- The problem
- On certain passenger vehicles, the rear axle pinion seal does not meet all of the specifications and may experience a fluid leak.
- The risk
- A rear differential failure may cause loss of motive power and possibly loss of control increasing the risk of a crash.
- The fix
- Dealers will replace the pinion seal free of charge. The recall began on february 1, 2008. Owners may contact cadillac at 1-800-458-8006 or http://www.Cadillac.Com; pontiac at 1-800-620-7668 or http://www.Pontiac.Com; and saturn at 1-800-972-8876 or http://www.Saturn.Com.
Vehicle safety record
2005 Cadillac STS Problems, complaints & recalls
Owners have filed 101 complaints about the 2005 Cadillac STS with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system (23) and the engine & cooling (19). Those complaints describe 13 crashes, 4 fires and 4 injuries. It is covered by 3 recalls, the latest in December 2007 for the seal. For comparison, the 2006 has 141.
NHTSA data checked
FFar more problems than a typical STS year, for its age
#106 most complained-about 2005 vehicle
- Complaints
- 101
- Recalls
- 3
- Crashes
- 13
- Fires
- 4
- Injuries
- 4
- Deaths
- 0
Most common 2005 Cadillac STS problems
Share of all 101 complaints. One complaint can name more than one area. Tap an area for its complaints and recalls.
2005 Cadillac STS recalls 3
Recall repairs are free. Your dealer fixes them whether or not you bought the car there - check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see if yours is done. What to do
- The problem
- Certain vehicles have a left or right rear suspension toe link that could separate because of an incorrect weld.
- The risk
- If this were to occur, the affected rear wheel would be able to turn in or out, affecting vehicle control, which could result in a crash.
- The fix
- Dealers will inspect the right and left toe link and replace as required. If a toe link is replaced, the dealer will perform a wheel alignment. The recall began on may 3, 2006. Owners may contact cadillac at 1-866-982-2339.
- The problem
- Certain vehicles equipped with v6 engines may have a condition where fuel is no longer supplied to the engine. This condition occurs without the illumination of the fuel level low indicator light or the warning chime.
- The risk
- If the engine stops running, the operator will not be able to restart the vehicle which could increase the risk of a crash.
- The fix
- Dealers will reprogram the electronic control module (ecm) with new software free of charge. Owners were notified in december 2005 and asked to maintain at least 1/4 of a tank fuel level to avoid this condition until the parts are available. The parts are now available, owner renotification began on march 23, 2006. Owners may contact cadillac at 1-866-982-2339.
What owners say
Be the first STS owner to share.
Problems or none - your experience is exactly what the next buyer is looking for. Write it now
101 complaints about the 2005 Cadillac STS
Newest first, as filed with NHTSA by owners. Page 1 of 5.
The contact owns a 2005 Cadillac STS. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in the driveway, the contact became aware of a fluid leak. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a pinion seal leak on the rear axle. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired because the vehicle was not under recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,721.
Airbag light came on last week, and continues to stay on. Have not taken in, as I was just checking for any recalls
el carro se bloquea tanto en direccion como en velocidades. pareciera ser que pierde brake fluid and gasoline
The service airbag light is now on and I notice numerous other complaints for this vehicle including injuries. Cadillac dealer says they wish to charge for diagnostics and believe it is a seat-belt pretensioner which they would not cover. Repairs would be as much as vehicle value. I notice a recall was ordered for vehicles one or two years newer with the exact same issue. Why not extend to this years same vehicle model. *Tr
It just started making a loud knocking noise, and it dosent go no faster than 40mph.
The vehicle intermittently loses engine/ electrical power while driving. When the power loss occurs, brakes and steering lose proper functionality creating a threat to the driver and passengers as well as other motorists. The vehicle then is unresponsive to the proper starting procedure. Restarting the vehicle is inconsistent. It may start immediately upon command or it may cause a theft procedure to initiate. The vehicles dic will possibly show the following prompts just before the shutdown failure occurs; service...
