GM Extended Parking Feature Shuts Off Engine: Feature Spotlight
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With nearly every automaker under the sun now offering active safety and advanced driver features, there are a few more common sense features that get left out of the spotlight. GM Extended Parking is one good example of that.
Born out of necessity in the age of the keyless electronic ignition, this General Motors safety feature will automatically shut off a vehicle’s engine after a certain amount of time while the vehicle is parked, reducing emissions and preventing potential carbon monoxide poisoning in the process.
Interestingly, the purpose of this feature was never explicitly stated by GM, but its purpose remains clear all the same. The risks of a keyless ignition include accidentally leaving the engine running in an enclosed space, which could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, not to mention unintentionally burning through a tank of gas, though that’s a much smaller risk than the former. The GM Extended Parking feature helps to alleviate those issues.
The GM Extended Parking feature automatically shuts off the engine when the vehicle is parked for 20 minutes without the key fob present, or after an hour when the key fob is present.
GM Extended Parking was first made available in 2013 on select 2014 model year GM vehicles. As of this writing, the feature is standard on 2019 model year and newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models with keyless ignition, also known as push-button start.
Some manufacturers are moving towards the implementation of their own systems similar to the GM Extended Park feature, but regulation on the issue is still murky, as it’s difficult to determine a specific standard time period to switch off the engine.
What’s more, the implementation of a system standard comes with its own unique risks. For example, some drivers will leave pets in the car with the A/C running on a hot day while attending to some errands (something we don’t recommend doing), while other drivers will leave the engine running while they sleep to keep the climate control active.
Nevertheless, current model year GM vehicles will now shut off after a certain period of time when left in park with the engine on. GM’s cross-town rival, Ford, also implemented its own safety feature similar to GM Extended Parking in 2013, while Toyota has announced that 2020 model year vehicles will feature automatic engine shutoff as well.
All told, we think this is a safety feature that makes a lot of sense, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see some kind of industry-wide standardization in the next few years – regardless if those drivers are catching a few z’s in the parking lot.
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Never had issues with my key!
Neither have I. I have driven keyless cars, yet I always turn it off before leaving. I have two dogs and I never leave them alone in any car because I treat them like children (they are 11 and 12 years old).
I have both and the button you have to make sure you make a firm push. It is ok but no bug deal.
Worse is the FCA shift knob. If you are not familiar with it it can be tricky for some to get into the right gear or park. That is what really has killed some.
I have 3 dogs that are crated in my Yukon while I shop or travel. I used to be able to keep the car running with the key for an undetermined amount of time – always less than 30 minutes unless waiting for a show ring or trial run in HOT or extreme COLD – I live in Michigan. This is a life style for me. Now, with the Fab, I have to set my Iphone timer for 20 minutes which is NOT a feasible option when I travel and show/trial them. Hate the new Fab technology for this reason.
Does not work on 2019 high country. I leave key fob in truck and lock doors with key My dog is ok safe
exactly what GM vehicles have this….I own a 2018 Buick Enclave Avenir and a 2019 Buick Envision Premium 2 and I was never told this feature existed…..does either or both actually have this feature???
better read your car manual you might find out other facts!
what are you referring to? please give us a hint of what you meant by that comment
I hope they have an override function like Ford does.
If not, they should warn people that purposely leave the car locked, engine on to heat/cool their pets.
I have two dogs and I NEVER leave them alone in the car. When I travel alone I leave them at home. Threat them as children because they are alive just like you.
i dont have a home.. Currently I’m renting a 2020 Chevy Malibu and 110° heat Car just shut off wtf How ami supposed to sleep Glad I’m getting a different rental car
I am in road construction and have strobe lights and overhead lights that must be on while parked in our construction zones. This feature is a problem without an override button or option. Didn’t know it would do this when we purchased the vehicle, now when working and in park with strobes and overheads on the truck will shut off and so do the lights. This is a problem. I have a 2020 Chevy Silverado.
Runs for about 20-25 minutes then shuts off.
on the 2021 suburban: this is how you override the Automatic Shutdown: with the car off… foot on the brake,, press and hold down start button till the dash shows “automatic Shutdown off” this will override the feature till the car is manually turned off… its that simple ,,,BUT, it took 10 calls to different GM and dealer employees to find this solution……..
i personally don’t believe GM hs the right to tell me how long my vehicle can idle…..
