New Lawsuit Filed In Tennessee Over GMC Acadia ‘Shift To Park’ Issue
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A new class-action lawsuit has been filed in Tennessee regarding the “shift to park” issue that is commonly experienced by second-generation GMC Acadia owners.
We’ve written about the “Shift to Park” problem on a handful of occasions in the past. Some GMC Acadia owners report the vehicle’s electronic shift mechanism will fail to recognize that it has been put into park and will then a flash an error message on the dash instructing the driver to “shift to park.” The crossover will not shut off or lock if it is not in park, either, which can leave the owner stranded in the vehicle. Our initial article on this issue has attracted over 500 comments and counting, with many readers chiming in to say that they have experienced this exact or a similar issue for themselves with their GMC Acadia.
This new class-action lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Rilla Jefferson on behalf of all 2017 and 2018 model year GMC Acadia owners located in the state of Tennessee, according to Car Complaints. Jefferson says she purchased a new 2017 GMC Acadia when she started experiencing the shifter problems in March of 2018. In addition to the aforementioned shift to park issues, Jefferson says her vehicle is also plagued with other electrical issues that will cause it to hesitate when starting or fail to start up at all. She eventually took the vehicle to a dealership, where the service department replaced the battery, but this did not fix the problem. Another GM service center told her she’d have to pay for an inspection and any repairs.
Car Complaints‘ recent article on the matter points out that GM issued a Technical Service Bulletin to dealerships regarding the issue in May of 2018. The TSB said that vehicles will display “shift to park message on (Driver Information Cluster) when in park. Vehicle may not shut off when put in park or may not start.” Another TSB issued in October of 2018 indicated 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.” In simpler terms, the switch that detects when the vehicle is in park is not relaying a signal to the vehicle’s central control module, for whatever reason.
Car Complaints reports Jefferson’s class-action suit is being brought forth by two law firms, Lafferty Law Firm, Inc. and Lemberg Law. Be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for updates on this matter as GM continues to work on a solution for owners and for more GMC Acadia news, GMC news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
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Might want to catch up.
The fix has been around for a while. First they replaced the shifter but once the problem was isolated to a harness a replacement harness has been made to make the repair fast and easier to do.
I had the problem but they fixed it with no questions.
Might consider not all dealers service departments are equal and done really don’t know what they are doing.
The lawsuit here will fix noting and only make some lawyers rich.
One more time !!! C8.R !!
There IS a fix !!!! OK
Yet NOT ALL will be taken care of by GM !!!
This is just another ” Known Faulty ” issue that GM has stalled on and pushed out of the warranty period for many !!
Even those who reported it while under warranty, are now having to pay for it !!!
Again I am glad YOU got YOURS taken care of !!!!! By GM !!
Again thousands WILL NOT !!!!!!!
And again, I agree, the lawsuits will not do anything.
Yet for the GM customer, there is NOTHING they can do !!!!! NOTHING !!!
GM has NO customer support, so its a lawsuit !!!
Even GM cant get passed their lawsuit against FCA !!!
WHY, WHY can’t GM just get back to taking care of their customers ? All the customers who have the ” Known Faulty ” issues !!!!
Not just you !
Ha, might want to catch up, Ha !!
Why are some customers so helpless?
I hold no Special super powers or insiders edge. I go to the dealer With an issue and they fix it?
Do drama, no muss, no fuss or raving lunacy.
No one is born to fail just some chose to by their actions. If you play a victim you increase the odds you will be a victim.
Wow man, that’s pretty harsh…..trust me I a very mechanically inclined as well as electrically…….just because your dealer may treat you with respect and dignity not all do, these Acadia r junk, why did they change the shift mechanism in 2019……
I have had back seals replaced twice still rear window leaks…..sunroof makes gruggling sound when take through a car wash….new battery new rear middle seat belt, new headlight bulbs, list goes on and on….oh yeah had 440000 miles on it bud, oh yeah the shifter did get replaced under warranty….then about 11months later happening again…..
