Cadillac STS vs Nissan Leaf

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Cadillac STS	Nissan Leaf
Complaints on file	610	1,497
Model years covered	1998–2011	2010–2026
Worst model year	2005	2019
Best model year	2002	2025
Crashes reported	74	110
Fires reported	26	19
Injuries reported	43	39
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	23.4%	11.2%

Cadillac STS by year

3 16 15 17 10 15 9 145 197 67 77 24 6 9

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Airbags 106 17.4%

Electrical System 86 14.1%

Engine & Cooling 83 13.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 47 7.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 42 6.9%

Brakes 34 5.6%

Stability & Traction Control 31 5.1%

Steering 25 4.1%

Nissan Leaf by year

1 117 71 120 45 144 50 27 117 320 221 77 136 30 7 10 4

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Electrical System 512 34.2%

Brakes 241 16.1%

Other & Unspecified 161 10.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 130 8.7%

Airbags 92 6.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 59 3.9%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 59 3.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 56 3.7%