I may have just purchased my last GM product. You have just removed my choice to comfortably nap while traveling. You probably will add to the crash statistics on the highways.
I have a 2020 chevy trax and it dont shut off for 2 hrs
I have a 2021-2500 HD This vehicle is used for emergency services just took purchase of it this week. Is there an override so that when the emergency lights are activated and vehicle is running it will not shut off. This could cause a problem if it’s blocking a road any comments would be greatly appreciated
Put in neutral and push the parking brake button, or buy a Ram and not have to deal with that problem, I’ll be trading in my 2020 3500 just because of that problem.
this is how to do it on a 2021 suburban,, maybe the same for your vehicle…. engine off…. foot on brake,,press and hold down start button till dash screen reads “Automatic Shutdown Off”…. vehicle will keep running till you manually turn it off…..
repeat process each time you need to leave vehicle running….
BTY GM does not have any right to tell you how long you can idle your vehicle…..
There are many people who want to idle their engines either it’s for pets, or you took your kids to the park while one decides to nap and you lock the car while it’s idling (in your eye sight). Or you’re traveling and pulled over for a nap, or maybe you off road/camping and sleep in the bed with a canopy, or perhaps you do hot shots and sleep in your truck. This feature may save some but kill others, especially if the owner doesn’t know there is such a feature. I think there should of been more though with this type of feature.
I found this out the hard way the other day. I left my 2018 traverse running and locked with my dog inside AC on blast. I went and checked every 5-10 minutes that all was good as this is my first summer with this vehicle. The last time I returned, my vehicle had shut off.
It wasnt bad enough that CHEV introduced engine stop every damn time I put my foot on the break, then they only let you use your FOB to start for 2 ten minute sessions… that’s it no more with going out to restart your vehicle… now this.
For anyone who owns dogs or children or spends a lot of time in stop and go traffic, icy winters or hit summers. I would highly recommend looking elsewhere for a vehicle.
try this….. engine off…. foot on brake…. push start button and hold down till “automatic shutdown off” appears on dash screen,,,,, this will keep the vehicle running till you manually shut it off….
repeat each time you need to override….
Thanks again Alan
Don’t tell me this tech made it on the diesels.
Alan,
Thank you…thank you…thank you for sharing.
Can’t wait to try your solution on my ’21 Yukon!
I believe this feature will save lives. We have had a few of our older customers leave their cars running by accident. One of them in their attached garage. For those of you leaving pets or children in locked running cars, that is very risky practice. For those of you who like to nap while traveling, do you really need to nap for more than an hour? just restart the car if you get uncomfortable. We should never forget that these are machines running on a very flammable liquid producing deadly exhaust at very high temperatures. You might want to think about that the next time you leave anything that breathes inside of an unattended locked and running vehicle.
I do construction and we have overhead lights (beacons), strobes that need to be on while on highway projects. This is a big problem, when the engine shuts off so dot he lights! It is very dangerous as it is on the highway with people not paying attention, this just makes it worse!
Big Dog Lover,
You do not know the circumstances that people have to use their Automobiles. I live in Texas were this past February (same month I bought my truck) we had a severe ice/freeze that shut down most of Texas electricity. 12 days where temperatures barely reach 0°, much less freezing at 32° . I was without electricity for 12 days. I had nowhere to keep my sweet boxer but in my 2020 Chevrolet 1500 all day and night while I slept and worked at the hospital. I was not told of the automatic shut off when I bought my truck. I was lucky I went out to check on her a few times and the Engine head shut off.
If this new feature is to save lives why doesn’t GM advertise it as such? Or be more forthcoming with these feature? As I’ve read through the other post, many people would not have bought GM products and that is why GM does not advertise or promote this feature.
Sincerely,
love my dog!
Thank you for your clearly written note. When I bought my car, 2021 Yukon Denali, in October, it was still hot in Texas and I almost killed my wonderful German Shepherd, as I never heard of a car’s engine shutting off. I drive a Yukon for my dogs, past and present GSD’s. I emailed Mary Barra, GM CEO, who finally had one of her student interns contact me, which was worthless. They will not give any of us a work-around to stop this rediculus Extended Parking feature!