GM top of the line Denali isn’t even in the same league as my entry level 2011 C300….amazing, I grew up with much higher quality vehicles from american auto makers….
Go buy a Benz and see similar issues at a higher price.
The coffee is better in the waiting room at the Benz dealer. :-{)}}}
Judging by your language and punctuation vs the life long gm owner’s, I’d say at least some of your being able to get a repair was because you remained calm and could discuss the problem with the dealer in a direct and non-screaming manner.
Or they are HP just stable and well adjusted.
Gentle Grizzly,
Again you know NOTHING about what you are talking !
Just pushing blame where YOU think it should be, and of course not on GM !!!
You do realize we did not make these ” Known Faulty ” vehicles – right !
AND, AND —- IF, GM would have told the customer, ” your shifter will fail in this vehicle in or out of warranty without warning at any time, and we will only fix a % of them”
MAYBE, just maybe the customer would chose NOT to buy one !
I will try to tell the story, just one more time for you, and it is the same story !
I have never had troubles on my personal vehicle with a dealer, I chose to stay away from dealers, and when I do go there, I get copies of everything they do !
This trouble started out calm for 3 years, on my mother-in-laws Enclave !
For 3 years this little old lady, at 77 years old, 77, had every service done her vehicle at the dealer. the same dealer. After they installed the new fuel tank with the new fuel pump and fuel sender, because of a broken baffle in the tank, ( TSB look it up ), her fuel gauge never quite worked !!!!!
Now if they would have just installed the old sender, that one never gave trouble, she NEVER had trouble with the fuel gauge.
When the baffle breaks off ( ” Known Faulty ” ) issue it stops the fuel supply and the vehicle quits !
She calls the dealer and they tow it and fix it, YET again, just so YOU get it, the fuel gauge is no longer reliable !
———– FOR THREE YEARS ———–
Did you get that ?????????
————– FOR THREE YEARS ————-
She told the dealer EVERY time she had a service, a tire fixed, new tires, EVERY time, for 3 years, and we HAVE the advisor’s work orders to prove it !
” My gas gauge does not work at times ”
Yet NOTHING !!!!
This is where I got involved. They wanted to drive and see their grand-daughter, at collage and were keeping track of mileage in a note book because their GM vehicle had no gas gauge, after a repair
——————- THEY PAID FOR ——————— NOT UNDER WARRANTY ——————
I simply went to the dealership, as I have been doing for 37 years, without ANY troubles ( not this dealership, I did not live close to them ) and asked to see the service manager. I showed him the work orders for THREE YEARS, THREE YEARS, where it said she , a 77 year old lady, told them to check the fuel gauge because it did not work !!!
He literally said, what do you want me to do about it —- WHAT !!!!
I said I wanted him to fix it, THEY PAID for the fix, and it hasn’t worked since !
He said he did not think it was the fuel sender, so I said, OK you change it and if that does not fix it i will pay for it AGAIN !!!!!
He said NO we no longer want to work on any of their or your vehicles — WHAT !!!!
Anyway, I was calm, and had all the documentation as always, and this is where I called the GM customer service line, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 37 YEARS !!!!!
And they connect with him AND HE LIED TO THEM WITH ME ON THE PHONE !!!
He is no longer there, I replaced the sender myself, and it still works to this day !!!!
I have bought two new Denali HD trucks there, and not had one bit of trouble, with anyone !
So once again, you have NO IDEA what you are talking about !!
But I bet others here, have went through the same ordeal over the ” Known Faulty ” parts on their GM vehicles, NO, NO, NO fault of their own !
I don’t blame you for being pissed. A vehicle isn’t a small investment.
I have a 17 Tahoe, 18 Sierra Duramax, and 19 Acadia (wife’s).
I just drove it today and I got the shifter error 3 times! Gonna call the dealer first thing tomorrow about this.
To me, if they won’t stand behind their product, I’ll look elsewhere for my next purchase.
