Total Complaints
11 filings
CADILLAC SLS · model year
11 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2002CADILLACSLS carries 11 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2002 SLS is engine and engine cooling:engine with 2 filings, followed by electrical system (2) and service brakes, air:antilock (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 10 investigation files overlapping the 2002 SLS, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
11 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE | 2 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 2 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, AIR:ANTILOCK | 1 |
| STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR | 1 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL:AUTOMATIC (ASC) | 1 |
| STRUCTURE | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 |
| ENGINE | 1 |
WHEN SLOWING AT ABOUT 20 MPH TO 3 MPH THE VEHICLE JUST DIES. NO POWER STEERING OR BRAKES, ALL ELECTRICAL IN THE VEHICLE STOPS WORKING. THE VEHICLE WILL START AGAIN ONCE STOPPED, PLACED IN PARK OFTEN HAVING TO REMOVE THE KEY AND PUTTING IT BACK. AFTER OVER THREE MONTHS AND OVER 1500 MILES, WORKING WITH THE DE LA FUENTE CADILLAC DEALERSHIP, HAVING A RED BUTTON ATTACHED TO THE VEHICLE THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO PUSH WHEN THIS HAPPENED THEY FINALLY REPLACED THE IGNITION SWITCH AND LOCK CYLINDER PART NUMBERS 12369550 AND 25725312 AT A COST OF $615.73 TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. AFTER THE CAR STOPPED ON ME THE FIRST TIME I KEPT TO SURFACE STREETS AND DROVE AT SLOW SPEEDS. THIS PROBLEM COULD HAVE BEEN DEVIATING HAD IT HAPPENED WHILE ON THE FREE WAY. *TR
Mileage: 140,393
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 CADILLAC SLS.THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AS THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT ONCE HE WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS STILL ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC HOWEVER, THE TECHNICIAN WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 58,806 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 90,200.
Mileage: 58,806
ON THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS THIS YEAR, MOST RECENTLY TODAY (3/22/14), THE ENGINE ON MY 2003 (?) CADILLAC SLS ABRUPTLY CUT OFF, SIMILAR TO THE MUCH-PUBLICIZED RECENT FAILURES ON GM'S 2003-11 COMPACT CARS. MY CAR IS NO COMPACT, BUT I'M WONDERING IF IT USES THE SAME IGNITION COMPONENTS. IN ANY EVENT, WE WERE LUCKY TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT. AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT, I REFERRED THE CAR TO MY TRUSTED MECHANIC, AND HE COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. ONE FURTHER NOTE: WHEN THE ENGINE CUT OFF TODAY, ONLY *ONE* KEY WAS IN THE IGNITION, SO IT WAS *NOT* A MATTER OF THE SWITCH BEING "WEIGHED DOWN" BY AN OVERLOADED KEY CHAIN. I WILL TAKE THE CAR TO MY MECHANIC ON MONDAY AND SUGGEST THAT A NEW IGNITION SWITCH BE INSTALLED. BUT ALL THIS SHOULD SERVE AS A "HEADS UP" WARNING TO GM OWNERS WHO DRIVE NON-COMPACT GM CARS. *TR
Mileage: 7,800
A "LOW COOLANT" LIGHT APPEARED ON MY 2002 CADILLAC SLS (4.6L NORTHSTAR VIN-Y). WHILE PARKED STEAM/SMOKE (SMALL AMOUNT) BEGAN RISING FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT AND A SMALL PUDDLE OF COOLANT WAS FOUND BELOW VEHICLE. VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED AND A CRACK IN THE ENGINE BLOCK WAS DISCOVERED. MECHANIC STATED THIS WAS VERY ODD. VEHICLE HAS 103K MILES. WATER PUMP GASKET WAS REPLACED AT 65K MILES, HEAD GASKETS, THERMOSTAT & RADIATOR WERE REPLACED AT 78K MILES AND WATER PUMP CLAMP/HOSE REPLACED AT 83K MILES. ALL THESE REPAIRS WERE MADE BY THE DEALERSHIP WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS UNDER WARRANTY. NO OTHER REPAIRS (TO MY KNOWLEDGE) WERE MADE TO THE ENGINE/COOLING SYSTEM. *TR
Mileage: 103,000
HEAD BOLTS PULLED OUT OF BLOCK ON A 2002 CADILLAC WITH A NORTHSTAR ENGINE. THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED THE CAR HAD 74,000 MILE AND WAS FIXED UNDER THE VEHICLES EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE 2ND TIME IT HAPPENED THE CAR HAD 87,000 ON IT AND THE SAME HEAD BOLT THAT WAS FIXED FAILED. THE ENGINE WAS NOT REPAIRABLE AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. THIS WAS A PATCH JOB THAT GM KNEW WAS NOT PERMANENT AND THEY NOW DO NOT WANT TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR SHODDY REPAIR PROCEDURE. *TR
Mileage: 87,000
DEFECTIVE NORTHSTAR ENGINES, HEAD BOLTS PULLING OUT OF BLOCK. *TR
Mileage: 87,000
DEFECTIVE NORTHSTAR ENGINES, HEAD BOLTS PULLING OUT OF BLOCK. *TR
Mileage: 87,000
DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THE VEHICLE HYDROPLANES INTERMITTENTLY WHILE DRIVING NORMAL HIGHWAY SPEEDS OF 55 MPH OR MORE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE CONTACT FEELS THE HYDROPLANING IS RELATED TO THE VEHICLE'S STABILITY CONTROL SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH THIS HAS NEVER BEEN CONFIRMED BY THE DEALER. UPDATED 3/3/2006 - *NM
Mileage: 41,000
INQUIRY REGARDING ENTITLEMENT OF $1,000.00 DISCOUNT.*MR *PH
THE CONSUMER WAS CONCERNED AT TIMES WHEN THE DOORS WERE OPENED WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE, AND THERE WAS NO ALARM SOUND TO NOTIFY HIM. *NLM *TT *JB
REPAIRING DEALER DEVOE CADILLAC OF NAPLES FL, REPLACED RETAINING CLIP AND FOAM SPACER, BUT NOT THE INTERFACING COMPONENT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL, WHICH CONTAINS THE GROOVE INTO WHICH THE RETAINER CLIP FASTENS. REPAIR BECOMES QUESTIONABLE BECAUSE OF LIMITED PARTS REPLACEMENT. DT
Electronic Brake Module Component Failure
Rear-View Camera Failure
Roof Skin Separation While Driving
IEE Passenger Sensing System Mats
REAR DRIVETRAIN COMPONENT FAILURE
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.