Cadillac is recalling 29,347 Optiqs over a window that may not stop for a hand

General Motors has told federal regulators that 29,347 Cadillac Optiq crossovers from the 2025, 2026 and 2027 model years carry software that may let a front window keep closing on an obstruction. The condition appears when a window is raised with the key fob’s express-up function, according to the campaign record GM filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on September 24, 2026.

The fix is a software update to the body control module, delivered either at a dealer or over the air. Owner letters are scheduled to start going out on November 9, 2026, which leaves a gap of roughly six weeks between the filing and the first notices.

The key-fob express-up trigger

The wording of the defect is narrower than a recall of 29,347 vehicles might imply. NHTSA’s campaign record 26V612 says that when the windows are closed using the key fob’s express-up function, the front windows “may fail to detect an obstruction and reverse direction.” Nothing in the record extends the problem to the door-mounted switches, to the rear windows, or to any other way of closing the glass. The scope is the front pair, and the trigger is the fob.

That distinction matters for how the 29,347 figure should be read. It is the number of vehicles in the recalled population, which is every Optiq built for the three model years named. The record does not say how many of those vehicles have shown the fault, and it describes the behavior as something that “may” happen, so the count measures who is covered by the remedy rather than who has been pinched.

Express-up is the convenience feature that lets a driver hold the fob button and have the glass run all the way to the top without a hand on any switch. It is often used from outside the car, on a parked vehicle, which is also where a child or a pet is most likely to be reaching through an open window while the person holding the fob is not looking.

A closing window and the pinch it can cause

GM’s stated consequence is plain. The record says a closing window that does not reverse direction as expected “can pinch a passenger before retracting, increasing the risk of injury.” The wording points to a pinch, a compressive injury to a hand, fingers or arm, rather than anything involving the vehicle’s motion. The record lists the affected component category as power window devices and controls.

Anti-pinch reversal is not an optional extra in the United States. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 118, codified at 49 CFR 571.118, requires a power-operated window under certain conditions to stop and reverse either before it contacts a test rod or before it exerts a squeezing force of 100 newtons or more. After reversing, the window must open to one of several specified positions. The recall record does not allege that the Optiq failed a compliance test, and it does not cite the standard, so the regulation is best read as the benchmark that makes obstruction detection an expected behavior rather than a selling point. The record is also silent on crashes, injuries and complaints. A recall filing of this kind does not need an incident to exist, since manufacturers must report a safety-related defect to NHTSA within five working days of determining it, a duty set out in 49 CFR Part 573. What the Optiq record documents is a determination about software behavior, not a casualty list.

A body control module update, with two delivery routes

The remedy sits in the car’s electronics, not in the window hardware. The record says the body control module (BCM) software “will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge.” The BCM is the computer that governs a cluster of cabin functions, including the window logic, so a corrected calibration there can change how the glass responds without touching a motor or a regulator. Offering both a dealer visit and an OTA path is a practical choice for a population this size. An over-the-air push can reach vehicles whose owners never read a mailed letter, while the dealer route covers cars that are not connected or whose owners decline automatic installs. The record does not specify which route applies to which vehicles, nor does it give a date by which the OTA release will begin.

GM’s own tracking number for the campaign is N262567230. Owners who want to check a specific car can enter the VIN on NHTSA’s recall lookup page, and the record lists Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006 for questions about the campaign.

The regulatory frame around the filing

Recalls of this type run through a defined sequence. After a manufacturer decides a defect is safety related, it files a report, notifies dealers, and mails owner letters on a schedule it estimates itself. Under Part 573 the owner notification must tell recipients that the remedy is free, and manufacturers must send NHTSA quarterly progress reports for six consecutive quarters covering how many vehicles were inspected or repaired and how many could not be reached. Those later reports are where the share of Optiqs actually updated will eventually become visible.

The agency’s broader rulebook for vehicle design, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, is what separates a feature defect from a safety defect in the first place. Window reversal falls on the safety side because a standard speaks to it directly. A glitch in a fob’s range or an infotainment menu would not generate the same paperwork.

NHTSA’s file does not yet carry the one number that would show how serious the Optiq condition proves in practice: the count, if any, of owner or dealer reports tied to a window failing to reverse. Until the first quarterly report arrives after the November 9 letters, the record stands on GM’s engineering finding alone.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

More from Morning Overview