2020 Cadillac Ct6: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2020 Cadillac Ct6
On the 2020 Cadillac Ct6, the failure owners report most often is other powertrain problem, with 4 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 10,000 miles. Overall it scores 76 out of 100, severe risk for a 2020.
Severe risk for a 2020 — 126th riskiest of the 235 2020 vehicles we can rate. 16 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2020 Cadillac Ct6
Owners have reported 8 named failure modes on the 2020 Cadillac Ct6, and the three most-reported carry 56% of everything filed.
Other powertrain problem leads with 4 reports and about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles.
Complete transmission failure follows with 3 reports, median 100,000 miles.
ABS module or sensor failure follows with 2 reports, median 15,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into transmission (7), brakes (4) and adas (2).
At what mileage it happens
10 of the reports on the 2020 Cadillac Ct6 came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 10,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 80% by 50,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 60% of the dated reports.
80% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
How bad it is when it goes
Across the named modes, 2 mention a crash. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.69, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500, complete transmission failure at $2,800–$8,000, ABS module or sensor failure at $500–$2,400 and other brake problem at $300–$1,800. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
44% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 4 | 1 | — | 64k | — | 0.4 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 3 | 1 | — | 98k | — | 0.3 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 2 | 2 | — | 15k | — | 0.2 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 2 | 2 | — | 500 | — | 0.2 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 9k | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 100 | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other driver assistance problem | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 9k | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 1 | 1 | — | 9k | — | 0.1 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2020 Cadillac Ct6 draws about 1.6 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 78th percentile of complaint rates among 2020 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 10,009 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2020 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Other powertrain problem
The contact owns a 2020 Cadillac CT6. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V148000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the transmission was shifting hard. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Complete transmission failure
The contact owns a 2020 Cadillac CT6. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the transmission seized, and the vehicle was coasted over to the right side of the roadway while waiting for tow service. A dealer as contacted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer informed the contact that the vehicle was out of warranty. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V148000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 98,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
ABS module or sensor failure
On friday, november 13, 2020 I was stopped at a stoplight in marysville, ohio. It appeared that traffic started to move, so I took my foot off the brake. Almost immediately the emergency braking feature engaged. While this tends to startle you because it is so abrupt, almost like a head-on collision, I pressed on the brake. The brake did not stop the car. It was similar to when anti-lock braking is engaged. The brakes felt like they were pulsating, so the car continued to move forward until it pressed up against the car in front of me. I have had some instances where when backing up, in a completely empty parking lot or street and the car will brake on its own. There are no posts, trees or any objects like that anywhere nearby to trigger the braking. The marysville (ohio) police department responded to the accident. The file number for the police report is 20.01993. I was not cited because I was in essence unable to stop the car. There was plenty of time to stop the car as I don't believe I pressed the accelerator at all. The car currently has a warning appearing that indicates driver assist system needs service. I'm not sure it's…
On friday, november 13, 2020 I was stopped at a stoplight in marysville, ohio. It appeared that traffic started to move, so I took my foot off the brake. Almost immediately the emergency braking feature engaged. While this tends to startle you because it is so abrupt, almost like a head-on collision, I pressed on the brake. The brake did not stop the car. It was similar to when anti-lock braking is engaged. The brakes felt like they were pulsating, so the car continued to move forward until it pressed up against the car in front of me. I have had some instances where when backing up, in a completely empty parking lot or street and the car will brake on its own. There are no posts, trees or any objects like that anywhere nearby to trigger the braking. The marysville (ohio) police department responded to the accident. The file number for the police report is 20.01993. I was not cited because I was in essence unable to stop the car. There was plenty of time to stop the car as I don't believe I pressed the accelerator at all. The car currently has a warning appearing that indicates driver assist system needs service. I'm not sure it's…
Recalls on the 2020 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2020 Cadillac Ct6, affecting an estimated 10,090 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover power train:automatic transmission and tires:pressure monitoring and regulating systems. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
90,081 vehicles 2025-03-06- Defect
- 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.
- Consequence
- 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.
TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS
81 vehicles 2019-10-15- Defect
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Cadillac CT6 vehicles equipped with dealer-installed accessory 20" x 8.50" wheels (RPO 5JO or SHH). The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensors use the incorrect wireless radio frequency and cannot illuminate the low pressure warning light when the tire pressure drops below the recommended level. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
- Consequence
- Drivers may drive the vehicle with low tire pressure without a low tire pressure warning, negatively impacting the vehicle handling and increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace all four TPMS sensors with the correct sensors, free of charge. The recall began December 3, 2019. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-586-596-1733. GM's number for this recall is N192279200.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2020 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Where 2020 sits in the model line
Severe risk for a 2020 — 126th riskiest of the 235 2020 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Across the 5 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2019 comes out best at 65 and 2017 worst at 82, with 2020 itself at 76.
If the model year is negotiable, 2019 scores lower than 2020 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2016–2020 generation specifically, 2019 is the strongest year at 65 and 2017 the weakest at 82.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2016-2020 generation, 2019 Cadillac Ct6 scores best at 65 and 2017 Cadillac Ct6 worst at 82.
What this page cannot tell you
16 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 16 reports, 10 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 63% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2020 Cadillac Ct6?
The most-reported failures are other powertrain problem (4 reports, median 65,000 miles), complete transmission failure (3 reports, median 100,000 miles) and abs module or sensor failure (2 reports, median 15,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2020 Cadillac Ct6 reliable?
It scores 76 out of 100 on our risk index, which is severe — 126th riskiest of the 235 2020 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2020 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Cadillac Ct6 is best?
Within the 2016–2020 generation, 2019 scores best at 65 out of 100 and 2017 worst at 82. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed