GMC Acadia Shift To Park Class Action Lawsuit Filed In Texas
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Back in December, we reported that many GMC Acadia owners had experienced a problem with the crossover in which the vehicle would not properly shift into park and would display a message reading “shift to park” on the dashboard. Owners chimed in to share stories of similar problems they had experienced, with our article attracting hundreds of comments from agitated GMC Acadia owners.
Now, a new class-action lawsuit has been filed over the GMC Acadia shift to park issue. According to Car Complaints, the class-action suit was filed by Lemberg Law on behalf of Plaintiff Brandy Smith, who purchased a new 2017 GMC Acadia and began experiencing the shift to park issue shortly after in April of 2017.
Most owners who report experiencing the problem say the vehicle will not recognize when the vehicle has been put in park, even when the gear selector has been moved from the ‘D’ position to the ‘P’ position. The class action suit says owners have to “resort to all sort of gimmicks to get their vehicles to detect that the shift lever is in fact in ‘Park'” when they experience the problem, including wiggling the gear level around in place and taking it in and out of ‘Park’.
This problem can leave GMC Acadia owners stranded. There is little the driver can do when the vehicle will not shift into ‘Park’, as the vehicle will simply roll away when they get out of it. The vehicle also does not shut off fully when it is not in ‘Park’ as a safety measure. The plaintiff in the new Texas class-action suit said she has been left “stranded inside her vehicle at home, at work, at school, and at various other places away from home, unable to shut her vehicle off,” on multiple occasions.
GM has already posted Technical Service Bulletins relating to the issue online, suggesting it is aware of the problem. According to Car Complaints, GM has said the cause of the problem is “unknown” and its engineering department “is still investigating the root cause.”
One TSB posted in October of 2018 and dug up by Car Complaints says “some customers may comment on an intermittent Shift to Park message when in Park and turning off the vehicle,” and “the cause of the condition may be the park switch in the transmission control (shifter) assembly not pulling BCM signal low to electronically show Park condition.”
GM dealerships have been told to replace transmission control shifter assemblies, but these repairs do not work in all instances, previous owner complaints indicate.
Owners who have experienced this issue with their 2017 or 2018 model-year GMC Acadia can share their story in the comment section below.
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Potential buyer of a GMC Acadia SLT2 model here. I’ve been paying close attention to this issue as I’m comparing this against a 2017 Infiniti QX60. I would rather pickup this one but this Shift-To-Park issue is a huge obstacle in my reasoning. I don’t mind playing around with the shifter but this car will primarily be driven by my wife and I don’t want to have her get stuck with this issue and then have a dead battery .
So as I’ve researched so far the issue is the harness that builds a resistance to having that thin aluminum piece connecting with the button that register’s a “park” signal. The fix that GM has after all this time is a new shifter design…. BUT that new shifter design now creates a problem where the vehicle now doesn’t know its in park at all and continues to think its in drive causing people to roll forward if they are unaware.
THAT is an even worse problem than the original problem. What I’ve seen some do to remedy the problem is to take the console off to expose the shifting mechanism and use a flat-head screw driver to bend down the aluminum part on the harness so that once the shifter slides into park it will make a stronger connection to hit that button that registers a “park signal”… If anyone has tried this have the results been satisfactory?
I’m confused as to why if this is a known issue they don’t just recall it. Tonight I sat in my driveway for 30 minutes trying to get my 2017 Acadia to shut off.. they say it’s not a safety issue, but the car “rolls away.”
Just fix the problem. GMC will not have my business again. It’s been frustrating even trying to get someone to call you back from GMC.
I had a the same problem fixed, but for how long? But what good does it do to complain in this forum? Is this going to change GM’s position? Like others, I will be looking for another OEM for my next purchase. I think this is the only answer.
This started happening to my car yesterday. Took it to the closest dealership today and they replaced the sensor and gear shift for free since I was still under the 36,000 mile warranty. Hopefully it is fixed! Bc that was highly concerning
I have a question- Has anyone had the “check engine “ light come on while receiving the “Shift to Park” message. Mine took 30 minutes to shut off last night- called the dealer- part ordered, however when I got in the car to drive home I noticed the engine light on.
On a side note- I contacted a GMC Executive liaison about the situation and all I can say is how rude.. I’ve never been spoken to by anyone from GMC as rudely as I was today from this woman.
I have a 2019 Acadia and it started doing this and I am only at 29,000 miles.
I have a GMC Acadia 2017, I already had mine changed like 2 years ago and just a few days ago it started saying park to shift and has done it in the last few days this is so inconvenient and frustrating. Really hope that a solution could be found into this problem!!!
