Buying a Used Car Review! Cadillac Escalade (since 2014) common problems, issues, defects and complaints

 

Hello Everyone!
no matter how many driving axles this American giant has, its body still gives up under the onslaught of anti-icing reagents poured on Russian roads in tons. The chrome-plated elements decorating the body decor are the first to take the hit. Already after a couple of winters, the coating of the radiator grille and decorative moldings, with which the car is decorated in abundance, fade. However, all this is trifles. After all, there are, finally, protective chemicals and armored film. Worse, when dirt and moisture accumulated in the seals begin to rust the lower edges of the rear doors. This is the sore spot of the Yankee mastodon. Therefore, when buying a used Escalade, the first thing to do is inspect the doors for corrosion.

Omnipresent corrosion penetrates under the bottom. Radiators are surrendered to the mercy of God, and the air conditioner heat exchanger begins to leak earlier, and together with the supply pipes. Over time, the mirrors cease to fold due to the failure of the drive electric motor. Literally after a couple of Russian winters, retractable thresholds stop leaving.
In the cabin, also pay attention to the ceiling covering - whether it has swollen. It happens that water enters the cabin through the seals of the fin antenna, located exactly above your head, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe front seats. As a rule, after such a light flood, the junction of the GPS antenna with the roof is smeared with special glue or sealant.

At the same time, check the condition of the fog lights; they often sweat due to depressurization of the case. They say that everything is from the fact that they are located very low on the bumper and when parking they often run into snowdrifts or other obstacles. By the way, a similar picture occurs with the rear foglights. And the rest of the Escalade body is doing well.
Do not hit the face in the dirt and petrol V8. The design of this engine is interesting - like most American V8s, it has a lower camshaft arrangement with pushers combined with direct fuel injection and a system for shutting off half of the cylinders during uniform movement. The main problem of the engine can be considered a malfunction of the hydraulic valve compensators, of which there are 16 pieces on the motor. Moreover, half of them are active - they just turn off four cylinders in the AFM system when the car is moving at a constant speed. Compensators can periodically wedge. It is good that they are not changed immediately - all in a crowd, but as they fail. Among mechanics, there is an opinion that the reason for this is the use of non-original engine oil. The fact is that the engine uses oil with a viscosity of only 0W - 20. And all the landing dimensions and tolerances are designed specifically for it. And many owners often pour liquid lubricant with other, more viscous characteristics.

In general, be that as it may, and compensators from time to time "catch a wedge", as GM mechanics say. If an extraneous clattering noise and misfires appear in the G8, get ready for a replacement, but you must first make an engine diagnosis. And do not be lazy from time to time to check the oil level in the engine. It's not even that its volume is gradually decreasing, it is spent on natural waste. And this is quite normal. It's worse when the opposite happens. Often, when operating a car in winter in a metropolis with low daily runs, oil in the crankcase begins to increase.
The fact is that with short runs in the cold season, the engine does not have time to warm up and its level rises above the norm due to unburned fuel, which flows down the walls of the cylinder into the crankcase. Then the volume of oil increases, and its properties deteriorate sharply. If there is noticeably more oil in the crankcase on the dipstick, and it smells of gasoline from its depths, do not panic and do not rush to call a tow truck. In this case, the masters recommend to spend a couple of hours on the highway at medium speeds. Then the engine will warm up properly, and the gasoline will begin to evaporate, thereby restoring the quality of the oil. Therefore, the volume of the crankcase must be periodically monitored. Although its overflow and oil dilution will be announced by misfiring and the formidable Check Engine inscription on the instrument panel.

As already mentioned, the American 16-valve V8 is equipped with direct injection. Maybe it was not worth it to fence the garden on a motor with an outdated design. After all, the direct injection of gasoline into the cylinders is carried out by precision nozzles, which gradually become unusable from our fuel. It's good that you can change them at least one at a time - instead of a failed one. And these are almost all the characteristic engine malfunctions known today. Of course, a thermostat or a generator can break, one of the engine mounts can wear out, a starter or a fuel pump can be depressed ... But these are one-time breakdowns and they do not pull on statistics.
As well as the valve block with a torque converter in a 6-speed "automatic", which can cause trouble from time to time. However, to say that these nodes are problematic is impossible. However, the torque converter is worth mentioning separately. For the first year or two, he annoyed the owners with excessive extraneous noise, and he was even changed under warranty. However, cars younger than 2016 no longer suffer from this. In general, the AKP6 turned out to be quite reliable, albeit with some thoughtfulness during acceleration, and its durability is determined by proper operation, without excessively abrupt starts and braking, and timely maintenance. The oil in the box is usually updated every 72,000 km - since maintenance is carried out after 12,000. Those who drive the Escalade around a large city are not forbidden to do this more often - say, after 50-60 thousand km. It definitely won’t get worse, and dealers recommend it.

