Two General Motors brands – Cadillac and GMC – slipped in Consumer Reports‘ annual reliability study, ending up in the last two spots on the list of 27 marques. Chevrolet, too, floundered in this year’s study, ending up well within the bottom half in eighteenth. Buick represented a relative bright spot for GM, ranking eighth, and proving to be the only US automotive brand in the top ten.
Granted, Buick fared much better even just a year ago, coming away in the third spot behind Lexus and Toyota; Consumer Reports blames Buick’s lost ground in reliability on the redesigned LaCrosse, attributing the brand’s top-ten status to the Cascada and Envision.
Cadillac, which slipped from twenty-first to twenty-seventh this year, had one of the ten least-reliable models Consumer Reports evaluated: the Escalade. The publication concedes that, logically, a single bad apple runs a much greater risk of spoiling the bunch when dealing with a limited-lineup brand like Cadillac. “If just one or two models drop in reliability, it can magnify the impact across the brand,” the publication says.
Chevrolet and GMC also each produced one of the ten least-reliable models in Consumer Reports‘ testing, with the Camaro and the Acadia, respectively. Both brands ranked a couple of positions lower this year than last, although neither slipped drastically.
(Source: Consumer Reports)
Comments
I take consumer reports with a grain of salt. I remember for f-150 did terrible once they introduced sync infotainment system. Apparently non-user friendliness is enough to warrant a legitimate reliability penalty according to consumer reports. If a powertrain runs a million miles, but I can’t work the sat-nav, that shouldn’t mean it’s unreliable.
Yeah, I get that. But what is the excuse for GMC? It came in next to last, edging out Cadillac for worst reliability of any available vehicles in the U.S. Heck, Fiats made in Mexico rate higher than this. It must be that be that Barra, Stevens, Amman, and Reuss are underpaid and unmotivated. Their total compensation over the last 3 years was only $146,536,672. These new rankings deserve a raise for these executives while they close more factories, lay off more workers, and shrink the company further. They can’t take out any more quality, they are already in last place.
CR aside, I saw a list of most quickly traded-in vehicles – BMW x3 and the 5-series sedan were two of the top ten.
Could be lease returns, or warranty expirations. Not a BMW lover or hater, but the wife had an x5 that was nothing but trouble. I found a (good, honest) BMW repair shop – (the dealership was ‘the answer is $900; what’s the issue?)
No issue to pick w CR, but I thought the fastest turn-in/turnover was more revealing. Interesting that BMW is rated higher than I expected …
CR is not professional. they dont follow traditional statistical sampling, instead they take applications from just about anybody. This way, exceptionally high end cars like Cadillac could receive loads of negative comments for petty issues, such as somebody not liking a squeaky door, while a VW could have a bearing go out and never get reported.
What this really shows us is that people who really like cars, like Cadillac.
Cadillac’s poor ranking has nothing to do with the car as much as it’s the CUE infotainment system because consumers of the car are not willing to go through the trouble of reading the manuals.
wasn’t it that they were blaming the 8 speed transmission on the trucks in addition of the CUE? And so because of the transmission the Camaro got dotted?
CUE and GM’s not very smooth 8 speed seem to be dragging Cadillac down quite a bit. Inexcusable for the fantasyland prices they are charging for the Escalade. They better watch out because the 2018 Navigator is a really nice looking product that looks to be a better overall value than the pricey Cadillac.
Cadillac CUE is new. They tested these old one. A new escalade is coming.
Consumer Reports’ rankings, unlike those of Consumers Digest, cannot be bought. Whenever cold, hard facts, and statistical truths cross paths with GM, it’s never pretty. Someone has to be last, and this not new territory for the General.
CR and the way they go about their testing and polling of readers who are owners is very narrow and not truly representative of the total product out there.
Oh Please, I stopped reading CR years ago because the reviews seemed lopsided. They had their stalwart favorites no matter what.
CR is a Toyota pawn.. I’ve leased 2 Camrys 2009 and a 2011 both were mediocre at best. My wife leased a 14 Cadillac SRX and now a 2017 XT5 both are fantastic..!!
The CR stuff is for the most grand standing. They put this out but fail to qualify it and the media runs with it.
First off the CR findings are like complaints to web forums. There is no process of collection just subscribers with their complaints.
