Example methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to trigger preemptive maintenance of vectored digital subscriber line (DSL) systems are disclosed. An example method includes obtaining a value representing crosstalk coupling between a first subscriber loop and a second subscriber loop, the first and second subscriber loops belonging to a vectored DSL group of subscriber loops, determining whether to automatically perform a diagnostic test on the first subscriber loop based on the value, submitting a trouble ticket for the first subscriber loop based on a result of the diagnostic tests, and generating a maintenance report for the vectored DSL group based on the value and the results.