Cadillac CUE Problems

We Tried it at Home
3 min readJun 20, 2020

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When you think of Cadillac, you think of luxury cars. Which is true to an extent, but quality seems to be lacking in their cars and SUVs.

Looks like another lawsuit was brought against Cadillac in September 2019 due to the CUE (Cadillac User Experience) screen cracking like spider web patterns, which prevent the screen from recognizing touch inputs.

Don’t get me wrong I love my 2013 Cadillac SRX. This is the second Cadillac I have owned, the first being a 2005 CTS, which I traded on a 2006 Corvette.

I bought my used 2013 SRX in November 2016. Since I have owned it, I have replaced the Cadillac CUE in October 2018. I replaced the control module and motor for the lift gate, plus had the sunroof drains unclogged, so that doesn’t happen again in April 2019 and replaced the headlights in November 2019.

See my other articles about Cadillac Sunroof Leak and Dim SRX Headlights.

My Cadillac CUE problems started about a year and a half after I got my SRX. Thankfully I had purchased an auto protection plan, because I knew Cadillac repairs would be expensive.

I didn’t fix it right away, thinking it was like a computer, maybe it just needed to be rebooted. I even found silly directions for resetting the CUE that reminded me of the hokey pokey:

Turn the vehicle on, open the CUE faceplate (exposing the storage area). Leave the faceplate up and turn the vehicle off. Open the driver’s side door. Wait 30–60 seconds then close the driver’s door and start the vehicle. Then the lower the faceplate. Needless to say, it didn’t work!

At first it was just little things, like duplicating the preset stations or not letting me scroll through the preset stations. Then it started to lock up and I couldn’t answer a phone call or change the station. When it became unresponsive to anything I did and started to flicker, I had enough.

I took it to the dealership, they checked for software updates and wiring connections. Turned out to be an internal failure in the CUE. Estimated replacement $1400.00.

I set up an appointment for a later date and took my auto protection plan information with me. Total bill was $1130.00. The protection plan covered $823.00, so I only had to pay $307.00. I am not sure about the difference between $1400.00 and $1130.00, but I am glad I didn’t have to pay either amount!

I have a two year warranty on my new CUE. Let’s hope it lasts longer than that.

A word of warning if you are thinking of buying a Cadillac CUE from eBay or a junkyard. The service department told me they have people bring in used CUEs all the time and they have to turn them away. The used CUEs won’t work, because they were already assigned to a VIN number different from your car.

A lot of newer cars have modules and parts that are assigned to that car’s VIN number. So you can’t replace them with a used part and new parts have to be programmed by a mechanic.

I am afraid to ask, but let me know in the comments what issues you have had with your Cadillac. Thanks.

Originally published at https://wetrieditathome.com on June 20, 2020.

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