What 374 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 GMC Acadia Denali

When I put my car in park and try to turn my vehicle off I get an error message saying “shift to park.” The problem is the car is already in park and I am unable to turn the off. I usually have to start the car back and drive back and forth before the car actually recognizes it is in park. Im concerned for my safety.

NHTSA ODI 11514356

The vehicle’s steering assist reduced, drive with care notification came on. The vehicle lost steering assist control and made it very difficult to steer. The slightest move causes a major shift in the intended direction. This is very dangerous.

NHTSA ODI 11513417

When trying to turn car off, shift into park, and a message is on the driver screen to "shift to park". The car is already in park. The car will not stop running unless the "shift to park" message is gone. After looking on internet, was able to toggle the shift gear button to remove the "shift to park" message. This started about 4 months ago, it did not happen all of the time. At first, I would have to attempt to restart the car, and then try to turn car off. After investigating this on the internet, was able to turn car off by toggling the gear shift button. This problem was not a surprise to the car dealership. Apparently it is a common problem, and a recalls have been made by GMC for this issue, but not for the year of my car. My car was no longer under warranty, so had to pay $348.04 to fix this.

NHTSA ODI 11512519

The car is is giving a warning to Shift to Park even though the car is in park. GMC says this is a known issue and could become a safety issue but is not coving under warranty or recall.

NHTSA ODI 11510650

Initial battery died completely when vehicle was 2 years old (17 months ago). This week got a steering assist drive with care message and everything pointed to codes signaling low voltage. Battery tested with a bad cell. GM will not cover the cost to replace a battery when not one but two have gone bad well before the middle of their earful lives. GM claims there is nothing electrical drawing from the battery causing both the go array. Bad customer service on GM’s part. Logically this issue should be covered as it is not a typical maintenance replacement. It’s something causing two batteries to go bad!

NHTSA ODI 11508995

I have the shift to park error where my car is not recognizing that it is in park and will not shut off. I have been held hostage inside my car, late for work, etc because my car will not shut off because it is not registering that it’s in park. Also, my breaks are unbareably loud with whatever switch they made to the “new” brake material.

NHTSA ODI 11508430

After exiting the highway onto a side road, the vehicle began to shake violently (like we were on a very bumpy road). I pulled into a parking lot thinking we had a flat tire. Then the vehicle suddenly came to a stop and would not move forward and would not move backwards. There was no flat tire, but I noticed that the front left tire was turned inward in the direction that the steering wheel was turned, but the front right tire was also turned inward at a much greater angle. At first glance, I could see behind the tire that the tie rod had detached from the front right tire resulting in no steering capabilities for the vehicle. The tie rod has a large bolt that attaches it to the tire, and the bolt was missing. Had this happened on the highway just a few minutes earlier, the resulting accident could have been catastrophic. I paid to have the car towed to the dealership and when the tow truck driver arrived he took one look at the vehicle and said "this should have never happened". The dealership could not explain how the tie rod lost the bolt and there was no visible damage to the tie rod. My concern is that had this happened at 60mph, the car could have flipped or the car would have been abruptly turned into the median wall at 60mph. Tried to upload images, but could not upload.

NHTSA ODI 11506279

Get the message "shift to park" The car is parked but it is not recognizing that it is in fact parked. It makes it impossible to exit the vehicle and turn it off. To get the message disappear and exit the car the gear has to be wiggled. I checked this online and previous GMC vehicles were recalled because of this. And it has a possibility of hurting the transmission as well. This happens quite often. So there no exact date.