Some of these complaints are legit but many are pet peeves of some buyers.
The prime complaint is Cue. While it is not easy for some to learn it is not really a quality issue. It should be more user friendly but it operated as it should.
The other issue is with Luxury divisions most are listed often low. The reason is they sell much fewer cars and the sell fewer models. The way it is represented penalizes the the low volume brands.
Let’s face it the Escalade is built by the same people in the same plant mostly of the same parts as a Tahoe yet it is not on the list.
Finally the present model is very old and due to be replaced soon. They will have to find a group of new complaints.
I wish that people would wise up to CR in the general public and hold them better accountable for their claims and ratings.
Besides CUE and the 8 speed that the Escalade uses, I’m suspect of CR’s statement that they handling is bad, braking is poor and they ride stiffly. We have rented numerous 2016/2017 Tahoes and Yukons and they rode and drove really well and had perfectly fine braking. What would be so different on the Cadillac to make ride, handling and braking so much worse than its close relatives? I can’t comment on the 8 speed but do find a lot of complaints with its abrupt downshifting. Have not suffered any issues with CUE on any Caddy thus far so I think CR is being a bunch of whiners on that.
I have an 8 speed but no issue with shifting. Mine is in a 3.6 maybe the 6.2 has an issue in programming.
The Cue as it is is not for much longer.
FYI the GMC deal is mostly do to the Acadia and the electronic interphase in the dash.
There were some programming issues that were addressed and most have been resolved.
Note I drove a Acadia for a day. It was a SL but had Denali rockers. Defect in a positive direction but no negative ones to report.
Are they speaking of the new Acadia or all Acadias? There are posts all over YouTube that the older models are complete garbage.
Cadillac’s climb just got a lot harder. In the luxury business especially, perception is key. Cadillac products were already perceived to be technologically inferior and merely rebadged Chevys but if unreliable and poor quality are added to the list, it makes a comeback by Cadillac doubly hard.
The folks running GM are going to have to start seeing something positive from Cadillac or its all going to come crashing down. Declining sales even with a substantial increase in fleet sales and bottom-of-the-barrel quality is not going to keep Johan and his New York City crew ensconced in SoHo very long.
The bean counters in Detroit are going to want to reign all this in given that they are merely burning money with little to show for it at this point.
It is very worrisome seeing them burn through cash hand of fist with things like Super Cruise, an all electric future that few are asking for today and self driving technology yet they can’t get the reliability and build quality right on any of their current products. Who in their right mind would trust this company with there lives with all of this future tech when they can’t get what’s offered today right?
Yet today’s product is very old outside the CT6. It also was done at a time GM was coming out of bankruptcy and money was still tight.
To fix Cadillac it will take Capital and the lack of which is how they got there.
There is no fixing of today’s product and no future so they are moving on.
Most fail to understand the XTS was First started back in 2008 and was shelved till post bail out. They invested what they had left into cars like this to have product for when the came out. It was still compromised but it filled a gap of 5 years of nothing new.
Cut the drama.
Cadillac has no were to go but up in the first place.
Second none of this is tied to any of their new JDN inspired products.
The So Ho group is working on the coming models not the leftover mixed old products that has no future and would be a waste investing in as it is not the future.
First get it in your head what is going on. Cadillac moved to NYC to get away from the Detroit bean counters. They built their own engineering staff and their own dedicated styling staff for the first time in decades.
Second they are still making money even with the product they have and it will improve as the new product arrives.
Third before you condemn them for no major turn around when the First JDN product arrives and they are in one in a year. This is going to take time and continue investment to earn the trust of the customers.
The fact is even if they are not number one the key here is to grow the division and grow the profits. Even at low volumes Cadillac can generate 80% of the profits Chevy does.
You need to get better informed and really grasp what is really going on vs spreading this out of tune song and dance.
Will this all work. Odds are good it will increase sales and profits. We see that and it will be a win. That will give them a base to grow.
Phew! I was afraid a condescending blowhard wouldn’t chime in.
I agree that the driverless tech, electric cars are very important for the investors but after several years, it’s utmostly disappointing of seeing GM is unable to build a reliable car and catch up on the japanese, european and Korean carmakers whereas it’s fundamental in this industry! Mary Barra, again, your dog ate your homework! (P.S.: fire Johan de Nyschen, he is really a poor bargain!) I’m a fan of GM but I’m beginning to believe that the GM haters was right on the bailout!
