac Escalade ESV

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

37

Complaints

4

Crashes

1

Fires

5

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2017 Cadillac Escalade ESV have filed 37 safety complaints with NHTSA between April 2017 and August 2026. The most complained-about system is the brakes, named in 11 of them (30%). The typical failure was reported at 31,278 miles, the median across the 17 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

16V651000 · September 8, 2016

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
The risk
A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.

General Motors LLC · up to 3,640,162 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 37.

SERVICE BRAKES 11 30%
ENGINE 9 24%
POWER TRAIN 8 22%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 11%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 11%
STRUCTURE 2 5%
SUSPENSION 2 5%
AIR BAGS 1 3%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 3%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 3%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 3%
SEATS 1 3%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2025 at 8.

2017 2025 2026
2017 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

3 injured · crash · towed

We were hit from the side, in the front part of the drivers door at between 35-45 mph, by someone who ran a red light as we were turning right. The force rammed us head on into a telephone pole. The impact of the pole was just shy of the middle of the front bumper. None of the airbags deployed.Emergency personnel were shocked they hadn’t given the severity of the case and the double impact.

NHTSA complaint 11542217. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY

1 injured · 49,698 miles

I WAS RETRIEVING SOMETHING OUT OF THE TRUCK AND THE LIFTGATE FELL ON ME. I NEVER FELT SUCH EXCRUCIATING PAIN. I HAD TO LIFT THE LIFTGATE OFF OF ME. THERE WAS NO WARNING OR ANYTHING THAT GAVE ME THE INDICATION THE LIFTGATE WAS MALFUNCTIONING. WHEN I OPENED THE TRUNK OF THE SUV THERE WAS NO INDICATION SOMETHING LET THIS WOULD HAPPEN BECAUSE IT OPENED JUST FINE. THIS LIFTGATE HIT ME SO HARD THAT IT CAUSED MAJOR BRUISES ON MY BACK AND HIPS. I HURT MY SHOULDER BECAUSE I HAD TO LIFT THE LIFTGATE OFF OF ME. TO SAY THE LEAST I ENDED UP IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM. ME AND MY HUSBAND STARTED SEEING IS THIS AN ONGOING ISSUE WITH THE LIFTGATES AND IT IS. SO MANY COMPLAINTS, YET NO RECALLS. WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

NHTSA complaint 11404462, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured

I am the owner of a 2017 Cadillac Escalade affected by Special Coverage Adjustment 17016 (Program ID N162058750). The issue involves the chrome trim on the steering wheel separating, creating a sharp edge that poses a safety hazard to the driver. I contacted Cadillac to request a repair under this Special Coverage program. My vehicle developed this defect while still under the mileage limit of the program, well before exceeding 120,000 miles. However, Cadillac has refused to provide any repair or assistance, stating that the coverage has expired today. I understand that this is not a legally mandated recall, but the defect is clearly safety-related, with potential to cause cuts or injury

NHTSA complaint 11696025, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEATS

fire · 2,000 miles

VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE APR 9TH BETWEEN 6PM AND 6:30 PM IN HOUSTON TEXAS DUE TO SECOND ROW PASSENGER SIDE SEAT HEATER MALFUNCTION. VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION ON A PUBLIC HIGHWAY FEEDER ROAD WHEN THE INCIDENT HAPPENED DURING RUSH HOUR.VEHICLE HAD LESS THAN 2000 MILES AND WAS PURCHASED BRAND NEW LESS THAN 30 DAYS AGO FROM RON CARTER CADILLAC OF FRIENDSWOOD

NHTSA complaint 11090388. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
P0306 misfire. Flashing check engine light. Ive replaced all spark plugs. Ive replaced the ignition coil. Still has not fixed problem. While doing research on how to replace fuel injectors came across an article stating special coverage N102291660 for fuel injectors extending the warranty to 10 years, 150,000 miles but this is not showing for my VIN. My vehicle has the 6.2L engine so Im not sure what this is covered for some but not others when this is a known problem. I bought this vehicle a year ago because my wife and I took in custody of our 3 nieces all under age 2 thinking this would be a reliable vehicle. Id like to understand why my vehicle os not covered for this known issue, but

NHTSA complaint 11754689, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Lifters went out in January 2024 Paid thousands and thousands to repair and now having more issues again. Same issues the recalled 2021-2025 gym 6.2L have

NHTSA complaint 11715410. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
Incident date: 2025-11-22 Location: I-70 (while taking an exit) Dealership: Jim Coleman Cadillac (vehicle purchased and routinely serviced here) I am reporting a sudden and severe brake system failure that created an immediate risk to vehicle occupants. On 2025-11-22 my wife was driving our Escalade with our two children when, while taking an exit on I-70, she felt the brakes go completely limp and the vehicle would not slow down as expected. The vehicle had been driving normally beforehand; we had made a couple of stops earlier that day. She was able to reduce speed and bring the vehicle to a stop without colliding with another vehicle, but this was only because there was no traffic

NHTSA complaint 11702226, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
2017 Cadillac Escalade ESV VIN: [XXX] Dealership: Jim Coleman Cadillac, Bethesda, MD I am reporting a brake safety failure involving severe and abnormal brake component wear that created an immediate safety risk with breaks completely failing while driving at high speed on the highway. During normal driving, I discovered that the right front brake assembly had worn down to bare metal. The brake pad friction material was completely gone, resulting in metal-on-metal contact with the rotor. The rotor showed deep scoring and unsafe wear consistent with a possible stuck caliper piston, seized caliper slide pins, or other component malfunction. This failure occurred without warning. The vehicle

NHTSA complaint 11701962, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
With only 78k miles on my 2017 Escalade the same issue happened with the lifters like in the 2021-2025 models. We had to pay out 14k to replace the motor. GM has known about this problem for almost a decade and it’s not fair that we had to pay out this much money to replace an engine with them knowing the problems. Had they told us years ago to change to a heavier oil or whatever we would have done so and maybe our factory engine would have lasted like so many previous year models up to 250k miles.

NHTSA complaint 11697006. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Cadillac Escalade ESV

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 10 1 —
2024 20 2 —
2023 73 4 —
2022 52 4 —
2021 66 10 —
2020 21 2 —
2019 32 1 —
2018 14 1 —
2016 15 3 —
2015 8 6 —
2011 13 5 —

Other 2017 Cadillac models

XT5 121 Escalade 50 ATS 32 CTS 27 XTS 24 CT6 17

Every Cadillac on this site — 91 vehicles, 198 recall campaigns and 4 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst