FaultScore
See all results →
All makes Worst years, ranked Problems by part Analysis Problems by model year Recalls in Canada Recall lookup Compare two cars How we grade

FaultScore report

2003 Cadillac Seville problems

Owners have filed 19 complaints about the 2003 Cadillac Seville with NHTSA between 2004 and 2021. The largest single group is the body & structure. Across this model's run it ranks 12 of 12 worst.

Read the complaints What breaks Worst years for the Cadillac Seville All 2003 cars
A

FaultScore 21/100

Higher is worse. Measured against the other years of the Cadillac Seville.

How this is worked out

The numbers

19

Complaints

0

Crashes reported

0

Fires reported

0

Injuries reported

48,288 mi

Median mileage at failure

Half of reported failures happened before this

43%

Failed under 36,000 miles

Inside a typical bumper-to-bumper warranty

What kind of bad

The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.

Complaint volume 13 vs 50 Severity 0 vs 50 Early failure 73 vs 50
The dashed ring is 50 — the national norm. Further out is worse.
Complaint volume — 13
Against the median year of the Cadillac Seville. 50 means typical for this model; 100 means roughly double.
Severity — 0
0% of these complaints involved a crash, fire, injury or death, against a national rate of 9.7%.
Early failure — 73
43% of failures with a mileage on record happened under 36,000 miles, against a national rate of 29%.

How 2003 compares with every other Cadillac Seville

Click any bar to open that year's report.

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks on a 2003 Cadillac Seville

Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.

Body & Structure 3 15.8%

Median failure at 72,550 miles

Other & Unspecified 2 10.5%

Median failure at 112,000 miles

Lights 2 10.5%

Median failure at 50,000 miles

Suspension 2 10.5%

Median failure at 47,322 miles

Steering 2 10.5%

Median failure at 52,961 miles

Transmission & Drivetrain 2 10.5%

Median failure at 49,254 miles

Engine & Cooling 2 10.5%

Median failure at 2,750 miles

Stability & Traction Control 1 5.3%

Median failure at 60,000 miles

Fuel & Propulsion 1 5.3%

Median failure at 145,000 miles

Acceleration & Cruise Control 1 5.3%

Median failure at 19,000 miles

Brakes 1 5.3%

Median failure at 19,000 miles

When it fails

Odometer readings owners gave when they filed. About half of all complaints include one.

Under 1,000 miles 1 7.1%
1,000 – 9,999 miles 2 14.3%
10,000 – 24,999 miles 3 21.4%
25,000 – 49,999 miles 2 14.3%
50,000 – 74,999 miles 2 14.3%
75,000 – 99,999 miles 1 7.1%
100,000 – 149,999 miles 3 21.4%

When owners complained

A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single owner can see from inside their own car.

Jan 2004 peak 2 Sep 2021

The most recent complaints

In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.

Northglenn, CO

POWER TRAIN

I was driving the car all day and just had jumped back on highway doing around 65mph and all of a sudden the car threw itself into first gear it felt like and started accelerating on decelerating on its own jerking very violently if I wasn't wearing my seatbelt I would of went through the front windshield because it threw me forward i went from doing 65mph down to 10mph in less then 5seconds I was scared as [XXX] the steering wheel was hard to control and other cars were honking at me and it was just a mess and my car only has 100,763miles on it I barley drove it this year i will not get back in that car unless it is fixed because that's my daily driver and now its stuck in my driveway and my brother cant get his car out of the driveway so he's pissed now it wont go in reverse or wont move in neutral I left it alone I don't wanna mess with the car i already made a complaint to Cadillac and they said they will look into it and asked me for my vin but that was a few days ago they never called me or anything imagine if my nieces were in the car with me which I'm glad they Were not usually they are that [XXX] coulda killed someone and now I'm out of a car and there gonna look into it that's crazy they need to fix these cars transmission problems there having my car has never done this before and now I cant get to my job interviews because of this and still nothing is being done about it . INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA complaint #11433151 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Northglenn, CO