I’ve tried my best to be a loyal American car owner. (here come all the comments now)
I ask you, why does McDonalds start franchises in China? Why does Tesla start building in China? Simple fact, THEY MAKE MONEY THAT WAY. You think foreign car manufacturers building a vehicle in the US means the money stays in the US?
The next 24 hrs. will tell me if I will stay with GM or not. I understand stuff happens and not everything can be exactly perfect. NOT standing behind your product for an issue you have sold to a customer is something different. I don’t care if it’s a car, stereo, TV, etc. Reputations are build on this.
Just so you know, I was calm, not a raving lunatic….when my Acadia started having these issues and would not turn completely off the day before I was to take a trip. Of course, it didn’t start until my warranty was out. Anyway, they put the harness fix on it for $500 and I had to pay $450 for a rental car until they got it fixed. So being out $1000 for an issue that GMC knew about and should have recalled to have fixed, seems a bit unfair. Good luck to those who filed the lawsuit, I’m hoping that I can get my $1000 back….I just know that I will never buy another Acadia.
Not sure what is going on in your situation, but my friend was charged half that in parts and labor and was in and out in 60 minutes. He never had to get a rental car. He went right over to get it fixed the very first time it happened, not when it started having issues. Hope everything works out in the end for you. Also, As sophisticated as vehicle are today and expensive as repairs are, I always get a GM platinum extended warranty. For around $1,000, you could have gotten 3 years warranty. I bought one for my daughters Cruze and the first set of repairs were $1710. I made my money back and then some on the first visit! I elected to get the $100 deductible because it was way cheaper.
I just contacted the dealer about this issue and they said because my car is out of warranty I have to pay for the fix. I contacted GM and they said each dealer is an independent franchise and they alone make the decision on what they will cover or not.
My 2017 Acadia has the same shift problem
Our 2017 Acadia was doing this same thing. Our bumper to bumper warranty was over 7,000 miles before this happened so we had to pay to have the new shifter mechanism replaced to the tune of $621.29. You would think this would still be covered.
I had to pay for mine as well and it is doing it again 9 months later.
My 2018 Denali is doing it, shift to park, at 23700 miles. In shop for third differential now under warranty but dealer says shift to park problem is not in warranty.
I have had a ton of problems my Gmg Acadia Denali I’ve had 3 alternators & 4 battery’s also a ECM all replaced and I have just had my GmC for a year i take it to the GMC DEALER AND THEY CAN’T figure out the problem
Same problem all the on my 2017 denali
My 2018 had this shifter problem. Garber gmc buick in Florida treated me with total respect. Ordered new shifter and replaced. Problem went away. Under warranty. Thank goodness it happened soon not later. GM should recall or replace free for at least 1000,000 miles now that they know problem.
Here is the latest TSB
19-NA-206 Date: September, 2019
It calls for just a short harness replacement part number 84733196.
I tried to link the NHTSA page on this but unsure if this site will permit it. Look it up via google with the TSB number.
The instructions are included to show how it is fixed.
This was a issue on a number of vehicles but not all were affected.
If you have already paid contact GM and odds are good you press this they will reimburse you for the shifter replacement.
Stan please open my post with the web address to the NHTSA so the owners can be informed with the latest information.
You may also want to update the story with the new fix to correct the resistance issue in the wires.
I also have the same issue when parking a ” shift to park ” shows up on my dashboard along with beeping sound as I want to get out of my 2017 gmc arcadia
Why is this not an issue on the Chevy Traverse or Buick Enclave?
It has been even the Malibu and Blazer. Read the TSB.
Different platform for the Traverse and Enclave. Look at the specs and you will see that the Acadia is smaller now and built on a different platform. I would expect the electrical to be different as well.
Steve it is the same platform but different length. They just give it a different number.
Might note the Malibu and Volt ialso affected so platform means nothing.
The harness is supplied by a vendor or vendors and it is not meeting spec in all cases.
Here are the affected models. Blazer 2019
Malibu 2016 Traverse 2018 Volt 2016 GMC Acadia 2017 Holden Acadia
The Camaro has been removed.
Starting in 2018 the Traverse and Enclave have electonic shifters for the 9- speed transmissions.
