10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
101,147 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2003 Cadillac Escalade brakes problems

brakes problem

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2003 Cadillac Escalade Owner Comments

problem #9

Jun 012016

Escalade

  • 200,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Complete brake system failure due to brake line leak due to inferior brake lines

- Lusby, MD, USA

problem #8

Aug 272020

Escalade

  • 93,375 miles
Breaks went to the floor and car went down embankment.

- Sturbridge, MA, USA

problem #7

Dec 102019

Escalade

  • miles
While driving I lost all use of brakes immediately after the brake system light came on driving 45mph on a city street. While driving the stability control light came on and car shut off 60mph on the highway. On another occasion stability control light came on and steering column locked up while turning. T/C light and engine light came on while driving 35 mph on a city street and immediately lost response from the gas pedal. Dash lighting system flashes different indicator lights, display randomly goes out while driving.

- Belton, MO, USA

problem #6

Aug 242014

Escalade 8-cyl

  • 118,507 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was on I 75 passing under miller rd in flint, mi when traffic started to back up and slow down. I applied the brakes and the car stated to slow down, the brake peddle then went to the floor and I had no brakes. I was able to down shift to 1st gear and get to the side of the road. The car slowed down to where I could get it into reverse to stop it. We where so lucky! I got it to a Cadillac dealer in dearborn, mi and found out that the main brake line had rusted through. I had all the brake line replace. I have major concerns that there are thousands of GM vehicles with this problem still on the road. I have since been told that GM had a brake line material problem during the early 2000 that lead to rusting out of the lines. Please look into this for the safety of others. The dealer was les stanford Cadillac updated 10/9/15

- Dearborn, MI, USA

problem #5

Jun 252014

Escalade

  • 70,000 miles
Brakes have failed completely three times because of failure of hydraulic lines/components. Last time when brake failed I was on a freeway and I hit the brake to slow down the car to take an exit and lost complete control of the car. Thanks god no damage took place. I am having lot of rust/corrosion/chrome failure problem with this car.

- Novi, MI, USA

problem #4

Oct 092014

Escalade

  • 133,100 miles
I was driving home from work and when I brake the pedal went all the way to the floor, I had no brakes what so ever, lucky me I was close to home, it looks like the brake lines is broke, I have a pool of brake fluid in my drive way.

- Holiday, FL, USA

problem #3

Apr 042004

Escalade

  • 25,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After approximately 1 year the truck started releasing the brakes on its own while descending a mountain and had to reapply to engage for brakes to work this has happened at least 10 times since we bought the truck. Its was inspected at the dealership where it was bought and nothing was ever done. I was told it was normal for this to occur and nothing was wrong with the truck. Other issues are the electrical in the dash has shorts and sometimes the A/C does not work and comes on by itself. The gauges, speedometer and fuel gauge do not work anymore and the air bag light stays on. This truck was purchased with zero miles on it and purchased for over $ 70,000 and now only has 103,000 miles on it.

- Kingsburg, CA, USA

problem #2

Dec 172013

Escalade 8-cyl

  • 185,000 miles
Driving home from work on a slightly icy road, the car ahead of me was coming to a stop. I hit my brakes, but the ground was a little slick so the ABS kicked on. I pushed the pedal harder, there was a pop noise, and my brake pedal went to the floor. The brake warning chime came on, along with a message that said "service braking system" in the dic on the instrument panel. My brakes were no longer functional, and I narrowly avoided hitting the car in front of me. I had a dash cam running at the time, and captured a video of the incident, which I have put on youtube: Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=ve6gqfiwq_A I was able to pull into a parking lot up the road, at which point I popped the hood and saw a puddle of brake fluid directly under the master cylinder. When a friend arrived to give me a ride home, I had him push the brake pedal so I could see where the fluid was escaping. It was coming from a split in one of the brake lines under the master cylinder (also on youtube): Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=mudtdmzla2U I noted that all of the brake lines that I could see looked extremely corroded, and decided to file a complaint once I saw that it wasn't a freak incident and that many others have had similar problems with their GM trucks / SUVS.

- Huntington, NY, USA

problem #1

Aug 282013

Escalade

  • 85,337 miles
The contact owns a 2003 Cadillac Escalade. The contact stated that while driving 25 mph, she applied the brakes to avoid a vehicle pulling into her lane but the vehicle continued to move forward and then skidded. The vehicle finally came to a stop and the stability system disabled as the brake lights illuminated. The contact took the vehicle home and once parked, she noticed there was puddle of brake fluid under the vehicle. Upon further inspection, the contact found that the brake lines suffered from severe corrosion. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 85,337.

- Mahwah, NJ, USA

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