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

I was driving the car all day and just had jumped back on highway doing around 65mph and all of a sudden the car threw itself into first gear it felt like and started accelerating on decelerating on its own jerking very violently if I wasn't wearing my seatbelt I would of went through the front windshield because it threw me forward i went from doing 65mph down to 10mph in less then 5seconds I was scared as [XXX] the steering wheel was hard to control and other cars were honking at me and it was just a mess and my car only has 100,763miles on it I barley drove it this year i will not get back in that car unless it is fixed because that's my daily driver and now its stuck in my driveway and my brother cant get his car out of the driveway so he's pissed now it wont go in reverse or wont move in neutral I left it alone I don't wanna mess with the car i already made a complaint to Cadillac and they said they will look into it and asked me for my vin but that was a few days ago they never called me or anything imagine if my nieces were in the car with me which I'm glad they Were not usually they are that [XXX] coulda killed someone and now I'm out of a car and there gonna look into it that's crazy they need to fix these cars transmission problems there having my car has never done this before and now I cant get to my job interviews because of this and still nothing is being done about it . INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA complaint #11433151 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 145,000 miles Hephzibah, GA

STRUCTURE:BODY

I DRIVING ON I-20 WEST GOING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH WHEN RIGHT REAR TIRE BLEW. I STOPPED IN EMERGENCY LANE AND MY CAR WOULDN'T STAY CRANKED. THERE WERE 7 WIRES THAT WERE CUT IN HALF. I COULDN'T CRANK CAR BECAUSE THE WIRES WENT TO FUEL SYSTEM AND HAD TO HAVE CAR TOWED AND SOMEONE TRAVEL 3 HRS ONE WAY TO PICK ME UP.

NHTSA complaint #11083751 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 145,000 miles Hephzibah, GA

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

I DRIVING ON I-20 WEST GOING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH WHEN RIGHT REAR TIRE BLEW. I STOPPED IN EMERGENCY LANE AND MY CAR WOULDN'T STAY CRANKED. THERE WERE 7 WIRES THAT WERE CUT IN HALF. I COULDN'T CRANK CAR BECAUSE THE WIRES WENT TO FUEL SYSTEM AND HAD TO HAVE CAR TOWED AND SOMEONE TRAVEL 3 HRS ONE WAY TO PICK ME UP.

NHTSA complaint #11083751 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 112,000 miles SAN Francisco, CA

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

THE FRAME BROKE. IT CAME APART - A FULL BREAK. I HAD DROPPED IT OFF AT MY GARAGE AND PARKED IT OUTSIDE. WHEN THEY MOVED IT INTO THE SHOP THEY FRAME CAME APART. I COULD HAVE BEEN DRIVING. I HOPE THE 5 PICTURES WERE UPLOADED.

NHTSA complaint #10852572 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 81,000 miles Indianapolis, IN

STEERING

THIS CAR HAS THE SAME OR SIMILAR ELECTRIC POWER STEERING PUMP THAT GM IS NOW RECALLING FOR OTHER MODELS. THE POWER PUMP WILL JUST STOP WORKING AND THEN IT WILL START WORKING AGAIN. IT USUALLY STOPS WORKING AT LOW SPEEDS MAKING IT EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TURN. IN LOOKING ON-LINE I NOTICE THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF POSTING ABOUT THE SAME AND / OR SIMILAR PROBLEMS CONCERNING THIS ITEM.

NHTSA complaint #10605932 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 49,254 miles Bluebell, PA

