Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (doors, hood, frame, rust, paint and trim).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2010 Cadillac SRX owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. While depressing the liftgate button, it independently closed without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. In addition, the contact stated that the exterior lights failed to illuminate. The dealer stated that it was a manufacturer defect and they could not assist. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 82,000. The VIN was not available. Updated 06/21/17 carfax cannot process VIN. Updated 9/28/18
I was in a minor collision. Ran into the back of someone. My airbags didn't deploy and my engine immediately caught on fire and in a few minutes my whole care was on fire and destroyed. There was no known reason how or why the fire started.
I had problems with this car every since the moon roof drain which is a recall now car was flooded brought it to dealer got it back it was even worse the changed the drain again sine then it has been in the dealer at least 20 times radio goes up and down rear lights stay on battery dead in the morning every light you can imagine one time or another from air bags to no key fab was serviced they flash the pc 3 times tried to contact Cadillac early response team ran me around for 2 years had my attorney call then they would not give him address for legal dept and hung up on him . …
All of a sudden I've been experiencing numerous things going wrong. First I started smelling this strange awful odor, not knowing that its some type of water leak soaking my carpet on the passenger side, underneath the mat. I had my car detailed on numerous occasion before noticing this water puddles on Thursday morning. On top that, I get off work on Friday afternoon all I see is water pouring from the roof right in front of the visor on the passenger side onto my seat. I'm beyond frustrated...I called the dealership to see if there were any recalls,and of course, it isn't for my car. I don't really know what to do at this point. I scheduled an appointment with the dealership to get an oil change and to look into the problem on this Wednesday. I must go back to when I first encountered the smell. …
(1) rear hatch cannot be opened manually, sensor shorted out due to design flaw allowing water to come in contact with sensor. This is a safety issue in the event of a fire.no way to exit the vehicle from the rear. No safety release. (2) headlights poor design , condensation behind front headlights making it impossible to see at night. (3) sunroof drain line too short, design issue. Water collects from roof drain and leaks into passenger floor. When this line becomes dislodged. Drain line is about 2 inches too short. Cadillac knows about the problem but will do nothing to fix it. Again another $1000.00. The front dash dash needs to be removed to fix this. Cadillac is aware of all these issues and refuses to make corrections, these are all common problems not just my vehicle but every other SRX from 2010 to 2015. …
The rear hatch opened on it's own. This most recent time my husband did not notice that it had happened & entered our garage with it up, breaking the window & wiper unit. As we thought back, I had one time within the past 3 mo. When I was driving & discovered it was up. Also, each of us had one time when we came out of a store & found it up, even though we always lock the vehicle. We each dismissed these earlier incidents thinking we must have done something wrong. We are having the dealership that repaired the damage check to see if they can find some defect that would cause this problem.
Vehicle has a moon roof design that utilizes drain tubes to direct water away from the roof area. The drain system failed allowing rain water to enter the passenger compartment. Water soaked the floor area where wiring was routed to the rear of the vehicle. This caused the wiring harness to fail due to water contamination at the connection points. Rear hatch began to open uncontrollably on multiple occasions. Rear hatch finally failed and would not open under any circumstances. After researching this I found that this is happening to other owners of this type of vehicle.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated that after opening the rear power liftgate door, the door erroneously closed while the contact was partially inside the hatch area. The contact was temporarily entrapped and had difficulty exiting from the powered door. The failure occurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated that the liftgate intermittently dropped down and tried to close constantly while the contact was partially inside the hatch area. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact sustained injuries to the neck, back, and head that did not require medical attention. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 43,000. Updated 11/25/15
The sun roof drain tubes came away from the firewall on all 4 sides. Water leaked all over the gas pedal and the break. I have slid off the street trying to break causing damage to a yard. The electrical on the radio system and lights short out because of water getting into the dash. The back hatch has water leaking directly into the circuit board that controls it and not will not allow the hatch to open.
Body complaints in other SRX years
Frequently asked questions
How common are body problems on the 2010 Cadillac SRX?
NHTSA has 24 complaints about the body & structure of the 2010 Cadillac SRX, 5% of the model year's 474 complaints. The component named most often is body (12 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2010 Cadillac SRX body problems?
No. NHTSA lists no body & structure recall for the 2010 Cadillac SRX, though it has 6 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2010 Cadillac SRX body problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 50,000 miles, and 23% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 4 crashes, 1 fire and 4 injuries to body & structure problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.