A lawsuit that filed against General Motors in Michigan last year alleging defects with the 2016 Cadillac SRX headlights has been dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge.
This suit, which was filed by a Virginia-based plaintiff in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan last year, alleges the 2016 model-year Cadillac SRX has faulty headlights with seals that can wear out prematurely, allowing moisture to enter the casing and damage the internal electronic components. This is the same alleged problem that has been covered by GM Authority in the past and is widely discussed in our comment sections. While the majority of vehicles believed to be affected by this purported issue are from the 2010 to 2015 model years, this plaintiff’s vehicle is from the 2016 model year.
The judge dismissed the plaintiff’s claims against GM as Virginia law states that an “action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued,” as quoted by Car Complaints. The plaintiff purchased his vehicle in 2016 and filed the lawsuit against GM in April of 2021, which was well after the stature of limitations had come and gone in 2019. The plaintiff argued this warranty claim should be thrown out as GM actively hid the alleged headlight defects from consumers, during this time, however the judge found the plaintiff did not have “sufficient facts,” to support this argument.
The plaintiff also said GM was aware of these headlight defects when it sold him the 2016 Cadillac SRX, as evidence by Technical Service Bulletins and other manufacturer communications that directly address the leaking/condensation problem. The judge dismissed this claim as well, saying these communications do not “specifically reference the Headlight Defect claimed by Plaintiff, which is that faulty seals and/or vent design allows moisture to accumulate in the headlamp assembly, resulting in corroded components and burnt-out or dimming bulbs.”
Readers that may be affected by the issue described in this article can view a GM document addressing the headlight condensation problem at this link, via NHTSA’s website.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac SRX news and Cadillac news as this story develops in the coming weeks and months.
Comments
Didn’t you already report on this a couple months ago? Old news.
This headlight problem is totally ridiculous!! I am a senior citizen and purchased my 2016 Cadillac SRX in 2021 unaware of the headlight problem. Now I can not drive my car at night because when I dim my lights it is the same as completely turning my lights off. This is very dangerous! I am on a very low fixed income and on disability! Cadillac should be ashamed to continue this charade claiming after 2015 there was no problem. And even after a lawsuit was filed against the 2016 Cadillac SRX headlights, the judge dismissed the case! The Judge should also be ashamed as this is a very dangerous situation!! I want to sell my SRX but, I can’t do it without revealing the situation. My conscious will not allow me to do that! It seems GM does not have a conscious!!! But, the Bible says you reap what you sow! And GM has definitely seen a bad seed on this one and they will reap the bad harvest!!
I had to get my headlights replaced for this exact thing. 2010 SRX. They put faulty lights in and will not replace them. I don’t even have proper headlights at this point. I have no high beams worth a crap.
GM for ya…
At least it didn’t Kill you, yet.
This Reply is awful…. Least it didn’t kill you yet!!! What is that supposed to mean??
Same here
I have these faulty headlights and won’t drive at night because of this. I guess someone has to be killed to get justice for GM’s faulty headlights. Very sad. I even put led’s in the fog light area but did no good. I am a senior citizen and just thought it was me not being able to see but was told at the dealership about the problem. Everyone knows it’s a problem, but no one fixes it… I was quoted $2,000 for new head lights and I just can’t afford that at this time. No happy endings on this one….. I’m not happy, to say the least…..
Signed,
In the dark in Florida
Hey, what’s the Statute of Limitations for GM’s Elder Abuse of you?
Knowingly defrauding and taking advantage and placing an Elder in physical jeopardy just might get past the Statute of Limitations…
Then again, any rational Judge would throw out the case . . . Anyone who buys a GM product clearly knows exactly what they are getting. GM Kills and gets away with it…
What a load of crap! I can’t see at night! Not to mention the screen going out TWICE and now I have to replace it again due to cracking. They will replace it with the another defective screen. They know this is a problem. My brakes went out at 70K miles and I avoided a serious accident by swerving to hit the car in front of me and hitting a mile marker sign. The ABS system went out. That cost me $3500 plus an insurance hike, Now my back up camera doesn’t work. I backed into another vehicle. That is another grand. I’m ready to find an attorney.
