2023-2026 Cadillac Lyriq Problems: 19 Known Issues

Early-build 2023 Cadillac Lyriq vehicles - among the first Ultium products delivered to customers - were recalled because certain connections inside the high-voltage battery pack may be out of position or incorrectly welded. A bad internal weld raises resistance at the joint, and the battery energy control module reacts by cutting available power or opening the contactors entirely. The result is a sudden loss of drive power, a battery warning, and in some cases a vehicle that will not restart or accept a charge. The same defect population also covered 2022-2023 GMC Hummer EV Pickup, which shares the Ultium pack architecture, but the Lyriq portion of the campaign is specific to 2023 build.

Certain 2023-2024 Lyriqs can intermittently lose the driver video display while driving because of video-display-control-module software. The instrument panel, rear-vision camera image and other regulated information can become unavailable and increase crash risk.

A small population of 2025 Cadillac Lyriq vehicles built at GM's Spring Hill, Tennessee plant between March 7 and March 17, 2025 left the factory with the bolts that attach the high-voltage battery pack to the interior floor either missing or under-torqued. A third-party vendor performing an in-plant repair operation did not properly reinstall the interior battery attachment hardware. An improperly secured pack can shift or be damaged in a crash, which raises the risk of a high-voltage short and fire. This is distinct from the front stabilizer bar bracket bolt campaign - it concerns the battery's own structural mounting, not suspension hardware.

Independent testing (including Tom Moloughney / InsideEVs) and owner-logged curves show the Lyriq peaks near 188-190 kW on a healthy 150-350 kW DC fast charger but suffers abrupt power plunges mid-session (notably around 52% and again near 77-80% state of charge), dragging the 10-80% average down to roughly 90-130 kW. The 400-volt architecture means a 350 kW charger gives no advantage over a 150 kW unit, so fast-charge stops take longer than the headline rate suggests.

The Lyriq relies heavily on over-the-air updates for everything from the video display module to the propulsion calibrations, and early-production cars have a documented history of updates that fail to download, fail to install, or hang partway through. Owners report update notifications that immediately fail with an instruction to retry in Park or contact a dealer, updates that repeat indefinitely, and in the worst cases a hung update that left modules in an inconsistent state requiring hours of manual dealer reprogramming to recover. GM addressed the failure family in service bulletin PIT5966D, which covers OTA failure or a download that will not complete and notes it can leave the vehicle with a no-crank or dead-battery condition afterward. Because several Lyriq safety recalls are delivered as OTA remedies, a failing update pipeline also means recall work silently does not get applied.

GM bulletin 23-NA-124 covers a dead 12V battery, no-start, inoperative passive-key functions and parasitic draw on the 2023 Lyriq when a Serial Data Gateway Module software anomaly keeps activity alive. PIP6021 separately covers 2023-2024 Lyriq discharge only when its complete listed BECM DTC set is present.

A recurring Lyriq owner complaint is that Level 2 AC charging will not start or terminates early. The most-reported pattern is the GM-supplied dual-level charge cord dropping to a solid or flashing amber status light and stopping the session, sometimes only 30 to 40 minutes in, with the vehicle reporting that the charger is at fault when the wallbox itself tests fine on other cars. Scheduled charging failing to begin at the set departure time is a related complaint. Root causes reported on the forums include a poorly seated pigtail on the supplied cord's control box, on-board charger software bugs, and handshake incompatibility with certain wallboxes. Because the Lyriq's on-board charger is what negotiates the AC session, a failed handshake leaves the car unable to accept any AC power at all.

The Lyriq range estimator significantly overestimates available range in cold weather, leading to range anxiety and potential strandings. The algorithm does not adequately account for cabin heating load, battery thermal management, and reduced battery chemistry efficiency in temperatures below 40F.

The rear camera and surround vision system intermittently displays a black or distorted image when engaging Reverse. The camera feeds may freeze, show the wrong camera angle, or display a "Rear Camera Unavailable" message. The issue is software-related and typically resolves after a vehicle restart.

PIC6586 states that the 2023-2025 Lyriq charge-port door may remain open after the charging plug is removed because automatic closing was intentionally disabled to keep the dust cover from catching and breaking the door. This is a feature behavior, not proof of a failed door motor or charging module.

