This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
We are having the "Shift to Park" problems described many times on various forums about this car. The car does not recognize that we have indeed shifted into Park (when we have) and remains on. Others have described power outage whiles driving and various serious issues once this problem starts. GM is aware of the problem.
When turning the car off a "shift to park" message appeared. The car wouldn't automatically lock because it thought it was still in drive. When I returned I tried to turn the car on while still in park, I shifted back to Drive and then back to park and the same message appeared when I tried to turn it on as if it still hadn't turned off. No AC, steering or the startup sound so I tried to wiggle it and then took my foot off the brake and then turned off, I then opened the door to cut power. I put my foot on the brake and the car started normally but this is the 4th time in less than a week. Heat outside at this time of year is 115 degrees+ so being stranded for a neutral safety switch or transmission gear sensor is unacceptable especially when my Wife and daughter primarily use it. We had this problem over a year ago and they replaced the whole gear selector assembly but it is showing signs of failure again.
When turning off the car, after shifting to park, I get a message indicating "Shift to Park". As it is already in Park, there is nothing that can be done. I have sometimes been able to get it to go away by continually starting, shifting to drive, shifting back to park and then trying to shut the car down again. Sometimes I just don't have time to do it and have to leave the car in this state and leave the car. I doubt it could be driven as I have the key fob, but it is on and when I get back, the car is powered up. I am not sure if there are safety implications to this as I don't know the cause of this problem. I have researched on line and this is not unique to my 2017 Volt.
When attempting to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle does not recognize that the shift lever has been moved to the park position and thus stopping the vehicle shut down sequence. The vehicle provides a warning message to the driver that in order to shut the vehicle off, the vehicle needs to be shifter to park. The shift lever at this point is stuck in the park position and unable to be moved but the vehicle will not recognize the lever position. and you are unable to to move it. In order to get the vehicle to recognize the lever is in park, you must press the starter button, which discontinues the shut down process and commences the start up sequence. You must then press the shutdown button again to get the vehicle to shut down. Quick search of the internet indicates many other owners are experiencing the same issue but no safety recall that I can find.
Car intermittently fails to shift from Drive to Park which means car can-??t be turned off. Car intermittently fails to allow the fuel door to be opened which means it can-??t be refueled.
- Berkeley , CA, USA
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In increasing recurrence, when I try to turn the vehicle off, after having shifted to park and the dashboard is displaying that the vehicle is indeed in park, a notification alert appears saying "action required, shift to park" and the vehicle will not power off unless the shifter is jammed forward sometimes registering that it is in park. Often I will have to turn the car back on, and shift into drive and back into park and sometimes that will work and the car will shut off properly after that.
Car would not shut off. Message appeared "Shift to park" on driver display, but car was in park. Had to cycle the gear shifter several times in order to get it to shut off.
Upon shifting vehicle in park, the vehicle will not turn off and shows a "shift to park" warning on the dash. Jiggling the gear shift has worked in the beginning but now is becoming less effective. Vehicle does not shut off unless this warning clears. We view this ad a safety and security concern.
Shift to park issue. When stopping the car and placing it in park it will flash a warning message stating that you need to "Shift to Park" even though the car is in park. As a result the car will effectively keep running for a period of time. My 2017 Volt began exhibiting this issue recently. I took it to the local Chevy dealer who charged me $106 to tell me what they already knew since there are multiple Service Bulletins for this issue. The car only has 34k miles on it but is past the 3 year limit so they also want to charge me to repair it but based on multiple online chatter the repair does not typically last for more than a year. Why is something like my car will not shut off not being treated as a safety concern??
It is an ongoing issue and that happens intermittently. When arriving to a stop (at times) the car still advances forward about a foot, even when the brake pedal is being used as far as it can. Also the vehicle claims to be losing propulsion, often, and seems strained when operating when the message appears.
I am experiencing the widely documented "shift to park" issue. [xxx] when I am parking the car, I shift into park and turn off the car power. But often a red warning light flashes in the center console instructing me to "shift to park". at that point, the shifter is locked and nudging it doesn't clear the error. So I have to restart the car, shift to reverse(or drive), shift back to park and then turn off the power and hope that the error goes away. According to regen2 in [xxx], its a lubrication issue of the central main shaft its not dangerous but annoying and prevents me from leaving the car while I try to clear the error. Sincerely, [xxx] parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
After being parked for over 24 hours, when we started the vehicle we got a message shift to park. The car would not go into gear and was undriveable. We tried to contact onstar from the vehicle but thd connection kept breaking up. We got through on our cell and were forwarded to GM. They ordered road side assistancece. While waiting, we again started the vehicle. There was a bew message initializing: Wait to shift but the car did not go into gear. When roadside assistance arrived, they also tried without success. The car was towed to a dealership. In reading various forums, it appears this is a common problem and a major repair. I am curious as to why there has not been a recall fir this issue?
It is very difficult to shift into park. Nearly have to push hard to have the park setting engage. Unable to turn engine off when this happens. Also, the window will not go up smoothly. It goes up and down all on its own. It appears to have a mind of its own. You must open the window all the way before it will close. Cannot preform that function when it is only partially opened.
Shift to park issue. It will not go into park and allow car to be turned off. Progressively worse. Major safety issue. Chevy says this VIN number is not covered under warranty despite fact it is a known problem.
I am having a 'shift to park' issue. When I stop the car and shift to park, I attempt to power off the car. The Volt will not power off and I get an alert on the dashboard that states "shift car to park to turn off". but the car is already in park. I am unable to lock the car and the lights will stay on for a few minutes. Worse yet, it is intermittent. After multiple attempts at re-starting and stopping the car if usually turns off. My Volt has only 28K miles.
With the vehicle stationary and gear shift set to park, when attempting to power off the vehicle, a 'shift to park' message appears on the dashboard. The vehicle does not power off. After several attempts of changing the gear shift to drive and back to park, the vehicle powered off.
When shifting into park, and depressing the start button to turn off the car, I see a "action needed: Shift to park" message on the dash. Some times I can shift the car back into gear and shift back, or sometimes it just lets me turn it off. There are numerous reports of this issue on the internet requiring replacement of the shifter assembly, with a faulty sensor being the culprit in the full assembly. This affects both Chevy Malibu's and Chevy Volts in the same model generation.
Since purchasing this vehicle in mid-2020, I have experienced this issue on several occasions including again today. I understand there is a technical service bulletin out on this issue currently.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Stanford, CA, USA