Cadillac Recalls 53,000 CTS Sedans for Heated-Seat Fire Risk

At Silverman, McDonald & Friedman, our car accident lawyers have been fighting for injury victims in Wilmington, Newark and Seaford for more than 25 years. Contact us today to learn more.

Car and Driver reported that one of the most prestigious car makers, Cadillac, is recalling over 53,000 CTS sedans made between 2014 and 2016. The recall is due to a fire safety hazard – a defective seat heater. Car and Driver bases its report on documents that were filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The concern is that when the weather is cold, the heaters could tun on “automatically when the car’s remote-start function is engaged.” The danger is that if nobody is in the sedan, the seat could overheat which could start a fire. General Motors, the makers of Cadillacs, and the NHTSA are concerned the “flexible heating mats in the front seats” can get excessively hot if the mats are old and worn down. General Motors has yet to provide a recall schedule, in part, because they’re working on making repair parts.

When the recall begins, car dealers “will need to recalibrate the body-control module, which disables the heated seats from turning on when the remote start is used.” The repair fixes will be free.

GM first reported a seat fire in April 2018 and noted that the car damage was “severe.”  According to the article, GM and the NHTSA believe that one percent of cars are affected – but that safety demands all possibly defective cars be recalled.

The article and recall notices have yet to identify which models are affected – only that 2014-2016 CTS sedans are affected. The 2014 generation of CTS sedans is the third generation of its kind. Different models include vehicles with:

• “a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four
• a naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V-6
• a twin-turbo 3.6-liter V-6
• or, in the high-performance CTS-V, a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8”

Product liability issues when cars are defective

Anyone who is injured due to a defective car part has the right to file a products liability claim against every entity in the supply chain – the manufacturer, the distributor, and the car or car part retailer. The right to file a claim also includes the rights of families to file wrongful death actions against the responsible companies.

Product liability is a strict liability claim. This means the victims or the families of deceased victims do not need to prove negligence. Car makers and others in the supply chain are liable if the product was defective at the time of the accident and the defect is what caused the injuries or a fatality. Defects include improper design, faulty workmanship, and instructions and marketing materials that don’t work or mislead.

Contact experienced Delaware car accident and product liability lawyers today

While many recalls take dangerous vehicles off the road, there are multiple problems with recalls. Often manufacturers or the government don’t issue a recall until many people are hurt. Owners often don’t get a notice of the recall in time especially if they’ve moved. At Silverman, McDonald & Friedman, our car accident lawyers have been fighting for injury victims for more than 25 years. For immediate help, please call us today at 302-888-2900 or complete our contact form to request a free consultation. We represent clients in Wilmington, Newark, and Seaford.