Owners have filed 12 complaints on the Cadillac Cimarron, covering 1984–1988. The system named most often is Vehicle Speed Control (2 reports). Worst years by volume: 1985, 1987, 1986; cleanest: 1984, 1988, 1986. 2 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 10.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Cadillac Cimarron
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 12 Cimarron complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Vehicle Speed Control 2 Read
Vehicle suddenly accelerated from parked position, resulting in an accident/injury
Sudden acceleration caused consumer to have an accident. Tt
Seat Belts 2 Read
During morning start up steering rack and pinion steering locks up. Tt
Seat belts: when ever the brakes are applied, the passenger side seat belts fails to lock up. This is a hazard to the passenger. Will be taking vehicle to dealer check out
Electrical System 1 Read
While driving experienced electrical system front wiring harness failure when underside burst into flames, short circuiting power door locks, making it impossible to open doors from inside, motorist was able to open door from outside only to get driver and passenger out of vehicle safely
Seats 1 Read
Drivers seat latch failed when hit from behind, causing seat to recline/injury
Engine And Engine Cooling 1 Read
Intermittent stalling. Replaced electronic control module
Equipment 1 Read
Driver's power door lock switch failed
Fuel System 1 Read
The fuel tank has corroded and caused a leak
Suspension 1 Read
While driving vehicle pulls to the right. Also, alternator falfunctioned three times
Cimarron 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Seats | — | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1986 | Equipment | — | — | |
| 1985 | Power Train,exterior Lighting | 1 | — | |
| 1984 | Electrical System,structure | — | 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 | 11 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.1 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 10.9 years |
A model average of 1.1 hides a worst series at 2. 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
- The original window sticker and factory options
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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 Cimarron?
By complaint volume, 1985, 1987, 1986 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 Cimarron years are the cleanest?
1984, 1988, 1986 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Cadillac Cimarron have?
12 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1984–1988. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 1 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.