What 389 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 GMC Acadia Limited

Shift to park switch is defective. Switch will not register transmission is in park causing an alarm that runs battery dead. Car has set in my driveway 3 months unable to drive.

NHTSA ODI 11451327

When I put the vehicle in park and then turn off the engine, a warning comes on the dashboard saying “shift to park” and the electronics will not turn off or the lights and I cannot lock my doors. I cannot leave my vehicle until it goes off. Sometimes it is only a few seconds and can go up to a few minutes. I noticed this problem when I bought the vehicle in 2020 and is a recurring problem and is becoming unbearable that want to trade this vehicle in because I do not want to deal with it.

NHTSA ODI 11451461

After parking the car and putting transmission in "Park" car would start rolling forward and display message " shift to park" Luckily i was able to jump back into the car and apply brakes before car caused any serious damage to property or people around.

NHTSA ODI 11450814

Cars emergency brake locks up for no reason. Happened on several occasions but last instance burned out actuator and locked up calipers from just sitting on a hill with foot on brake. This is a huge safety issue when it locks up for no reason on a road. It’s stranded me at least twice because it’s hard to undue.

NHTSA ODI 11450845

My 2018 GMC Acadia does not detect that it is in park. The vehicle does not shut off even though I put it in park. I have to wiggle the shifter and play around with it until it detects that it is in park. The dealer is aware of this issue and I did have the entire shifter replaced. This happened the first time at around 30k miles. It has been a little over a year and it is happening again. The fix only seams to be temporary. I am afraid that the car will not detect is in park and keep rolling. This could be a serious issue. GMC is aware of the issue and they have no fix for it. There are already various lawsuits and complaints about this shift to park issue.

NHTSA ODI 11448313

The gear system fails to recognize when the car is in park. I have had the gear box replaced once on this car, and it is failing again. The car has 92000 miles. The problem is that I cannot shut the car off completely or lock it because the system does not recognize that the car is in park. My dealer told me last time that the problem is caused by a faulty sensor. Now it's happening again. This is a major issue and GMC needs to correct it. Thankfully I bought an extended warranty so they will have to fix it again, but this is absurd. No other car I've had has ever had this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11446479

Had to replace the shifter, harness, and parking assist module to the tune of $1569.00! When it was put into park the system would not acknowledge it was in park...therefore I could not lock the vehicle and an alarm kept going off. My Acadia only has 12,000 miles on it...NO excuse for having to replace those parts with or without a warranty! Dealership said I am not the only one this has happened to...they have replaced a number of them!

NHTSA ODI 11444745

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle and shifting the transmission to the Park, the vehicle would either roll forward or backward. An audible warning "Shift to Park" was also activated. The gear shifter was jiggled to correct the failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 25,000.

NHTSA ODI 11441912

Shift to park notification keeps coming on after shutting off the car. It obviously has been shifted in to park before turning off the engine, but the notification keeps popping up. I have had the shift harness replaced by a mechanic once alreafy. He says this is the GMC authorized fix. IT DID NOT FIX THe PROBLEM! Of course, he'll put another shift harness for me, but what are the odds that will solve anything. GMC needs to come up with a better solution! It is frustrating and time consuming trying to come up with whichever trick will work to make the notification to away. I am not a very happy customer!

NHTSA ODI 11441825

My “Shift to Park” warning light pops up when attempting to park the car and shut off the engine. My wife had the problem at the grocery store and was very upset. This problem is constantly happening, my wife refuses to drive the car. I called the GMC dealer to get it looked at and was told it would be 2 weeks until they could diagnose the problem. Also it would cost $150 to look at it and I see the repair could be between $400 and $2000. The warning lights won’t stop and the constant bell dinging won’t stop until the battery is dead. All anyone has to do is Google “ shift to park” to see this is a defective switch. Many states have filed class action suits. A recall needs to be issued. My car has 33k miles on it.

NHTSA ODI 11441661

when the car is in park it thinks its still in gear and there is an alarm that says "SHIFT TO PARK". Car cant be turned off. It rolls. its unsafe. It was repaired once for this in 2019. It came back 2 weeks ago. Dealer wont honor correcting the repair.

NHTSA ODI 11437091

After putting the vehicle in park, I get a "shift to park" error. The car does not recognize it is in Park, so it will not shut off completely. It takes several attempts of restarting the car and putting back into park before it will recognize it is actually in "Park". This has been happening for several weeks.

NHTSA ODI 11434450

SHIFT VEHICLE INTO PARK AND THEN TURN VEHICLE OFF. WARNING LIGHT COMES ON WHICH SAYS "SHIFT TO PARK." TURN VEHICLE BACK ON. MOVE SHIFTIER FROM PARK TO DRIVE AND THEN TURN VEHICLE OFF AGAIN. WARNING LIGHT COMES ON AND WARNING "SHIFT TO PARK." DO THIS A FEW MORE TIMES AND IT FINALLY THE WARNING STOPS. IT DOES THIS INTERMITTENTLY.

NHTSA ODI 11433861

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon depression of the brake pedal, the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard without warning. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer where she was informed that the brake pads and all four rotors needed to be replaced. The contact then called Brad Deery Motors (112 N. 2nd St, Maquoketa, IA 52060) and was informed to take the vehicle in to be diagnosed. The contact was then informed that only one of the rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure persisted. The contact also stated that upon attempting to park the vehicle, the shift to park warning message would illuminate on the instrument panel. The contact had to repeatedly shift the vehicle in and out of the park before the vehicle would recognize the shifter in the park position. The manufacturer had been notified of the failures but offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.

