10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
22,948 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2017 GMC Acadia electrical problems

electrical problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2017 GMC Acadia:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2017 GMC Acadia Owner Comments (Page 2 of 8)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #127

Dec 152022

Acadia

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My vehicle has serious issues that from my research seem to be a common problem/manufacturer defect experienced by other owners of this model. I believe the defect/issue is an electrical problem. While driving, the vehicle will often have problems using it's automatic transmission. It ranges from "rough" shifting (where the car jerks while shifting gears) to situation where the vehicle fails to shift gears completely leading to the RPMs shooting up. The cars power steering and traction control system also simultaneously fail. This leads to a dangerous situation when on highways etc This issue simultaneously causes all of the warning lights on the dashboard to light up while displaying the following messages on screen "Service stabilitrak" & "steering assist reduced -drive with care" & "service brake assist" & "service parking brake". The gauges also stop responding/reflecting accurate info when this happens. I have a video of what this all looks like. This has been on ongoing intermittent problem pretty much for the entire life of the vehicle. GMC informed me that they had never heard of this when I inquired about it a dealership but searching online makes it incredibly clear that this is an extremely widespread issue that they are aware of. I have also attached a file that has a list of all error codes detected by me for this vehicle.

- Sarasota, FL, USA

problem #126

Nov 232022

Acadia

  • miles
Vehicle went on fire in or near the engine compartment - the entire front end was burned and car is a total loss. I was in the vehicle driving home with my children (a 5 min drive from their school) and we smelled what we assumed was a a fire pit or fireplace burning nearby; we got out of the vehicle, within 90 seconds there were flames coming out of the hood. Car was well maintained and received nearly all service at the RVC GMC dealership it was purchased from. Vehicle was also still under the warranty we purchased.

- East Rockaway, NY, USA

problem #125

Nov 122022

Acadia

  • miles
I brought this car from STOOPS and have been having this same issue since I received this car in March of 2021. Check engine came on within two weeks of me getting this car. The Intake air pressure measurement system MAP sensor and MAF sensor on my 2017 GMC Acadia which is causing other issues. My car is only at 100k mikes and I shouldnt be having the same issue. The MAP sensor was replaced in July of 2021. Here it is a year later and my check engine light keeps coming on and saying the same thing which is causing all these other issues to happen such as steering power system reduced which driving. Notifications about of transmission and engine issues because of Intake Air Pressure Measurement System. Every time I take it to stoops they have it for a couple days and I-??m out of a car which means no transportation for work and within 10 days after I get it back the same issue appears. The car sounds like it-??s going to shut off at any given time I-??m driving. It shutters while at a light or in a restaurant line. It drives smooth but when I shut the car off it makes a whiny noise sometimes. I don-??t feel safe driving myself and my kids in the car when different things come up all because of this intake air pressure measurement system issue

- Anderson , IN, USA

problem #124

Oct 072022

Acadia

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When trying to place the vehicle in "PARK" the message is displayed to "SHIFT TO PARK". The shift lever is in the park position, but the vehicle CANNOT BE TURNED OFF while this message is displayed. The shift lever has to be moved back and forth multiple times, sometimes for several minutes before allowing you to safely shut down the vehicle and exit. This is a known issue for GMC vehicles, yet they tell me that my VIN doesn't show the vehicle is eligible for a recall for this exact issue.

- Joplin, MO, USA

problem #123

Sep 262022

Acadia

  • miles
Shift to park comes on intermittently while in park and turning off engine. Unable to completely shut car off as it does not recognize it is in park. Battery will drain and car may roll.

- Montgomery, IL, USA

problem #122

Aug 012022

Acadia

  • miles
This Car, 2017GMC Acadia, started showing up on many occasions; and is getting worse. I park the car and put it into park. when I try to turn off the engine, a message shows up on the display SHIFT CAR INTO PARK. the car is in park, and I cannot shut off the engine, due to this message. The car IS in park, and the message tells me it is not. AND I CANNOT SHUT OFF THE ENGINE. I have to leave the car engine running until I try shifting gear shift back and forth multiple times and bingo sometimes the message goes away. Something is wrong here.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #121

Jan 012018

Acadia

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The 2017 GMC Acadia has a known problem when shifting to park. The computer system does not acknowledge the vehicle is in park. It requires numerous ways to get the vehicle to acknowledge it is in park and shut off: 1) Turn the motor on and off and shift from drive to park continuously until acknowledged in park and shuts off (waste of time, gas, and effect on the starter and ignition) 2) Bang down on the console shift knob 3) Pray This is a known problem with Acadia 2017 and 2018. Why has this issue not been addressed for a forced recall by GMC. If you take it to the dealer to fix it is very expensive and their original problem. this is a safety issue shifting from drive to park continuously when stopped. This is not good to have to do especially for senior citizens who might inadvertently drive forward or in reverse when simply trying to stop.

