2021 Cadillac Xt6: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2021 Cadillac Xt6
On the 2021 Cadillac Xt6, the failure owners report most often is other driver assistance problem, with 4 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 75,000 miles. Overall it scores 66 out of 100, high risk for a 2021.
High risk for a 2021 — 199th riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. 24 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 14 named failure modes on the 2021 Cadillac Xt6, and the three most-reported carry 42% of everything filed.
Other driver assistance problem leads with 4 reports and about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles.
Fuel pump failure follows with 3 reports.
Other powertrain problem follows with 3 reports, median 155,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into adas (5), fuel (4) and transmission (3).
When these failures get reported
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 4 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 14. The full list is in the table below.
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
What happens when these parts fail
Nothing in the reports on the 2021 Cadillac Xt6 mentions a crash, a fire or an injury. That is the ordinary case and it is worth stating: most defect complaints are about a car that stopped working, not one that hurt somebody.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.63, 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 driver assistance problem at $250–$1,800, fuel pump failure at $600–$2,600, other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500 and sunroof failure or glass breakage at $700–$4,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
25% 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 driver assistance problem | adas | 4 | 1 | — | 7k | — | 0.3 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 3 | 2 | — | 153k | — | 0.2 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Sunroof failure or glass breakage | body | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $700–$4,500 | High |
| Other engine problem | engine | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Thermostat failure | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$900 | Moderate |
| Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $700–$3,000 | High |
| Instrument cluster or gauge failure | infotainment | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $350–$1,400 | Moderate |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Parking sensor failure | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 30k | — | 0.1 | $180–$900 | Low |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,400 | High |
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 2021 Cadillac Xt6 draws about 1.5 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 76th percentile of complaint rates among 2021 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 15,871 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2021 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 2021 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2021 Cadillac Xt6, affecting an estimated 16,061 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 back over prevention: sensing system: camera and fuel system, gasoline:delivery:hoses, lines/piping, and fitt. 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.
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
95,231 vehicles 2022-09-22- Defect
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Cadillac XT5, XT6, and GMC Acadia vehicles equipped with the optional Surround Vision feature. The rearview camera coaxial cable connectors may have been crimped improperly, causing the rearview camera to fail or function intermittently.
- Consequence
- An inoperative rearview camera can reduce the driver's rear visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the coaxial cables, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 18, 2023. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N222378380.
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS
572 vehicles 2021-06-03- Defect
- General Motors, LLC. (GM) is recalling certain 2021 Cadillac XT5, XT6, and GMC Acadia vehicles. The fuel supply lines may be improperly attached and seated.
- Consequence
- Improperly attached and seated fuel supply lines may loosen or separate, causing a fuel leak and increasing the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and replace fuel supply lines as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 1, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006 and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212335590.
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 2021 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
Better and worse years of the same car
High risk for a 2021 — 199th riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 5 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2023 comes out best at 65 and 2022 worst at 85, with 2021 itself at 66.
No other year of this model scores meaningfully better than 2021, so if this generation is what you want, the year is not the lever.
Within the 2020–2025 generation specifically, 2023 is the strongest year at 65 and 2022 the weakest at 85.
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 2020-2025 generation, 2023 Cadillac Xt6 scores best at 65 and 2022 Cadillac Xt6 worst at 85.
What this page cannot tell you
24 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 24 reports, 4 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 17% 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 2021 Cadillac Xt6?
The most-reported failures are other driver assistance problem (4 reports, median 5,000 miles), fuel pump failure (3 reports) and other powertrain problem (3 reports, median 155,000 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 2021 Cadillac Xt6 reliable?
It scores 66 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 199th riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2021 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 Xt6 is best?
Within the 2020–2025 generation, 2023 scores best at 65 out of 100 and 2022 worst at 85. 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