I will say this again we have leased 2 Caddy’s a 2014 SRX now a 2017 XT5.
Both have been trouble free.
Note: The XT5 has been outstanding..!!
I’ve had a 2012 Tahoe for past 5 years it has been great.. Feel free to email or call me to varify..
P.S. C.R . Is a Toyota pawn and a por judge of automobiles..
What have the customers been trying to tell GM? Only to have it fall on Deaf Ears, this should not be with Cadillac. A Chevy OK, but not a Cadillac
GM has listened and have gone back to redo the entire line. It takes 5 years to do new product and JDN stated clearly there would be a lull till it was ready.
At this point what new jDN product has been a disappointment?
Well I am waiting what one is a total bust?
None as we will start to see them next year as we were advised.
Now when they come out then you can make an intelligent opinion on them but not till you have something real to critic.
Do you really think it wise to drop a billion into an ATS to make it better ten fully replace it two years later? A mild refresh would be 3 years and rage replace is 5 years. Hmm not smart to wast money on product that would not return any more than if you let it ride and take that money and invest it in the new product that will net a greater return.
What has JDN really done that is helping or improving Cadillac? Sure you can say the XT5 is selling well along with the Escalade. But the problem is they were already selling well before he came on board with the SRX letters instead of XT5. His silly reshuffled letter re-naming hasn’t been popular and is just confusing to customers. The entire sedan lineup is seeing month over month sales decreases. Quality lapses are on the rise and the widely used 8 speed transmission suffers from loads of harsh upshifting complaints and outright failures. We checked out an entire row of various new Cadillacs and certain XT5’s and CT6’s had misaligned interior bits. And these were 2018’s.
I’m not even going to talk about CUE. The revamped 2018 XTS is a lame half baked MCE with a drivetrain that you can get on a 32K Impala, the price increases 800 bucks yet MCR is deleted, there is no spare tire, no visible rear exhaust outlets, no additional std safety features like BLISS or cross traffic alerts and the buyers only gets two free paint colors, black or silver for over 47K! Every other color is between 630-1200 bucks extra cost.
The ATS’s deficiencies are well know along with the CTS so hopefully the XT4 will solve most of those.
The fantasyland priced XT6 uses a Chevrolet Malibu/Camaro sourced 2.0 turbo in all it’s crude obnoxious glory and obtaining the only real suitable engine in it’s lineup can cost close to 90K in top versions. Where is the V8?
Sorry but I have little confidence in JDN from what I have seen so far.
Agreed. Nothing. Just tried to kill off his present customer base in favor of one that does not exist.
“What have the customers been trying to tell GM? Only to have it fall on Deaf Ears, this should not be with Cadillac. A Chevy OK, but not a Cadillac.”
Actually Americans who’ve been buying Toyotas and Hondas and Nissans for DECADES are not okay with Chevy selling unreliable cars. ALL OF GM must get its act together.
I don’t pay much attention to CR’s evaluation of autos. For one, they hardly ever give American brands their due. Back in the day when people switched to Japanese brands because of the ‘quality’ CR attached to them, I was driving a 1977 V-8 Nova. “Eeww, how could you buy a car like that?’, “The quality isn’t there.” I drove it for 23 YEARS! Never a problem. No rust. Never stopped running . . . oops, yes, I rebuilt the carburetor once – and driver’s vinyl bucket split after about 15 years. If I had it to do all over again? I’d do it all over again.
23 years with no rust! Do you live in a desert area like Las Vegas? Here in the midwest, cars start to melt away from rust after about 10 years. I ended up trading my 03 silverado in on a gmc terrain mostly due to the rust. Wheel wells were first to go, then rocker panels and then cab corners. Plenty of rust on fords and rams of the same year.
Actually, about 65 miles north of New York City. The car was garaged for about 18 of those years . . . and used sparingly the last 10.
