2003 Cadillac Sts: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2003 Cadillac Sts
On the 2003 Cadillac Sts, the failure owners report most often is airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault, with 5 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 20,000 miles. Overall it scores 62 out of 100, high risk for a 2003.
High risk for a 2003 — 292nd riskiest of the 330 2003 vehicles we can rate. 15 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 8 named failure modes on the 2003 Cadillac Sts, and the three most-reported carry 67% of everything filed, so the trouble here is concentrated rather than scattered.
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault leads with 5 reports and about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles.
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure follows with 3 reports, median 110,000 miles.
Stalling while driving follows with 2 reports, median 20,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (5), electrical (3) and engine (3).
At what mileage it happens
9 of the reports on the 2003 Cadillac Sts came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 20,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 56% by 50,000 miles and 67% by 100,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 10,000 and 20,000 miles, which alone holds 56% of the dated reports.
56% 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, 1 mentions 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 4.27, 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: airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault at $300–$1,600, control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure at $700–$3,000, stalling while driving at $300–$2,500 and premature brake pad or rotor wear at $300–$1,400. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
20% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure | electrical | 3 | 3 | — | 112k | — | 0.1 | $700–$3,000 | High |
| Stalling while driving | engine | 2 | 2 | — | 19k | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,500 | Critical |
| Premature brake pad or rotor wear | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 12k | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Headlight failure or clouding | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $150–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 14k | — | 0.0 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 1 | 1 | — | 63k | — | 0.0 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 16k | — | 0.0 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. 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 2003 Cadillac Sts draws about 0.7 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 68th percentile of complaint rates among 2003 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model.
The working figure is 22,994 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2003 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.
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Vehicle was idling in driveway during strong electrical storm. Lightning appeared to hit a tree nearby. Simultaneously, several dash warning lights came on and stayed on, including anti-lock brake, traction and stability control warnings. Call was made to insurance company and vehicle towed to cadillac dealership. Service department said cause of the warning light was a bolt near wire to anti-lock brake power control module had worn insulation off, causing failure of power control module.if indeed lightning/power surge did not cause this problem, improperly located bolt or design would seem to be defective. *tr
Vehicle was idling in driveway during strong electrical storm. Lightning appeared to hit a tree nearby. Simultaneously, several dash warning lights came on and stayed on, including anti-lock brake, traction and stability control warnings. Call was made to insurance company and vehicle towed to cadillac dealership. Service department said cause of the warning light was a bolt near wire to anti-lock brake power control module had worn insulation off, causing failure of power control module.if indeed lightning/power surge did not cause this problem, improperly located bolt or design would seem to be defective. *tr
Stalling while driving
Dt*: the contact stated while driving the vehicle at various speeds between 5 to 50 MPH the engine stalled without warning, this incident occurred four times. The vehicle has not been to the dealership to be inspected. The manufacturer has not been alerted. The dealer corrected the problem by replacing the battery and crankshaft sensor. Updated 02/21/06. *jb
Dt*: the contact stated while driving the vehicle at various speeds between 5 to 50 MPH the engine stalled without warning, this incident occurred four times. The vehicle has not been to the dealership to be inspected. The manufacturer has not been alerted. The dealer corrected the problem by replacing the battery and crankshaft sensor. Updated 02/21/06. *jb
How it ranks in the 2003 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
How 2003 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2003 — 292nd riskiest of the 330 2003 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Across the 9 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1999 comes out best at 55 and 2000 worst at 73, with 2003 itself at 62.
If the model year is negotiable, 1999 and 2001 score lower than 2003 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 2001–2004 generation specifically, 2001 is the strongest year at 58 and 2003 the weakest at 62.
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 2001-2004 generation, 2001 Cadillac Sts scores best at 58 and 2003 Cadillac Sts worst at 62.
The limits of complaint data
15 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model. 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 15 reports, 9 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 60% 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 2003 Cadillac Sts?
The most-reported failures are airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault (5 reports), control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure (3 reports, median 110,000 miles) and stalling while driving (2 reports, median 20,000 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 2003 Cadillac Sts reliable?
It scores 62 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 292nd riskiest of the 330 2003 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2003 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 Sts is best?
Within the 2001–2004 generation, 2001 scores best at 58 out of 100 and 2003 worst at 62. 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