What 639 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 GMC Acadia Limited

Backup camera often does not have a clear picture. Very grainy and static.

NHTSA ODI 11697295

Cannot shift out of park. AC stops blowing also. Electric seats stopped working. Replaced BCM modular, solenoid , entire shifter and more. It worked for two months. -Happening again. Cannot shift out of park and the AC stops working. Seat are working at moment. It’s all intermittent. Currently dealer will not help me. No warranty anymore. Im on a site where thousands of gmc’s have this same problem. Im gonna have to bring back to another dealer but no one can figure it out how to fix this. I sent my last bill. I also had one before that with the shifter assembly and solenoid replaced. I cannot find at moment

NHTSA ODI 11671449

My vehicle won’t shift into park

NHTSA ODI 11668045

I’m just reporting several known issues. First, with code P2138, which I got today at Oreilly after my car started throwing warnings. I used my parking brake briefly and afterwards got the following warnings on my car: “Steering Assist is Reduced, Drive with care”, “Engine power reduced” , “Propulsion Power is reduced” , “Service Parking Brake”. I’ve never even had one of these warnings. I’ve only gotten “shift to park” which is another known & common issue. With this P2138 code, it can affect acceleration and essentially loss of control over it, but seems I suddenly have several issues. Recently the infotainment system is possessed, touch screen stops working, it calls people by itself, beeps and scrolls by itself and is essentially useless. Might as well be driving at 1997 something or other, at least I could play a tape or CD. This is Denali trim at 87K miles. Primarily though I’m concerned with this code, if it’s legit, it is very dangerous. How unreliable and unsafe to not know.

NHTSA ODI 11658720

After shifting to park and attempting to turn off my vehicle, I receive an “Action Required Shift to Park” error message. I’m assuming the vehicle is in park but I’m not certain and worry about it moving or rolling. It is difficult to get it to turn off by jiggling the shifter and turning the vehicle on and off. At times, I am not able to get it off and then the vehicle will not lock and the battery goes dead. According to my VIN there is not an active recall but brief internet search states there has been numerous reports, recalls, and lemon law returns due to this.

NHTSA ODI 11656658

When placed in park a message appears to Shift To Park and the vehicle electrical system stays energized.

NHTSA ODI 11653070

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle failed to turn off. The contact shifted from park (P) to drive(D) and was eventually able to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that the letter P(park) was outlined in yellow and was illuminated on the instrument panel. Additionally, the contact stated that while attempting to close and lock the driver's side door, the door failed to lock securely. The contact stated that the failures occurred simultaneously. The contact stated that the failures were intermittent. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.

NHTSA ODI 11652105

Twice the shift to park function of the vehicle has failed, once in 2020 and again in 2025, it appear that there is a recall for the year make and model vehicle, but for some reason my particular VIN in not included in this recall. The recall needs to be expanded to address this safety issue.

NHTSA ODI 11643986

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after shifting to the park position and attempting to turn the vehicle off, the engine shut off but the headlights and dashboard lights remained illuminated. Also, on multiple occasions, the battery had drained and the vehicle had to be jump-started. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the floor shifter harness was faulty and needed to be replaced. The floor shifter harness was replaced and the failure was remedied, but approximately two years later the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer. The contact was informed of the manufacturer's TSB to repair the failure and a new and improved floor shifter harness was installed which corrected the failure. The contact indicated that the manufacturer was aware of the faulty harness but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 45,000.

NHTSA ODI 11632718

Shift to park error message when vehicle is in park and engine will not shut off. NOT RECOGNIZING MICROSWITCH IN THE CONSOLE. NEEDS A RECALL.

NHTSA ODI 11631287

The known ‘Shift to park’ GMC vehicle defect could cause vehicle to rollaway and possibly hit someone.

NHTSA ODI 11630318

Shift To Park. Vehicle does not turn off completely after pressing the stop button, while parked. The car horn alarms you the vehicle is not shut down. The vehicle will not allow you to lock the doors with the remote control.