Read the full complaint
vehicle soon, service stability system soon, service a/c system soon. During the shutdown failure, no electrical components are operable but power is still available to the car allowing the dic to prompt 'no fob detected' or 'theft attempted' and the fob will intermittently allow you to send lock/ unlock commands during the shutdown failure. The failure happens in any scenario and is intermittent in the aspect of no failure occurs for a week or 5 failures occur in a day. I cannot determine when the failures began happening considering I purchased the vehicle used with 155000 miles and the failures have been happening since day 3 of my ownership. The vehicle is currently at a midland michigan cadillac dealership being diagnosed.
My fuel hand is always inaccurate. When it get close to the 1/8th marker the engine completely turns off due to lack of fuel. From my understanding my vehicle has already been taken in for all recalls but this problem has not been fixed.
After driving car and shutting it off and trying to start it unless then 2 hours of shutting car off car will not start unless unhooking the battery
Was driving low beam lights went out smelled wires burning left side wire harness was melting I was on my way home on highway 51 north at around d 10:45 in the evening
Takata recall -airbag light comes on and goes off on my 2005 cadillac sts.. I am afraid to drive my car.
New tires failed on black ice. Not have traction for condition of road. Tires designed for summer only. Like snow tires for winter only. Vehicle went into oncoming lane, hit on side, spun. - And car trunk demolished - car still ran. But busted exhaust and catalytic converter. Flat tire, rear door jammed on one side. No other cars driving same section had a problem. No major physical injuries to either vehicle... Hopefully. Just mental ones. Figure vehicle mfg should have sent out notice. And tire company not sell such tires to seniors. And tire store should not sell them unless for race track.
When I move the driver's seat the "airbag" symbol appears on the dashboard. If I move the seat back and forth , after a few tries, the "airbag" symbol disappears. I was not able to look under the seat, but I have seen a video where somebody had the exact same problem but found burnt wires under the seat. I am wondering if there is a fire hazard. This happened when the car is stationary.
Without warning my transmission stopped working . I can move the greer with out it collecting any greer . No engine check light nothing . I pulled the parking lot and had to be pushed out street .
2005 Cadillas sts - frame rotting out - car is garage kept. Upon inspection on my lift this weekend, I found substantial rust to both lower frame rails just behind the mounts for engine cradle. Manufacturer fills the frame rails of this area with foam which absorbs and holds water and rots the frame rail from the inside out. This is definitely a manufacturer defect. Now looking at thousands to repair a vehicle in otherwise very good condition.
B0022 issue has been detected in the air bag deployment system. Passenger seat belt retractor is inoperable and will not retract seat belt when needed. The air bag warning lite shows on dash when start of engine and continuous on .
Manufacture produced this car filling the inside of the unibody rails with an absorbent foam. These rails also have manufactured holes allowing water to enter the rails. The water is then absorbed in the foam and through age it has cause the unibody rails to rot from the inside out. This is the main structure of the car. I also have a 2007 cadillac sts with 85k where this is starting to become present and an 2005 cadillac srx 130k where this already happened and had to spend thousands in repairs. I understand with...
Read the full complaint
age comes rust however this is a manufacture defect. There is no reason for these cars main structure to of been filled with foam causing the "frame" to rot specifically where the engine cradle bolts to the body structure. Had this addressed now I could of been driving the car and had the engine subframe rip from the unibody.
I had the service air bags light repaired at 55,000 miles now have 70,000 miles and have the same problem if my car was a 2005 cts and not a sts cadillac would repair it. I am driving a car with out air bag protection. I never owned a foreign car and now see why the are so popular. No more american built cars.
Just bought the vehicle used and I hear a noise coming from the rear back of the car. The key fob wasn't working correctly and drained the battery and I had to buy a new battery. I really don't know what wrong with the vehicle but its driveable for now besides the slight banging noise. It need to be checked for recalls.
On june 9, 2016 I was driving on a wet road so when I tried to stop it took an extreme amount of distance to get the car to stop. I figured the brakes got a little wet causing the probable. The next day my wife was driving the car. Traffic stopped ahead of her stopped so she tried to stop. With both legs pushing on the brake pedals the car would not stop. She was almost killed since she had to hit the car in front of her. The car only has 57000 miles on it so figured the car had a lot of life in it. Not anymore....