My 2010 SRX had the same issue . I was quoted over $2,000.00 to fix at GM as a “ curtesy “ agreement! I bought the “ cheap and unreliable Chinese parts “ that the dealer warned me about not buying and had them replaced locally . The front grille and bumper has to be removed to replace these lights . I got zero help from GM and paid out about $1,300.00 to get at least low beams . I still get dash warnings about the lights not working properly. They don’t turn as they were designed . GM knew and screwed us over .
I have a 2011 Cadilac SRX had the same problem with my headlights. To skip all the issues people having with GMC I just order my headlights off Amazon and my son and husband put them in less than and hour. I am very pleased with the headlights I brought off Amazon.
Same here. I bit the bullet bought a pair from Amazon and a friend and I installed them in about two hours.
Hiw did you make sure that they were the right size. I ordered lights to have them installed and they were the wrong size. I ordered the lights from Amazon.
You actually had to put your VIN in to see if it would fit because they had different headlights and front end assemblies like that for the same year vehicles so the VIN is what determines what light and what is the right fit
I have the same problem I am afraid to drive my 2015 SRX at night bad lights
I had both my headlights replaced for free by Cadillac . They work great now. Before they were clouded over because condensation was on the inside of the glass due to faulty seals.
I have contacted the California Attorney General with this Blanton lack to take responsibility for these defective headlights. They seem concerned about the safety of not only my wife and I but all other drivers we come in contact with. People flash there lights at us all the time as if our lights aren’t even on. I took our 2015 SRX to the California DMV here in my area and they recommend to a headlight inspection station close to me. Tomorrow I will take my SRX and have it inspected and I will get a full print out of my defective headlights. With enough proof and with this attorney general I am hoping they will go after GM to fix this problem they know exist. I also have a form from the dealer I took it to and it says in print, “ internal failure”. I feel I have enough against GM to get my headlights replaced and if anyone is going though this same problem, please don’t give up. This is just another example how a large corporation will screw there customers and not even think twice doing what is right.
I have the same problem with my 2016. Did you get your lights replaced by Cadillac? Curious about the outcome.
I would love to go after GM for all of the problems I have with my SRX. Faulty headlights, bad brakes and ABS system that caused me to have an accident, cracking screen on the electronic screen, the liftgate that works only when it wants to. It almost closed on me several times. Where do I start to get anything done?
Have you heard any response from your attorney general? I tried contacting my Florida attorney general down here two years ago and they said they wanted nothing to do with it.
I have a 2014 SRX and have the same problem. In fact, it is so bad cars flash their lights since they think my headlights are turned off.
I have decided this is my last Cadillac and when the time comes will purchase another brand and exclude all GM models.
I also have a 2014 SRX with non- existent headlights. I can’t even drive the car at night.
It’s an embarrassment to own this vehicle!! It’s the butt of jokes among my friends! ( GM had a similar situation with C5 Corvette defective fuel gauges. I got screwed with one of those too)
I now own 2 Cadillacs but unless GM corrects this headlight problem I will NEVER BUY another GM product. No customer loyalty. Totally DISGUSTED!!
But what sucks is that lawsuit only was for the 2010 to 2015 never the 2016 so how could we be past the statue
I have a 2016 Cataract SRX , bought used in 2020 from another dealership. They must have cleaned the headlights with a temporary solution so I didn’t immediately notice an issue until a few months after purchase. I is very dangerous to drive at night, but when I have to, I drive with my high beams on, but still struggle to see the road in front of my car! My car actually casts a shadow on the ground in front of my vehicle, when there is a car behind me with it’s lights on.
Cataract SRX…. What a fitting name!
You know what really sucks is that they closed it out in June of 2020 they only had it open for a couple of months to let people get notified even about this issue and have them fixed it where they were only going to pay partial of the fixing problem. And what lo and behold it was right during the damn height of COVID you’d think that the judg or any of these attorneys generals would reopen this class action lawsuit case seeing that there are more than just 300,000 that had to get fixed that there’s a hell of a lot more
I have the same issues with my 2015 and was told by GM it was not their problem to fix. Since I brought it as a used vehicle. I can’t drive at night and if I don’t make it home before I am taking my life in my hands. GM said dealer would fix it for a cost of $2400 dollar. I cost to me and I’m retired. BBB and the Fed court. Should make GM do a recall and cover the cost not consumer
It’s hard to imagine that there’s no government agency that can force GM to recall these vehicles.
It’s a serious safety issue!