Cadillac Brougham Reliability by Year

Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

69 NHTSA complaints (1985–1996).Complaint rate: 958.3 per 1,000 vehicles.

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Should I buy a Cadillac Brougham?

Quick answer from 69 NHTSA complaints · 1985–1996

Cadillac Brougham shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 15.9% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to wheel issues. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.

Most common Cadillac Brougham problem: Wheel Issues3 complaints (0.0% crash-involvement rate).

Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.

Severity Score
36388.9
Complaints
69
Crash Rate
15.9%
Fire Rate
5.8%
Injuries
9
Fatalities
1

Which Years to Buy & Avoid

Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.

Rankings based on raw NHTSA complaint counts. Sales volume data not yet available for this model.

Bottom line: Avoid the 1994–1995 Cadillac Brougham. The 1988–1989 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Wheels.

Avoid These Years

1994–1995
~10/yr complaints · 2 crashes
1990
~12/yr complaints · 4 crashes

Average

1987
~6/yr complaints
1991–1993
~6/yr complaints
1996
~5/yr complaints

Better Years

1988–1989
~2/yr complaints
1986
~3/yr complaints
Looking at a specific Cadillac Brougham?

A model's reputation is just the start.

Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $4.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).

Complaints by Model Year

NHTSA complaint count per model year

Common Cadillac Brougham Problems

Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.

Show full table
ComponentComplaintsCrash %
Wheel Issues30.0%
Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine:Gasoline30.0%
Seat Belts:Front:Anchorage366.7%
Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip366.7%
Unintended Acceleration366.7%
Latches/Locks/Linkages:Doors:Latch20.0%
Parking Brake:Conventional250.0%
Automatic Transmission20.0%
Seat Belt Issues20.0%
Vehicle Speed Control:Accelerator Pedal20.0%
Data Sources & Methodology

Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (69 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.

Sales data: Not yet available for this model. Complaint counts are shown as raw numbers.

Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.

Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint count. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).

See also: Cadillac Broughamaccident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.

Buying a Cadillac Brougham?

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