How many miles will a 2005 Cadillac STS last?
NHTSA holds 16 owner complaints on the 2005 Cadillac STS that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 7 past 150,000 and 1 past 200,000. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 101 complaints on this model year, 81 of them with a mileage, and half of those mileages are at or under 57,000 miles; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 81 complaints on the 2005 Cadillac STS that list mileage, the middle half came between 37,000 and 84,000 miles; 16 (20%) came after 100,000 miles, 7 (9%) after 150,000 and 1 (1%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2005 STS last?
The 81 mileages owners gave run from 30 to 279,900 miles. A quarter are at or under 37,800 miles, half at or under 57,000, three quarters at or under 83,029 and nine in ten at or under 144,719; 16 (20%) came after 100,000 miles, 7 (9%) after 150,000 and 1 (1%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2005 STS wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Most of these reports came early in the vehicle's life: 65 of the 81 came at or under 100,000 miles. The 16 past that mark show the 2005 STS still being driven at those mileages, not how many reach them: NHTSA's file counts complaints, not the vehicles on the road.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 30 miles |
| 25th percentile | 37,800 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 57,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 83,029 miles |
| 90th percentile | 144,719 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 279,900 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 16 (20%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 7 (9%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 1 (1%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 339 NHTSA owner complaints on the Cadillac STS that list mileage came after 63,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Cadillac STS last? →
Common problems with the 2005 STS
NHTSA's file holds 101 owner complaints on the 2005 Cadillac STS. Owners named the electrical system most often: 23 complaints, and half of the 20 that list a mileage came after 60,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 23 | 20 | 61,000 |
| Power Train | 18 | 14 | 62,000 |
| Engine | 12 | 10 | 91,000 |
| Air Bags | 11 | 8 | 67,000 |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 7 | 5 | 40,898 |
Of the 101 complaints, 13 report a crash, 4 report a fire and 4 report an injury (4 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2005 STS a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2005 is a good or a bad STS: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2005 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 101 complaints, the 2005 ranks 2nd of the 8 Cadillac STS model years from 1999 to 2009 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2006 (139). The fewest: the 2000 and 2001 (12 each).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 STS | 13 | 9 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2000 STS | 12 | 7 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2001 STS | 12 | 7 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2005 (this page) | 101 | 81 | 57,000 |
| 2006 STS | 139 | 114 | 72,000 |
| 2007 STS | 52 | 41 | 55,000 |
| 2008 STS | 50 | 43 | 57,500 |
| 2009 STS | 15 | 13 | 70,000 |
2005 Cadillac STS recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 3 recall campaigns that name the 2005 Cadillac STS. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2005 STS lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2005 STS.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 20 of the 101 complaints on the 2005 Cadillac STS give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: STS. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: STS.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2005 Cadillac STS questions
How many miles will a 2005 Cadillac STS last?
NHTSA holds 16 owner complaints on the 2005 Cadillac STS that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 7 past 150,000 and 1 past 200,000. Of the 81 complaints on the 2005 Cadillac STS that list mileage, the middle half came between 37,000 and 84,000 miles; 16 (20%) came after 100,000 miles, 7 (9%) after 150,000 and 1 (1%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2005 STS that never had one.
What are the most common 2005 Cadillac STS problems?
NHTSA's file holds 101 owner complaints on the 2005 Cadillac STS. Owners named the electrical system most often: 23 complaints, and half of the 20 that list a mileage came after 60,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 101 complaints, 13 report a crash, 4 report a fire and 4 report an injury (4 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2005 Cadillac STS a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2005 is a good or a bad STS: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2005 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 101 complaints, the 2005 ranks 2nd of the 8 Cadillac STS model years from 1999 to 2009 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2006 (139). The fewest: the 2000 and 2001 (12 each).
How many recalls does the 2005 Cadillac STS have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 3 recall campaigns that name the 2005 Cadillac STS. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2005 Cadillac STS before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2005 Cadillac STS.