2018 GMC Acadia

Component/System: Transmission selector / electrical system (“Shift to Park” defect) Yes, vehicle is available for inspection upon request. I own a 2018 GMC Acadia. Since I purchased the vehicle used in June 2019, the car has frequently displayed a “Shift to Park” message even when the vehicle is in park and the gear shifter is fully engaged. This message prevents the car from turning off completely, leaving electrical systems running, the ignition on, and draining the battery. This issue has persisted nearly daily for the past five years. I brought the vehicle to a GM dealership in September 2020, while it was still under factory warranty, but the problem was not diagnosed or repaired at the time. The dealership could not reproduce the issue, but it continued regularly afterward. I am now paying nearly $900 out of pocket to have it repaired. Safety Risks: The vehicle does not fully shut down, increasing risk of electrical malfunction or battery failure. I am often unsure whether the car is truly “off,” which could pose a fire hazard or lead to the car rolling unexpectedly if the system misreads the gear position. This defect has also caused me to get stuck in unsafe areas, repeatedly turning the car off and on, jiggling the shifter until the system registers park. The constant battery drain has left me stranded with a dead vehicle multiple times. Reproduction / Confirmation: The issue has been reproduced by an independent repair shop and will be fixed at my expense next week. A GM dealership inspected it in 2020 but failed to diagnose or confirm the issue at that time. Inspection: The vehicle has been inspected by a GM-authorized service center. Not inspected by police or insurance representatives. Warning Messages or Symptoms: The “Shift to Park” message appears on the dashboard even after the vehicle is correctly shifted into park. This began shortly after purchasing the vehicle in June 2019, worsened over time, & still has the inability to turn off properly.

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia C1. The contact stated that his wife was parking in the driveway and upon shifting into the park gear, the vehicle sensor would not register that it was in park, therefore not allowing the engine to be shut off. The contact stated that his wife proceeded to turn the vehicle on and off while continuously shifting the gears until finally placing the shifter into park, and successfully turning the vehicle's engine off. The contact noted that his wife exited the vehicle; however that moments after a loud bang could be heard, and upon inspection, the contact noticed that the vehicle rolled into the garage with the entire front bumper. No property damage was reported. The vehicle came to a stop upon impact. The vehicle was going 3 MPH at the time of the crash. The vehicle did not need to be towed. No warning lights were illuminated however, the "Shift to Park" message will display on the instrument panel. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not destroyed. The local dealer was contacted however, the vehicle was not diagnosed as the contact was advised that the vehicles VIN was not included in any open recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.

When putting my GMC Acadia in Park and shutting off the push start ignition the alarm goes off saying it’s not in park when it is clearly in park so I have to continuously start the car and try to keep putting it in park and shut ignition off. I googled it and saw there was a recall so took it to dealership but my vin was not included. I feel my safety is at risk as my battery also went dead stranding me in another city with my young grandkids on February 23rd, and I had a large bill to get a jump as well, I believe due to this same electrical issue! We are waiting on estimate now to get it fixed which is ridiculous as it is the same issue that is covered on many other of the same model vehicles! You should really look into this and maybe other electrical safety concerns costing consumers thousands of dollars on all these GMC vehicles it doesn’t seem fair. Thank you.

For the past two weeks, when the Acadia is put into park and the engine is turned off, the warning bell chimes nonstop and a dashboard message appears to put the vehicle into park even though it is already in park. The vehicle needs to be restarted and then put into drive or reverse and then back into park. With irregularity it may or may not work. Sometimes the car must be turned on and off 5 or 6 times before it recognizes that the transmission is truly in park.

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the "Shift to Park" message was displayed on the instrument panel. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission control harness needed to be replaced. The contact researched and was made aware of an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 42,187.