Other steering problem on the 2003 Cadillac Deville
1 crash 1 injury 2 of the 6 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
Only 5 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other steering problem gets reported
There are 6 reports of other steering problem on the 2003 Cadillac Deville, 5 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 110,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 1999, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 1996 carries the most reports, with 27; the 2003 has 6. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I was driving at approximately 60 mhp on i77 north - without notice of any kind it became very difficult to steer my vehicle and I lost control as well as all power & acceleration. All of this happened so fast but I looked down and noticed several dash board/warning lights on. These lights normally only go on for a second or so when starting the car. Having no power or acceleration I was able to navigate my car to the side of the road with out an accident but immediately noticed that my ignition was already turned off. The ignition key was not all the off - just in the position as if I was parked and wanted to listen to the radio. Once pulled over I placed the car in "park" turned the key all the way off and restarted the car. It started right up. However, now both my "service engine soon light" and "air bag" light stays illuminated at all times. They do not go out once the car is started. I am not able to notice any difference in the performance or handling at this time but am concerned with the lights remaining on at all times when driving as well as the safety of the air bags. *tr
A recall letter was sent to me, I contacted to gm to let them know their recall was a little too late and luckily I was not on the road when this happened I was in a store parking lot when this occurred. I experienced complete loss of brakes,steering and electrical. I thought it was a battery issue. I purchased a new battery. I had to carry the battery 3 miles each way, it was not the battery .car was towed, repairs were found to be ignition problem and a module needed to be replaced, costing over $800, how do I get reimbursed for this? Gm said they would get back to me and its been 3 weeks,I have heard nothing. I would appreciate your help. I have all the receipts and had we been told of the recall a big expense might of been saved,how do I get some sort of claim form to get reimbursed? *tr
The key locked up all at once and would not allow the vehicle to turn on or off. We had the chevrolet dealer in coolidge, az, (garrett motors) replace the key cylinder. Now general motors has sent us a recall request for this part which we took to our local chevrolet dealer in faribault, mn. There we were told to contact cadillac and were given a form to fill out to request reimbursement for this part which we had paid $212.39 for. Cadillac is now denying our request saying that the key lock cylinder is not what the problem was since they say it was only the key. At the time, the newly made key was not available to the dealers as it had not even been considered a recall part at that time. This problem happened on 3/22/14 and shortly after in april the media broadcast that the recall process had began on this part . We feel we are entitled to a refund and would appreciate your looking into this on our behalf. *tr
Also reported on the 2003 Cadillac Deville
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other visibility problem
Loss of braking
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 6 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 6 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2003 Cadillac Deville?
Across 5 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 110,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2003 Cadillac Deville?
6 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
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