Multiple GMC Acadia Owners Report ‘Shift To Park’ Issue
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Multiple GMC Acadia owners have reported a similar problem with the crossover’s transmission.
Columbus ABC affiliate ABC6 recently spoke to a Westerville, Ohio family who had been experiencing problems with their 2018 GMC Acadia. They claim the crossover will sometimes fail to recognize that it has been put into park, flashing a message on the dash instructing the driver to “shift to park” even when the gear lever have already been moved to the ‘P’ position.
This sounds like the same problem experienced by a number of other GMC Acadia owners currently involved in a class action lawsuit against GM. The plaintiffs in the class action suit, which is being led by Connecticut attorney Sergei Lemberg, say their 2017 and 2018 model GMC Acadia crossovers will instruct them to “shift to park” even when the vehicle is already in park. As a safety measure, the vehicle will refuse to fully shut off or lock when it is not in park, leaving the owner stranded. One plaintiff in the suit took their vehicle to a GM service center, where mechanics were able to confirm the problem, but told her there was no fix available at this time.
The problem may also lead to the vehicles rolling away. The Ohio family ABC6 spoke to said their GMC Acadia once displayed the “shift to park” message when the vehicle was already in park, but when they got out of the vehicle, it rolled down the driveway with one of their children still inside. They have also taken their car into a GM service center, where employees identified a sensor problem and replaced the faulty part, but they claim the problems persisted.
GM has posted a technical service bulletin acknowledging the shift to park problem, though there is still no fix available. ABC6 was also able to track down other GMC Acadia owners who experienced this problem when they voiced their concerns through online forums.
Limberg, the attorney leading the class action case over the problem, says GM’s position on the matter is that there is “no legal claim for the reasons,” his clients maintain in the lawsuit. He said that GM also argues “the problem is small and insignificant,” and it can therefore not be held responsible for it. The automaker has already sought to have the suit thrown out.
Notably, the refreshed 2020 GMC Acadia ditches its traditional gear select lever for the Electronic Precision Shift system, which uses buttons to change gears instead.
Have you experienced this issue with your 2017 or 2018 model year GMC Acadia? You can let us know in the comment section below.
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Source: ABC6/Car Complaints
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With all the complaints on the issue, the repairs made that fail shortly thereafter would indicate GM doesn’t know how to make a permanent fix.
I have a 2017 gmc acadia with 43000 miles the shift to park started 3 days ago haven’t taken in .
My 2017 Acadia, started doing this recently.
I have appointment at GM Dealer this Wednesday, hopefully this is part of recall.
It’s not a recall
GMC knows they have a defective product but they choose to spend money on lawyers to keep from fixing it, if a customer or two get injured or killed because of it then that is an allowable loss to GmC!!! KRAPPY COMPANY!!
Check out the history of the Ford Pinto. Lives, injuries, losses and inconvenience doesn’t matter. Only class action lawsuits, shareholder revolt or intervention by the NHTSA or other federal agencies gets their attention. Unfortunately, this administration stacked the deck against consumers and in favor of corporations. I could boycott GMC for the rest of my life due my problems with the Acadia, but there’ll always be other suckers in the U.S. and around the world.
My 2017 started doing this a few months ago.
In the last three months I have had the shifter break three times. Parts were replaced twice and today the assembly snapped while driving. Going down a hill at 40 mph I shifted into low and felt it snap. When I stopped and put into park it got stuck and I was stranded. Had vehicle towed to dealer. I have six months on the lease and do not want this vehicle returned to me.
my 2018 Acadia has only 18,000 miles and I experienced the shift into park issue numerous times. Occasionally I can restart the car once twice or three times and shut it off and it will work other times it seems like a beast forever. I wish I knew what was wrong with it. How do I get in on the class action lawsuit?
I just had the problem with my 2017 GMC Acadia. Shows not in “PARK” when i could see it was in the Park slot.
Car will not shut down so had to back-up , put in drive and move forward to finally get it to work.
Scary to say the least.
If I had this problem. I’d solve it quickly, it’s called ‘get rid of it’. Trade it in.
If it’s been repaired, ask the dealer why they won’t stand behind it.
Same issue here and I haven’t even had the car for a month. It’s a 2017 with 26,000 miles on it. Started doing it a few days ago. I bought it as ‘certified pre-owned’ so I’m hoping with the extended warranty that comes with, it will be covered. I am concerned after reading all these comments.
I have a Acadia 2017. “Shift to Park” error came up after the Brake Calipers work done and brake fluid flusded 11-2019.
Dealer changed the “harness” when the car got oil changed in 4-2020. The problem remained until now.
I came back 11-2020 for oil and tires changed. Advisor said I need to have the part replace $250.00
They don’t even consider the warranty for the “belt” they changed ???!!!!
Powertrain Limited Warranty is 5 years (160000km). This should be part of transmission system ??
GMC should be responsible to fix it.
Hey all,
Not just Acadia. My 2019 Sierra has been doing it over a month with 19000 miles. I have to keep shutting it off and on until it stops. Sometimes putting the park break on works. Had a lot of other problems with this vehicle too. Unbelievable. I don’t have time to take it to the dealer but I’ll try this Saturday. Covid restrictions don’t help. My Denali truck had major vibration problems before I got this vehicle. No more GM
We recently have experienced this on multiple occasions and it is becoming more frequent for our 2017 GMC Acadia.
Some car owners posted on Youtube a “Shift to Park” cause of the problem: a bad designed switch in the Shifter that has a leaf spring – it does not spring back to make contact properly in that switch. Don’t need to change a new Shifter, since the problem will happen after a while ….. Temporary bypass is pressing the trigger of the gear shift lever a few times to make the switch bounce back to contact, and the error message will disappear. Permanent fix might need a technician to open the Shifter to adjust the switch. I wonder if GMC garage technicians are aware of that!!!
They are aware of it. When I took my 2018 Acadia in, they explained all that to me. Told they hoped that would fix it but they might have the shift itself. Now I’m hearing all these claims of people going in multiple times. I had issue with shifter in my JEEP. It rolled back into my neighbor’s home. My window shattered and their home was damaged. The car was in Park with no one in it. Few weeks later same thing happened to an actor. His car crushed him. I never trusted that car it was “fixed” so we traded. No one wants to take responsibility. JEEP wouldn’t take responsibilty with mine. Ironic thing was there was something already online about the problem and they were working into a fix. just a few weeks later there was glossy full colored postcard in the mail telling owners to go in for an electronic update to temporarily fix the issue. I’m so disappointed..Paying higher insurance rate because of “my accident”.
Yes I am having the problem o. My 2018 acadia at this time. What should I do?
My 2016 Acadia has the problem with car in park but car indicates it is not in park.
This has happened multiple times and starting the car and putting in park again
does not alway fix the problem.
I wish to join the class action lawsuit.