I worked very closely with a lot of the GM Corvette engineers and designers, training them to drive on tracks so they wouldn’t wreck cars on streets. We often talked about their ratings and they griped publically all the time but privately they admitted that it was their customers reporting reliability problems to CR, not CR staff deciding or testing for it. Individually there are those who have nothing wrong but when you get a lot of reports of problems that makes a difference. For example, there is a lawsuit pending on the LS7 Z06 motor, known problems about valve failures but I happen to have the 2006 Z06 that Consumer Reports bought (anonymously and not given to them) and tested. Ultra heavy track use for 122k miles and no valve problems. So where I sit there is no problem but hundreds of others have blown up so just because you had a good car doesn’t mean hundreds of others had one too. Look at the whole cobalt ignition issue, someone could have one that never was a problem but would you like to be the parent of a child killed because of that issue? don’t blame CR for failures of auto companies and their customers’ complaints. All vehicles are rated based on the same standard so if some rank high and some rank low all judged on the same basis, the you have to question the auto company.
Scott3,
I would suggest you study GM’s history. It’s littered with products and brands that were on a pathway to rejuvenation only to have the bean counters cut their losses and pull the proverbial plug.
I want Cadillac to succeed too and I absolutely understand the mission and how long it will take to implement and how costly it is going to be. The question is not whether I get it. Rather the question is whether Johan will get the time and money necessary. The bean counters have already shelved the would-be flagship CT8. If results don’t start being delivered very soon, I expect the grand plan for a Cadillac renaissance will be scaled back and a Lincoln-like strategy revived. It’s telling to me that they’ve canned CT8 and are holding on to the XTS instead. XTS is a product more obviously aligned with the less ambitious direction Lincoln is headed.
Eye I am very well versed with GM history and their decades of mismanaging. Divisions.
I grew up with a GM Sloan era engineering executive who taught me infinite details of how and why they did things and their resistance to change.
I also saw first hand their refusal to do what they needed to do as market share slipped as did the quality.
Today I know people who are inside that are pleased as they have gone from powerless to empowered to to their jobs.
When Lutz came in he called it as it was and started the house cleaning. I feared it was over when he left but Mary has carried it on. She has had years now of proper Choices that have set a series of secesses that have resulted in return of profits and increases of stock prices two things that make her very untouchable.
To worry if JDN gets the time Is like worrying if you will get hit buy a bus. Odds are slim but the possibility is there. You just can’t worry about it.
The odds are good he will remain and he already has had time to make the needed changes they needed. To undo the system would be difficult now with product this far along.
As for their plans about CTwhat ever matter little at this point. We just need to let their work come out and sell. Cadillac really holds no right to sell a Flagship sedan till they earn the trust to sell a mid priced sedan better first. This died not work from the top down.
Again worry about scale back only if it happens. At this point like I stated it is difficult to do as they already have moved got their staff and a five year lead on new products. They already got $12 billion Lincoln never saw.
The XTS is only supporting volume till they get the new products out.
You have two bull dogs at the door with Mark and Mary both are people from GM that were not a part of the problem while most that were part of the problem are being shown the door.
Let’s face it they said there would never be a mid engine Vette but there will be one very soon. Cadillac is making some of the major positive changes and are still making money.
Many fail to understand that it really cost little more to design and build a Cadillac than a Chevy. But the profits can be 4-5 times better.
The Cadillac Crossovers will lead the way compromented by new cars better thought out and placed.
I have watched the many changes and failures at Cadillac but this time they finally have done the right things and have never seen before support and isolation from GM. This is what has been needed.
The only real question is will JDN hit the mark with his new product. That none of us can answer yet as we have not seen the product yet. I wager for sure it will be better but will it strike a note with the public? Only time and the public will tell.
I own a Cadillac and the only problem is the CUE. It takes getting used to, but you still get frustrated with it.
The single biggest complaint across ALL brands is the infotainment system. And if people actually read the results in CR instead of just the headline they would see that ratings are broken down by different categories.
Millions of years ago, we built cars out of Terne Plate, But Terne Plate is heavy, so they wanted something lighter, and Never any rusting issues. Went to Galvanizing and almost as good. Now Aluminum, Fine as long as you don’t lean on it. From what I have learned, it is foreign steel, not made to spec that causes the rusting problems. It all starts at the source.
a couple of details, one, 2005-2010 ck1500 chassies have a faulty underbody paint coat. This is caused by government forced regulation changes on paintings. It also affects 2001-2006 cars with the clear coat flaking. Sadly, this is universal and not the manufactures fault. It should be fixed with new formulas. The cobalt and ion recall never happened till the major lawsuit became national news, because it was always layer bait. Car and driver did a comprehensive testing and it confirms with what is see with my sisters cobalt-ignitions switches always stay latched until you decide to hit a pothole, speedbump train track at highway speeds. Even then, control isn’t lost. All crashes listed on ignition switch vehicles were involved substance abuse.