We have same issue under warranty. They are ordering the part we are at 32000 miles. They should fix under warranty they replaced the Harness with no fix now there doing shifter.
I have 2017 Acadia and experienced this last year and the dealer repaired it. Now I’m dealing with the same issue again. It’s very frustrating
Contact the dealer and since it was repaired already they should still cover this.
I have 2017 Acadia and experienced this last year and the dealer repaired it. Now I’m dealing with the same issue again. It’s very frustrating
After1999 anything new GM has built is complete garbage beside the Pontiac G8.
Same problem in the 2019 Acadia. Dealership ,”fixed” the problem but time will tell if it was repaired properly. We have only had the Acadia for nine months. My thought is do it right the first time!
Do you know what they did to “fix” the issue?
I drove my wife’s Acadia tonight for the first time in a while and I got the shift error 3 times. Going to call the dealership first thing tomorrow to check on it. Just curious if your “fix” will be the same as my fix, if they do anything.
Thanks
I had the same problem with my 2018 Acadia. I only had approximately 3500 miles on it when it happened. The Dealer repaired it under warranty but now with a little over 5000 miles on it my rims are peeling. Waiting for GMC to approve replacement.
My ’17 Acadia has had this issue twice this year. First time they did the wiring repair, second (about 5 weeks ago) they replaced the shifter assembly.
But MY issue is with the FOUR transmissions my Acadia has had in 32,000 miles.
Customer service response when I attempted a buy back? Well you still have powertrain warranty available, just keep having it replaced!
Anyone notice here the number of posters we see in the threads on class action that never have posted before and never will post again. Hmm?
Lawyers like to send out people like this to build a case. They then go to the automaker to seek a settlement that they take the majority of and then the owners who got sucked in get a free oil change or discount on a new vehicle but no repairs.
Generally if you get the info off the web as I posted above then take it to a good dealer most will help.
Right now there are more people posting here about this than the Acadia forum has posting on this topic.
This amounts more to corporate extortion That helps the owners even less than GM. The owners are just used and get nothing.
To this point I have only had the shifter issue and a plastic latch on the sun shade and both were repaired with no questions or problem.
Not quite done here C8.R,
Are you a conspiracy theorists, flat earther, fake news ?
Go to Face book, search for a GM brand. Lets say Cadillac. Even on their, GM has a hard time keeping real people from commenting and showing real problems.
A GM person will not say much, until you see customers comment on GM troubles, at this time you will get a message from a GM bot ( most of the time ) telling you how much they care and can ” help ” you if you just agree to a a privacy policy.
Some customers choose not to agree just to keep commenting on how poorly they were treated, then it just goes ” poof ” gone !
These are real people, you can click on their names and see them with their vehicles in real life, with their families, ETC !
So back to a site easy to use !!
Look at Amazon !!
Now look at Wal-Mart !!
You would think in todays world, Wal-Mart would be able to compete with Amazon.
They both have the good logistics, warehouses, ETC,
BUT, just like the other sites, like you said above, Acadia forum, GM trucks Forum, ETC. it is the ease-of-use !!!!
Amazon is just so da/\/\ easy to use, WAY, WAY, WAY easier than Wal-Mart, and you can read a review on almost everything, from ONLY people who bought the item !
When you go the the forums you have to register sure, but then search thousands of topics just to get to so-called real people, a GM tech might pop up from time to time, but its cumbersome, time consuming.
Its like a Will person said on another topic here recently, he said, he would like to explain why GM/Cadillac does not get it, yet it would be a waist of his time, as he went to buy his BMW !
The easiest way to mansplane this to you is like this !
You go bolt some headers and blowers and aluminum intakes on some old Chevy’s !
And most of the people who could explain to you why GM is having troubles TODAY, do not even know what those things are !!!!!!
Someone on the same comment recently said, when the foreign cars came in the 80’s they stole market share from GM because they were cheap.
It was NOT because they were cheap, IT WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE BETTER !!! AND CHEAPER !!!