NHTSA ODI 11613789

My sound no longer works, the radio is constantly going out now I have no sound, no blinker clicks, no emergency notification warnings, no door chime, nothing.

NHTSA ODI 11608334

I was traveling at the posted speed limit of 80 mph on [XXX] in South Dakota at [XXX] and the GMC Acadia was working without any issue when all of a sudden various warnings flashed on the dashboard with one of them being power saver mode engaged. Within about 3 minutes various other warnings flashed and the vehicle motor turned off along with all of the electrical systems. Luckily, I was able to maneuver the GMC Acadia to the shoulder of the highway safely. The vehicle would not start and for about a minute or so we were trapped in the Acadia. We could not unlock the doors or wind down the windows until I pressed the start/stop bottom several times. Onstar did not work either. Once we could get out of the Acadia, my wife called 911 and in roughly 20 minutes or so, a police officer arrived at our location. We also called AAA and had a tow truck take the broken down GMC Acadia to a garage for repairs. It turns out that the alternator went bad and rendered our GMC Acadia useless in roughly 3 minutes from the initial warning. There was absolutely none of the tell tale warnings of a bad alternator. We did not see or observe any dim lights, hesitating starts or any other things associated with a bad alternator prior to the 3 minute warning before the vehicle completely was inoperable. We are very lucky to be alive. If [XXX] was more congested with traffic at the time of this incident, we might have been serious injured if not killed. IMO this GMC Acadia is a death trap. This vehicle warns the driver when the key fob’s battery is low many weeks before it needs to be replaced. It should warn you more than 3 minutes if not several hours prior to the vehicle being completely immobilized. It should be noted that the check engine light came on several hours before this incident and I called Onstar and they ran the diagnostics and returned a P0420 code which is related to emissions. The check engine light turned itself off about 1 hour before incident. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11607868

I keep getting a message for Shift to Park when my car is already parked. My battery keeps draining for no reason even through my battery is good. I could be driving and my truck just shuts off without warning and my battery dies. Then when it shuts off all these other lights comes on. I have to let it sit for a second then it starts back up. This has been going on for months. I took it to the dealership and they ran all type of test and couldn’t figure out why it was doing it.

NHTSA ODI 11600792

2017 GMC Acadia "shift to park" known failure. When you place the vehicle in the park position, mechanically it seems to be in park but the control says shift to park. When traveling long distance from home you can find yourself in a position where you cannot leave your car. You cannot lock it or turn it off properly. This is an ongoing problem known to GM and listed in many Technical bulletins including Bulletin No. 19-NA-206 date September, 2019. A recall should be issued for this problem. We found ourselves stranded hundreds of miles from home with a vehicle we could not shut off or secure. This may cause you to leave your car unattended, unlocked and running if you cannot get it to park and shut down.

NHTSA ODI 11596502

Ppark to shift code

NHTSA ODI 11589517

Vehicle shut down while driving and start showing shift to park message had it check and issue keep having shift to park message

NHTSA ODI 11584722

Shift to park alert pops up when turning vehicle off. Vehicle is in park. This prohibits the vehicle from turning off. Per my investigation other gmc acadias made in 2017 also have experienced this which results into either prohibiting them from turning their vehicle off or their battery dying. This is a safety hazard because it increases risk of being stranded due to malfunction.

