2020 CADILLAC XT5 Problems

Complaints Reported

Complaints by Component

POWER TRAIN

3 complaints

When driving on the interstate traveling roughly 70 miles an hour went to accelerate and vehicle transmission made a hard shift and clunk. Then RPMs all transmission started slipping attempted to use paddle shifter to change gear felt transmission engage a different gear than instantly disengage felt like vehicle was in neutral Vehicle would not even allow me to drive at any speed had to coast with flashers on until I was able to find a safe area to pull onto the shoulder. Was told by the dealer, lots of metal found in the transmission. Transmission codes were. P0700, p0796, p2732, p18ab, p18ad , p187d vehicle was making whining sound like a cracked valve body inside the transmission. Requested failure analysis from GM Cadillac, and still have not received results was told by the dealer it was like the transmission was worn out. There was a lot of clutch material. No warning, signs or symptoms of the failure. Have had the vehicle back for three weeks and the new transmission is shuttering, feels like it’s slipping slightly sometimes and having issues already still waiting on an opening to bring the vehicle back to dealership again. The nine speed transmission is having issues like the rest of GM’s transmissions and the only one that has not received a huge recall like the rest. Cadillac rep stated when that issue occurs under 3000 miles they typically replace the transmission. No transmission will receive failure analysis if it is replaced like I think. Had appointment at Cadillac. Dealership today scheduled supposed to drop vehicle off and receive a loaner vehicle when I arrived found out they did not have a loaner vehicle told them I felt like it was not safe to drive with the transmission acting up and notified Cadillac rep I felt it was not safe to drive Cadillac wrap was not helpful. And did not offer any real assistance. Had to bring Car back twice already due to exhaust leak after transmission was replaced. Cadillac rep. Never responds to any email sent

Mar 24, 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Cadillac XT5. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard abnormal noises coming from the vehicle. While attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was 34,817.

Nov 23, 2022

THE CAR SHOWS A WARNING "ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED" THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN 3 MONTHS. THE CAR REVS AT 5000RPM AND ONLY GOES 15 MPH, VERY DANGEROUS. THE DEALER REPLACED A SENSOR LAST TIME AND SEEMS UNCONCERNED FOR THE SAFETY OF DRIVING.

Mar 30, 2021

STEERING

2 complaints

The shift gear cracked and became inoperable serious safety issue. Unable to place the car in park reverse or drive

Jul 28, 2025

POWER STEERING ASSIST HAS FAILED ON 2 OCCASIONS. THE FIRST IN LATE JAN. 2021, WITH APPROX 2000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER, AND THE SECOND ON 30 APRIL 2021. ON THE FIRST OCCASION, THERE WAS NO POWER STEERING ASSIST AT START-UP AFTER STOPPING FOR FUEL. THE SECOND WAS WHILE DRIVING AT APPROX. 40 MPH. THE OPERATOR WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER, OUT OF TRAFFIC SAFELY. ON BOTH OCCASIONS, THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCE WAS VERY HEAVY MANUAL STEERING; AND THE SHORT-TERM REMEDY WAS TO POWER OFF THE VEHICLE AND RESTART AFTER 5 OR SO MINUTES TO CONTINUE TRAVELING WITHOUT ISSUE. ON THE FIRST OCCASION, DEALER SERVICE FOUND NO ERROR CODES. TECHNICIAN SCANNED PROGRAMMING FOR 'PSCM' WITH 'SPS' AND FOUND AN UPDATE TO ADDRESS THE REPORTED ISSUE. TECHNICIAN REPROGRAMMED THE POWER STEERING MODULE W 'SPS'. THE VEHICLE WILL BE SERVICED ON 3 MAY 2021 FOR THE SECOND EPISODE.

