Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over ‘Shift To Park’ Issue In Chevy Malibu, Blazer, Traverse And Volt
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A class-action lawsuit has been filed against General Motors over the commonly reported ‘Shift to Park’ issue that some of its vehicles experience, including the Chevy Malibu, Blazer, Traverse and Volt.
This class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by three separate plaintiffs in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Maryland, Car Complaints reports. The suit alleges certain GM vehicles fail to detect when the gear selector has been shifted into Park, blocking the ability for the user to shut the vehicle off. Typically a ‘Shift to Park’ warning message will appear on the driver information center when this happens. The user can jiggle and or move the gear shifter in order to remedy the issue, although this technique does not always work.
The suit says GM is aware of this widespread issue but has not acted to properly fix affected vehicles. The automaker has issued several technical service bulletins to address similar problems in a range of vehicles, including the Chevy Malibu, Blazer, Bolt and Traverse, as well as the GMC Acadia. Some customers have also paid out of pocket for repairs, which included replacing the entire transmission drive unit as well as the transmission control assembly park switches.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received several reports from Chevy and GMC owners complaining they have experienced a similar problem with their vehicle. GM Authority did a quick perusal of the owner complaint section on the NHTSA website, which turned up several relevant complaints, including one from an owner who suggested GM issue a full recall for affected Chevy vehicles.
“Get ‘Shift to Park’ message when car is placed in park and turn off ignition,” the complaint read. “This seems to be a common error reported widely on 2016 through 2020 Chevrolet vehicles. I have even seen service bulletins mentioned. Why has Chevrolet not recalled this since it seems to be a weak switch used? This is not covered under the bumper-to-bumper warranty since I have 54,000 miles on a two-year-old car. This shouldn’t be failing after two years”
This isn’t the first time GM has been sued over the seemingly prevalent ‘Shift to Park’ problem. A band of GMC Acadia owners sued the automaker over the issue back in 2019 and two other similar lawsuits were filed in May and August of last year. We’ll provide an update on this latest legal proceeding when more information becomes available.
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This was a nightmare on my 2014 Buick Regal as well before I sold it. Couldn’t shut off the car as it thought I was not in park.
Good these crooks need to go out of business
Amen. Time for GM to be Liquidated.
@GMAuthority / SAM MCEACHERN the relevant TSB is 19-NA-206 for the shift to park issue.
It’s an issue with a microswitch, to remedy the issue you can replace the microswitch now (some dealerships replace the whole assembly) and add an inline jumper harness to increase the resistance to the switch so it will trigger more easier.
Volts are covered under the 100,000 mile 8 year Voltec warranty while other cars are covered under bumper to bumper.
I had this problem with our Buick LaCrosse 2013.
It is the micro switch.
I put some WD40 NEAR THE CONTACT AREA and it fixed it.Later added some silicone grease near the same area.
The shift lever when placed in Park would sometimes not connect with the micro switch.Now it does.
George
This problem randomly comes and goes in my 2016 Malibu. Unfortunately, it never happens while I am at the dealership for routine maintenance…
The GPS detects when you are within a three block radius if You’re Friendly Neighborhood Chevrolet Dealer so they can say Problem Not Found.
Three people (and counting) with no sense of humor.
Ford Edge 2013 had a problem with shift monter for years I have to replace my own.At cost of 1300 dollars .We should go after ford for cost t Roger
😂🤣😂🤡
This just started on my 2018 Is Malibu how much is the dealer charging for the fix
My dealer in Venice Florida gave me an estimate of over $500.
My dealer in Indianapolis quoted just under 500.00, claiming the repair would take 3 hours. The bulletin put out by GM states the parts (2) are under 30.00 and time to repair is .08 hour. Needless to say I am looking to get it repaired elsewhere. In the meantime, I’ve been pushing the shifter button several times which has worked so far. And, yes, the dealer said problem not found when I had it in for an oil change and a quote to fix the ‘shift to park’ issue. Added note. My Malibu is a 2017 with only 32000 miles, but it’s not covered by any warranty… due to age. I agree with people who say GM should issue a recall for such a common defect.
