2021 Cadillac Ct5 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Electrical System (8) · Structure:body (7) · Power Train (4)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Cadillac Ct5 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (4)
Power Train:automatic Transmission 2025-03-06 · campaign 25V148000 · 90,081 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Cadillac CT6, 2020-2021 CT4, CT5, and 2020-2022 Chevrolet Camaro vehicles equipped with a 10-speed transmission. The transmission may become damaged internally and cause the wheels to lock-up.
Risk: Wheel lock-up while driving increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will install transmission control module monitoring software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 7, 2025. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-333-4223 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N242480630.
Exterior Lighting:lighting Control Module:software 2022-12-08 · campaign 22V903000 · 740,108 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2023 Cadillac CT4 and CT5; 2021-2023 Buick Envision; and 2022-2023 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles. The daytime running lights (DRLs) may not deactivate when the headlights are on. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
Risk: DRLs that do not deactivate as intended may result in a glare, reducing visibility, and increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: The body control module software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 23, 2023. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N222386380. This recall expands previous recall number 22V-827.
Air Bags:side/Window:curtain 2021-08-05 · campaign 21V611000 · 34,157 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC. (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Cadillac CT4 and CT5 vehicles. The roof rail side-curtain air bags may not have been installed correctly, which could result in an improper air bag deployment during a crash.
Risk: Air bags that do not deploy properly can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect both left and right-side roof rail air bags and reinstall the air bags, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 30, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212342780.
Air Bags:srs Malfunction Warning Lamp/Light 2021-06-10 · campaign 21V421000 · 285,622 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2021 Buick Envision, Cadillac CT4, CT5, Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Corvette, Suburban, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL vehicles. The communications gateway module incorrectly processes a loss of communication with the sensing diagnostic module (SDM), causing the air bag malfunction indicator light to inconsistently illuminate.
Risk: The air bag malfunction indicator light may fail to warn the driver of a problem with the air bag, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: The communications gateway module software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 1, 2021. 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 N212338110.
Service bulletins (799)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-26 · PIT5698F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi provides diagnostics tips on how the lin bus works and how to diagnosis it.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-08 · PIC6555A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi advises of a procedure for a service door latch system message with no related dtcs
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-04 · PIP4902W · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-20 · PIC6551C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates to dealer to perform a mec reset for wireless projection issues
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-21 · PIT5099J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
pi to help diagnose a/c concern
Unknown Or Other 2026-06-23 · PIT5966F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates an issue with an ota pending message still displayed after an ota event and how to reset/clear the message.
Showing the 6 most recent of 799 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-14 · Structure:body“this vehicle is equipped with electronic door handles that are failing widely and prematurely. essentially the button that actuates the cylinder to allow the door to open fails. this poses a safety risk as you're unable to open the door from the exterior in the event of an emergency. imagine if you were in a collision that resulted in a fire and yo…”
2026-09-25 · Unknown Or Other“the cadillac ct5 door handles are operated via a button instead of a typical pull style handle. the buttons fail regularly meaning you cannot open the specific door(s) where the button has failed. with small children in the car when this fails it poses a severe health and safety risk. there needs to be a recall issued for this well known and docume…”
2026-09-24 · Power Train“i am filing a formal safety complaint against general motors (gm) regarding an unresolved transmission safety hazard on my 2021 cadillac ct5 550t. this vehicle is included under nhtsa campaign number 25v148000 for an internal transmission control valve failure that can cause sudden, dangerous wheel lock-up while driving. my vehicle is currently exp…”
2026-09-21 · Unknown Or Other“i have experienced a serious and recurring safety issue with the door handles on my cadillac ct5 vehicles. the exterior door handles have stopped working, preventing the doors from being opened normally. on one occasion, i was trying to get my child out of the back seat when the rear door handle failed and would not open. because the child safety l…”
2026-09-20 · Electrical System“the exterior door handles on my 2021 cadillac ct5 have experienced the same intermittent failure. the handles initially work intermittently and then become unable to release the door. the button on the inside of the door handle doesn't respond when pushed and that is the only way to get in the car without rolling the windows down or using the emerg…”
2026-09-17 · Electrical System“doors have routinely stopped opening using the electronic handles to pop open doors. have taken to dealership to repair, but keep on not working on other doors. all 4 door handles have been replaced and now they're starting to not work again. …”
2026-09-17 · Electrical System“both front doors will no longer open from the outside. the button on the inside of the door handle doesn't respond when pushed and that is the only way to get in the car without rolling the windows down or using the emergency key. i've seen many other forum posts about this so it seems to be a pretty widespread issue across other models with the s…”
2026-08-31 · Structure:body“all four exterior door handles on my 2021 cadillac ct5 have experienced the same intermittent failure. the handles initially work intermittently and then become unable to release the door. this has occurred on all four doors. this creates a serious safety concern because occupants may be unable to enter or exit the vehicle normally, and emergency r…”
2026-08-28 · Power Train“the pump gear on the transmission went out during normal driving with only having 30,000 miles on it. i am told my numerous people that the gm 10 speeds always have issues with them.…”
2026-08-08 · Structure:body“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 from inside or somehow open all the windows using th…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.