Apr 30, 2021

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 complaint

WHEN BACKING OUT OF GARAGE THE BACKUP CAMERA STOPS WORKING IN THE SUN LIGHT MUST WAIT 2 MINUTES FOR IT TO START WORKING IN SUN LIGHT. WHILE BACKING OUT OF GARAGE BLIND TO THE REAR FOR AT LEAST 2 MINUTES. NO OTHER CAR I NOW OF DOES THIS. BEEN TO TWO CADILAC DEALER IN TO DIFFERENT STATES BOTH SAID NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Oct 28, 2025

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 complaint

Auto shut down completely in the middle of the road. No one including tow truck driver could not put vehicle into neutral. Once the vehicle was towed to the dealership in was confirmed that battery just died and the dealership stated due to the electrical shifter there was no way to engage neutral since the vehicle could not start. This situation caused major traffic issues for 3 hours as vehicle was locked in position. I would think there should be some way to push the vehicle to the curb allowing traffic to flow. Being stuck in the middle of traffic and unable to push vehicle to the side of the road is very dangerous. Please advise Cadillac that people must have a way to get there vehicle out of the middle of the road and this a very dangerous situation.

Aug 19, 2025

STEERING,ENGINE

1 complaint

Faulty termostat which creates reduce steering error code PO128, tempeture indicator is not listed on the dash board, engine RPMs are increased. This problem has increased for now the engine check light is highlighted.

Jan 29, 2025

STRUCTURE

1 complaint

The contact owns a 2020 Cadillac XT5. The contact stated that the gear shifter plastic and connectors connected to the cover of the wiring had detached from the gear shifter, exposing the inner wiring. The contact stated that more of the gear shifter covering had started detaching. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed and determined that the shifter mechanism needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the failure was not covered under the recall. The failure mileage was 37,000.

Sep 25, 2024

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES

1 complaint

The contact called on behalf of her grandmother who owns a 2020 Cadillac XT5. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to accelerate while attempting to switch lanes. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle was revving; however, the vehicle failed to slow down as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle continued to accelerate to approximately 80 MPH. The contact depressed the brake pedal for an excessive amount of time to significantly reduce the speed of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle decelerated to approximately 70 MPH. The contact became aware that the cruise control had activated independently. While attempting to deactivate the cruise control, the cruise control failed to deactivate. The contact pressed the START/STOP button to turn off the vehicle. The contact pressed the button again immediately turning the vehicle back on and shifting into neutral, significantly reducing the RPM. The contact coasted to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. After waiting for a while the contact turned the vehicle back on and continued driving. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Aug 19, 2024

STEERING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE

1 complaint

After a rainy highway speed 50 mile trip I stopped to get a Lotto ticket at my local store. I shut the vehicle off. It took me approximately 2 to 3 minutes to buy the Lottery ticket. I started the vehicle and noticed that my power steering was not operating. I could barely move the steering wheel ( it seemed locked) and I barely made my 10 mile trip to my house using secondary dirt roads . I called my dealer and was told that sometimes after an overnight of non use the problem would go away. The next morning I started the vehicle and the power steering was back to normal. I took it to my local Cadillac dealer and they scoped it and found no defect codes recorded. I was very fortunate that the incident didn’t occur while driving at I-75 . At high speeds without steering it would have resulted in possible multiple serious injuries or deaths. I hope that their is a possible fix to the steering loss but my dealer has no clues at this time. Mileage on my vehicle is approximately 14500 miles. I currently have no confidence in this vehicle and will not have my 75 year wife drive it. My age is 77. Another serious incident that I had with this vehicle when it was new was the automatic forward collision braking . I was making a left turn and for no reason the car suddenly braked hard and stalled. I was fortunate that the oncoming traffic stopped and gave me a chance to restart and move away from the intersection. The problem was resolved by my dealer by reducing the sensitivity of the forward collision braking.

Jul 01, 2023

ENGINE

1 complaint

This vehicles transmission has went out twice. Both while driving and could have caused death on the freeway because the vehicle came to a complete stop. 2 young children could be at high risk for this issue. It was taken to the dealership the first time and the transmission was replaced and within 3 months the same issue occurred which could have been deadly. It again was given a new transmission and 6 months later the same issue is occurring. Yesterday the check engine light came on. The vehicle began to drive very slow as I was on the main road. Another collision could have occurred but thankfully I was able to turn into a parking lot and stop the vehicle. GM corporate has Been contacted multiple times and have stopped answering all my calls and conerns. This issue can cause major damage to my family as well as others. A new vehicle like this should not have these issues

May 21, 2023

BACK OVER PREVENTION

1 complaint

The camera system has not been turning on intermittenly. Both the rear backup and the side/front cameras bring the screen to a black screen with a red triangle and red camera logo with a line through it (signifying no camera connected?). I have most commonly noticed it when I am parking in my garage at night, but it will work the next day, very hard to reproduce the conditions..

