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Cadillac Escalade

Every model year 2016–2027: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

12 Model years 2016–2027

38 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years

1,036 Complaints owner reports, all years

A Newest grade 2027 Safety Signal

2019 Best on record cleanest filed year

The 2027 Escalade →Which years to avoid Compare it

Cadillac Escalade — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Cadillac Escalade · Photo: BuickCentury04 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Active NHTSA advisory on 2 model years of the Escalade — park outside or do not drive. The year rows below carry it.

Every Cadillac Escalade model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year

Year	Powertrains	Safety	Recalls	Complaints	Crash	Best efficiency
2027	Gas	A	0	0	—	17 mpg
2026	Gas	D	4	54	★★★★★	17 mpg
2025	Gas	A	1	39	★★★★★	17 mpg
2024	Gas Diesel	B	2	74	★★★★☆	23 mpg
2023	Gas Diesel	C	4	234	★★★★☆	23 mpg
2022	Gas Diesel	C	4	142	★★★★☆	23 mpg
2021	Gas Diesel	F	12	169	★★★★☆	23 mpg
2020	Gas	B	2	36	—	17 mpg
2019	Gas	A	1	59	—	17 mpg
2018	Gas	B	2	36	★★★★☆	17 mpg
2017	Gas	B	2	89	★★★★☆	17 mpg
2016	Gas	D	4	104	—	17 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road

Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2019

On the filed record so far, the 2019 is the cleanest Escalade year we hold, and the 2016 the one to check hardest. The 2016 carries a standing park-outside or do-not-drive advisory, which outranks every other number on this page.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

Year	Safety Signal	Recalls /yr	Complaints /yr
2019	A	0.1	8
2017	B	0.2	10
2018	B	0.2	4
2020	B	0.3	6
2023	C	1.3	78
2022	C	1	36	1 critical
2021	F	2.4	34	1 critical
2016	D	0.4	10	Advisory

What owners filed about the Cadillac Escalade, by system

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsEvery system, every year →

The systems the federal record is deep on for this nameplate: the complaints per model year, the mileage owners reported them at, and every recall, investigation and manufacturer bulletin filed under the heading — each one linked, none a failure rate.

engine problems 712 complaints, every model year

What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record

2025: dropped diesel; best combined mpg 23 → 17; 5 → 3 EPA configurations
2023: 6 → 5 EPA configurations
2021: added diesel; best combined mpg 17 → 23; 2 → 6 EPA configurations

Compare

All Escalade head-to-heads →Which is better for you? →

Head-to-head	Verdict
2027 Escalade vs Chevrolet Traverse · Large SUV	Traverse +15.4
2027 Escalade vs Kia Telluride · Large SUV	Telluride +11.8
2027 Escalade vs Ford Explorer · Large SUV	Explorer +3.4

Common questions about the Cadillac Escalade

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Cadillac Escalade year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2019 Escalade comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade A (92/100), 1 recall and 59 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Cadillac Escalade years should I avoid?

2016, 2021, 2026 have the weakest recall records in this range — one carries an active park-outside or do-not-drive advisory. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every Escalade model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Cadillac Escalade have?

Across model years 2016–2027, NHTSA has posted 38 recall campaigns for the Cadillac Escalade. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.