What 389 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 GMC Acadia Limited

I am communicating concerns about my 2018 GMC Acadia. I continue to have problems with the Park/shift to park. I have had this problem consistently escalating this year. It was occurring 2 or 3 times per month, now it is occurring weekly. I cannot turn off the vehicle when placed in park. I went to the dealer (FC Kerbeck) in New Jersey, where I was told I had to pay for this problem $515. This seems to be a manufacturer flaw. I think this is a recall part. This is not my responsibility, I did not do anything to my vehicle for this consistent problem. This “shift to park” is dangerous, as it can lock you in your vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11553126

Vehicle shifts hard from 1st and while driving when getting up to speed from 2nd gear and 3rd, etc. Happens every time it's driven.

NHTSA ODI 11549436

Power steering reduces and the temperature gage wont work and the fan is extremely loud so it decreases the steering and increases the fan so it can cool down the engine. Others have submitted a recall form for this same problem

NHTSA ODI 11549311

When putting my car in park and turn the car off. the car dashboard says to shift the car in park and beeps. I repeatedly turn the car on and off until the car reads it as being in park. or the car will not turn off completely, it will continue to beep, and it will not lock the doors. I have called a GMC dealer about this issue. There is no warning message except to put the parked car in park!

NHTSA ODI 11548038

While driving I got the alert in my cluster that “power steering assist reduced”. I also noticed there were many other individuals in gmc forums that have had the same issue.

NHTSA ODI 11542054

Vehicle does not recognize that it's in park. Once parked a warning comes on telling you to shift to park. The vehicle does not completely shut off because it does not believe that it is in park.

NHTSA ODI 11541579

After being driving vehicle will not shift into park. When shifter is moved into park position vehicle is not recognizing this and will continue to move. Gear shifter has to be wiggled around for vehicle to finally get into park or at all. Safety concerns - if vehicle is not in park mode vehicle can roll away or continue to move causing damage or injury to persons or property. Online research indicates this is a nationwide problem and there are several lawsuits against gmc concerning this issue. All instances seem to be associated with the Acadia.

NHTSA ODI 11535956

Numerous occurences especially recently of shift vehicle to park when vehicle has been parked, turned off and already shifted into park position. Several occurrences where almost every time within 24 hours I use my cruise control and air conditioner at the same time my check engine light will come on as well as the stability trac indicator which then causes my air conditioner not to work and inability to start the vehicle due to having a check engine light on.

NHTSA ODI 11534045

The thermostat stops working and my a/c stops blowing cold air, and driving assist stops and engine light goes on. It is a rampant problem among GMC Acadias with no reason or fix. Please advise.

NHTSA ODI 11528642

The vehicle would intermittently display a "Shift to Park" message and sound alert chiming when moving shifter to park position. The car could not be parked until the chiming and message were dismissed by jiggling the shifter, sometimes after a prolonged battery-draining attempt to end the condition.

NHTSA ODI 11527012

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the transmission was shifted into park(P) however, the "Shift to Park" message was displayed after the contact pressed the Auto Start/Stop button. The contact had to depress the brake pedal while pushing the Auto Start/Stop button to turn the vehicle back on and then shift the transmission from drive(D) to Park(P) approximately 3-4 times before the failure was corrected. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the dealer had previously replaced the gear shift assembly; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 47,211.

NHTSA ODI 11525464

When turning off engine it displays "shift to park" and won't shut off. This has been ongoing since I purchased vehicle but is much worse now

NHTSA ODI 11524995

Vehicle does not shut off when shift to park. Must put vehicle in gear then shift to park numerous times in order to get the vehicle shut off. Vehicle will not start. Requires numerous attempts applying brake to start

NHTSA ODI 11520554

Suspension did not meet yearly state inspection standards. Service advisor/technician stated “control arm bushing deteriorated- excessive play”. Rear control arms could be moved with hand pressure excessive play. They stated that this is a very common problem with this make of car at this mileage (41,633).

