Owners have filed 132 complaints on the Cadillac Fleetwood, covering 1981–1996. The system named most often is Service Brakes (26 reports). Worst years by volume: 1993, 1995, 1994; cleanest: 1981, 1984, 1985. 16 reports describe a crash, 7 a fire. On average the car was 6.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Cadillac Fleetwood
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 132 Fleetwood complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 26 Read
ABS brakes failed twice under extremely hazardous conditions, once resulting in an accident
Transmission slipped out of park and rolled down the driveway, anti-lock brake failure/power seat bolt securing seat broke, causing seat to wobble back and forth/ replaced michelin tires, also no deployment of driver's and passenger's air bags. *ak
When attempting to park car suddenly accelerated out of control, resulting in an accident. Brakes would not override and stop vehicle
Engine And Engine Cooling 14 Read
Car was parked and caught on fire. Please describe
1994 cadillac fleetwood caught fire. Consumer states that the vehicle began to smoke the driver pulled over and the vehicle was then engulfed in flames. *kb ohio traffic crash report # 10-90-0874
Vehicle was idling in neutral gear. The engine caught on fire and blew a hole in the motor. *ak the police officer that was dispatched to the scene looked under the vehicle and noticed a large hole in the right front side of the oil pan. He then observed about a quart of oil on the ground. In his opinion, the cause of…
Electrical System 13 Read
While vehicle was parked smoke was coming from the hood, lifted the hood up and flames were spreading from the hood
Steering column has caught fire twice, blower has been disconnected. Possible cause defective computer
Consumer complains that instrument cluster is hard to read during daylight
Vehicle Speed Control 11 Read
When backing the vehicle up the gas pedal went to the ground and the car hit a parked car/a medium and a house, the car was making a noise and out of contral. The dealer cannot duplicate the problem
The consumer pulled into a parking lot and without warning, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, which resulted in a collision with parked vehicles. Related recall 95V082000. *ak *scc
Vehicle suddenly accelerated twice at start up, once resulting in an accident/injury
Fuel System 9 Read
My vehicle accelerates by itself while driving, when I change it from drive to reverse and when I press on my brakes at a stop light feels like is still accelerating and wants to go faster. I had two accidents because of this reason. Now my transmission is not changing gear anymore and this vehicle is at the mechanic…
Fuel pump failed, it was found to have wires melted and fused into other part
Owner had vehicle towed to a garage because the vehicle would not start. When the vehicle was checked for problem, mechanic noticed that the wires inside the fuel tank sending unit were burned. The fuel pump sending unit was replaced at owner's expense
Steering 8 Read
The steering wheel locked up while it was being turned. This was an intermittent problem. The dealership could not duplicate the problem
While backing out of dealership consumer lost all control of vehicle. Consumer had to step on brakes to stop vehicle. Contacted dealer
Noisy front suspension
Seat Belts 6 Read
In accident 12:00 position at unknown speed drivers airbag did not deploy and both front seat belts did not hold. Tt
Driver's seat belt not locking properly. Dealer notified, and replaced seat belt on two occasions, and problem still occurring. Please provide further detials
A design flaw caused shoulder seat belt retractor to fail. Yh
Suspension 6 Read
Power steering goes out temporarily without prior warning, then it releases by itself, dealershipop is aware of problem, mechanic replaced steering wheel position sensor. *ak consumer also stated there is a noise in front suspension when backing out of a parking space, the remote was inoperable, keyless entry pad…
While driving 15 months ago left front wheel fell off. Also, while driving on june 18,2001, front left wheel feel off vehicle with no prior warning. When stopping vehicle it fell on the ground. Contact dealer. Dealer stated it just happened. *ak consumer also mentions recalls 96V019 and 96V018, possibly relating to…
Vehicle was not moving when driver's side of vehicle dropped. Lower ball joint had broken. Repaired at dealership.*ak consumer stated that the tapered part of the the ball joint was never pulled tight in the taper in the spindle, the taper in the spindle is egg shaped and hollow from moving around
Fleetwood 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 3 | 3 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags,seats | 4 | 1 | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 3 | — | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 1988 | Electrical System,vehicle Speed Control | 1 | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1986 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1985 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1984 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1981 | Tires | — | — |
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 | 92 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.4 |
| Worst single series | 6 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.2 years |
A model average of 1.4 hides a worst series at 6. 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 Fleetwood?
By complaint volume, 1993, 1995, 1994 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 Fleetwood years are the cleanest?
1981, 1984, 1985 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Cadillac Fleetwood have?
132 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1981–1996. Of those, 16 describe a crash and 7 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.