REAR DIFFERENTIAL FAILURE MAY CAUSE LOSS OF MOTIVE POWER AND POSSIBLY LOSS OF CONTROL raises the risk of A CRASH.
Remedy & full details
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE PINION SEAL FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 1, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CADILLAC AT 1-800-458-8006 OR HTTP://WWW.CADILLAC.COM; PONTIAC AT 1-800-620-7668 OR HTTP://WWW.PONTIAC.COM; AND SATURN AT 1-800-972-8876 OR HTTP://WWW.SATURN.COM.
ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, THE REAR AXLE PINION SEAL DOES NOT MEET ALL OF THE SPECIFICATIONS AND MAY EXPERIENCE A FLUID LEAK.
Complaint volume
Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.
What owners reported happened
5Crashes
1Fires
7Injuries
0Deaths
Across 69 complaints. Severity Index 0.59.
Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.
What owners report most
Power Train — 8 reports
Service Brakes — 6 reports
Electrical System — 6 reports
Engine — 6 reports
Visibility — 4 reports
Steering — 3 reports
Electronic Stability Control (Esc) — 3 reports
Visibility:Sun/Moon Roof Assembly — 3 reports
Air Bags — 3 reports
Structure:Body — 3 reports
What to do
Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.
Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.
Questions
Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?
Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.
Do I pay for recall repairs?
No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.
Why are there complaints but no recalls?
Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.
From the same data desk
Independent sites, same maintainer, same open-data standards.