Owners filed 2 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the latches/locks/linkages › tailgate › latch. No safety recall has been issued.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latches/Locks/Linkages › Tailgate › Latch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engine and Engine Cooling › Exhaust System | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2002 ESCALADE, 6.0L, 120,000 MILES. 2 BROKEN EXHAUST MANIFOLD BOLTS CREATING AN EXHAUST LEAK, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON AND WILL NOT PASS SMOG IN CALIFORNIA. BIG EMISSIONS PROBLEM. HAVE NOT CORRECTED FAILURE YET. WANTING TO SEE IF GM WILL RECALL. *TR
I HAVE A 2002 CADILLAC EXT PICKUP TRUCK. SIMILAR TO THE CHEVY AVALANCHE. WHILE DRIVING ON A HIWHYWAY I HIT A SMALL POTHOLE. MY TAILGATE POPPED OPEN AND BOTH CABLES THAT PREVENT THE TAILGATE FORM LOWERING TO FAR ,BROKE AND THE TAIGATE FELL OFF THE TRUCK WHILE TRAVELING 55 MPH. I WAS UMAWARE THAT I LOST THE TAILGATE UNTIL ABOUT TWO MILES AFTER THE POTHOLE, BECAUSE I COULD NOT FIND A SAFE PLACE TO PULL OVER. ONCE I PULLED OVER, I REALIZED MY TAIGATE WAS MISSING. I CALLED 911 TO REPORT THE INCIDENT SINCE THIS COULD HAVE CAUSE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT HAVING THE TAILGATE LAYING SOMWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY AT NIGHT. I ALSO BELIEVE THE LATCH FOR THE TAIGATE IS FAULTY SINCE THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THE TALGATE HAS OPENED. I REPORTED IT TO THE DEALER WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT THE TRUCK IN APRIL 2002. THEY ADJUSTED THE LATCH BUT THE PROBELM PERSISTED. I NEVER BROUGHT IT BACK FOR THE PROBLEM THINKING THAT THIS WAS JUST GOING TO BE A MINOR INCONVENIENCE OF OWNEING THE VEHICLE.
2 of 2 complaints, reproduced as filed.
| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Deaths | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2002 — this page | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.