2020 Cadillac CT5 problems, complaints & recalls

2020 Cadillac CT5 recalls (4)

• Recall 25V148000Mar 6, 202590,081 vehicles
  POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

  General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Cadillac CT6, 2020-2021 CT4, CT5, and 2020-2022 Chevrolet Camaro vehicles equipped with a 10-speed transmission. The transmission may become damaged internally and cause the wheels to lock-up.

  Risk: Wheel lock-up while driving increases the risk of a crash.

  Remedy: Dealers will install transmission control module monitoring software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 7, 2025. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-333-4223 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N242480630.

• Recall 22V903000Dec 8, 2022740,108 vehicles
  EXTERIOR LIGHTING:LIGHTING CONTROL MODULE:SOFTWARE

  General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2023 Cadillac CT4 and CT5; 2021-2023 Buick Envision; and 2022-2023 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles. The daytime running lights (DRLs) may not deactivate when the headlights are on. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

  Risk: DRLs that do not deactivate as intended may result in a glare, reducing visibility, and increasing the risk of a crash.

  Remedy: The body control module software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 23, 2023. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N222386380. This recall expands previous recall number 22V-827.

• Recall 21V611000Aug 5, 202134,157 vehicles
  AIR BAGS · AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW:CURTAIN

  General Motors, LLC. (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Cadillac CT4 and CT5 vehicles. The roof rail side-curtain air bags may not have been installed correctly, which could result in an improper air bag deployment during a crash.

  Risk: Air bags that do not deploy properly can increase the risk of injury in a crash.

  Remedy: Dealers will inspect both left and right-side roof rail air bags and reinstall the air bags, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 30, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212342780.

• Recall 20V588000Sep 24, 20203,677 vehicles
  SERVICE BRAKES

  General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac CT4, CT5 and XT4, 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer, and 2020-2021 Buick Encore GX vehicles. Sensor connection contamination in the electronic brake boost system may cause an interruption of communication between the sensor and the brake boost system.

  Risk: If communication with the sensor is interrupted, the electronic brake boost assist could be lost. Extra pedal force will be required to slow and stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

  Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the electronic brake boost module, free of charge. The recall began December 9, 2020. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-630-2438, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-333-4223, or Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300. GM's number for this recall is A202307260.

NHTSA defect investigations

• PE21010Opened Apr 9, 2021Closed Aug 24, 2023

  Air Bag Malfunction

  On April 9, 2021, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE21-010 to investigate instances of air bag malfunction indicator light (MIL) illumination and potential for frontal air bag non-deployment in several vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The vehicles included model year (MY) 2020 through 2021 CT4 and CT5 passenger cars, Sierra and Silverado trucks (1500/2500/3500 models), XT4 and MY 2021 Escalade, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon SUVs.Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 21-NA-005, issued in March 2021, addresses air bag MIL illumination with diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) B0001…

Recent 2020 Cadillac CT5 complaints

Excerpts of the newest owner complaints, lightly cleaned of personal details. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

1. Filed Sep 21, 2026TXTransmission & Drivetrain

   I am filing an urgent consumer safety complaint against Bert Ogden Cadillac in [XXX] for a severe federal safety recall violation. My 2020 Cadillac CT5 is experiencing catastrophic transmission failure, including severe slipping and violent pulling during acceleration. This creates an immediate risk of sudden highway drive-wheel lock-up as warned under active GM Recall N242480630.On XXX, I brought the vehicle to Bert Ogden Cadillac and explicitly raised the transmission…

   NHTSA complaint #11765794 · source
2. Filed Aug 4, 202646,000 miNJBody & Structure

   The contact owns a 2020 Cadillac CT5. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and using the key fob to open the door, the door on the driver’s side failed to open. The failure was a recurring failure. The dealer was contacted and diagnosed the vehicle with an exterior door handle failure on the driver’s side. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.

   NHTSA complaint #11754827 · source
3. Filed Jul 26, 2026MABody & Structure

   Electronic door hand on the drivers side completely stopped working, with little warning. This includes the proximity unlock feature and unlocking the car with the fob. If this were to have happened to all four doors at once, it would have been impossible to enter the car without breaking the glass. This is not safe.

   NHTSA complaint #11752920 · source
4. Filed Jul 16, 2026INOther / Unknown

   There is some type of mechanical or electrical malfunction with the door locking system. I can not unlock or enter the car using the fan or by any mechanism from outside the car. This has left my fiance & infant trapped in the car. My fiance has to reach over and manually open the driver side door from inside the vehicle. However, I can no longer drive with only my infant in the car for fear she will be trapped inside.

   NHTSA complaint #11750954 · source
5. Filed Jul 16, 2026INTransmission & Drivetrain

   Lockhart Cadillac Service Department committed warranty fraud by charging me on multiple occasions for repairs that should have been covered under GM/Cadillac 2025 Transmission Recall & Special Extended Warranties. The transmission has continued to deteriorate. I took the vehicle in on July 1, 2026 for recall service and was told it needed a valve body replacement. However, they are demanding again that I pay for it and refusing to submit it as a recall repair. They have had…

   NHTSA complaint #11750953 · source
6. Filed Jul 16, 2026MSOther / Unknown

   The left passenger door will not open manually nor with key fob. It has caused me to not allow back seat passengers including grand children for fear if necessary to get out in an emergency and I am left to wonder if the driver door will go into lock position during a collision and that would be life threatening. I tried holding the lock and unlock at the same time for 3sec and that didn’t work. The dealership said it would cost around $800 or more to take the door off and…

   NHTSA complaint #11750891 · source
7. Filed May 26, 2026NCTransmission & Drivetrain

   While driving my 2020 Cadillac CT5 at highway speeds, the vehicle suffered a sudden and dangerous total loss of motive power. The transmission completely failed without warning, creating an immediate, severe safety hazard as I was forced to navigate across multiple active lanes of high-speed highway traffic without acceleration.The vehicle was towed to an authorized Cadillac dealership. The technician's diagnostic inspection confirmed that the internal transmission pump…

   NHTSA complaint #11740017 · source
8. Filed May 12, 2026FLOther / Unknown

   The rear passenger driver side outside door handle stopped working about 3 days ago. I have three small grandchildren and if there is an accident or any other emergency I cannot open the back door to get them or anyone out of the vehicle to safety, which can lead to bodily harm or worse. I have already had the driver outside door handle replaced on March 18 2025 for the same problem. There should be a recall on the door handles to prevent the chance of bodily harm upon…

   NHTSA complaint #11737209 · source

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation public data, as of Oct 11, 2026. Complaints are submitted by owners and are not verified by NHTSA or by us; a complaint does not prove a defect exists. View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov Methodology