2025 CADILLAC ESCALADE Complaints

I am filing a safety complaint regarding my 2025 Cadillac Escalade, which experienced a catastrophic engine failure while being driven on a public roadway with approximately 13,000 miles on the vehicle. While traveling from [XXX] to [XXX] , the vehicle suddenly lost power while in motion. A warning message appeared stating “Press to Start Again.” The engine shut off completely while driving, causing an immediate loss of propulsion. The vehicle went into neutral, and I was forced to maneuver to the side of the road to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. Once stopped, the vehicle would not restart. Multiple attempts were made using both the push-button ignition and key fob remote start, but the vehicle remained inoperable. The vehicle was towed and later diagnosed as requiring a complete engine replacement despite being less than one year old. I believe this is a serious safety defect because the vehicle lost power without warning while being driven. Had this occurred in heavier traffic, while crossing an intersection, merging, or traveling at higher speeds, it could have resulted in a serious accident, injury, or death. This was not the first major issue with this vehicle. Within weeks of taking delivery, multiple components required repair or replacement, including: • Complete replacement of the camera system due to defective cameras • Replacement of a defective lighting component • Transmission failure concerns • Cylinder #2 misfire issues The repeated failures of major vehicle systems, culminating in a complete engine failure and loss of propulsion while driving, raise serious concerns about the safety and reliability of this vehicle. Additionally, after the engine failure, the vehicle could not be placed into neutral and had to be dragged onto a tow truck, causing damage to the tires and raising concerns about emergency roadside recovery procedures. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My 2025 Cadillac Escalade ESV lost power and shut down while I was driving on the highway. The gas pedal stopped responding, and the vehicle would not restart afterward. This created a serious safety risk because the vehicle suddenly lost propulsion while driving in traffic. The vehicle is less than one year old and is already going to be on its third engine. The original engine was already replaced once before. The previous replacement engine was a brand-new GM engine with 0 miles, but it failed after only about 20,000 miles. Pepe Cadillac confirmed that this is the second replacement engine, which means the third engine counting the original engine. The dealer also confirmed that the engine locked up due to internal bearing material failure and needs to be replaced again. The repair order number is 140134. I am concerned this is a serious safety-related engine defect. A brand-new GM replacement engine should not lock up after only about 22,000 miles, especially while driving on the highway. I am also concerned that simply replacing the engine again may not fully address the safety and reliability issue with this vehicle. Cadillac Customer Care case number: 100539041.

The driver-side headlight on my 2025 Cadillac Escalade failed while the vehicle was still under factory warranty. This is a critical safety component that significantly reduces nighttime visibility and creates a safety risk for both myself and other drivers on the road. The vehicle was inspected by an authorized GM/Cadillac service center, and the failure was confirmed. The warranty repair was approved; however, the replacement part has been placed on national backorder with no reasonable repair timeframe provided. I have now been dealing with this unresolved safety-related issue for nearly three weeks. Because the headlight assembly is a major safety component, the vehicle may not be safe or practical to operate at night or during poor weather conditions. Prior to the failure, there were warning/error messages related to the headlight system appearing on the dashboard. The problem has been reproduced and confirmed by the dealer. The failed component should be available for inspection upon request through the servicing dealership. My concern is not only the headlight failure itself, but also the inability of the manufacturer to provide timely replacement parts for a critical safety-related system on a nearly new vehicle. This creates an ongoing safety concern and prolonged loss of use of the vehicle.

On XXX, I was driving my 2025 Cadillac Escalade (6.2L engine) on [XXX] , at 55 mph in a construction zone. The right lane had a cement barrier one foot from the yellow line, eliminating any shoulder, and the left side had only a narrow berm before the median. Without any prior warning, I heard a loud “pop” and felt a jolt. Immediately, the check engine light illuminated, the vehicle went silent, and it began to coast. A message appeared instructing me to press “start” to start the vehicle. The battery remained operational, but the engine was unresponsive. I had not struck any object. I activated my hazard lights and, because I could not pull to the right due to the barrier, I coasted across lanes into the median. I could not exit the vehicle to safety due to location of the vehicle and the construction on both the north and southbound lanes of the highway as well as concrete barriers. The vehicle would not restart and could not be shifted into neutral, requiring specialized towing. Police responded and positioned a patrol car behind me due to the dangerous location. I could not safely exit the vehicle. The tow truck had to block the left lane to remove the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to Medina Auto Mall. The service technician advised this is “more likely than not” the same 6.2L engine failure subject to recall in 2021–2024 GM vehicles. However, the vehicle cannot be diagnosed for 3–4 weeks due to backlog. If confirmed, an engine replacement may take several months. The vehicle has approximately 11,500 miles, has run perfectly with no prior issues, and was properly maintained, including an oil change performed by the selling dealer, VanDevere Cadillac (Akron, Ohio). This sudden loss of propulsion on a highway in a construction zone created a serious safety risk, including the risk of a high-speed rear-end collision resulting in injuries to myself and other drivers. It was a frightening situation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