POWER TRAIN

WHILE MY WIFE WAS DRIVING VEHICLE LOST POWER WHILE DRIVING JUST AFTER PURCHASE FROM (LIA INFINITY) DEALERSHIP IN ALBANY, NY. REQUESTED DEALER TAKE VEHICLE TO CADILLAC DEALER FOR CHECKOUT WHICH HE SAID WAS DONE AND RETURNED WITHOUT REPAIR. CONDITION WAS INTERMITTENT AND WAS THEREFORE DIFFICULT TO DIAGNOSE. AFTER 1 YEAR OF OWNERSHIP ID PROBLEM AS CRANKSHAFT SENSOR (PART NO.S 012575481 AND 012575482) ISSUE WHICH WAS GENERALLY KNOWN IN INDUSTRY. TOOK VEHICLE TO CADILLAC DEALER ON 1/20/2009 (LONG CADILLAC SOUTHBOROUGH, MA. 01772) AND REQUESTED SPECIFIC REPAIR WHICH COST $427.56. DEALER INSISTED WOULD NOT BE WARRANTED SINCE I WASN'T FOLLOWING DEALER PROCEDURES WHICH REQUIRED DEALER DIAGNOSIS AT ADDITIONAL EXPENSE. PROBLEM NO LONGER PERSISTED AFTER REPLACING SENSORS BUT WAS EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS CONDITION AND CADILLAC/GM WAS NO HELP IN REPAIR OR DIAGNOSIS DURING PROCESS.

NHTSA complaint #10578269 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Hartford, WI

SUSPENSION

2003 CADILLAC SEVILLE SLS. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO RUSTED STABILIZER BAR BOLTS. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE MADE A KNOCKING NOISE, WHEN HE MADE A LEFT OR RIGHT TURN. IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT ONE OF THE BOLTS HAD BROKE IN HALF.

NHTSA complaint #10485502 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Staten Island, NY

EXTERIOR LIGHTING

MY CONCERN IS PLASTIC HEADLIGHT LENSES. THE PLASTIC LENSES DETERIORATE TO THE POINT THAT THEY CLOUD OVER AND BECOME YELLOW, DRASTICALLY REDUCING THERE EFFECTIVENESS IN LIGHTING THE ROADWAY AT NIGHT OR DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER. HOW DID THE AUTO MAKERS CONVINCE THE NHTSA THAT PLASTIC LENSES WERE SAFE ? WHEN DID IT BECOME THE VEHICLE OWNERS RESPONSIBILITY TO HAVE TO BUY EXPENSIVE KITS, WHOSE EFFECTIVENESS IS DUBIOUS AT BEST, TO TRY AND KEEP THEIR HEADLIGHTS BRIGHT ENOUGH TO BE SAFE ? THE ONLY OTHER ALTERNATIVE IS TO BUY REPLACEMENT LENSES AND FOR THOSE WITHOUT THE MECHANICAL ABILITY, ALSO HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE THEM INSTALLED, ONLY TO FACE THE SAME PROBLEM WHEN THE NEW ONES BECOME UNUSABLE. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE AUTO MAKERS SAVE WEIGHT AND MONEY BY NOT USING GLASS BUT IT IS MY FIRM BELIEF THAT IT THE AUTO MAKERS RESPONSIBILITY TO DELIVER A SAFE VEHICLE TO THE DRIVING PUBLIC AND THAT USING PLASTIC ON HEADLIGHT LENSES IS IRRESPONSIBLE AND DANGEROUS. THIS COMPLAINT ADDRESSES ALL AUTO MANUFACTURERS. I SINCERELY HOPE THAT THE NHTSA IS THE RIGHT AGENCY TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM AND THAT I MIGHT HERE BACK FROM YOU REGARDING ANY RESOLUTION THAT MIGHT BE FORTHCOMING.

NHTSA complaint #10449318 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 24,923 miles Winston Salem, NC

STEERING

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CADILLAC SEVILLE. HE HAD TO REPLACE THE INTERMEDIATE STEERING SHAFT WHEN THE VEHICLE HAD 24,923 MILES ON IT. HE IS CONCERNED THAT THE PART WAS DEFECTIVE AT SUCH LOW MILEAGE. THE TOTAL REPAIR COST WAS $439.27 THE CURRENT AND THE FAILURE MILEAGE WERE 24,923.

