A man got the shock of his life after he shut the door of his Cadillac Escalade SUV. TikTok user Gym Dad (@gymdad77) posted a video on his account of the incident, showing what appeared to be his SUV with nearly all the airbags deployed.
As it turned out, the TikTok user had shut the door on his Escalade, and as he did so, nearly all of the airbags inside the car deployed. This gave him a massive shock, and he was stunned that just shutting the door could cause that to happen.
“So I’ve got this 2016 Escalade,” said the user at the start of the video. “It’s a great car. No issues. Never had one issue with the engine or the transmission,” he added, confirming that the car was one that he was very happy with. Except when it deploys nearly all the airbags.
As it turned out, all of the airbags in the rear of the Cadillac had deployed. Viewers naturally weighed in with what had happened in the comments section. It also highlighted a potential issue with the 2026 Escalade, and there has actually been a recall from General Motors regarding Cadillacs with airbag issues.
How Did the Airbags in the Cadillac Deploy?
@gymdad77 USAA is awful, denying my claim Saying mechanical failure when Serra Nashville is saying no mechanical failure #viral #usaa #cadillac #gm #fyp ♬ original sound – Gymdad
The TikToker said that, after getting home one day, they shut the door and suddenly heard all the airbags in the rear of the Cadillac go off. They turned around, and sure enough, they had all deployed. The camera pans around in the video, allowing us to see that they have, in fact, all deployed in the back of the car.
“And the good news is, USAA is denying it,” said Gym Dad sarcastically. “They’re saying since there was no collision, it doesn’t fall under the collision or comprehensive coverage that I have. Well, I have full coverage on it,” he added. While the insurance company believes it was a mechanical failure, the dealership where he bought the Cadillac disagreed.
“I can’t even replace those airbags,” Gym Dad said in his video. “They have been discontinued by GM. I couldn’t even fix it if I wanted to.” That has left him in an incredibly tricky position. Viewers weighed in with some comments of their own. “The car is totaled,” said one user, while another said, “Just order used airbags from eBay.” They said that “The back roof ones are like $100 for the whole strip.” So potentially, all is not lost for this particular Escalade SUV.
Has General Motors Issued an Airbag Recall?
A deeper dive reveals that this is something that isn’t entirely unexpected. General Motors did recently announce that certain Cadillac models have had an issue with airbag inflators that can rupture during deployment. Another recall has stated that some airbags have failed to deploy at all, so it’s not the first time that an issue with airbags has come to light in recent weeks and months.
On a Cadillac forum in 2024, another Escalade owner reported a similar random deployment scenario to the same one that Gym dad had recounted. Sadly, there wasn’t a follow-up as to what happened to his SUV, but it is clearly not something isolated to one person. Driving around without airbags isn’t safe in the slightest, as if there is an accident, it could have serious, if not fatal, consequences. If the replacement airbags can be sourced, the TikTok user might be able to fix the Escalade. If not, then maybe it will head to the junkyard.