Preston scored early in the opening period when Youl Mawene connected with a Graham Alexander corner to record their first victory in 19 away games.
It was a dire display by the Bluebirds that leaves them right back in the relegation mire once more.
Cardiff were forced to make one change with Lee Bullock coming in for the suspended Graham Kavanagh while Patrick Agyemang made his debut up front for the visitors.
The Bluebirds had the ball in the net in the sixth minute but the referee spotted Alan Lee using his arm to control a cross from Paul Parry.
Preston took the lead in the 15th minute when Alexander's corner was met by Mawene and his shot appeared to deflect off Lee and into the corner of the net.
City had a great chance to equalise when Chris Barker drilled over a low cross but Bullock completely missed his kick in front of goal.
Neither side made changes at half-time but Billy Davies was forced to bring on Omar Daley in the 50th minute when John Curtis suffered a hamstring strain.
Lenny Lawrence made a move to change things on the hour when he brought off midfielder Willie Boland and introduced another striker in youngster Cameron Jerome.
The Preston defence snuffed out all Cardiff's lame attacks, although a fine run by Danny Gabbidon did cause the visitors problems.
However, the struggling Bluebirds were unable to create any clear-cut scoring opportunities, despite forcing three quick corners.
Cardiff then resorted to long ball tactics in an effort to force an equaliser but the Preston defence held firm.
In a frantic last five minutes James Collins did have a goal-bound header tipped over by Jonathan Gould, but it was too little, too late.