Question – do all 2021 large suv’s have this ghastly issue?
i do not know what vehicles are affected by this “Big Brother” feature that tells us how and when we can use our $70,000 investments….
just to be sure,, because you said “they will not give us a work a round” here is what you do
with the engine off..foot on brake.. press and hold down on the start button till it shows
“automatic shutdown off”………. the engine will run till you manually shut it off…
good luck,,, we love our dogs!
THIS HAS NOT worked on my 2020 GMC 1500 Sierra- whether foot off or on the brake and regardless of how long you press the button.
I would concede the point of making this feature default ONLY if A. There was an option to disable the feature, and B. It was clearly detailed in the manual.
This technology is ridiculous!!! If people can not figure out if the engine is still running then they dont deserve to be driving a car!!! And if they die as a result then so be it.
How are people really complaining about this? This is a common mistake that happens when people get a new car and have never owned a push-button start. This is a safety option that may save some lives.
It’s not like it turns off after 5 minutes…. If you want to have a nap on the side of the road you can… for an hour… Is anyone really napping for more than an hour on the side of the road??
Seems like everyone just wants to find something to complain about and hate against.
This kind of feature should have a CUE option, so it can be turned off and also so we can set the time limit
with and without the FOB present.
Also auto heated seats should have an option to let use set the temp that it comes on.
I was surprised to find out by accident that my 2019 Cadillac escalade will shut off when idling by itself. We live where temperatures are well above 100degrees in the summer. The Dealer was surprised to hear about this!
We were lucky. Had we left our two dogs in there without checking the car they could have died. At present, they are not sure how to disable this feature. The Owner’s manual says it should stay running for 30 minutes. We have found it varies from 10 to 30.
Had we known it would do this we never would have bought it. Our Dodge Ram truck would stay running till it was out of gas if necessary. Police vehicles routinely stay running for hours for canines…who in their right mind thought this was a good idea? Informed consent is necessary for pet owners!
I own a Chevy SS and I would and have never ran my car or any vehicle I’ve owned while sitting at idle for any amount of time unless its necessary.
And having dogs in the car is not necessary. Leave your dogs and cars at home and that wont be a problem.
Leaving your car running at idle for 10, 30, 60 minutes or more is horrible on the vehicle. I guess you care more about your dog then you do your car or truck.
Dogs and cats are not worth 30k, 40k, 50k, 60k, 70k!!!
I went with my daughter to Children’s Hospital for my sick grand daughter. I had to wait outside the hospital because of the Coronavirus. After an hour my car shut off. I did not know it would do this. It was summer and the heat in the summer is stifling so I had to get out of the car and stand outside in the heat. I was there for 4 hours. When we took my grand daughter I did not know the hospital would not let me inside. I also did not know I would have to wait 4 hours. I do not like this feature and it may stop me from buying a Cadillac again.
I agree that dogs and cats are not something I would have with me on the road unless helping someone else out. However it is ridiculous for a vehicle maker to set controls like that, that have no negative affect on them. This is not a feature that will affect other people on the road. I also think the auto engine stop on vehicles is equally and stupid. But who am I to say. A vehicle that has to stop and restart is not good on vehicle either. Nor can I imagine that saving much if any in fuel. Plus it is dangerous and makes no sense. Some people have too much time to sit around and dream upcrappy ideas then impose them on millions of folks. Maybe put out there get input on it and go from there, unless u are trying to please consumer reports magazine. Which now only promotes the most safe cars regardless of most everything else. Not to mention they have been infiltrated by Amazon.com. They have become nothing more than another liberal outreach center that is driven by greed and under the carpet corruption by places like amazon, yet promote themselves as safety criusaders. Which they prolly help in that category. Just need to remember there are other categories that can also be important to most consumers
Sorry to say this to you but in our house our dog is worth much more than our 21 Yukon.
Just saying..
Tried the push and hold on my 21 Yukon.
The disabled shut-off came up on the screen but
I do not believe this is a permanent shut off because it did not work later in the day. Like always my car automatically shut-off after approx 15 minutes.
Do you have to push and hold everytime you want to leave your car running ?
yes…. it’s a one time override….do it every time you need it…prety easy override at least we know how to override GM’s telling us how long we can idle
I have a 2019 silverado and use my truck for work. In the winter it is -50 degrees out and trucks must be left running on site with headlights on, amber flashing lights and buggy whip lights on at all time. I guess big oil mines will not be buying Chevs going forward.
