In the fall on the first year with this car I have noticed that my son, who usually sits in the back, complains about the rear seat heating being on. He claimed that he did not activate it. I have started to test it trying to understand what was going on. After a little while I have concluded that indeed the rear seat heating was randomly activating on its own. I was able to identify two cases: it could start on its own shortly after starting the car when using the remote start and it could also start while on the road at random moment.

There is no control to activate it except to sensor buttons in the back. I have also verified all possible settings before finally complaining to the dealer. I was also able to reliably reproduce at least the first case. By the way, later I have confirmed that it can happen also in summer, so the temperature is not the factor or not the only factor.

Initially the dealer tried to apply HVAC system software update that was supposed to resolve a similar problem. It did not help, unfortunately, I could reproduce the problem next day.

I have started another round of discussions with the dealer and they have finally confirmed that they see the same problem with other identical Cadillacs having the rear heated seats. And their conclusion was: if all cars behave in the same way, then this is not a problem. Case closed. Burn your bottom parts, kids. By the way, once my wife was asleep in the rear seat and he was awaken at some point because of the heat caused by unintended activation of the seat heating.

I have attempted to escalate the issue with GM and it went nowhere. After some negotiations I have convinced them I was serious about it. They have confirmed the issue. However, once the lady from customer support I was dealing with was replaced with another one they have started the same thing again - all cars behave in the same way so it is not a problem. My research shows that other Cadillac SRX owners were complaining about the same issue since the end of 2013. Unfortunately, GM does not listen and I intend to continue escalating this issue until GM comes up with a real fix. I have given GM enough time to address the problem and I told them that I will go public about it if they fail to provide a fix.

I also consider this a safety issue as certain passengers (kids without the car seats, older people etc) may not be able to turn off the heating system and suffer from discomfort or even, in some extreme cases, may have some minor burns.

Update from Oct 1, 2015: Recently GM has changed the entire ICS (Integrated Center Stack) in the car and so far I was not able to reproduce the problem. It is not winter yet but I have tested the heating in different conditions and looks like it behaves as expected. I am not sure if the problem is fixed, I guess by December I will know for sure.