2008 Cadillac CTS Electrical System Problems
NHTSA has 44 owner complaints about electrical problems in the 2008 Cadillac CTS, 25% of all 175 complaints for this model year. That is #4 highest electrical complaint count among 15 CTS model years. These complaints report 1 crash, 3 fires, and 1 injury. Median mileage at failure: 74,000 miles.
- Electrical System complaints
- 44
- 25% of 175
- Crashes reported
- 1
- Fires reported
- 3
- Injuries reported
- 1
- Median mileage
- 74,000 mi
- Related recalls
- 2
When 2008 Cadillac CTS electrical complaints were filed
First complaint Dec 5, 2008, latest May 29, 2025.
Electrical System recalls for the 2008 Cadillac CTS
- NHTSA 14V394000Jul 2, 2014Electrical System554,328 vehicles
Electrical system:ignition
This defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. Until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. The key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring. General Motors LLC (GM) notified the agency on July 2, 2014 that they are recalling 554,328 model year 2003-2014 Cadillac CTS vehicles manufactured August 16, 2001, to April 28, 2014, and 2004-2006 Cadillac SRX vehicles manufactured March 20, 2003, to August 11, 2006. In these models, the weight on the key ring and/or road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine.
Risk: If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will install two key rings and an insert in the key slot or a cover over the key head on all ignition keys, free of charge. The recall began on September 15, 2014. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is 14172.
- NHTSA 10V240000Jun 4, 2010Electrical System1,365,070 vehicles
Electrical system
Gm is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 buick, lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; model year 2008-2009 buick enclave; cadillac cts; model year 2007-2009 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl; saturn outlook; and model year 2009 chevrolet traverse vehicles equipped with a heated washer fluid system (hwfs). A recall was implemented in 2008 to add a fuse to the control circuit harness to address the potential consequences of a printed circuit board (pcb) electrical short. However, there have been new reports of thermal incidents on hwfs modules after this improvement was installed. These incidents resulted from a new failure mode attributed to the device's thermal protection feature. The significance varies from minor distortion to considerable melting of the plastic around the hwfs fluid chamber.
Risk: It is possible for the heated washer module to ignite and a fire may occur.
Remedy: Dealers will permanently disable and remove the heated washer fluid module. An updated page for the owner manual will be provided and inserted in the owner manual to document that the feature has been permanently disabled and removed from the vehicle. The safety recall began on june 11, 2010. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080, cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, saturn at 1-800-972-8876, gmc at 1-866-996-9463 and hummer at 1-800-732-5493 or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com.
Electrical System complaints by CTS model year
Raw complaint counts per model year; newer years have had less time to accumulate complaints.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the 2008 Cadillac CTS have electrical problems?
- NHTSA has 44 owner complaints about the electrical in the 2008 Cadillac CTS, 25% of all complaints for this model year, including 1 that report a crash. Median mileage at failure is 74,000 miles.
- Which Cadillac CTS year has the most electrical complaints?
- The 2006 Cadillac CTS has the most electrical complaints (48), compared with 44 for the 2008.
- Is there a electrical recall for the 2008 Cadillac CTS?
- Yes — 2 NHTSA recall campaigns for the 2008 Cadillac CTS concern the electrical: 14V394000 and 10V240000.