A BETTER VALUE for your hard earned dollar !
AND, AND, they would FIX the ” Known Faulty ” issues !!!
C8.R,
You do know how the internet works don’t you ?
Do you know what a Google search is ?
When you take your GM vehicle to a dealer, and the dealer treats you like $hit, than you call the EVEN WORSE GM customer support line, your next step is to Google it !!!
Here is where you are led to GM Authority, as there are thousands of people a day searching, and all they have to do is click on the GM authority link, POW they are right here to comment !!
There would be even more if you didn’t have to register to comment on the site !!
That’s why I wish there was ONE SITE, that had GM reviews, like Amazon, where ONLY GM owners, with a vin # in hand could comment. But everyone could for free without registering, just your vin and that could not be repeated !!
That’s why I like the Face book groups, first you have to be accepted in the group, there are pictures of trucks, by owners of trucks, and by the way, there are PROBLEMS with the vehicles there also. And people are trading them on Fords and Rams, and are having troubles with GM dealers !!! There are videos of stuff falling apart, windows leaking, engines leaking, transmissions leaking, new trucks being towed, and dealers screwing over the customer !
BUT, there are also people helping people, posting REAL dealer response documents, ETC.
I wish you would comment to EVERY person just on this site, that have REAL ISSUES, you would get nothing else done in a day and soon find out there is not enough time in the day.
And the way you treat the customers here that DO have troubles, and the dealer does NOTHING, you could go to work for GM customer support !!!
That is exactly how they treat their customer, just like you !!
AND that is why there are lawsuits against GM !
AND that is why there are customers commenting here JUST on lawsuits relating to THEIR ” Known Faulty ” GM vehicle !!!
If you are unhappy there are many other companies you should chose.
If you keep having repeated trouble and you keep going back then who is really to blame?
Contrary to you not all of us have miserable issues and if we do we work th rough them. Blathering on the web constantly just gets you admonished by web managers for being annoying after a while.
Like a restaurant. If you get food poisoning don’t go back.
Again C8.R,
I do not have troubles !!
I do not keep going back !!!
And how is myself blathering on the web, ha, ha, ha, any different than YOU blathering on the web, still funny, ha, ha, ha !
I have moved on to better, BUT I will never leave here, or other GM sites, until they figure out how to treat a CUSTOMER !!!
Or go bankrupt again, yet now being owned mostly by China, I doubt they will go bankrupt in the US.
After all they funnel the profits from the US truck market into the China midsized lineup, so its a win win for GM.
And you and people here just like you, just keep drinking the kool-aid !
Then why are you complaining. Leave it to people with car problems.
And you wonder why you get admonished.
You really need to speak to someone can provide you with help and a productive life.
You really don’t understand that China has really provided the profits that have kept many auto mfg alive. Their market grew 400% from what ours was and is still growing.
China is like a bad heroin addiction where you can’t live with it or live with out it.
GM and every other mfg in China only holds 49% of the Chinese business that is part of the rules in China. Auto makers have to partner with one of their state owned MFGs.
So each mfg had a choice of no growth or added profits or being held hostage to a Chinese mfg. Hell of a choice. Die now or by a thousand paper cuts.
As of now we have had some changes in trade with China that has leveraged thing more back to us than they have been. There is still more that needs done but depending how the election goes it could be undone very quickly by the old time DC crowd that started all this.
If China ever starts dumping their Brand cars cheap here it could be all over.
Everyone hates Walmart but they still shop there due to price.
As for how people are treated often you get as good as you receive.
First off,
Thanks for reading, i thought you did not have time to read my comments, so for that I say
————- Thank You —————-
Second,
I thought you did not have any car problems ?
So again why are you here ?
Third,
China !!
Sure we all know the Chinese government owns that 49% or whatever, I call it the greed ownership, if its a company in the US, that 49% ownership does nothing good for the company, its just bloated value sitting there weighing down a company taking needed profit to change.
