Reliable Auto DB

2016 Cadillac Escalade reliability

Is it reliable?

Owners have filed 104 complaints with NHTSA about the 2016 Cadillac Escalade over 11 years — 8 per year. That is more complaints per year than most Escalade years here — over the median of the other years, which is 3. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Vacuum, Frontal, and Control arm.

2012 Cadillac Escalade
Photo by Baron Maddock, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY 4.0
Complaints

104

Per year

8

Recalls

4

Years on the road

11

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (31 of 104), then Powertrain (22) and Electrical system (18). Those filings include 4 that report a crash, 3 that report a fire, and 4 that report an injury.

Next to 2015 and 2017

The 2015 Escalade has 105 complaints, 6 per year, and the 2017 has 89 complaints, 8 per year. The 2016 has more complaints per year than the 2015. The 2016 has about the same number of complaints per year as the 2017.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2016 Cadillac Escalade. How we count. Data as of .

Recalls (4)

Recall hydraulic brakes, power assist, vacuum 2019-09-06 · NHTSA campaign 19V645000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Cadillac Escalade, 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, 2015-2018 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Yukon vehicles. The amount of vacuum created by the vacuum pump may decrease over time.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Electronic Brake Control Module, free of charge. The recall began October 8, 2019. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-630-2438, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N192268490.
Recall air bags, frontal 2017-07-10 · NHTSA campaign 17V437000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Trax, Suburban and Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles, and 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 2500 and 3500 vehicles. While being previously remedied for recall 16V-651, the affected vehicles may not have received the complete software update necessary to remedy the recall condition. Without the update, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17287.
Recall air bags, frontal 2016-09-08 · NHTSA campaign 16V651000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
Recall suspension, front, control arm 2016-04-28 · NHTSA campaign 16V256000
Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2016 Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Sierra, GMC Yukon and GMC Yukon XL vehicles. The front upper control arms may have inadequate welds near the control arm bushing.
Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the left and right front upper control arms and realign the vehicle, free of charge. The recall began on May 18, 2016. Until the repairs have been made, owners are advised not to drive their vehicles. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 42190.

Complaints by component (104 total)

Engine
31
Powertrain
22
Electrical system
18
Suspension
15
Steering
7
Air bags
6
Electronic stability control (ESC)
4
Service brakes
4
Fuel and propulsion system
3
Structure
3
Wheels
3
Speed control
2
Visibility
2
Engine and engine cooling
1
Equipment
1
Exterior lighting
1
Lane departure
1
Seat belts
1
Seats
1
Show 11 more Show less
Crash-flagged

4

Fire-flagged

3

Injury reports

4

Death reports

0

Complaints filed per year

720167201710201817201911202092021420229202352024152025102026
Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings
  • "The transmission has experienced ongoing shifting problems, including extremely hard shifts at low speeds and difficulty shifting properly at higher/highway speeds. The hard shifting could cause the vehicle to jerk…"
    Powertrain · filed 2026-08-15
  • "At highway speed, the engine lifters associated with the Active Fuel Management system failed and caused catastrophic damage throughout the engine. The sudden loss of power on the highway almost caused vehicles…"
    Engine · filed 2026-07-22
  • "The first engine failure occurred while my vehicle remained under warranty. While driving with my children and a couple of her teammates to an AAU tournament in [XXX], the vehicle just began emitting white smoke. We…"
    Engine · filed 2026-07-13
  • "While driving my 2016 Cadillac Escalade, the vehicle experienced a sudden mechanical failure associated with the engine and charging system. Upon failure, the vehicle displayed warning indicators including a “low…"
    Engine · filed 2026-05-08
  • "While driving in rush hour traffic, engine completely stopped. We were stranded in traffic for 2 hours until the police came to help push us out of the street. It was 20 degrees and we sat for 4 hours to get towed.…"
    Engine · filed 2026-04-08

NHTSA crash ratings

Version Overall Front Side Rollover
2016 Cadillac Escalade ESV SUV AWD Not rated Not rated 5 stars 3 stars
2016 Cadillac Escalade ESV SUV RWD Not rated Not rated 5 stars 3 stars
2016 Cadillac Escalade SUV AWD Not rated Not rated 5 stars 3 stars
2016 Cadillac Escalade SUV RWD Not rated Not rated 5 stars 3 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim Engine Transmission Drive City Hwy Combined Annual fuel cost
Escalade two-wheel drive 6.2L, 8-cyl Automatic 8-speed Rear-wheel drive 15 22 17 MPG $3800
Escalade four-wheel drive 6.2L, 8-cyl Automatic 8-speed Four-wheel drive 15 21 17 MPG $3800

Specs and fitment

K2 generation, 2015–2020
Body styles SUV
Oil 0W-20 full synthetic (6.2L V8; ~8 qt with filter) , 8 qt capacity
Tire size 275/55R20 or 285/45R22 (trim dependent)

Known issues for this generation

Recall 19V837000 covers certain 2020 Cadillac Escalade vehicles (with Escalade ESV and other GM full-size trucks and SUVs) where the fuel pump may be missing a pressure regulator. Dealers replace the fuel pump. Recall 18V673000 covers certain 2018-2019 Escalade vehicles among other GM models where certain rear seat-belt retractors may not lock; dealers inspect and replace retractors as necessary.

Compare

Previous year 2015 Cadillac Escalade Next year 2017 Cadillac Escalade See every Cadillac Escalade model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2016 Cadillac Escalade reliable?

Owners have filed 104 complaints with NHTSA about the 2016 Cadillac Escalade over 11 years — 8 per year. That is more complaints per year than most Escalade years here — over the median of the other years, which is 3. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Vacuum, Frontal, and Control arm.

What are common problems with a 2016 Cadillac Escalade?

The complaints owners file most often name Engine (31 of 104), then Powertrain (22) and Electrical system (18). Those filings include 4 that report a crash, 3 that report a fire, and 4 that report an injury.

Is the 2016 Cadillac Escalade more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2015 Escalade has 105 complaints, 6 per year, and the 2017 has 89 complaints, 8 per year. The 2016 has more complaints per year than the 2015. The 2016 has about the same number of complaints per year as the 2017.

Has the 2016 Cadillac Escalade been recalled?

The 2016 Cadillac Escalade has 4 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2016 Cadillac Escalade?

Owners have filed 104 complaints about the 2016 Cadillac Escalade with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2016 Cadillac Escalade get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2016 Cadillac Escalade is 17 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What generation is the 2022 Cadillac Escalade?

T1 generation (2021-on).

What oil does a Cadillac Escalade take?

US notes for the 6.2L V8 list 0W-20 full synthetic on both K2 and T1 generations here.

What tire sizes does a Cadillac Escalade use?

K2 Platinum pages often list 285/45R22; T1 trims commonly use 275/50R22 or 275/60R20.