What 374 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 GMC Acadia Denali

The steering assist code comes on , the temp gage goes down , and it’s immediately hard to steer . All the lights come on , and drained the battery, this has happened several times

NHTSA ODI 11532988

Traveling at interstate speeds the vehicle had an short in the Body Control Module due to the HVAC drain leaking into the vehicle. The vehicle displayed a series of alarms brake, steering, and shutoff. We had no power, steering, brakes, or lights. The issue was discovered by Dave Sinclair dealership. It had been in for a sensor issue 3 months prior.

NHTSA ODI 11532379

Shift to park error every time I park my car. It takes multiple times of shifting and what not to get the vehicle to shut off. I will be making a appointment with my dealer.

NHTSA ODI 11530811

Vehicle is constantly giving “shift to park” error. The steering mechanism has also been compromised, and the vehicle makes persistent jerking motions with accelerating. This could be quite dangerous.

NHTSA ODI 11530621

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while parking and attempting to turn off the vehicle, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed, though the gear shift indicator had displayed that the vehicle was in park(P). The contact stated that she restarted the vehicle, shifted from park(P) to drive(D) continuously until the vehicle responded as needed. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The dealer was notified of the failure and an appointment was scheduled for a diagnostic test. 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 56,000.

NHTSA ODI 11528846

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while shifting the into park(P), the message to “Shift to Park” warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact was unable to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 21,000.

NHTSA ODI 11528918

I just purchased this vehicle and within a day, it was already giving an alert that something was wrong. Says "action required, shift to park". My car was in park. It was not shutting off due to the notification, which leads your battery to drain. The next day, as I was driving with my kids, the headlights start flickering, and then shut off. It left us driving in the dark and nearly causing a wreck because someone didn't see us coming because it was too dark. The dealership said they look at it, so I don't know what will happen moving forward. It's definitely not safe unless the issue is addressed.

NHTSA ODI 11528734

Im getting new tires on my car and was told the alignment cannot be done due to the rear tow links needing replaced. I was told it's a known issue with Acadias and should be covered under a recall I called my dealership and it's not a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11528654

"Shift to park Warning light" comes on when turning off vehicle when vehicle is in park.

NHTSA ODI 11528449

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while the vehicle was idling and shifting into park(P) the “Shift to Park” message was displayed. The contact stated that the vehicle was in the park(P). As a result, the contact was unable to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed; however, the contact was not informed of the result. The vehicle had not yet been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

NHTSA ODI 11528516

For a few months I intermittently get an engine light on, the temperature gauge goes to zero, the AC stops working, and an error that driver assist in unavailable. This will happen for a fee days and return to notmal where everything is fine. This happens on and off again. I google searched this and it is a huge problem with GMC Acadias. I used an obdII scanner and get a P0128 coolant error when this happens even though the temperature is fine. I just recently went over the new car warranty and GMC will not tell me if this is covered or not.

NHTSA ODI 11528308

“Shift to park” message frequently appears and unable to turn vehicle off, will drain battery if left on. First appeared infrequent within 1st year of lease, brought to dealership service, they were unable to reproduce and stated they did not know what was wrong with vehicle if they couldn’t reproduce the message. Fast forward 4 years, I have now purchased the vehicle and message and condition appears very frequent almost daily. Returned to dealer service was advised by customer service manager “ I know exactly what it is it is in the gear shift” but since car is no longer in warranty I would have to pay out of pocket. I attempted to explain that I did I bring it back when it would have been on warranted and was told they couldn’t find anything wrong!!! I have replaced battery multiple times due to power drain from not being able to clear “shift to park” message. Last battery lasted less then 1 year!! I feel GMC is aware of the issue and did not take care of problem when it was under warranty and is now forcing the finiancal burden to replace/repair parts to me!!!

NHTSA ODI 11525888

Thermostat gets stuck, generally in open state. AC also is disabled in this condition, soft code (no MIL) mentions "limited steering available" and temp gauge on dash goes to 0. Hard code eventually comes (solid Check Engine light on the dash). Code, MIL, and temp gauge can be cleared and fixed by disconnecting battery negative terminal and reconnecting it, and it will run consistently for a while, though it will return. Online there are no thermostat modules for this engine available (3.6L V6, also in Cadillac XT6, Buick Enclave, and Chevrolet Traverse) showing that thermostat replacement is widespread. Online forum searches also describe widespread thermostat issues for this engine, at roughly $1200 per fix. A reliable thermostat is critical for long-term engine functionality, and should not need replacement at half of design life (~75-80k miles). Though this one tends to fail open instead of close, overcooling of an engine still could have its own issues, and failing closed could lead to engine overheating.

