Delaminated touchscreens in some 2013-2017 Cadillacs prompt class-action lawsuit

By John Elkin Published September 26, 2019

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Cadillac parent, General Motors, over issues with its CUE screens. CUE stands for Cadillac User Experience, it is their infotainment system. The lawsuit is seeking monetary compensation for those who paid to have their CUE systems replaced or were forced to purchase a new car due to an irreparable system. It appears that the delamination of the Cadillac CUE screens, allegedly caused by a separation of the protective adhesive film on the screen from the screen glass, causes electrical issues with CUE, ultimately making it unresponsive.

The following models are allegedly affected by the defective screens.

2013-2017 Cadillac ATS
2013-2016 Cadillac SRX
2013-2017 Cadillac XTS
2014-2017 Cadillac CTS
2014-2017 Cadillac ELR
2014-2017 Cadillac Escalade

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Tonya Gruchacz purchased a brand-new 2014 Cadillac ATS. Within the 4-year/50,000-mile warranty, the Cadillac CUE screen allegedly became unresponsive. Upon reporting this to her dealer she was informed that the screen was no longer covered by the manufacturer warranty and repairs would be about $1,200. This, despite a NHTSA technical bulletin dated December 2014 and again issued in August 2017 identifying the problem and suggesting a full replacement of the center stack.

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The plaintiff again contacted the dealership in July 2017 citing the technical bulletin and was again told she was responsible for the $1,200 repair. The lawsuit states that she was told by dealership staff that they “see this issue all the time … the screen is not cracked, it’s the laminate.” The suit states that the 2014 bulletin makes specific references to existing customer complaints, thereby allegedly proving that GM/Cadillac knew that the systems were defective prior to 2014.

The CUE system has been the target of criticism since its debut. The touchscreen infotainment system suffers from tactile feedback issues, clunky design, outdated tech. Couple that with a delaminated screen that makes the touchscreen unresponsive and the result can negatively impact a wide array of systems throughout the vehicle.

If this story sounds somewhat familiar, it is because Ford’s early-gen MyFord and MyLincoln Touch infotainment systems were involved in a recent $17-million class-action lawsuit, too. As with the Ford systems, the Cadillac CUE quickly gained a reputation for being slow and unstable.

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