2017 Acadia Denali and have had the issue from day one. Just recently the dealership swapped out the shifter and last week it gave me the warning to shift into park and couldn’t get it to do anything. Shifter wouldn’t move and couldn’t completely turn it off. Got out to eat lunch and the Acadia rolled into the vehicle in front of me. Called the dealership and had them tow it in immediately and take care of damage to both vehicles.
Doesn’t anyone use the parking brake anymore?
Yes, it did not engage!
My 2017 GMC Acadia Denali started this “shift to park” issue a week ago. Yesterday I had a lot of errands to run and it repeatedly happened. I had to repeatedly start my car shift into gear and turn it off, each time hoping they message wouldn’t appear.
Dec 21, 2020
Tried to park back in late spring; this was the first time seeing the shift to park message, and was stranded unable to shut the 2018 Acadia off. Subsequently took the Acadia in and the “harness” was replaced. Seemed to have corrected the problem until last week when the same message and problems appear. Not safe at all, especially living in the North with cold temperatures.
Called the dealership in Thunder Bay. The service advisor said he had never heard of the issues associated with the GMC Acadia. I find this not only hard to believe given the number of GMC bulletins about this issue, lawsuits I have read about, I find it completely irresponsible and risks customer safety.
Bringing the Acadia in Wednesday Dec 23, 2020 to see what the next fix will be given that apparently no one at the GMC dealership has heard of this issue.
Absolutely baffled that GMC can get away with not formally recalling and addressing this issue. If they cannot provide a permanent fix, replace all affected models.
Now experiencing this exact issue. My 2017 is not wanting to shut off. It is stating shift to park. Roughly 28,000.00 miles only. Newly purchased on September 3, 2020. Noticed that the car will roll while it is park on flat ground. Now the indicator is literally preventing the car from shutting off. I have to start vehicle and then shut off again , move the car up within it’s space. Then repairs, and attempt to shut off the car. Called and set up repair for Weds December 23, 2020
I’m surprised to see that even after a class action law suit GMC is not authorizing. Recall. Me or any other owner of this make and model should not have to struggle to come up with repair money for something that should ethically be under recall.
I bought my wife a new 2018 Acadia and this has been going on for 2 years now and since it is now out of the 3 year warranty I have to put out of pocket. I am done with GM and their BS and will never buy another.
Bought my Acadia used with about 12,000 miles and had to go in for service with months of having the vehicle. Less than 18 months after having the piece replaced it is doing it again. And they are making me pay for it. I have ALWAYS bought GMC vehicles! I’m sadly disappointed and hope they correct this issue physically and financially!!!
We have a 2018 GMC Acadia purchased in Oct of last year. We looked at 2 at the time. The other one was already having this issue and the dealer ship would fix it but wanted us to pay for the replacement. The one we currently have did not have the issue at the time of purchase but now has the issue. It may go for days without any issues and then may happen every time you shift to park and has taken up to 10 times on some instant to get it to shift to park correctly and not show in the message center. I have called about the issue and there is never mention on them doing the repair for a discount or at no charge. They are VERY aware of the issue but if you vehicle is not under the bumper to bumper warranty you are expected to pay for it. Not very good business for GMC to be well aware of the widespread issue and have done nothing to fix their product. We have had discussions of trading off the vehicle because we do not feel GM is handling their issue with the consumers safety in mind.
My 2018 Acadia Denali has started doing this. I didn’t buy it from a GM dealership. I bought it used in March 2020 from a Nissan dealership. Where would I take it to get it fixed??
My 2018 Acadia has been in the shop on three separate occasions regarding the shift to park issue. I even had to replace the battery one time because my daughter didn’t realize the car was still on and it drained the battery. GM said they were sorry. 🙄 The car has now started again for the 4th time. This time is bad. I have had to sit in the car putting it in drive and park over and over again for it to register and go into park. This is ridiculous.
When does the lemon law kick in. Maybe GM would actually care about its customers if they had to buy back these vehicles.
Just great…our 2017 Malibu started doing this today. Called Chevrolet and they said they never repaired one out of warranty so they will get back to me on a price. Scary…
I had the shift to park issue start in December 2020 and had to restart my car or go forward and backwards multiple times before I could get the error message to stop. My car was started but not driven during the first three winter months. I started driving the car in April and the shift to park became an issue again. I called the dealership and they put in a replacement part on April 9 2021 at a cost of more than $500. After looking online I saw that others were experiencing the same problem and was disturbed there was no recall by GM knowing there was a problem with the Acadias.