NHTSA ODI 11430980

When the vehicle is in park, and I attempt to turn vehicle off, I get a messege saying to put vehicle in park. Vehicle will not turn off.

NHTSA ODI 11429876

I'm getting the "Shift to Park" message when my vehicle is already in the Park position. This issue first started happening in 2019 and I took it to my local GMC service center to be looked at since it was still under warranty. It started happening again about 2 weeks ago. My extended warranty and powertrain has expired, so I'm concerned that the same dealership will charge me for this repair when I take it this week. If this is a known issue with this vehicle, as evidenced by the scores of complaints related to this issue, why isn't there a recall on this vehicle?

NHTSA ODI 11426899

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted to the park position however, the gear shift indicator failed to show that the vehicle was in park. There were several attempts made before the shift indicator showed that the vehicle was in Park. The vehicle was diagnosed but not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.

NHTSA ODI 11423086

Shift to park not happening. Stop the car and then the shift to part indicator shows up in the driver information center. So far I have been able to clear it out. Going into the dealer first thing in the morning. I have looked and there appears to be a class action on this issue and a TSB. I just bought this vehicle and was not told about this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11422498

Was driving down a dirt road and suddenly the airbags deployed for no reason. Ruined the car.

NHTSA ODI 11419426

I have numerous warnings, shift to park, steering, cross traffic, this endangers myself and anyone else around me, i have read several class action suits involving these problems and it could cause my vehicle to pose a danger, I have taken my vehicle in to a certified dealer and they state there is no known recalls associated with my vehicle which is strange because GMC knows that there are thousands of vehicles having the same problem, did I buy a lemon? These problems are clearly manufacture related and in no way normal wear and tare. I should not have to compensate these issues when I paid near 40,000 for it

NHTSA ODI 11418960

SHIFT TO PARK WARNING IS COMING ON, I AM NOT ABLE TO TURN THE CAR OFF. THE CAR IS ROLLING EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD WHILE IN THE PARKED POSITION. I HAVE TO TURN THE CAR ON AND OFF MANY TIMES PLUS PUT IT IN FORWARD, REVERSE, NEUTRAL AND MOST OF THE TIME THAT STILL DOES NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. THE CAR WILL NOT TURN OFF, AND IT IS ROLLING FORWARD OR BACKWARD WHILE IT IS PARKED.

NHTSA ODI 11415040

WHEN I PUT MY CAR IN PARK AND TURN OFF IT WILL RANDOMLY SAY "SHIFT TO PARK" IT STARTED DOING THIS IN AUG OR SEPT 2019 THE CAR WAS UNDER WARRANTY AND I BROUGHT IT TO A DEALER TO "FIX". FAST FORWARD APRIL 2021 IT STARTED TO SAY SHIFT TO PARK AGAIN AND CAR IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. CALLED DIFFERENT DEALERS EVEN THE ONE I BROUGHT THE CAR TO FIX PROBLEM (THAT WAS A JOKE), THEY KNOW ITS A PROBLEM AND SAYING SINCE THAT PART GOT FIXED IN 2019 WITH A BAD PART AND NOW THERE IS A A NEWER FIX THAT SHOULD WORK BETTER, BUT I WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND PART AGAIN. AGAIN THEY KNOW IT IS A PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS AND IT NEEDS TO BE RECALLED. I HAVE TO TURN THE CAR OFF AND ON RESHIFT, PUSH THE SHIFTER HARDER, ETC TO GET THE MESSAGE TO GO AWAY SO I CAN TURN MY CAR OFF.

NHTSA ODI 11414503

VEHICLE WILL NOT SHUT OFF AS IT SHOWS SHIFT TO PARK. REOCCURRING PROBLEM.

NHTSA ODI 11408404

WILL SAY THAT VEHICLE IS NOT IN PARK AND WILL NOT SHUT OFF. CONSTANTLY SAYS REMOTE DEVICE NOT DETECTED DESPITE ME USING THE REMOTE TO START OR TURN THE VEHICLE OFF. WILL NOT OFFICIALLY TURN OFF SAYING REMOTE NOT DETECTED AND RADIO WILL STAY ON. I CAN USE THE REMOTE TO TURN IT BACK ON BUT THE RECEIVE THE SAME ERROR MESSAGE, THIS HAPPENED 4 TIMES WHEN WE PARKED AT THE BALL FIELDS SUNDAY. HOW FRUSTRATING THAT WE HAD TO HANG BY THE CAR HOPING THE NEXT TRY IT WOULD COOPERATE. THIS IS CLEARLY A PROBLEM THAT GMC NEEDS TO FIX. THESE ARE NOT ONE TIME ERRORS, I HAVE SOME TYPE OF ERROR DAILY.

NHTSA ODI 11406761

THE ACADIA HAS 23,700 MILES ON AND THE TIRES ARE WEARING OUT. NEW TIES SHOULDN'T BE NEEDED UNTIL 60,000 MILES. THIS IS A LOT OF DIFFERENCE IN WHAT SHOULD BE OBTAINED BY THESE TIRES.

NHTSA ODI 11406228