- Marco Island, FL, USA

problem #120

Nov 282018

Acadia

  • 38,538 miles
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that the key fob was inoperable. The vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that the vehicle spontaneously locked. The contact was able to start the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to move. The vehicle was taken four times to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the side blind spot module needed to be repaired. Additionally, the inter system malfunctioned. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 38,538.

- Rouses Point, NY, USA

problem #119

Feb 212022

Acadia

  • miles
When vehicle trying to shift vehicle into park error message occurs stating 'shift to park' prior to being able to turn off vehicle. Happens multiple times with same error message even when you believe you have the car in park it's difficult to believe that or take the risk of it not being in park and an accident happening

- New Castle, DE, USA

problem #118

Feb 222022

Acadia

  • miles
side detection modules swollen causing failure, repair $735.97.

- New Kingston, NY, USA

problem #117

Feb 212022

Acadia

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I don-??t know what is going on with it. I have had it in and out of the shop. My car will randomly throw the parking break on and completely lock my car up. There is no reason why it should be on. The dealership thought it could be the systems needing a update but that didn-??t fix it. It-??s a real big safety issue and needs to be looked into. It just did it to me crossing over rail road tracks and I couldn-??t go anywhere until it decided to unlock.

- Sallisaw, OK, USA

problem #116

Dec 222021

Acadia

  • miles
Transmission gear shifter displays shift to park error message, so that I can't turn off the vehicle. Vehicle stays active when you try to get out and won't lock.

- Cary, NC, USA

problem #115

Dec 052021

Acadia

  • miles
Previous complaint of Shift to Park on 06/13/19 VOQ 11219862 at mileage 36270. On 12/5/21, approx miles 62099 same problem with Shift to Park. Was scheduled for service on 12/06/21 at Adams Buick GMC in Richmond, KY and mentioned the problem and previous complaint. Was told that it had been over a year ago but that they could fix it and charge me $152 for part & $315 for labor. It was less that 26000 miles driven since the last issue. After last complaint, the dealer contacted GMC and the part was replaced at no cost under bulletin for concern # 5 145420 and they replaced the transmission control assembly. This is an ongoing problem with GMC and I don't think that every 26000 miles I should have to pay to replace the same part when GMC knows it is a problem by the numerous complaints. In fact while I was getting my vehicle serviced, I spoke to another lady there who had the same problem with her vehicle. Had I not caught the message, I probably would have had to replace my battery or my vehicle could have rolled into the house. There were no warning lamps or messages prior. GMC needs to step up to the plate and issue a recall because they have numerous vehicles with the same problem. My vehicle has undergone this malfunction twice and I find it unacceptable and know that I can't afford to pay $467 every 26000 miles for an issue that GMC is clearly aware of but won't address because no one has been killed by the issue as of this date to my knowledge, but it's going to happen sooner or later if the issue is not addressed properly.

- Stanford, KY, USA

problem #114

Oct 012021

Acadia

  • miles
Vehicle is a 2017 Acadia Denali with ~39,000 miles. The problem started without any symptoms or warnings in October 2021. The dash gives a "Shift to Park" message when the shift is moved to the Park position and the driver attempts (to turn all systems off so as) to park and exit the vehicle. When the Off button is pushed, the "Shift to Park" message displays. The engine does turn off, but the lighting, radio, etc. stay on. When opening the door, the vehicle emits tone(s) suggesting the driver is trying to leave the vehicle while it's running and/or has left electrical systems on. Driver is actually attempting to simply turn everything off and park the vehicle. The fact that all the lighting and radio stay on runs down the battery, potentially leaving the driver stranded.

- Lebanon, OH, USA

problem #113

Jul 022021

Acadia

  • miles
Shift to park light came on when I parked. As I parked, the break pad locked and I could not release it. The shifter locked and I could not release it. It Would not let me turn vehicle off. I had to experiment on how to get error message to stop and breaks to unlock so I did result to jiggling the shifter And put car in reverse then in drive and park again and trying to turn off (after doing this atleast 4 times) eventually it unlocked and let me turn car off without getting this error message. This happened 2 years prior and I had my 1 yr old in car with me panicking bc I couldn-??t drive my car for a bit until the mechanism decided to start working again. This time I knew how to fix it better bc it had happened 2 yrs prior so I knew to wiggle the shifter and try to put it back in drive etc to eventually get car to shut off. There-??s records of this shift to park being fixed in 2019 and again in 2021. I should not be responsible for paying ANYTHING for these issues. It is a GMC malfunction. Although mechanical it is a safety concern of mine too!

