Owners have filed 160 complaints on the Cadillac Eldorado, covering 1988–2002. The system named most often is Fuel System (37 reports). Worst years by volume: 1996, 1997, 1995; cleanest: 1989, 1990, 1988. 5 reports describe a crash, 14 a fire. On average the car was 9.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Cadillac Eldorado
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 160 Eldorado complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Fuel System 37 Read
The contact owns a 1997 cadillac eldorado. The contact smelled gasoline while driving at an unknown speed. Once he arrived home, he opened the hood and noticed flames. The manufacturer stated that because he was the second owner of the vehicle, he did not receive a recall notice for NHTSA campaign id number 04V110000…
The contact owns a 1997 cadillac eldorado. The contact stated that he was not notified of recall # 04V110000, fuel system gasoline, delivery hoses, lines, piping, and fittings. As a consequence in 2008, the fuel leakage lead to an engine compartment fire. He was able to safely extinguish the flames. He notified the…
1995 cadillac eldorado caught on fire in the engine compartment.***transferred to occ***. *mr the fire report stated there may have been a possible small leak occurring in the fuel line from the main line to the harness. This leak was most likely ignited by arcing in the spark line plug cable
Engine And Engine Cooling 29 Read
1991 eldorado seat belts are unsafe. *ts cadillac claimed they were unable to locate replacement seat belts in the color the consumer needed. *nm updated 12/01/15*lj the consumer stated went to dealer on nov. 5, 2010, and the dealer caused an engine fire to the vehicle, putting it out with a fire extinguisher. *tr
The contact owns a 2002 cadillac eldorado. While driving 60 mph, the check engine light illuminated and the contact heard a clinking noise underneath the vehicle. The dealer stated that the valve solenoid and torque converter caused the failure and they made the replacement. Approximately four months later, while…
2001 cadillac without warning lost both steering and braking on two occasions. *ts this failure occurred as a result of a malfunctioning crank sensor and resulted in the engine losing power. The consumer has filed three formal complaints about this problem, two with the dealer and one with the manufacturer. The dealer…
Electrical System 23 Read
Vehicle was parked at hospital after driving 2 miles. While vehicle was parked, engine off, no keys in ignition, vehicle caught fire in engine compartment. Vehicle totaled
After sitting in a parking lot while I went into the bank for 15-20 min. I got into my car and started the engine. I heard a "pop", pulled forward about 10 to 15 feet when I started to smell something burning. I looked down at the gauges and everything looked off. When I looked back up I saw black smoke coming out…
After starting the ignition engine vehicle caught on fire. Consumer managed to exit the vehicle safely.*ak consumer's husband gas the vehicle the day before. On the day in question, they made several stops and the consumer never noticed the vehicle was getting hard to start and the decreasing fuel level. After…
Service Brakes 20 Read
Dt consumer states when the brakes are pressed, it doesn't stop the vehicle. It happens when the vehicle is moving slowly. The service department says they can't find out what is wrong with the brakes
While driving 60 mph, the driver applied the brakes and the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The driver applied the brakes numerous times but it failed. The driver was able to maintain control of the vehicle and pulled over. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic informed the driver that the…
Dt: the brake rotors rusted and were defective. The front rotors were resurfaced at 7,000 miles. This was on february 28, 2003. The rear rotors were resurfaced at 8,000 miles. The front and rear rotors were replaced at 9,000 miles. The rear rotors were resurfaced at 11,000 miles. The front and rear rotors and brake…
Engine 7 Read
The contact owns a 1997 cadillac eldorado. While driving approximately 30 mph, the engine began smoking. The contact had to pull over to the side of the road. The contact exited the vehicle and called the fire department. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The manufacturer was not notified of the…
The contact owns a 2000 cadillac eldorado. While driving at approximately 65 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated. In addition, the contact felt a burning sensation on his right foot and noticed that an unknown hot liquid was leaking onto the accelerator and brake pedals. The temperature gauge indicated…
Engine turns off for no reason while going under 40 miles. Have to put it in neutral and it will start right up again. Usually on city streets, in motion. We think most of the time after turning
Air Bags 6 Read
Vehicle hit several objects before hitting a tree head on and air bags did not deploy.*mr the consumers vehicle hit the back of a concrete truck, a ditch and a tree. The dealer stated the consumer didn't hit the objects at the right angle, which caused the air bags not to deploy. *ph
The contact owns a 2000 cadillac eldorado. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the brakes were engaged and failed to stop the vehicle. The yellow service light illuminated on the instrument panel before the vehicle stalled. As a result, the contact lost control and crashed into a fence. The air bags failed…
While driving 70 mph the consumer was involved in a frontal collision. Upon impact, both frontal air bags failed to deploy. This caused the driver and passenger to sustain major injuries, and were transported to the hospital. The vehicle was towed to a body shop. *ak the vehicle hit a guard rail and rolled over. *sc
Vehicle Speed Control 5 Read
Car into car dealership for the fifth time due to same safety problem--car, without warning goes into passing gear causing loss of control, with RPM's going to 6000 & speedometer going to 0-- high probability of a crash
Car accelerates when parking into angle parking space. It did this several times after I purchased it used with aprox 26,000 miles. At first ,I thought it was me hitting the brake an accelerator at the same time. I began to be careful when I applied the brake to cover the brake pedal only. It did it again and I took…
The contact owns a 2001 cadillac eldorado. The contact stated that while applying the brakes, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle was maneuvered to the shoulder of the road and shut off. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic, where the mechanic could not diagnose the failure. The manufacturer…
Tires 5 Read
I purchased 4 new goodyear assurance comfort tread tires on 10/01/2008. On 12/02/2008 I had a blow-out to the side wall (outer) of the right rear passenger tire. I was traveling 30mph. I had to be towed to the dealer where I purchased the tires.(claude nolan cadillac). I was told that the tire could not be repaired. I…
The contact owns a 1997 cadillac eldorado. While the contact was driving approximately 30 mph, the front passenger tire disengaged without warning. The vehicle pulled in the right direction to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to a location other than the residence. There was no personal injury. A police…
On november 22 2006, I brought four tires (sumitomo 225 40z18 su htrii 8) from sears at fairlane town center in dearborn michigan. I believe that the installer of the tire at sears was aware of the bubble. I would not have notice the bubble upon inspection of the vehicle at sears because it is dark in their service…
Eldorado 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2000 | Air Bags,service Brakes | 1 | — | |
| 1999 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1998 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 2 | 4 | |
| 1996 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | — | 5 | |
| 1994 | Engine And Engine Cooling,vehicle Speed Control | — | 1 | |
| 1993 | Electrical System,engine,fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 1992 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1991 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1989 | Tires | — | — | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — |
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 | 117 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.4 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 9.7 years |
A model average of 1.4 hides a worst series at 4. 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
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
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 Eldorado?
By complaint volume, 1996, 1997, 1995 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 Eldorado years are the cleanest?
1989, 1990, 1988 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Cadillac Eldorado have?
160 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1988–2002. Of those, 5 describe a crash and 14 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.