I just had this fixed with my blazer today 4/26/2022 luckily it was covered with my bumper to bumper, I only have 30K miles on my 2019 Blazer. It took them just over a hour to fix. They added the harness too.
In the Volt, a minor annoyance at most. Going to the dealership is much more annoying.
The Malibu is a pile of junk. My 2016 Malibu had that issue & the engine blew up at 73,000 miles.
Will never own another Malibu or any gas powered GM car again.
#MorbidMalibu
This has been a major pain in my butt with our 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. I’ve learned that you can quickly flick the transmission lock trigger at the top of the shifter and the computer will often recognize that the vehicle is in park. But, what a pain! How can I join this lawsuit? Our dealership wanted over $750 for the repair!
All you will win in a class action lawsuit is $500 toward another GM car, and the attorneys buy more yachts and German cars.
…Or they agree to fix the problem.
I’m all in 2018 Chevy Camaro and the thing is Junk!! Everytime I turn around it’s something with that car and nobody wants to fix it??? Chevy get your $hit together this is unacceptable
I’m going through this with my 2016 Chevy Malibu. The first time it was covered under warranty. Now it’s happening again. What a pain. I have to turn the car on and off til it finally goes off. What is being done about this?
A jumper wire or a wire harness So far so good on my 17. Don’t want to jinx mine. There is a service bulletin about but NO recall.
I have a 2018 Acadia Denali that has on several occasions had the same problem. I will literally flick the shifter button several times and it will stop for awhile. Haven’t received any notice of this problem.
I started having this issue with my 2016 Malibu after it was actually taken to the dealership. It is random so even if I drive to the dealership the chances of it happening is 0 to none. It is always at random. My car actually has less then 45k miles. I have read about replacing the part (which GM is VERY WELL aware of) they even have it in their repair guide. I figured I would not waste time and money getting it done. I just wiggle the button or put the parking break on then change the gear to park. I know it is risky but I have to do what works. It in pen the issue is the car won’t shut off. I have found so many complaints about this and even found videos of how to fix it. They knew this was an issue. Yet they continued to keep using those particular parts. Hopefully we get a recall and for those who have paid they get reimbursed.
I been complaining about my 2016 Malibu which I loved but it didn’t love me back. It’s gone be more issues with this vehicle cause once they fix one thing, other issues will be found. I emailed the CEO but she would never respond to me, only someone in her office. My car was having issues and this was one, and then another and another. It stayed at a Chevrolet dealership and they couldn’t figure out what the issues were. But they didn’t want to fix the car. Offers you a lil change and push you out the way. I was in a dangerous situation with my car, but thank GOD it crunk back up in time. I don’t want another Chevrolet.
Amen. I was lucky to trade in my morbid pile of junk Malibu for a Diesel Cruze.
To bad GM with the huge stick up their ass decided to stop making them. So onward to Toyota.
I’m have a Chevy 2018 traverse and I have had to pay to have this park issue twice now. The first time was about 4 months after I bought my cay brand new. I have just had to do it again last week. The first time it was under warranty but this time I paid for.
I have a 2017 malibu. It first started happening at 10,000 miles. Dealer repaired it with the same faulty part. It happened again at 22,000 miles but my warrenty expired. I looked on the internet and found out that it should be a recall matter. I was able to fix it myself by bending a weak piece of tin that disengaged it to work. Worried it will happen again. Recall this problem!
Here is another issue with your Chevy Malibu I will let you know this right now and I’m not happy. The key fob works fine but when you continue to push the button for the key to come out of the holder. The cheap ass metal that they’re using is faulting and the key breaks off from where the shoulder is on the key fob. They expected the customers to pay $250 per key fob to get replaced. Not only this it has happened with the Chevy Cruze and other Chevy vehicles a lot. GM stand up back your product and replace these key
GM won’t stand behind their products.