NHTSA ODI 11505750

Gear shift notification problem. Unable to turn engine off after receiving "Shift to Park" message and the gear shift is visibly in the "Park" position. In addition, the doors would not lock. My wife was forced to stay in the unlocked running car in a store parking lot for 25 minutes, until the car just "turned off" on its own. Unsafe for a woman (or anyone) to have to do at 10:30pm. This puts drivers in a really vulnerable position. Vehicle taken to dealer Jan 30, 2023. Was told they were familiar with the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11504856

I'm not sure what this is but I'm not reporting damage I'm reporting the factory model. This vehicle seating is not appropriate for the body size of the front of the vehicle. I've had two other acadias and I didn't have this type of issue. The side of the vehicle where the mirror is located is so large is can cover the view of two cars. And even adjusting the seat doesn't help. You literally have to lean up to loom out the front windshield to make sure you are in the correct place. It's a safety hazard and whoever manufactured this particular car did not do so well

NHTSA ODI 11505062

Steering Assist reduced drive with care" displayed on screen when I was driving. The temp gauge stayed on C, Heat works fine, Happened for a few days.

NHTSA ODI 11504601

Vehicle will not shift to park. Have to engage the parking brake to ensure vehicle will not roll away after shifting to park. Becuase the vehicle isn't actually shifting into park l, the vehicle will not shut off which drains the battery and leads to being unable to turnover the engine.

NHTSA ODI 11503309

My car would not shift into park. The indicator in the center console would say that it was in park, but when I would shut it car off I would get a warning on the dash that said that I needed to shit to park. I started chocking the tires when I parked out of fear of the car rolling away or run over somebody. My wife would not always chock the tires. I took the car to the dealer today and they confirmed my issue. The dealer replaced a part on the transmission. The dealer has my old part. It cost me over $400.00 to repair. The dealer and manufacturer are aware of similar circumstances with this model. I started having issues two months ago without warning and the problem got steadily got worse. The car has 43300 miles on it. I have owned it since new. It has never been in any accidents.

NHTSA ODI 11502886

2019 GMC Acadia started producing error code of “shift to park” around 32,000 miles. This malfunction is directly connected to a know a non manufacturer flaw in the shifting mechanism shifter switch an faulty grounding. The error code “shift to park” will not allow you to properly shut off or start the car causing potential safety threats to individuals involved. This error code is a know issue with the shifting mechanism GMC has been putting in Acadia models for the last 5 plus years with no proper resolution to correct potential hazard for consumers. Recall Bulletins are in place for some 2009-2017 models currently,but only a temporary fix. Consumers are expected to pay for repairs for a manufacturer defective part that doesn’t meet nhtsa requirements. I would like to add the 2019 models to this list. Vehicle was inspected by GMC dealership and master mechanic.

NHTSA ODI 11502706

A week ago my car started having an alert on the dash saying “shift to park” when I was already presumed to be in parked. I was worried because the car wouldn’t turn off and stayed on dinging. I couldn’t leave my car because it was on (possibly having battery die or doors won’t lock, etc.) I researched it and it showed many GMC Acadias have done this and previous models has recalls. As a result, the vehicle could roll away once you get out of it, putting you and the people around in great danger. Also, you may not be able to restart the vehicle once the 'Shift to Park' message is displayed, making it a terrible inconvenience especially when you're in a hurry. I took my car in to be serviced and they said it was that I needed a “new shifter assembly” so $670 later and after reading that this is what mechanics first step is, but essentially may not even fix the problem kind of terrifies me. A recent recall report says that GM does not currently have a fix for the Shift to Park issue just yet, however, it does have fixes for "Shift to Park" messages that can appear in affected Acadia vehicles that are already in PARK On October 3, 2018, GM released a TSB entitled "Message Displaying Shift to Park When in Park" which instructed technicians to correct the defect by replacing the transmission control shift assembly. While there are some fixes for "Shift to Park" messages, GM still has no fix for the actual Shift to Park issue. What do we do? Pay a large fee for a possible half fixed issue?

NHTSA ODI 11501345

Every time I go to turn off the engine it say shift to park and then I have to restart the truck and keep putting the shifter into park a couple of times for it to not happen.