Sep 14, 2022

STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES

1 complaint

While driving at low speed lost all power steering . Was able to get it back home . When checked again later power steering was working . While driving later that day brakes engaged to a sudden slamming stop , red abs engaged light flashed then went away . Both incidents could’ve caused accidents. I’m scared to drive this car anymore. A week prior I thought the gears weren’t engaging / transmission seemed to be slipping ? 6 months prior braking engaged on freeway , also scary .. dealer said it needed a update and would be fine . 5 months ago I was unable to reverse out of my driveway , dealer also said it was in need of a update . I never received notice I was in need of any updates before these problems occurred .

May 03, 2022

ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

1 complaint

VEHICLE STALLS WITHOUT WARNING. ENGINE STOPS RUNNING. AFTER A SHORT TIME, IT CAN BE STARTED AFTER SEVERAL TRIES. THIS HAS HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING ON A MAJOR CITY STREET, THERE IS A RECALL PENDING FOR REPLACEMNT OF FUEL PUMP MODULE. IN THE MEANTIME IT IS AT DEALER (3 WEEKS) AND THEY HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO FIX SINCE IT DOESN'T STALL IN THEIR TEST DRIVES. IT ONLY STALLED A FEW TIMES IN UNDER 2000 MILES. BUT DEALER DOESN;T WANT TO FIX IF HE'S UNSURE IF THERE IS ANYTHING TO FIX.

Dec 07, 2020

STEERING,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER

1 complaint

DRIVING THE CAR NORMALLY AT NIGHT THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS WENT TO FULL INTENSITY WITHOUT DRIVER INPUT, AND WOULDN'T CHANGE. A FEW MINUTES LATER THE REAR WINDSHIELD WIPER STARTED OPERATING AND WOULDN'T STOP. TWENTY MINUTES LATER THE CAR FLASHED A NOTIFICATION THAT POWER STEERING ASSIST WAS NOT FUNCTIONING, AND IT BECAME VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER. THE TURN SIGNALS WOULD NOT OPERATE. THE LOW FUEL WARNING INDICATOR CAME ON SHOWED ZERO MILES LEFT EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS AT LEAST A QUARTER TANK LEFT. THE SPEEDOMETER READOUT CHANGED TO ZERO, WHILE WE WERE DRIVING AT ABOUT 35 MPH. WE WERE ABLE TO SAFELY STOP THE CAR AT A CONVENIENCE STORE / GAS STATION. THE IGNITION SWITCH WOULDN'T TURN OFF THE ENGINE, THE HEAT CAME ON AND WOULDN'T TURN OFF, THE WINDOWS WOULDN'T ROLL DOWN, AND THE DOORS LOCKED THEMSELVES. THE REAR WINDSHIELD WASHER CONTINUALLY PUMPED OUT FLUID. THE FRONT WINDSHIELD WIPERS STARTED AND WOULDN'T TURN OFF. WE CALLED HERTZ AND WHILE WE WERE ON THE PHONE WITH THEM THE ENGINE DID SHUT DOWN. HERTZ SENT A TOW TRUCK TO RETRIEVE THE CAR. WHEN HE ARRIVED HE CALLED ME TO ASK WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS WITH THE CAR, AS HE FOUND IT TO BE OPERATING NORMALLY.

Dec 09, 2019

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4.9/5.0

60 reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

How many problems does the 2020 CADILLAC XT5 have?

The 2020 CADILLAC XT5 currently has 16 owner-reported complaints according to NHTSA database. These complaints are organized by component to help identify common issues.

What are the most common problems with 2020 CADILLAC XT5?

The most common problems reported for the 2020 CADILLAC XT5 are organized by component above. Each component section shows owner-reported issues, crash reports, and fire incidents to help identify patterns and problem areas.

Where does this 2020 CADILLAC XT5 problem data come from?

All problem and complaint data for the 2020 CADILLAC XT5 comes directly from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) database. These are real complaints submitted by actual vehicle owners.