Experiencing a new vehicle should be exciting, but my 1500 miles with the Cadillac Lyriq Car have been marred by frustration and significant issues. An alarming “Service Emergency Calling” alert chimed and displayed on the screen, immediately raising concerns about the vehicle’s reliability.
Pulling over to troubleshoot, I attempted the suggested on/off cycle multiple times and even charged the vehicle, hoping to resolve the error. Unfortunately, the persistent warning remained. A call to OnStar provided instructions to park the Lyriq, but technical support was unavailable late in the evening. Thankfully, I was close to home and not on a family road trip, which would have left us stranded. The next morning, an email and report from OnStar reiterated the issue, prompting a visit to the Cadillac dealership.
However, the dealership experience was shockingly unhelpful. Despite the urgent “Service Emergency Calling” alert, I was turned away due to an overwhelming backlog of 15 Lyriqs already awaiting service. The service department cited an internal five-day service metric, implying my safety concern was secondary to their operational efficiency. After an uncomfortable wait in the lobby, avoiding eye contact from service representatives, I was simply given a phone number and told to call back on Monday, with no guarantee of assistance then. Being turned away for a critical safety feature repair, especially with a black screen issue I hadn’t even described yet, was a first.
Seeking help elsewhere, another dealership confirmed that loaner Lyriqs and customer vehicles were also facing similar service queues, primarily for black screen problems, powertrain error messages, and OnStar malfunctions. Adding to the woes, home charging became impossible due to an outdated electrical panel requiring a costly $6,000 upgrade – an expense beyond our budget and not covered by our landlord. The OnStar app, intended to locate charging stations, proved equally useless.
Currently, the Lyriq car is at the dealership for service, leaving us without reliable transportation and unable to charge at home. The dealership’s offer to buy back the lease involved a staggering $21,000 loss compared to what is owed. A respectful request to Cadillac to simply take back the defective vehicle has been unsuccessful. The Cadillac Lyriq, advertised with national promotions, has proven to be unreliable and inconvenient, especially concerning charging infrastructure and service support. OnStar, initially a key selling point, has become another source of frustration. Considering we are only one payment into the lease, the entire ownership experience has been deeply disappointing, leading us to strongly advise potential buyers to thoroughly investigate these issues before committing to the Cadillac Lyriq.
