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Electrical systemPart report

2011 Cadillac STS Electrical system Problems

Complaints
3about this part
Share
43%of 7 total for the year
Median mileage
36,500miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 3 complaints about the electrical system of the 2011 Cadillac STS, 43% of the 7 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 36,500 miles.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“Dash lights fail to come up upon start - sporadic in march 2013, chronic in november to present back up sensors malfunctioning - january 2014 to present power windows go up and down - sporadic jan 2014 cd/radio volume exceptionally high and then re-adjusts itself headlights turn off when they should be on - 2 occurrences - february 2014 2 emission warning from onstar denied by dealer - jan - 03/2014 alarm coming through rear-view mirror assembly - very, very loud and persistent - february 2014 I reported several occurrences in 2013. …”

NHTSA complaint #10572730, filed 2014-03, 53,000 miles

“We own a 2011 Cadillac STS. Recently my wife was leaving for work and all of a sudden I felt the house shake. My wife was reversing out of the driveway when she applied the brakes. The pedal was so hard she could not press the pedal down. To avoid a crash she put the car into drive to keep it from going into the street. Once she was able to keep the vehicle out of the street she put the car in neutral, but the brakes were still not responding. Thats when our home became our car stopper. …”

NHTSA complaint #10913653, filed 2016-10

“The contact owns a 2011 Cadillac STS. While driving at 40 MPH, all the instrument panel lights failed to illuminate, the navigation system failed to function, and the back up sensors chimed without any object behind the vehicle. In addition, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose or repair the vehicle. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000. The VIN was unavailable. Updated 7/29/15 updated 10/17/2017”

NHTSA complaint #10717697, filed 2015-05, 20,000 miles

Related service bulletins

Electrical system: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2011343%
200917%
2008816%
20071121%
20062115%
20052323%
2004114%
2003338%
2002114%
200118%
2000325%
1999646%

Other parts of the 2011 Cadillac STS

Brakes
2 complaints
Exterior lighting
1 complaints
Seat belts
1 complaints
Steering
1 complaints
Vehicle speed control
1 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2011 Cadillac STS

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology