Cadillac Recalls 14,540 Vistiq SUVs Over a Third Row Seat That Can Trap a Passenger

General Motors is recalling every 2026 and 2027 Cadillac Vistiq built so far after federal investigators found the electric SUV’s third-row power seat can fold down on a passenger and refuse to stop. The recall covers 14,540 vehicles, and GM has already paused shipments of the 2027 model while it works on a fix.

The Vistiq’s third row lowers with the push of a button, either from a switch in the cargo area or one mounted on the pillar next to the seat. In normal operation, the seatback should stop and reverse the moment it meets an obstruction. NHTSA’s recall filing, campaign number 26V394, says that safeguard can fail. When it does, the seat keeps folding, and a small child or pet caught underneath has no way to signal it in time.

What Triggered the Recall

GM opened its investigation after a similar folding-seat failure surfaced in a Hyundai Palisade, according to reporting from Jalopnik. That case pushed GM engineers to test the Vistiq’s own third-row mechanism, and they found the same fundamental weakness: the anti-pinch sensor built into the seat motor does not reliably detect resistance from a person’s body the way it detects a solid object like a box or a seatbelt buckle.

GM has told regulators it logged six internal complaints or field reports tied to the mechanism between May 2025 and April 2026. The automaker says no injuries have been confirmed so far. The company is not waiting to find out whether that changes. Cadillac paused Vistiq shipments on June 8, 2026, while engineers finalize a permanent repair.

Until then, dealers have been told they can disable the power-folding function entirely on request, effectively locking the third row in whatever position it currently sits. It is a blunt fix, but it removes the hazard while owners wait for parts.

Which Vehicles Are Covered

The recall applies to Cadillac Vistiq SUVs built across two separate production windows: November 12, 2024 through April 9, 2026, and January 16, 2026 through June 15, 2026. That spans nearly the entire production run of the vehicle to date, which is why GM opted to recall the full population rather than trying to isolate a narrower batch with a specific parts defect.

The Vistiq is Cadillac’s flagship three-row electric SUV, built to compete with vehicles like the Kia EV9 and Rivian R1S. Families are exactly the buyers Cadillac courted with the vehicle’s extra row of seating, which makes a defect concentrated in that exact feature especially unwelcome for the brand.

How Cadillac Plans to Fix It

GM’s permanent remedy involves replacing the control module that governs the third-row seat motor with one programmed to reverse the fold automatically the instant it senses an obstruction, rather than relying on the current calibration. Official notification letters describing the free repair are scheduled to go out to owners on August 3, 2026.

Owners do not need to wait for that letter to act. Anyone who wants the power-folding feature disabled in the meantime can call their Cadillac dealer now and ask for the interim fix. Owners can also check recall status directly by entering their 17-digit VIN at NHTSA.gov/recalls, or by calling the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.

Both remedies, interim and permanent, are free under federal law. Manufacturers cannot charge for parts, labor, or diagnostic time tied to an open safety recall, regardless of whether the vehicle is still under warranty.

Why Power Seats Keep Showing Up in Recalls

The Vistiq recall lands at a moment when automakers are racing to add more powered, motorized convenience features to SUVs, from folding third rows to motorized running boards and power-closing tailgates. Each of those systems introduces a pinch point that did not exist when the same task was done by hand.

Federal law currently has no specific crash or mechanical test standard written for powered third-row seats, unlike power windows, which have required anti-entrapment switches from the 1990s onward, after a string of child deaths. Reporting from Yahoo Autos notes that the Vistiq case is likely to add pressure on regulators to close that gap with a dedicated safety rule, rather than relying on manufacturers to self-certify their own pinch sensors.

Parents shopping for a three-row SUV with power-folding seats should ask the dealer directly whether the specific trim and model year they are considering has ever been subject to a seat-related recall, and whether the vehicle includes a manual override lever as a backup to the motor.

How This Recall Compares to Past Seat Defects

Power seat recalls are not new, but entrapment-specific cases like this one are rare compared with the far more common seat-frame or seatback-lock defects that dominate NHTSA’s database. Most seat recalls in the past decade have involved welds that can crack in a crash or recliner mechanisms that fail to hold position under load. A pinch-sensor failure on a motorized fold mechanism is a newer category of complaint, tied directly to the growing number of features that used to require a hand and now require a motor and a chip.

The Hyundai Palisade case that prompted GM’s internal review involved a similar architecture: a button-activated power fold with a sensor meant to detect resistance. Once GM’s engineers understood how that failure occurred, testing the Vistiq’s own hardware became a matter of due diligence rather than a response to a specific complaint from a Cadillac owner. That is a notable detail. It shows the recall originated from cross-brand safety analysis rather than a rash of Vistiq-specific injury reports, which is also why GM has been able to move quickly with an interim fix.

What to Expect at the Dealership

Owners who call ahead of the August notification letter should expect the interim visit to take under an hour: disabling the power-fold function is a software and fuse-level change rather than a parts replacement. The dealer will document the vehicle as having the interim remedy applied. That distinction becomes important if the car is sold before the permanent fix arrives. The next owner needs to know the third row is running on the temporary lockout rather than the final repair.

The permanent fix, arriving with the August 3 letters, replaces the seat control module itself. GM has not published a labor time estimate publicly, but comparable control-module swaps on GM’s electric platforms typically run two to three hours of technician time, all of it covered under the recall regardless of whether the vehicle is still within its factory warranty period.

What Vistiq Owners Should Do Now

Owners of an affected Vistiq should take three steps. First, enter the vehicle’s VIN at NHTSA.gov/recalls to confirm the car is included in campaign 26V394. Second, call a Cadillac dealer to schedule the interim seat-disabling service if the third row is regularly used by children or pets. Third, watch for the official notification letter in early August and schedule the permanent module replacement as soon as parts are available at the local dealership.

In the meantime, GM and safety advocates recommend never leaving a child unattended near the third-row seat controls, and supervising anyone using the power fold function until the repair is complete.

The Vistiq recall is one of a dozen NHTSA campaigns opened in early July covering everything from Ford’s rollaway-prone transmissions to a Tiffin motorhome fire risk, underscoring how much of this year’s recall activity centers on defects in powered, software-controlled components rather than traditional mechanical parts.

Anyone unsure whether a used Vistiq they are considering has completed its recall repair can ask the selling dealer for proof of service. An open recall stays attached to the vehicle’s title history regardless of ownership changes.

Sources:

• Motor1: Cadillac Recall: Every Vistiq SUV Affected
• Jalopnik: Cadillac Recalls Every Vistiq After Internal Investigation
• Yahoo Autos: The Cadillac Vistiq Seat Recall Is Really About the Safety Rule That Doesn’t Exist Yet
• WBIW: NHTSA issues massive round of vehicle recalls
• NHTSA: Check for Recalls