NHTSA ODI 11516506

unknown

NHTSA ODI 11516606

We own a 2018 GMC Acadia Denali. Upon shifting the vehicle into park, we cannot turn off the engine. The vehicle gives us a "Shift to Park" message on the instrument panel. As a result, we are unable to shut off our engine and, to avoid the battery running out, are forced to attempt to move the shift lever in and out of "Park" to get the car to detect that the shift lever is in fact in ‘Park.’”

NHTSA ODI 11516296

I shift the car into park but the vehicle tells me the car is not in park and won't shut off. GM charged me $656.00 to replace the switch and harness.

NHTSA ODI 11514210

The toe links on my vehicle are bad and needs to be replaced. They broke as I was driving. Almost caused me to lose control and almost wreck. Thankfully there were no other cars around. I see this is a recall for GMC’s but for some reason not my vin number. Not understanding why if I have the same problem on vehicles that were recalled.

NHTSA ODI 11513919

After shifting to park a message comes in screen that is telling me to shift to park I have put it in park so then I have to restart vehicle and move gear shifter back into park sometimes it works on 1st try then sometimes takes extra try’s to get it to clear

NHTSA ODI 11514063

Erroneous error code on heads up that car not in park. Appears to be in park, error code can be reset by activation/deactivation of trigger switch on shift lever. Provides unclear message if car is or is not in park, vagueness makes me question vehicle park status overall. Issue was very intermittent in 2022, frequency of erroneous error code increasing now happens 1 out of 5 times when shifting to park.

NHTSA ODI 11510561

2018 Acadia will display “Shift to park” warning along with an audible warning when the vehicle is shut off. This happens even though the PRNDL display is in the “Park” position each time. If I try to exit the vehicle, the audible warning continues (apparently indefinitely). This began at an odometer of about 59,200. Initially, the situation could be corrected by restarting the car and shifting in and out of Park or depressing the shift knob several times. Within a couple of hundred miles, it became consistent and eventually could not be corrected as described above. Unfortunately, this is not covered under warranty. I began driving for a few months without the shift knob, simply depressing the plunger on the shift rod coming up from the transmission. Doing this, the warning rarely occurs and, if it does, it’s easily corrected with one or two presses of the plunger. Some modifications of the shift knob have allowed the knob to be used with results similar to driving without the knob. I hope there will be a software update (deployed over OnStar) to use the PRNDL information and eliminate this failed system.

NHTSA ODI 11510064

For months after putting car in park it displays a "Shift to Park" message. It won't let you fully shut down vehicle. Some times I can start it again, back up a little, put it back in park for it to shut off. Not one time though. You have to do it repeatedly. Maybe 6 or 7 times before it works. Most times I just finally have to walk away from the vehicle. Problem being it won't let me lock my car - which the police in our area keep warning us to do to prevent the vehicle thefts. It also continues to 'bing', running down the battery, which could leave me stranded somewhere. I looked this up on line assuming it would be a recall because it is a 'known defect' and there are thousands of complaints on line of people having the same issues and dealer won't take care of. There are lawsuits. This should be a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11507566

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that intermittently when the gear was shifted into park(P) and the vehicle was turned off, the "shift into park(P)" message was displayed. The contact stated that she was unable to lock the vehicle and that the interior lights remained on. The vehicle was not yet taken to an independent mechanic or local dealer for diagnosis or repairs. The contact was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V516000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.

NHTSA ODI 11505827

Shift to park issue. Vehicle appears to be in park but message appears. You have to continuously wiggle shifter and shut car off and off until it registers it is in park. I have no way of knowing if vehicle is truly in park or not. For safety reasons I cannot park in an incline due to concerns the vehicle will roll backwards. Several TBS bulletins have been issued by GMC on this known issue and they deny any responsibility of fixing the situation with a recall. The NHTSA needs to step in and investigate and require GMC to remedy this dangerous defect

NHTSA ODI 11504362

CAR DOES NOT GO INTO PARK AND WILL NOT SHUT OFF. says shift to park when this happens the car does not shut off correctly and must be restarted and jiggle shifter to turn off. this seems to be a well known problem and is on many years of Acadia

NHTSA ODI 11502817