Lyriq owners across the 2023-2025 model years report that One-Pedal Driving, brake assist and Auto Hold become unavailable without warning, throwing 'One-Pedal Driving Unavailable', 'Brake Assist Off' or 'Auto-Hold Unavailable' messages on the driver display. When One-Pedal Driving drops out, lifting off the accelerator no longer produces the strong regenerative deceleration the driver has adapted to, so the car coasts when the driver expects it to slow - the handoff between regenerative and friction braking becomes unpredictable and pedal feel changes from one stop to the next. Owners describe jerky deceleration and, in at least one forum-documented incident, a failure to decelerate on lift-off. A class action investigation into this behavior on 2023-2025 Lyriq was opened, and dealers frequently find no stored fault, characterizing it as normal mode switching. This is a brake-blending and regen-control condition, separate from the ABS false-activation recall.

Certain 2023-2024 Lyriq all-wheel-drive vehicles can falsely detect wheel slip on dry pavement below 25 mph. Under a specific wheel-movement sequence, ABS can continue releasing service-brake pressure and reduce or remove normal braking performance.

Certain 2023-2024 Lyriqs may have a rear seat-belt bracket improperly welded to the seat frame. The bracket anchors the left-rear and center-rear belts and may not restrain occupants as intended in a crash.

An over-the-air update pushed between August 23 and September 8, 2023 loaded incorrectly calibrated software into the body control module of certain 2023 Cadillac Lyriq vehicles. The bad calibration - traced to values supplied by DENSO International America - caused the vehicle to stop emitting the FMVSS 141 required acoustic vehicle alerting system tone while decelerating from roughly 30 to 25 km/h. Because a Lyriq is otherwise near-silent at low speed, pedestrians, cyclists and visually impaired people get no audible cue that the car is approaching. This is a clean example of an OTA update itself creating a safety defect on an early Ultium vehicle.

Lyriq owners report Super Cruise refusing to engage on mapped roads where it previously worked, going unavailable at startup and returning only after the car is parked and rebooted, and disengaging mid-drive with false lane messages such as 'lane ending' when the car is in the right-hand travel lane or 'driving in exit lane' when passing an off-ramp. Some owners report the feature stopped working entirely for days at a time. Because Super Cruise depends on the driver attention camera, the LiDAR map data delivered over the vehicle's cellular connection, and the forward camera and radar, the failure can originate in any of several modules - which is why dealers often find no stored fault. The behavior is reported across GM's Super Cruise fleet but is common enough on Lyriq to be a recognized owner complaint on the Cadillac forums.

GM recalled certain 2024 Cadillac Lyriq vehicles because the electric motor inside the rear drive unit may have wires that were not sufficiently insulated. The inadequately insulated windings can contact one another and short, which causes the rear drive unit to shut down and the vehicle to lose drive power. Because the Lyriq's rear drive unit is the primary propulsion motor on RWD cars and a main motor on AWD cars, the failure can leave the vehicle unable to accelerate or move under its own power, sometimes without warning while driving. This is a manufacturing defect in the motor assembly, not a software condition, so no reflash resolves it.

On 17 identified 2023-2025 Lyriqs, improperly fastened left or right front stabilizer-bar bracket bolts can loosen and separate. A loose bar or bracket can damage high-voltage cables or battery-coolant lines, eventually making the vehicle shut off or become undriveable.

Owners report recurring Lyriq climate-control failures, including loss of cabin heat in extreme cold, with some vehicles failing repeatedly for the same fault. GM service update N232414770 separately covers an incorrect HVAC coolant sensor harness on certain 2024 RWD units (wires stressed at the connector), though the bulletin does not tie it to loss of heat. Owners also report temperature-control communication faults, with readings reported to swing after DC fast charging.

Early-production Lyriq bodies show sealing and fitment problems. Owners report water leaking into the cabin around the windshield, door glass and the panoramic roof, with wet passenger-side floor carpet after heavy rain, plus a constant wind-tunnel roar at highway speed that owners describe as louder than the radio at normal volume. On at least one documented case the noise was isolated to a defective passenger-side A-pillar chrome weatherstrip. Related build complaints include door handles that do not sit flush and misaligned exterior trim. Water in the floor is more than a comfort issue on this vehicle - the Ultium pack and its control electronics sit under the floor, and soaked carpet also promotes mold and corrosion of under-carpet connectors.