However China owns way more of GM than the 49% ownership of its Chinese manufacturing locations. Its like Volvo, only not one investor like Volvo. Its Chinese investment groups that make up a ” fund ” that owns GM stock, American GM stock. Why don’t you try to find out who the GM investors are, sure you can see the people individuals, yet not the investment groups.
And just because you create a problem then claim to solve the exact problem you created, does not mean you solved anything !!!!
Do not kid yourself, nothing has changed with respect to China trade, it has just taken time for them and our companied to shift, and move !
And your opinion of dumping is my opinion of not being able to compete, plain and simple !
If any foreign anything, including a foreign government, can make a product better and cheaper than anyone else on the planet Earth,
———— GOOD ———
————— And that my friend is CAPITALISM ——————-
And only a select person shops at Wal-Mart any longer, the rest of us use Amazon, and if you paid attention you would know that. Do you still shop at K-Mart, JC Penny, Wards, Sears, and I could go on ! Just because China is to the Earth that Amazon or Apple is to the US just means they are better at it.
The game of life !
I still don’t get your thoughts on my productive life ?
I am here less than you.
I am younger than you.
And I have already had my productive life, and still continue to be very productive !!
What does productive mean to you ?
And as far as how people are treated, in general I am treated great by most, most people I know who know me, we treat each other good, like a decent human person !
I however was NOT treated good or decent by GM customer support, or the lying a$$hole service manager at the GM dealership !
That’s why this is so darn funny to me, other than GM and you and some others here, on a GM site, I have a very great life, and get along with everyone, and that’s why it really does not matter to me one bit what names I get called by the bullies here.
Yet it is funny at when and why some go there !!!
This problem with China is a government problem, and as long as our government gives that 49% ownership of our US companies to the rich that do nothing with it, the Chinese will be able to use their 49% government share to make a better product, cheaper products. When the US was at its strongest, in every way, was when the AVERAGE American was vested in the outcome, today the AVERAGE American, could care less because everyone in your family could work 60 hours a week, and the 49% owners at GM still would get 90% of your work efforts !!
And that’s why we all used to be able to vote ! not just the 49% !!
Did you say some thing?
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha !
As you reply !
Ha, Ha, Ha !
Some of these so called modern improvements or stylish touches cause nothing but problems, knob for shifting? I never had any problems shifting to park in my 66 Malibu 283 coupe with its power glide with the PRNDL on the column! Oh, to be 15 again in 1970 with my 1st car!
The electromechanical buttons in Chrysler products worked perfectly. The electric ones in Packards less so due to customers allowing the weight of the vehicle to rest on the Park sprag on grades, but that was not the fault of the shifter. Move forward into the 21st century. The dial shifter in my Chrysler works flawlessly, as it does in my neigbhor’s RAM; the RAM has 210,000 miles on it.
The difference is in knowing how to design things properly the first time through.
That Russian guy from Star Trek got killed as he did not get his Jeep dial in park.
It is not the most intuitive to those that are new to it. Also a pain to snow plow with.
just go to dealer and have them replace the shift to park module. Once we did that we had no problems. Also need to replace shift harness as well. No need to file a law suit. It’s easy to repair it and not go through that expense knowing its repairable.
False. I’ve been to a dealership 3X with this exact issue with my 2017 Acadia and had them replace the shift assembly and the shift harness. Not only is this not a fixable issue, my vehicle is no longer under warranty which means I have to keep paying out of pocket for an issue that the dealership can not fix.
Please contact the dealer and give them this TSB
19-NA-206 Date: September, 2019
It calls for just a short harness replacement part number 84733196.
This is a low cost repair that works and does fix the issue.
If you look it up on google they listb5he YSB and detailed directions on how it goes in. It is a repetitive easy fix.
The
Awsuit on the other hand will not fix your car and just make some lawyers rich. You might get a free oil change at best.
Class action suits are nothing but con jobs.
Well my warranty covered mine and what do you know 13 months later that shift to park was coming back on and they wouldn’t warrant the part said it was for 12 months now they want me to pay over 500 to fix it!! Nah I’ll trade it in first