- Cedar Hill, TN, USA

problem #112

Jun 242021

Acadia

  • miles
Vehicle was purchased used in June 2020 ISSUE #1 After shifting car into park, display will indicate P for PARK, but also says vehicle is not in park. Since you are not sure if it actually in PARK and to eliminate this display, you need to restart the vehicle, go thru the gears again and then back into PARK. This happens several times a week with having to restart and PARK again up to 10 TIMES before the vehicle will register it is in park. I have read there is a Technical Service Bulletin on this issue as well as a case to get GMC to issue a RECALL. This is a serious issue because you are unaware if the vehicle transmission is actually in PARK. Having to restart and continually shift to park is time consuming and quite frankly a nuisance. At this point in time, the only way of correction, other than RESTARTING UP TO TEN TIMES, is to click the gear shift several times after placing in park. This will work 5/10 times. ISSUE #2 - Vehicle does not always detect remote. Have replaced battery in remote 5 times and will last approximately 8-10 weeks. At times, when the vehicle has been driven and is placed into park, the display will read NO REMOTE DETECTED. Have also placed remote into pocket into console and will still receive the same NO REMOTE DETECTED. Although there is never any indication battery is low or dead on remote, this is also the only possible correction we have found. However, we do believe there must be another correction for this issue.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

problem #111

Jun 012021

Acadia

  • miles
This vehicle has twice had parts replaced for the "Shift to Park" issue detailed in GM TSB 19-NA-206. The first incident was in April 2019, and it was repaired under warranty at about 24,800 miles. The second incident was this past week at about 50,800 miles, and this repair cost almost $800 to fix. I contacted GM customer support and was told that I could not get any reimbursement because there was no special coverage or recall for this known problem. This is completely unacceptable, since the problem is clearly a defect in parts manufacturing or assembly, and it renders the vehicle completely unusable since it is impossible to turn the car off when the car does not recognize that the shifter is in park. This is a safety issue because the driver needs to be certain whether or not the vehicle is securely parked before leaving the vehicle.

- New Hudson, MI, USA

problem #110

Aug 032020

Acadia

  • miles
When you put the car in park it often won-??t recognize it and will display a message on the console stating -??shift to park-??. When it does this you-??re not able to turn your car completely off so you just have to continue messing around with the shifter or turning the car back on again by pressing the break until it finally goes off. This happens at least once daily and can take upwards of 5 minutes sometimes to finally recognize the car is in park so you can turn the car off. We-??ve tried leaving the car running before when this message is displayed when it-??s been parked in our garage thinking it would eventually realize it-??s in park and shutoff but after 10 minutes of running it still hadn-??t recognized it was in park. We called our dealership about this and they told us that they get a lot of complaints about this issue.

- Jenison, MI, USA

problem #109

Apr 122021

Acadia

  • 89,000 miles
Shortly after I purchased my Acadia in may of 2018, it started displaying a shift to park warning when I would put the car in park. I contacted the dealership and they said it was a known issue and they had to replace the shift assembly. Well about 3 weeks ago it started doing it again. Only this time it's worse. It takes several tries and tricks to get the car to recognize it's in park and allow me to shut the car off - when the warning pops up it won't allow the car to power off so all the electronics stay on. I called the dealership and they told me because my extended warranty expired at 79,000 miles and they had already replaced the shift assembly once that there is nothing they can do and I will have to pay out of pocket for this repair even though it's a well documented issue with these vehicles.

- Pana, IL, USA

problem #108

Apr 012021

Acadia

  • 35,000 miles
The vehicle gives a 'shift to park' warning on dashboard after vehicle ignition button. This warning shows up every time the vehicle is accepted to shut off. It takes several minutes and tries to get the message to go away and the vehicle to completely shut off. The only successful way of getting the message and vehicle to completely shut off is by wiggling or shaking the gear shifter until it goes away. I have been stranded with children in the vehicle for concerns that the vehicle will roll with the vehicle not registering that it is in park. After researching the vehicle issue further it has been found that other owners with the same year and model have had the same shift to park message and have had their vehicle roll on it's own. The vehicle has gone to the dealership to be fixed but unfortunately because my warranty has expired I am being held responsible for paying to fix this safety issue.

- Hanscom Afb, MA, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?