NHTSA ODI 11583724

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the radio independently switched to different settings. Due to the failure, the speedometer was no longer be visible. The contact stated that the failure caused the driver to be distracted while driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

NHTSA ODI 11582980

Vehicle frequently shows the error "Shift to Park" when I attempt to turn off the car after it is placed in park - which is confirmable via the instrument panel. The vehicle electronics will not turn off until the error is cleared. At times I cannot clear the error and I've had to set my parking brake and leave the car electronics running while I go into a store, which leaves car unsecured and drains the battery. The car has gone into my local GMC dealer for repairs. The first time I took it in (August 2020), I was 365 miles outside my warranty and GMC refused to pay for the repairs. The dealership felt certain a recall would be issued and suggested I have harness switched which they admitted was a band-aid fix and that it wouldn't fix the issue, but it would allow a period where the error disappears (which it did) - until a recall is issued. The Shift to Park error reappeared about 1.5 years later. I took my Acadia back to the dealership and was told they could not replicate the error and therefore there was nothing they could about it. The error is happening much more often and I've scheduled another repair appointment to address the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11577864

This vehicle has a severe water leak after rain event from body. Leaks into electrical, floor boards, roof. Dealership not able to locate water leak location. Have been working on it going on a month. We recently purchased the vehicle used.

NHTSA ODI 11552416

Went to Burt Watson the end of May. Paid $250 to diagnose 3 problems. Trans was intermittently kicking into passing gear when starting from a stop position, a service engine light and passenger side blind spot warning would come on when nothing was there and other times wouldn't recognize a vehicle was there. Around the middle of July the battery began draining intermittently leaving me stranded at night away from home. The rear defogger began turning itself on and couldn't be shut off and was very hot to the touch. The drivers seat moved all the way forward on its own pressing me into the steering wheel and dash while I was driving at highway speed. Forcing me to change 2 lanes of traffic trying to get to the side of the road.I was told by the service manager that the rear fuse block had shorted out do to water intrusion from bad drain ports. This was replaced, and then I was told something else was draining the battery. And this was "one " of the things not covered by warranty. There is a service bulletin stating that there may be pinholes at the top of the a-pillars and d-pillars yet the dealership stated a new windshield was needed. There are several service bulletins indicating that such leaks can reek havoc on the electronics. The dealership has changed their estimate several times with still no solution in site. The vehicle has been sitting at the dealership since July. At one point it was communicated to me that GM would assist in the cost of the repairs when and if job was ever completed.They are now stating the cost to repair the issues is $5500.00 and is my responsibility.

NHTSA ODI 11551375

Shift to part to turn off vehicle but vehicle does not recognize shift to park and repeatedly requires turning the car back on to try to maneuver gear shift until it finally recognizes it is in park and can be turned off. I have had to restart my care 10-20 times before it finally recognizes it is in park and will turn off and unlock the doors. This is a repeated issue that has been going on for at least 6 months but happened again today requiring 17 restarts.

NHTSA ODI 11542026

I bought my vehicle in 2020. In 2019, there was a special coverage notice (N172097060) with part repair because of known service side detection issues for water module intrusion. My understanding is this is due to the poor design and placement of the item in the rear of the vehicle that is known for getting water in it when driving, which then impacts the entire electronic system (not just service side detection). Beginning in spring 2023, I began to have these issues, starting with service side detection first. I then had other major electrical issues connected to this issue I believe are a safety concern. I have had very scary episodes at high speeds of my entire car electronic system shutting down, speedometer going to zero, gas going to empty, glitching and not starting multiple times. It got to the point my entire car was not drivable due to this issue - the dealer has a temporary fix on it to allow it to continue to be drivable until parts are in. The dealer has confirmed the issue I am experiencing is this safety special coverage issue from 2019. I contacted the dealer I bought my car from and they stated they did the special coverage fix in 2019. They confirm this issue is occurring again. However, they claim that because it was fixed in 2019, I am responsible for paying and fixing it this time around. The issue was not resolved and I believe this is a huge safety issue that should be a recall, not just a special coverage. It was very scary driving on a highway with my children in tow and having my entire system go out at a high speed. It has been inconvenient, parts are supposedly on backorder and being told it's my responsibility to cover it when it's a known issue. I have also found online many other owners having this issue. The special coverage did not fix it if water continues to get into the module and continues to generate these issues again. I appreciate any assistance on this matter and thank you for your time!

NHTSA ODI 11530444