A class action lawsuit has been filed against Cadillac parent, General Motors Company, over issues with Cadillac CUE screens in various models.
The lawsuit – Gruchacz, et al., v. General Motors, LLC – was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. It alleges that the Cadillac User Experience infotainment screens crack, delaminate, bubble and become unresponsive. The class action suit includes current and former owners and lessees of the following Cadillac vehicles equipped with the CUE infotainment systems:
The suit explains that plaintiff, Tonya Gruchacz, purchased a new 2014 Cadillac ATS in New Jersey. Within the 4-year/50,000 mile warranty, the Cadillac CUE screen allegedly became unresponsive. After calling the dealership, Gruchacz was allegedly told that the vehicle was no longer covered by the warranty and that it would cost about $1,200 to repair the system.
The CUE screen allegedly appeared cracked or shattered and was still unresponsive to touch in July 2017, so the plaintiff contacted the dealership and was again told that the repairs would cost about $1,200. Gruchacz then brought the ATS to the dealer in March 2018 to perform a recall unrelated to the issue. She told the dealership that the CUE screen appeared shattered and did not respond to touch. 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 plaintiff was then quoted $1,053.58 for the repair.
The class action lawsuit also cites a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) sent to Cadillac dealers in December 2014 and August 2017 citing bubbled, cracked, or delaminated CUE screens. The TSB advised service departments to replace the Integrated Center Stack, which is the vertical center panel that includes the screen in the impacted vehicles. 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 plaintiff further alleges that Cadillac CUE touchscreens fail when the adhesive film and glass become separated, a condition otherwise known as delamination that results in gaps between the electrode arrays, causing electrical problems. Delamination allegedly stems from flaws in production of the sensing panel or by improper installation of the screens. The separation, the suit claims, allows moisture to enter between the materials and causing a bond-level failure.
“Poor interlayer bonding can also result from improper cleaning and preparation of the glass surface during panel manufacture resulting in delamination,” claims the lawsuit documents. Flawed installation of the panel in which clamping forces on the panel are excessive or of non-uniform nature can also contribute to delamination by generating strains, warping, and deformation in the glass that exceed the adhesive bond force of the interlayer.”
The suit claims that the GM/Cadillac should have known about these CUE screen problems via internal testing and customer complaints. The plaintiff is being represented by Lite DePalma Greenberg and Poulos LoPiccolo.
Source: CarComplaints.com
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