NHTSA ODI 11524874

2019 Acadia originally displayed a shift to park message at 12K miles and vehicle was still under warrantee. New shifter harness was installed and a wire harness jumper added. GM covered the cost of repairs. At the time I was told hopefully the repair fixes it but a chance it won't and will need to bring it back in. Two years later at 36K miles it occurred again but was out of bumper to bumper warrantee so GM would not cover and dealer would not give any discount. Both the dealer and the GM claim rep I talked to were not able to adequately explain why this is not considered in the powertrain warranty which is still valid. GM did reimburse 50% of the cost of repair but I am still out ~$380. This issue seems well documented across numerous models / years of GM products.

NHTSA ODI 11524050

The shift to Park locks up and will not allow the vehicle to turn off. Receive an error message that the vehicle is not in Park.

NHTSA ODI 11523843

There have been no reported recalls yet my vehicle is on it's third battery since purchasing it? How is this possible?

NHTSA ODI 11523523

The electrical and gear shift failed, causing a problem that GMC calls “shift to park.” Even when the car is placed in park, the car does not recognize that it was placed in park and cannot be turned off, preventing the driver from leaving the running car. This is a known problem that multiple dealers are aware of and there even appears to be a recall and lawsuits on the 2018 Acadias. However, on my 2019 Acadia, which has the same problem as the 2018 vehicle, this is a problem that costs hundreds of dollars to fix. This should be recalled because it renders the vehicle a safety hazard because it cannot be turned off and it is a known GMC problem that they refuse to fix.

NHTSA ODI 11522846

I’ve had 2 issues with the thermostat going bad. The official part is called the water outlet assembly that includes the thermostat. I’ve also had several others tell me they have had this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11522882

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after the transmission was shifted into park(P), the “Shift to Park” message was displayed. The contact shifted the gear shifter into several other gears and was able to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

NHTSA ODI 11522339

Several times we were unable to put the vehicle in park which would not allow the car to be cut off. I went on line to read reviews about this kind of problem and found bulletin 19-NA-206 describing the shifter assembly as a common problem on this vehicle. A Gen shifter harness was replaced at a cos of $589 with a two year warranty and was told that this will probably happen again. (Gen Shifter Harness) We are now afraid to take trips now because we use to make many stops in small towns to visit relatives. My wife wants to get another kind of vehicle because of this problem. We have purchased four cadillacs and two GMC vehicles from Coulter Cadillac but no problems with the Cadillacs.

NHTSA ODI 11521385

My 2019 GMC Acadia started having the known "Shift to Park" issue that is affecting these make/models. This is a known issue and GMC has not issued a recall for it, nor are they covering any cost of repair. When the car is put into Park, the screen displays a message that says "Shift to Park". This results in being unable to turn the car off. The vehicle will not lock either when the message is displayed. On several occasions, the car would not start because of this issue. We took it to the dealer and they are fixing the issue for just over $500 USD.

NHTSA ODI 11517580

Steering assist warning came on and my wife panicked. She was on the highway and it came on and she could fill it in the stereo wheel. Temperature gauge stays on 0.

NHTSA ODI 11517325

Vehicle has been bucking and jerking when trying to accelerate. Going up a hill is scary (especially with my kids in the car) because it slows the car down trying to find a gear. Dealership says it's a torque converter but since so many Acadia's are being recalled for transmission issues, we feel ours should be included as well. Dealership is making us pay for a transmission flush which doesn't make sense because if it weren't for these issues, we wouldn't need to have a flush.

NHTSA ODI 11516829

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate with the "Steering Assist Reduced, Drive with Care" message displayed. Additionally, the temperature gauge remained on cold. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no failure was found. The failure recurred, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was determined that the thermostat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI 11516666

While driving the temperature gauge shuts down completely to C - the check engine light comes on and a message appears on the dash saying "Steering Assist Reduce Drive With Care". Any air conditioning goes from cold to hot and the fan under the hood goes to high automatically and wont shut off. We have been informed that this is a known error that has existed for a long time now, with no recalls to date. I cannot schedule my vehicle for repairs yet because I do not have the money to pay for the repairs. They are saying that the placement of the thermostat and sensor, which need to be replaced in order to fix this problem, are located in a very difficult spot to get to. Saying that it will take upwards of 4-5 hours to get everything fixed, which increases the amount of money to fix this issue. My 2019 GMC Acadia just started doing this about 2 months ago and I have 54000 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11514786