Read the full complaint
The dealer (ed morse in tampa) has made a preliminary inspection and looks like the car is totaled. This all happed on a 45 mph road with lots of room to move about but not at a red light. I guess I need to look for something other than cadillac for quality as much as I liked the car.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 cadillac sts. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle shook and the check engine light illuminated. The vehicle was driven back to the contact's residence and smoke emitted from the engine. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the ignition coil had total meltdown surrounded by small flames, and the fuse was blown for the odd injectors. A fire report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,920.
Passenger air bag warning is on. It was repaired once under warranty. I am now driving with no air bags because the defective module was replaced with a module from the same manufacturer that made the first defective one. If my car was a cts it would be repaired by cadillac as hundreds of cts cars have been recalled for this reason. I have owned cadillacs most of my life. This may be the last one.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 cadillac sts. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start without warning. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact had the battery changed, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000.
S10 appropriate handling- letter to the secretary from constituent re copy of a letter addressed to general motors chief executive officer mary barra regarding the recall of vehicles that can leak oil and catch fire. *Smd the consumer stated the technician showed him where burnt oil had leaked through engine gaskets between the crankcase and manifold. The consumer was quoted a price of $ 4,153.00 For the replacement of the gaskets. The price went up, after the repairs were in progress. The consumer was informed additional gaskets were needed. *Jb
While driving the engine shut down, this happened twice in the same day. My wife now refuses to drive the car and wants to sell it.
While driving down the street in my cadillac sts a (service electric system) warning flashed on my dash. A few moments later everything electric in my car started to shut down. The radio, power steering, lights, and finally the engine. I cruised to the side of the road and put the car in neutral and engaged the emergency brakes. *Tr
Cadillac STS: every year compared
All STS years2005 Cadillac STS vs rivals
| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 Cadillac STS | 101 | 3 | F | |
| 2005 Cadillac CTS | 284 | 6 | F | Compare |
| 2005 Cadillac SRX | 122 | 3 | B | Compare |
| 2005 Cadillac Deville | 104 | 1 | F | Compare |
| 2005 Cadillac Escalade | 62 | 4 | C | Compare |
| 2005 Cadillac Escalade ESV | 57 | 1 | B | Compare |
| 2005 Cadillac Escalade EXT | 48 | 1 | B | Compare |
| 2005 Cadillac XLR | 31 | 3 | F | Compare |
More sales usually means more complaints, so compare similar vehicles of the same year. The grade compares each vehicle with its own model's other years.
Questions about the 2005 Cadillac STS
Does the 2005 Cadillac STS have any recalls?
Yes - NHTSA lists 3 recalls for the 2005 Cadillac STS: seal (December 2007); rear (April 2006); delivery (January 2006). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see whether yours has been fixed.
What are the most common problems with the 2005 Cadillac STS?
By the complaints owners filed with NHTSA, the most common problem areas are the electrical system (23), engine & cooling (19), transmission & drivetrain (18).
How many complaints has the 2005 Cadillac STS had?
101 complaints have been filed with NHTSA, the first on June 3, 2005 and the latest on January 31, 2025. Of these, 13 describe a crash and 4 a fire, and together they report 4 injuries and 0 deaths.
Is the 2005 Cadillac STS a reliable vehicle?
Its Safety Index is 5 out of 100 (grade F: far more problems than a typical Cadillac STS year, for its age). The index weighs complaints, crashes, fires, injuries, deaths and recalls against how long the vehicle has been on the road, compared with the same model's other years. It is not a measure of every repair - read the complaints and owner experiences, and have any used vehicle inspected before you buy.
Which Cadillac STS years have the most complaints?
2006 (141), 2005 (101), 2007 (53). See every Cadillac STS year compared.
What should I do if my 2005 Cadillac STS has a problem?
If it is a safety problem, stop driving it if it is unsafe and contact your dealer. Report it to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem - enough reports start investigations and recalls - and share your experience here so other owners know what to look for.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data