Owners have filed 174 complaints on the Cadillac Allante, covering 1987–1993. The system named most often is Service Brakes (154 reports). Worst years by volume: 1990, 1989, 1991; cleanest: 1993, 1988, 1992. 6 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 9.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Cadillac Allante
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 174 Allante complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 154 Read
No summary listed for abov evehicle
While reversing at 10 mph brakes failed , causing the consumer to hit the vehicle in the rear. The brake pedal was hard when depressed. *ak consumer read in the owner's manual that the vehicle had dual brakes. Meaning, if one part fails the other part would work to stop the vehicle. Brakes were checked by a private…
Three total brake failures to date. Two resulted in accidents when the allante had to be crashed into trucks on each occassion to stop without injury to pedestrians. Property damage in each case was about $1,000 to the allante and $2,000 to the trucks in each case. The car was then towed to cadillac who examined the…
Structure 4 Read
Convertible top has flown off several times due to failure of the fastners, resulting in damage to vehicle
My convertible top blew back; the jack screws which hold it down disengaged from the body of the vehicle
Convertible top will not secure and will fly open ,causing a potential saftey hazard to me or, passenger, or other drivers. It seems, even though it is secured, it has a tendency to pop open, causing me to attempt to grab the top in orde r to prevent further damage and prevent a safety hazrd. From my personal…
Power Train 3 Read
Electrical with the transmission-a new main computer and transmission prindl switch were installed. I started out and heard a big boom. The inner planetary transmission housing unit exploded into chunks of metal all over the road and spraying transmission fluid onto catalytis converter causing a fire. Wiring harness…
The brakes will not work. When the brake pedal is depresed the vehicle will not stop, also the ABS light had illuminated
ABS indicator light turned on, problem has been repaired twice. Tt
Electrical System 2 Read
1993 allante caught fire in the right front area, behind the headlight. Vehicle was a total loss account no replacement parts available per state farm ins co. Damage appeared slight, just burnt wires and connectors and relays. Fire was put out with garden hose. Similar occurrence to mr kit bonham jun 03. Fire started…
About 2 am while my car was in my locked garage the horn went off. I investigated and when I pushed on the horn pad it stopped. Went back to bed. An hour or so later it went off again. This time when I opened the car door it stopped. Sometime later I went to a dealer and had the horn disconnected since it was going to…
Steering 2 Read
Driving at about 25 mph. Power assist completely and suddenly failed. Breaks would bearly stop car in a long distance. Fortunately I was able to have a long glide path when this occured. No damage or accident resulted
While exiting the highway the brakes did not respond when depressed, consumer tried to steer clear of an utility pole but the steering did not seem to respond causing the consumer to hit the utility pole, consumer suffered a fractured left wrist, fractured right ankle, multiple lacerations on the right hand and lower…
Tires 1 Read
The contact owns a 1987 cadillac allante. The vehicle has pirelli 2560vr15 tires. While driving 30 mph, the passenger side front tire blew out, which caused the contact to crash into a field. She sustained cuts to the forehead, a bruised left leg, and a concussion. The road conditions were clear. The vehicle was…
Engine And Engine Cooling 1 Read
While starting vehicle in a parking lot, billows of white smoke came from tail pipe. Dealership informed consumer that engine cylinders were leaking anti-freeze. *jg
Exterior Lighting 1 Read
When the signal lights are turned on in the vehicle they can be seen externally, but can not be detected internally. The dash indicator light is to faint to be seen nor can the clicking sound be heard. At night the dash indicator is visible. The consumer owns two vehicles that are identical in make, model and year and…
Allante years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1992 | Electronic Stability Control (esc),service Brakes | — | — | |
| 1991 | Service Brakes, Air | 2 | — | |
| 1990 | Service Brakes | 2 | — | |
| 1989 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1988 | Seat Belts | 1 | — | |
| 1987 | Power Train | 1 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 80 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.2 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 9.6 years |
A model average of 2.2 hides a worst series at 7. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Allante?
By complaint volume, 1990, 1989, 1991 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Allante years are the cleanest?
1993, 1988, 1992 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Cadillac Allante have?
174 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1987–1993. Of those, 6 describe a crash and 2 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.