I am a long time owner of many suburbans over a 30 year period and worked as buyer of wood products during this time. I traveled the whole southeast corner of the US from Florida to Missouri. The main reason for buying the suburban was too have the extra room for samples, travel supplies, and a place to lay down when I got tired on the road. I had installed a small mattress, similar to what a big truck has in their sleepers, and it was a safety factor when I was tired. Now I am retired but still like travel in my Suburban for visits to friends and activities across the U.S. and I still like to stop and take a short sleep in the back. However now ” BIG BROTHER ” wants to control how I do this and my dealership tells me I cannot bypass or set the extended Parking shutoff for more than an hour , so unless the weather is prefect , I have too get up every hour and screw with a restart !! I am 66 years old and only wish the government would stay out of our lives, most of us are smart enough to know what is safe and what is not. Adults who leave children and pets in a running car when its hot or cold shouldn’t be allowed to buy a car or have kids, because they are either too stupid or too busy to enjoy lives pleasures. How about having an IQ test to determine if you need the extended parking switch ?. Why not install a switch which can set the time before shut off or allow a bypass if desired, rather than put us all in the ” dumb category “
How about never letting a engine idle for more then a few minutes without driving! Unless you are in rush hour stop and go there is no reason to ever let a engine sit at idle for more then a few minutes.
Its destroys the life of the engine, dont believe me. Go look at the cop cars that have their engines running all day and night long. What it says on the odometer is not what is really on the engine.
We use Chevy 6500 diesels as tire service trucks, even with power take off engaged truck still shuts off. Not everyone commutes the same.
GM tech told me to leave it in neutral with the park brake set & it’ll run all day long…..
So, leaving in neutral with brake on will allow engine to keep running. Sounds risky, but if you don’t want well meaning people breaking your window to save your dog from the heat, that’s what will be done.
I have a job were I idle for 12 to 16 hours a day. You people that say no reason to idle come do my job. In summer its 110 in winter its 30 or below. My job demands me on site sitting in my truck 90% of the time. If I had been told of this feature I would not have spent 65k on my 2019 Silverado. I will not buy another
Is there away of turning this feature off. I am a K9 Officer and have a heat alarm system that alerts (calls me on the phone as well as being able to monitor the heat) to the temperature in the vehicle as well as starts a fan and rolls the rear windows down.
I own a 2021 GMC Yukon and was furious, like you, about the auto shut off. I also learned the hard way after leaving my dog in my car on a hot day. Thank goodness the a/c was not off for long.
THERE IS GOOD NEWS and hopefully this works on your truck as it does on my Yukon.
Some nice person relayed this awhile ago.
Park your truck and shut it off.
Push your foot on the brake pedal.
Push the start button and HOLD IT IN for approx 5-6 seconds. You will see an message on your dash screen saying ” automatic shut-off is turned off”
Now I am a happy camper with my Yukon!!
Please note: Each time you park you need to do this again in order to turn the auto shut off…off.
Good luck and I pray it works for you!
This is the stupidest thing gm could have came out with. I purchased a 2019 trailboss and was not aware of it when I purchased. I am a firefighter and have emergency lights that are operated with ignition hot to avoid them pulling a draw on battery when vehicle isn’t running. I found out the hard way about the auto shut off. Operating on a wreck first unit on scene in the dark when I look back and all my lights have been turned off and vehicle shut down. They say this is about safety because of stupid people forget to turn vehicles off but what about others that need to have vehicle running and know that they are running. They need to have a override it’s going to get someone killed. I have contacted dealership as well as GM and got a smart comment of them saying it’s in your owners manual did you not know this was a feature prior to purchasing. One question who reads the owner manual before purchasing a truck? And next question if it’s a newer and safety feature how come it wasn’t advertised and or told by the sales man? When I came back to dealership and started to ask questions the service nor sales team even had a clue about it. Someone needs to get a Petition started to either be able to reprogram or delete this feature it should be a choice of the owner to have this on their vehicle.
Latest comment to push and hold the start button does not work on the 2020. Hope they can update at a dealership
THIS HAS NOT worked on my 2020 GMC 1500 Sierra- whether foot off or on the brake and regardless of how long you press the button.
I would concede the point of making this feature default ONLY if A. There was an option to disable the feature, and B. It was clearly detailed in the manual.