What 38 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 GMC Acadia Denali

Today is Aug. 24, 2024. On [XXX], as my wife and I were preparing to leave on a vacation trip, our leased 2023 GMC Acadia would not move out of Low Gears moving forward. I soon discovered that it also would not shift into Reverse. When I took the vehicle to the GMC dealership near my home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the service advisor told me that the Check Engine light was on. The dealer has had the car since the date of this occurrence, on [XXX], giving me a smaller car as a loaner. My service advisor told me that he was able to get the car into Reverse. When I have called, he tells me they are trying to identify the problem. I see on the Internet that this model of vehicle has had multiple "transmission issues" and that there has been a Recall due to the transmission. I have not been alerted to a Recall. Yesterday, on Aug. 23, I received an Onstar Diagnostics Report saying there is a "diagnostics alert" requiring "immediate attention." I leased this vehicle in October 2023 from Todd Wenzel Buick GMC, where the vehicle now is located in the Service Department. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11610598

Vehicle drove for over 30mins before it detected that there was no remote in the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11609115

Car's back up camera screen has gone black on several occasions. The vehicle has been in the repair shop , this is my fourth time trying to get it repaired. The screen goes black with a red circle and triangle on the screen when the car is put in reverse. This makes backing up difficult because of the vehicle size and blind spot . This problem developed in the first month of having the vehicle and again the vehicle is back in for repair the fourth time for the same issue I've had the vehicle in service for eleven months.

NHTSA ODI 11608665

Struck a deer traveling at 65 mph & air bags did not deploy

NHTSA ODI 11608274

While driving 55mph, I had to make a sudden stop due to a large animal in road now my engine lights is on and when I try to put it in to any gear it says the transmission is not in the correct position with a code PO700 (MIL) car will not go into any other gear unless I shut it off the car then start again.

NHTSA ODI 11600296

When approaching on coming traffic with bright light on high beam, my car will not change from high beam to low beam , nor can I manually. change. also Right mirror has indicator of on coming traffic approaching comes on for no reason

NHTSA ODI 11584011

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in park, the brake was released, and the vehicle lunged forward and collided with a Rental Movie machine coming to a stop at a building. No safety features were activated. The air bags were deployed. The contact sustained leg, hand, stomach, breast, and chest injuries. Medical attention was sought. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

NHTSA ODI 11574065

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after his wife had driven the vehicle approximately 75-80 MPH on the highway, and was attempting to turn into the driveway, the vehicle inadvertently shut off. A message indicating a transmission failure and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle failed to restart after several attempts. The vehicle was towed to the dealer however, the cause of the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the vehicle had been at the dealer for four months. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 6,250.

NHTSA ODI 11561900

Shortly after leasing the vehicle in December of 2022 I noticed the transmission would slip when accelerating. It also jumps when down shifting as I'm slowing down - as well as after place the car into drive. I did bring the vehicle back to GMC in early 2023 explaining the aforementioned. I was told that there was too much transmission fluid which was the causing the issues I was experiencing. They reduced the fluid levels and sent me on my way. Unfortunately their assessment and solution did not remedy the problem. I intend to bring the vehicle in again, but based on past experience, I will be told nothing is wrong. Lastly, I've done some research and it appears I'm not the only person experiencing the same issue. I'm hoping that reporting this issue will lead to an investigation of potential safety issues.

NHTSA ODI 11548177

The contact’s daughter owned a 2023 GMC Acadia. The contact stated the seats were previously repaired at the local dealer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked unattended, the vehicle caught fire. The fire had extinguished on its own. There were no reported injuries, air bag deployment or police reports filed. The contact called the local dealer who referred her to the insurance company. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The insurance company informed her the failure was due to the electrical system and deemed it a total loss. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.

NHTSA ODI 11526947

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V172000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11521410

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Acadia. The contact stated upon driving from a complete stop, the vehicle stalled inadvertently. The vehicle then accelerated independently. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle hesitated to respond. The contact was able to regain control of the vehicle and drove to her nearby workplace. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that dealer personnel then drove the vehicle to their location for diagnostic tests. The dealer diagnosed that the solenoid switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 6,514.

NHTSA ODI 11504737

Purchased Vehicle Oct.21 2022. In first week, vehicle left my wife stranded twice, and myself once. When error occurs, vehicle goes into limp home mode and cluster illuminates all lights, says serivce brakes, transmission, engine, fuel tank reads "E" (when is was just full), PRNDL buttons are flashing and will not allow park, does not respond to throttle inputs... only way to be not stranded as the vehicle will not restart is to disconnect battery or wait 15-20 minutes as the vehicle seems to incorrectly "heal" its errors and allow the engine to restart. I noticed this when the tow truck came to pick it up, and he "drove" it on to the flat bed. 45 Diagnostics showed up on the scan tool, all relating to CAN bus communication. My concerns are the following: 1. How can a 2023 vehicle with <400 miles leave some one stranded 3 times because of a CAN bus comm error? There is an electrical gremlin (likely from lack of quality control) causing to leave a customer to having to limp to the side of the highway. 2. Why is the error able to incorrectly "Heal" itself, ie. the fault reactions seem to debounce and allow engine to restart (as mentioned prior) after a certain amount of time. This only leads to potentially putting the customer back at risk as they just were. 3. GM dealer is yet to start troubleshooting, its been 2.5 weeks. Claim is that they "need a transmission guy to look at it since the codes causing the check engine light are transmission module". Although, the vehicle has approximately 45 active codes, relating to many different modules and all pointing to CAN bus error. The vehicle has an electrical issue, causing my wife to get stranded. first warning on cluster before being stranded : "Service: Transmission Now Unable to shift Soon. " What does this even mean???? this does not tell me, what the problem is, and what I should do about it. I am an experienced OBD Engineer from an auto OEM and this does not follow best practices. Please help.

NHTSA ODI 11494274