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What 160 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Cadillac ATS

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (160)Crash / fire / injury (10)Engine (48)Transmission & drivetrain (45)Electrical system (36)Steering (25)Brakes (17)Speed control (10)Airbags (9)Lights (7)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (5)Fuel system (5)

1 of 160 complaints match · Transmission & drivetrain · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Nov 13, 2014Transmission & drivetrainSpeed controlCrash1 injury

I BOUGHT A 2013 CADILLAC ATS IN EARLY 2013. IN FIRST MONTH, IT NEEDED 3 BATTERY JUMPS. IT ALSO HAS A PROBLEM WITH MOVING FROM DRIVE INTO PARK. THIS IS UNDER RECALL AS IS A SEATBELT ISSUE I BELIEVE. I HAVE HAD 2 ACCIDENTS. 1 ON A VERY BUSY CRAWLING ROAD WISCONSIN AVE, DC ON A BUSY SAT AFTERNOON IN BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC WHEN I STARTED TO ACCELERATE AND THE FORCE OF MY MOVEMENT CAUSED THE TRUCK IN FRONT OF ME TO CRASH INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE. WEIRD, BUT CONFUSING. I HAD A SIMILAR EPISODE THIS PAST WEEK LEAVING MY HOME. I WAS STOPPED IN THE STREET BEHIND MY SON'S TRUCK. HE STARTED TO MOVE AND I PLOWED INTO HIM CAUSING MASSIVE DAMAGE TO THE CADILLAC AND SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO HIS TRUCK AS WELL, A VERY LATE MODEL CHEVY. I WAS NOT ON THE PHONE OR THE BRAKE OR CHANGING THE RADIO OR IN ANY WAY DISTRACTED DURING THESE EPISODES. THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. IT HAS 8000 MILES ON IT IN ABOUT 18 MONTHS. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10654765

Working with the data? Download all 160 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2013 Cadillac ATS verdict →