2009 Cadillac Xlr: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2009 Cadillac Xlr
Only 1 defect report has been filed with NHTSA about the 2009 Cadillac Xlr, which is too few to compute mileage percentiles or a risk score. The report reported no-start or intermittent start failure.
When each failure gets reported
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
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No-start or intermittent start failure | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 11k | — | 4.7 | $200–$1,800 | 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.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
No-start or intermittent start failure
Opened car with key fob, but it would not start. Upon pressing the start button the dash readout stated 'no key fob detected', or something similar. Tried to exit vehicle and could not. I was locked in! Continued to try and start vehicle, unlock door, roll down window, all to no avail. Dash readout then stated 'low voltage'. I pressed the onstar emergency button, but with the battery discharged they could not call me. My vehicle had just become a prison.I am 67 years old with heart problems. Thankfully it was not my wife as she is claustrophobic.I will also pass this along to gm/cadillac. This is a safety issue. I was very fortunate by having my cell phone on this day & was finally able to be released from this "prison". The remote door unlatch located in the trunk could not be easily accessed as the trunk lid apparently also works off 12 volts. All vehicles need to have the ability to unlatch the driver's door accessible from the driver''s seat by the driver. Immediately upon exiting the vehicle, my battery was at 7.3 volts. The battery has been replaced once. If the door unlatch operated at 6 volts there would be less of a…
Recalls on the 2009 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 2009 Cadillac Xlr, affecting an estimated 212 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 fuel system, gasoline:delivery:fuel pump. 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.
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
4,887 vehicles 2011-02-28- Defect
- Ti automotive is recalling certain fuel pumps, part numbers tu456 and tu303, sold under various brand names as aftermarket and replacement equipment for the motor vehicles listed above. The defective fuel pump may seize, stopping the fuel flow to the engine creating a stalling condition.
- Consequence
- A vehicle crash could occur should the engine stall while in use.
- Remedy
- Ti automotive will notify owners of record and will replace any defective fuel pump with a new or reworked fuel pump free of charge. The safety recall began on february 22, 2011. Owners may contact ti automotive at 1-866-867-3759 or log on to www.recallresponse.com.
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.
Every year of the Cadillac Xlr
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 2004-2009 generation, 2005 Cadillac Xlr scores best at 61 and 2006 Cadillac Xlr worst at 71.
What the reports on file say
The complaints recorded against the 2009 Cadillac Xlr are no-start or intermittent start failure (1 report, around 11k miles). With a sample this size these are anecdotes rather than a pattern, and they are shown because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see them than nothing.
Why this page is short
A model year needs about 8 reports before percentiles mean anything, and this one does not have them. Complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road, so a thin page usually means a rare car, a new car, or a car whose owners do not file.
Other years of the same model do have enough: 2004, 2005 and 2006. The mechanical parts are often shared across those years, so their pages are the better guide to what this one is likely to do, with the caveat that a shared part is not a shared production line.
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