The new 8-speed "automatic" from GM is reputed to be completely hassle-free, although the statistics of malfunctions on it may not have had time to accumulate yet. They began to put it on an SUV since 2017. However, some features characteristic of its predecessor still remain. The automatic transmission can blunt and twitch in motion. Although this does not affect the comfort and reliability of the box.
The transfer case in an all-wheel drive transmission is considered indestructible. The main thing is to change the fluid in it every 72,000 km, preferably more often, and at the same time in the rear axle and front gearbox. Although on the model of the previous generation, the “razdatka” sinned with a stretching chain and a weak body in the area of landing bearings. On the same version of the Escalade, it has become structurally simpler and has proven itself from the best side. At least there were no complaints about the RK so far. The same goes for the rear axle. Unless, of course, you remember to wash the chassis parts after off-road trips. After all, the bridge can fail very quickly if dirt or water gets into it through the breather.

Fortunately, most owners of an American all-terrain vehicle rarely leave the pavement. But very often they place accents incorrectly when controlling an all-wheel drive transmission. The car has several driving modes: rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive with an automatically connected front axle and all-wheel drive with a locked center clutch with a 50/50 torque distribution. On serious off-road, you can also lock the rear differential. It is clear that many owners usually put the selector in automatic mode and drive like this all year round on any roads. Although servicemen advise to drive in the summer on a rear-wheel drive in order to avoid unnecessary load on the front gearbox. Whether for this reason or still from the insufficient reliability of the node, but this mechanism sometimes fails.

Quite expensive to maintain and suspension with shock absorbers filled with a magnetorological mixture, and rear pneumatic elements. With age, their rubber anthers are frayed and the “pillows” begin to poison the air. At the same time, the compressor begins to constantly drive air, trying to fill the leaky pneumatic elements and gradually becomes unusable. Plus, 20-33 thousand will have to be paid for each "pillow". On the first cars, the shock absorbers themselves (Magnetic Ride Control) also flowed from 40,000 km.

By a hundred thousand kilometers, the front suspension on double wishbones may require a bulkhead. They are changed mainly due to the wear of ball bearings - silent blocks are reputed to be eternal. Moreover, for each specific model of the machine (and year of manufacture), they can be of three versions: forged, steel or aluminum. And on some (mainly on the lower ones) it is even possible to change the ball joint separately. In general, the Cadillac Escalade's suspension maintainability seems to be excellent, and the choice of spare parts is extensive. Although the wheel bearings that begin to buzz will have to be changed only as an assembly with the hub, which by no means reduces the cost of repairs. True, bearings live for a long time - an average of 150,000 km.
If the engine combines classic design solutions with innovative ones, then the steering is a solid progress. An electric amplifier with active mode change systems is not only informative, but also very reliable. Only after 150,000 km will it be necessary to eliminate mechanical backlash in the rail itself.

But regular brakes are clearly rather weak for such a heavy mastodon with a curb weight of under three tons. They often overheat, and due to the high temperature, the rubber anthers are deformed. Often the brake cylinders even burst, drives the discs. The problem turned out to be so urgent that the Americans ordered reinforced brakes from Brembo. Powerful 6-piston calipers with perforated discs and reinforced hoses are much more effective in upsetting the car at any speed without overheating. True, you will have to pay a decent price for this pleasure.

Like all luxury classmates, the Cadillac Escalade is stuffed to the ears with electronics, and everything that is possible is equipped with servos. Naturally, with this level of electrification, failures and glitches in the system are inevitable. With age, active security systems begin to mope due to the banal corrosion of connectors and plugs. The multimedia system is buggy and poorly reads disks, the HMI communication unit gets whims. They say that when cleaning the interior, you need to be very scrupulous in choosing detergents - the plastic of the multimedia screen is susceptible to chemistry. The climate control of the rear of the cabin cannot boast of uninterrupted operation. Again, due to corrosion, the pipes of the air conditioning system, laid under the bottom of the car, flow. But what the seat heating is missing is not clear, but the heating coil quickly becomes unusable.
All in all, a used Cadillac Escalade is a good buy. In addition, it loses value very quickly, which makes the SUV very attractive for the second owner. When choosing a copy you like, first of all check the electronics - it is not the strongest link in the car. However, other components and parts also need to be diagnosed, in particular the engine, gearbox and complex air suspension. It is preferable to stay on the version of the 2018 model year and younger, when the Escalade got an 8-speed automatic and an updated interior, and many congenital sores had already been cured by that time.


If you have or had such a model, share information about what and how it breaks in the comments.