Accept that.
Had this issue with my 2018 traverse. I found the GM bulletin and yes it first suggest to take apart the shifter and lubricate the contact and add a capacitor to prevent arcing. this is a temporary fix because once the arcing oxidizes the contacts the lubrication is just a bandaid solution. when that fails they say to proceed to replace the shift selector with the upgraded part. that resolved my issue and I have not had any issues in the last 2 years.
I had this issue in my 2016 Malibu which I bought in 2018. Luckily it was still under warranty and had it fixed no problems.
I have it on my 2017 Malibu. It drove me crazy before I learned that “flick” trick. They should just go ahead and add that to the owners manual as it’s the only thing that works. The sad part is that this has been a known issue for many years across multiple models and GM just keeps using the same crappy parts.
My Cadillac ELR does the same thing. The FLICK of the shifter lockout switch fixes it every time. Come-on GM figure this out and take care of your loyal customers.
What is the “flick” trick? My car is having the problem listed in the article.
Press the release switch to move the handle several times.
Yep. One flick does it every time. Come on GM, fix this.
You have a serious issue with your fobs they’re made out of cheap metal it’s time you had a recall against them plain and simple to get a new fob because they’re breaking at the shoulder as soon as you open them up for the key. So it’s time you had a recall do the right thing start fixing these problems before you lose customers
I had the same problem with my 2017 Malibu with less than 24,000 miles on it. I had it fixed and it cost me nearly $600!
Hi,I am having the same problem with my 2016 chevy malibu, how do I join the law suit too.thanks
Me too Frank and I called Chevy about it a few weeks ago and told them.it should be a recall on this issue!
Yes I want to know also how to join the lawsuit, Its been one issue after another, once my platinum warranty was up everything went on my Malibu, including the tranny!!!! It’s been maintenanced for everything when it’s due and now I just can’t get ahead, always paying for something to be repaired!!!!! And this “shift to start” is really annoying. To top it off after maintenancing everything the check engine light is still on!!!!!!! I need help!!!!! Please let me know how to join! Making a payment on a car that just keeps failing on me is a huge issue! GM needs to pay for these headaches!!! 😡
Used to be a GM fan. But since they’ve filed the Cruise lawsuit, which essentially says the consumer is too stupid to know the difference between Blue Cruise and Super Cruise, well they can rot in hell. Apparently they’re too busy filling lawsuits to build cars right.
I’ve never had that problem in my ’54 Studebaker. We’ve come so far.
Neither of my Nana’s 50s Stoodies had a problem. Our various Hudsons with Hydramatics had no problem. Mom’s 53 New Yorker with GyroMatic didn’t, nor did our 55 DeSoto with PowerFlite.
Down through the years, we have owned countless GMs with column or console shifters, shifted either by cable, linkage, or electrically. No problems. Our few Fords had their share of issues, but gear selectors were not among them.
The shifter in my 63 Cutlass with the little V8 was the only exception. It had its indicator go catty-wampus, with the little arrow landing between the gear one selected. Virtually all of the 61-63 BOP compacts with the little V8 had engine mount issues, sometimes ending up with sticking gas pedals when you turned left from a stop. My Olds did that; which got a bit exciting. I had the mounts replaced, and the mechanic adjusted the shift indicator. I never had another issue.
The ONLY recent issues experienced by anyone in my family regarding shifters was in my first Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. It has the much-maligned dial shifter, which I, for one, don’t mind at all. Mine would a bit “confused” going into gear a time or two, with the dial locking. But, a pause of a few seconds, then turning the knob again, solved the problem. I mentioned this to my service writer. “Mister Grizzly, we are aware of the problem, there is a bulletin on it. We will update your firmware while you get it serviced.” Got it back, and never another problem.
Now that I think of it, the column shifter on my ’04 Tahoe has been trouble free, too. I am thankful that was before the design was improved.