While driving the vehicle it lifts from the back and lowers in the front and the car while in drive malfunctions leaning to the right applying pressure on the front tire and cause the tread on the tire to come off which was stated as a defect with no way to fix or resolve at this time, I was told by the dealership that the tires are not under warranty and my question was if the car is malfunctioning causing tread wear only on the front passenger tire wouldn’t that be covered by the dealer to replace the tire. I was then told that they are having the same problem with the new hummers and that if the tread was worn in the first 12,000 miles of Owership that it was due to lifting the vehicle above the default setting and hard driving that caused damage to the tires but they stated that it had damaged both front tires in the hummer, so they said the Escalade had the same problem but here’s the issue we don’t have a button to raise the vehicle up and this was caused by the computer sensor lowering the car while driving which I have no control over when it lifts or lowers and it’s only damaging the right front tire which proves that it’s a defect and GM said they were not responsible for the tires and would not escalate this situation so that my car could be addressed because of this issue and the text at the dealership gave me a copy of the document stating about the hummer issue and agreed with me that my car has a defect but could do nothing without gms ok so now I’m left to drive a car that leans on its own and may blow out my passenger tire at any time and that is beyond my control.

The headlights on our 25 Escalade started to fail. They basically became more and more dim to the point it looks like the Daytime running lights are on at night instead of the headlights. When we took it into the dealer to get checked they stated it was a known issue. Apparently it’s such a large issue that one of the headlights is back ordered with no timeline. This seems like a serious safety issue that customers were not being warned about.

The contact owns a 2025 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 MPh, attempting to make a left turn in the snow, the vehicle prompted them to activate the skid protection mode. After activating the Skid Protection mode, the vehicle began to lose power and shut down. The contact placed the vehicle in neutral and coasted to the side of the road. The contact waited before restarting the vehicle and continued to drive. While driving, the contact noticed the speedometer showed 120 MPH; however, they were only going about 30 MPH—the warning for transmission failure and other lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed the issue as the computer disconnecting due to the weather. The dealer had reported the issue to the manufacturer in an attempt to prevent the failure from occurring again. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 21,952.

The contact owns a 2025 Cadillac Escalade ESV. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the Forward Collision Avoidance sensor failed to function as intended. The contact stated that while driving behind another vehicle, the Forward Collision Avoidance system failed to alert the contact of the vehicle ahead or enable the braking system. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the cause of the failure was not determined. The contact was provided with DTC: U023E. In addition, the contact was informed that further inspection was needed to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,400.

2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ GM issued a Customer Satisfaction Program (NHTSA ID 11017089, Manufacturer Communication N252492830-01) for 2nd and 3rd row outboard head restraints that may not lock in the upright position on 2025 Escalade IQ vehicles. My vehicle has this exact defect—both the 2nd and 3rd row head restraints were stuck in the down/forward position and could not lock upright. The safety consequence is serious: head restraints that cannot lock upright provide no head or neck support in a rear-end collision for any 2nd or 3rd row passenger. The defect was identified by Chevrolet Cadillac of Santa Fe, NM on Nov 12, 2025 (RO# 0081837). The dealer confirmed the recall applied and ordered replacement parts from GM. The parts were not available. No ETA was provided. I was forced to take the vehicle back with the recall incomplete because the wait was indefinite. The dealer's own notes state: "2nd and 3rd row headrest still malfunctioning." The replacement head restraints did not arrive until late March 2026. The recall was finally completed on March 30, 2026 (RO# 0086689)—over 4 months after the defect was identified and the parts were ordered. For those 4+ months, I had a vehicle with a known safety defect that GM had already acknowledged via a manufacturer communication, but GM could not supply the parts to fix it. Any passengers in the 2nd or 3rd row were at risk of serious head and neck injury in a collision. This is not an isolated parts delay. The same vehicle waited 3.5 months at a body shop (Apr-Jul 2025) for routine OEM bumper and sensor parts, and 2.5 months at a dealer (Nov 2025-Jan 2026) for a radar module. GM appears unable to support the Escalade IQ with replacement parts, leaving owners with vehicles that have known safety defects and no available remedy.

My engine started to make noise so I took it in for service and was told by Cadillac service it was a blown piston rod and it required a full engine replacement.