NHTSA complaint #10311827 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 50,000 miles Wilmington, NC

EXTERIOR LIGHTING

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CADILLAC SEVILLE. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH ON NORMAL ROAD CONDITIONS, THERE WAS A DECREASE IN THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE HEADLIGHTS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE HEADLIGHT LENS COVER WAS NOT CLEAR AND CAUSED THE HEADLIGHTS TO APPEAR DIM. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT HAD POOR VISIBILITY WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE CONTACT WAS CONCERNED OF THE SAFETY RISK INVOLVED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 50,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 55,000. UPDATED 12/30/08.*LJ UPDATED 01/05/09.

NHTSA complaint #10250607 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 47,322 miles Muskego, WI

SUSPENSION:FRONT

AT 65 MPH VEHICLE SHAKES AND VIBRATES. NEW TIRES AND FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT HAVE BEEN DONE TO TRY TO ELIMINATE THE PROBLEM, BUT TO NO AVAIL. TWO SEPARATE GARAGES HAVE TOLD ME THEY CAN SEE NO OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE SUSPENSION.

NHTSA complaint #10210653 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 100 miles OAK View, CA

STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS:UNDERBODY SHIELDS

FRONT FRAME MEMBER COLLIDES WITH GROUND EVEN ON SHALLOW DRIVEWAYS AND DRAINAGE SWALES. FRONT END IS MUCH TOO CLOSE TO THE GROUND. INSPECTED SEVERAL SEVILLES OF THIS MODEL AND FOUND DEEP GOUGES IN FRONT FRAME MEMBERS. IS FRAME WEAKENED? DEALER AND GM REP SAY DAMAGE IS NORMAL AND NOTHING CAN BE DONE. HAS HAPPENED SINCE FIRST MONTH OF OWNERSHIP. DEALER TECHNICIAN SAYS, "THAT'S NORMAL - THEY ARE ALL GOUGED AND SCRAPED LIKE THAT."

NHTSA complaint #10200732 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 60,000 miles Sebring, FL

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL:AUTOMATIC (ASC)

TL* - WHILE DRIVING HIS 2003 CADILLAC SLS SEVILLE AT 68 MPH THE FRONT END BEGAN TO VIBRATE, AND THE CONTACT FEARED THAT HE WOULD LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT OBSERVED THE SERVICE STABILITY SYSTEM LIGHT WAS LIT, AND IMMEDIATELY DROVE THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE FAILURE HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED AT THIS TIME. THE ROAD CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WERE WET. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THE VEHICLE SIX TIMES FOR THE SAME INCIDENT.

NHTSA complaint #10180729 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 19,000 miles Cedar Rapids, IA

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:PEDALS AND LINKAGES

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ROOM BETWEEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND THE BRAKE PEDAL. WHILE RELEASING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, THE CONTACT'S FOOT CATCHES ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN ALERTED.

NHTSA complaint #10155376 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 19,000 miles Cedar Rapids, IA

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ROOM BETWEEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND THE BRAKE PEDAL. WHILE RELEASING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, THE CONTACT'S FOOT CATCHES ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN ALERTED.

NHTSA complaint #10155376 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Diamond BAR, CA

STRUCTURE

THE DISPLAY PANEL IS HARD TO SEE WHENEVER THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN. IT IS HARD TO SEE HOW FAST THE CONSUMER IS DRIVNG, HOW MUCH GAS IT HAS. *AK

NHTSA complaint #10099628 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 4,000 miles Gardnerville, NV

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AN OBJECT CAME IN CONTACT WITH THE CAST ALUMINUM OIL PAN. THIS RESULTED IN THE OIL PAN DEVELOPING A CRACK. CONSUMER WAS CLOSE TO HOME WHEN THIS OCCURRED AND THE OIL DIDN'T LEAK OUT.

NHTSA complaint #10071596 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 1,500 miles Fort Mccoy, FL

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM

THE VEHICLE BURNED A QUART OF OIL EVERY 1500 MILES. THE CONSUMER WAS CONCERNED THAT GMC IS FRAUDULENTLY MISINFORMING THE PUBLIC OF THIS PROBLEM. *AK THE DEALER WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM PER DEALER SERVICE MANUAL.

NHTSA complaint #10057184 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.