Thank you for the nostalgia. Our family had a ‘57 DeSoto and a ‘63 Dart convertible with push button gear selectors. I was too young to drive the DeSoto, but did get to drive the Dart. The other quirky thing on the DeSoto was the speedo was a rotating barrel mounted longitudinally viewed through a narrow horizontal slit. The barrel was painted with a ramped red section. Viewed through the slit, it looked like a red bar graph progressing left to right as speed increased. Odd as they were, the push button gear selectors were reliable. There were no tranny interlocks back then.
Unlike GM, Chrysler and Ford did not allow the ignition key to be pulled out in the engine-running position back in the 1960s. I had a ‘69 Chevy G-10 van and even that late in the game GM still allowed the key to be removed with the engine running. I believe the reason GM had that feature was to allow the car to be started for warm-up and the owner could lock the car and keep the key to unlock the door to be able to get back in. The dash mounted key switch was pretty much a joke, especially on the G-10. It would have been easy to reach behind the dash, pull the connector, and then bridge the battery connection with with paper clip or two and then engage the starter as needed with another clip.
The “twirling worm” speedo was seen in several other cars as well. 1961 and near years had that same thing.
The buttons DID have a form of interlock. If you nailed the R button moving forward above a very low speed, the transmission went into Neutral. It did not slam into reverse. If you did this by error, you just pushed N(eutral) to unlock the buttons, and you then did what you wanted.
The button mechanisms in all the Chrysler products were mechanical, tied, ultimately, into a housed cable that went down to the transmission. Dead-on reliable.
Packard tried an electric servo motor and a set of what looked like door bell buttons on a panel mounted to a stalk on the steering column. They swiftly abandoned this design because too many put the cars in Park on a hill and let the car rest on the Park sprag in the transmission. The servo motors didn’t have the strength to get past this. Tele-Touch in the Edsel was abandoned after the first model year for similar reasons.
In those days, GM used separate ignition and door-keys, so one did not have to pull the ignition key out of the switch if he or she wanted to go back inside during warm-up……just use the door key to get back in the car.
My father bought a 65 Dodge Polaris with push button shifting my dad kept it for one year got rid of it because of that damn push button shifting. It was nothing but problems. Same with some neighbors..
That was a neat trick, getting a 1965 car with the pushbuttons that Chrysler discontinued at the close of the 1964 model year.
That’s Dodge POLARA, not Polaris.
At one time an owners manual was about 30 pages, now close to 500 pages. Just more things to go wrong.
You will also notice that a lot of those hundreds of pages are safety related, going into all manner of explantion about things common-sense drivers already do, or know. Those 35 page manuals also were for cars made before the days of personal injury law becoming an industry.
I have the same problem in my 2019 Malibu…
Ya know I hate to say this and be “that guy”… But a Car is not a refrigerator or toaster oven. Many parts break on all different brands of cars all the time it’s a constantly moving machine subject to all kinds of weather conditions, poor maintenance… By some people, dirt that collects in the shifter concole. I own a 2010 Chevy Equinox and I have never had a problem with shifter or the key fob breaking… Mine has the flip out key. My friend’s wife owns a 2018 Equinox no shifter issues, my wife owns a 2019 Buick Enclave no issues although I like the Buick shifter pull down for drive, up and left for reverse, and a simple button with a P on it that you press to go into park nice and. Simple and it saves room on the center console. Maybe these issues is one reason why GM is switching to push button control for the transmission.
Is this a warranty repair ? By the book, it is out of bumper to bumper warranty and so far dealers have not covered under the powertrain warranty since the failed component is not internal to the engine, transmission, or other listed part. This is why it’s always a good idea with any vehicle to get the extended warranty… Even Hyundai and Kia’s great Warranty is power train only.
For the Volt’s it is, on page 4 of the TSB it has a special exception. It’s covered under the 100,000 mile 8 year Voltec warranty not the bumper to bumper.