NHTSA ODI 11501088

Vehicles shift lever doesn't always go into "PARK" and when the 'stop' switch is pushed the instrument panel displays notice to "shift to park" even though the operator has already done so. The audio still plays after the vehicle door is opened. So I assume the vehicle is still using battery power.

NHTSA ODI 11500938

I am getting a warning message to “shift to park” when I am already in park. I have to shift back and forth for the message to go away and am not confident if the suv is in gear or not. This apparently is happening with many GMC Acadias.

NHTSA ODI 11500491

The vehicle is a 2019 GMC Acadia with 45,255 highway miles on it. On 1/5/23, I took the vehicle to the GMC Dealer for a routine Pennsylvania State Inspection. I was told that the vehicle's rear toe links were loose and that I would not pass the state inspection unless they were replaced. Upon some research, I found out that it is unlikely that toe links would be loose on a 4 year old car with 45k miles on it. Furthermore, to my knowledge, what causes threads within the toe link to loosen is improper adjustment. The first and last toe link adjustment was made as it was manufactured by General Motors. Looking into the issue, I noticed there was a number of other people online complaining about the same issue. Having no choice but to repair the vehicle in order to have a legal vehicle to drive, I was charged over $800 which included a wheel alignment which I was told was necessary after replacing the rear toe links. In addition, I noted that there was a recall for GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured from December 2021 to March 2022 regarding the same exact issue, and as you know, loose toe links can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of crashing and thus putting my daughter's safety and other people's safety at risk. There were no warnings or signs of the toe link ever being loose prior to this inspection.

NHTSA ODI 11500378

While driving the all the the service lights came on on the dashboard and the system as well as the stabilitrak notification. The car begin to not want accelerate and I had to put on the hazard lights on a drive very slow home. Upon arrival home the car would not start but would not power off either and the a "Shift to Park" warning message is displayed.

NHTSA ODI 11499536

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle would not start. After several attempts, the contact was able to restart the vehicle however, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the battery was replaced. On another occasion while the contact shifted the vehicle into park, the contact heard a beeping sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 28,000.

NHTSA ODI 11497570

About five months ago, my GMC Acadia started displaying a warning when I would put the car in park, and try to turn it off. The engine would shut off, but the electrical portion of the car would stay on, and would not turn off, because the warning displaying said "SHIFT TO PARK". I have tried every conceivable way to try to get this to go off, but nothing works. My car has stay on for upwards of two and a half hours, to the point where my battery died in the car and left me stranded. There have been numerous accounts of this, as I had read them on forums, yet still no resolution has been published. I have tried taking it to be inspected, but nothing ever comes up. I have two very small children, and if I were to be in public and be stranded because my car wouldn't turn off.... I would be livid.. Also, because of this warning, it prevents the doors from being locked. That is another major concern for me, considering the day in age we're in.

NHTSA ODI 11495018

Constant issue of doors not locking or unlocking with key fob. Doors do not lock when put in drive or unlock when put in park. Buttons on the door to lock/unlock do not work. Have had at the dealership 4 times and still the issue hasn't been fixed. They replaced BCM and Harness and the issue still comes and goes.

NHTSA ODI 11493928

Vehicle will have a message on the dash that says “drive with care steering assist is reduced”, the fans will come on and stay on, and the temperature hand will quit working along with air conditioner. It has not been inspected, I am not sure if the steering assist being reduced could cause any harm to myself or others.

NHTSA ODI 11492914

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while attempting to park the vehicle, the warning message to “Shift to Park” was illuminated. The contact was not able to shift the vehicle into park as needed. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle however, the gear shifter failed to shift into park as needed. The contact manually turned the steering wheel from side to side while shifting the gear shifter until the vehicle responded and the vehicle was turned off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the contact was unaware of the result. The contact was concerned that the failure was due to the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that there was no recall for the failure. The contact was informed that the repair would not be covered. The failure mileage was 35,000.

NHTSA ODI 11492269