Shame on you for blaming paint and rust issues on the government. Those mid level worker bees know everything.
If you don’t believe me, just ask them they will tell you everything they do is right.
They didn’t all involve substance abuse and when the ignition shut off moving the steering wheel caused it to lock in the anti theft mode. The problem was compounded by coming out with a working switch but not changing the part number. I had an 08 Turbo SS and it had the new switch but it had to be changed because it had the old part number. GM did that to avoid showing that they changed the switch but it backfired and cost even more because they had to change all the switches with the old part number.
Cadillac could solve those Q issues had they been not so Bullheaded, and put volume and changer knobs, even if they did, a press to have them come out to adjust. They would never have had any complaints.
Once customers get the thing figured out, it is not too bad. My wife’s big complaints are the fingerprints. She Hates the fingerprints, next is the volume control, she hates the slider, as do most people I talk to.
Simple fix. But you know the old story,
Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up.
I gave up reading CR years ago all their interested in is knocking down American autos . a few years ago I owned an 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora ( which I still wish they made) and I remember CR rated it 4.4 out of 5 . My Aurora gave me 13 years of a perfect ride and reliability ranking up 187k . I wish I can order a 2018 .
I drive a 2000 Cadillac DHS that I bought new in March of 2000. It now has 276,000 miles, runs and looks GREAT. Aside from routine maintenance, slight oil usage and early transmission fix I have had no problems. Great car! I am pretty sure Consumer Reports badmouthed it as well. I will probably get a new CT6 someday, maybe 18 or 19. However I am not impressed so far with the paint (since they stopped using lead) I am not a fan of low profile tires. The styling is mediocre, perhaps some Escali features will be incorporated into the 2019 build.
This is what happens when Cadillac abandons the core values that made it #1 in US luxury car sales for five straight decades. One of the core values was reliability (also the closely related “refinement”). German brands are not known for reliability, so Cadillac no longer makes it a concern, and Johan never mentions it as a priority now.
But reliability is a highly important luxury feature; one that a large number of US luxury buyers do treasure. People can argue all they want about the validity or impact of Consumer Reports, but from what I can tell they are accurate and unbiased. And many other studies have consistently shown that Lexus/Toyota makes the most reliable cars over time. I recall seeing a study a few years ago that showed the typical repairs needed per year by car age, graphed by manufacturer. It was to the point where a 10 year old Toyota/Lexus experienced roughly the same number of problems as a 5 year old American model, which is quite a dramatic difference. The German reliability numbers were similar to the Americans if not slightly worse (I think the worst of the Germans was VW, but that included Audi).
If Cadillac wants to truly return to being “the Cadillac of cars”, they should find out what Toyota/Lexus is doing right and restore reliability as a core value to their brand. Merely complaining “Oh that’s just Consumer Reports” does not cut it.
Americans think it’s the “in” thing to praise Asian cars over American ones to start with. As a car enthusiast studying the owner’s manual of my new car is a joy. The average person doesn’t bother until something doesn’t work the way they thought…just pure lazy. The Escalade is a hot sell along with most GM trucks and SUVs…plus Camaros and Corvettes. People are going to be stupid (DT) so CR will have an audience to lie to.
PS: VW has always been a premium brand in Europe. Their made to run on the Autobahn like BMW, Audi and Mercedes…Opels too!
Was driving 2016 Cadillac Escalade and cylinder of Transmission snapped in half on highway! Was stranded for over two hours and GM is being totally unresponsive. Terrible customer relations. Danger to driver and cars on road! Avoid GM at all costs!
If anyone actually bothered to check, reliability ratings in Consumer Reports are based on surveys of owners of the vehicles, they collect and present. Reliability is not based on someone’s favorite or opinion. What few realize is that the car companies themselves value the results even with they publicly gripe, privately they take the results very seriously. In fact many of them bring pre-production vehicles to CR test tacitly to evaluate before full production. The results of that testing, done with the car company engineers present, is not used in any way for ratings or publication purposes. The results are used by the car companies to correct items that consumers may find troublesome.