10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
21,208 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.

2018 GMC Acadia drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2018 GMC Acadia Owner Comments (Page 2 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #89

Mar 282023

Acadia

  • miles

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

I shift the car into park but the vehicle tells me the car is not in park and won't shut off. GM charged me $656 to replace the switch and harness.

- Hilliard, OH, USA

problem #88

Mar 012022

Acadia

  • miles
Erroneous error code on heads up that car not in park. Appears to be in park, error code can be reset by activation/deactivation of trigger switch on shift lever. Provides unclear message if car is or is not in park, vagueness makes me question vehicle park status overall. Issue was very intermittent in 2022, frequency of erroneous error code increasing now happens 1 out of 5 times when shifting to park.

- Marcellus, NY, USA

problem #87

Oct 152022

Acadia

  • miles
2018 Acadia will display -??Shift to park-?? warning along with an audible warning when the vehicle is shut off. This happens even though the PRNDL display is in the -??Park-?? position each time. If I try to exit the vehicle, the audible warning continues (apparently indefinitely). This began at an odometer of about 59,200. Initially, the situation could be corrected by restarting the car and shifting in and out of Park or depressing the shift knob several times. Within a couple of hundred miles, it became consistent and eventually could not be corrected as described above. Unfortunately, this is not covered under warranty. I began driving for a few months without the shift knob, simply depressing the plunger on the shift rod coming up from the transmission. Doing this, the warning rarely occurs and, if it does, it-??s easily corrected with one or two presses of the plunger. Some modifications of the shift knob have allowed the knob to be used with results similar to driving without the knob. I hope there will be a software update (deployed over OnStar) to use the PRNDL information and eliminate this failed system.

- Columbiaville, MI, USA

problem #86

Jan 132023

Acadia

  • 46,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that intermittently when the gear was shifted into park(P) and the vehicle was turned off, the "shift into park(P)" message was displayed. The contact stated that she was unable to lock the vehicle and that the interior lights remained on. The vehicle was not yet taken to an independent mechanic or local dealer for diagnosis or repairs. The contact was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V516000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.

- Portsmouth, VA, USA

problem #85

Jan 012021

Acadia

  • miles
Shift to park issue. Vehicle appears to be in park but message appears. You have to continuously wiggle shifter and shut car off and off until it registers it is in park. I have no way of knowing if vehicle is truly in park or not. For safety reasons I cannot park in an incline due to concerns the vehicle will roll backwards. Several TBS bulletins have been issued by GMC on this known issue and they deny any responsibility of fixing the situation with a recall. The NHTSA needs to step in and investigate and require GMC to remedy this dangerous defect

- Houghton , IA, USA

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problem #84

Jan 012023

Acadia

  • miles
CAR DOES NOT GO INTO PARK AND WILL NOT SHUT OFF. says shift to park when this happens the car does not shut off correctly and must be restarted and jiggle shifter to turn off. this seems to be a well known problem and is on many years of Acadia

- Spartanburg, SC, USA

problem #83

Jan 182023

Acadia

  • miles

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

When I put the car in park, I get the message "Shift to Park". It does not do it every time but it is happening more and more. I have to wiggle the gearshift or restart the car and shift to neutral to try it again. I am wondering about the safety issue and will the vehicle roll if I am not able to get the message to go away? I have researched this and it is happening on a lot of vehicles.

- Valliant, OK, USA

problem #82

Nov 222022

Acadia

  • 87,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that on three separate occasions while driving at undisclosed speeds, the gears inadvertently shifted from second gear to third gear and then to neutral. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on three separate occasions where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was then taken back a fourth time where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000.

- Collegeville, PA, USA

problem #81

May 202022

Acadia

  • miles
In 2019 my GMC Acadia had the -??shift to park-?? issue in which my vehicle would not shut off and I would have to repeatedly start and shift the gear shift before it would shut off. The problem was -??fixed-?? at the dealership in June 2019. In May 2022, the -??shift to park-?? issue started again. At the dealership now and was informed that since the vehicle is out of warranty, I would be responsible for repairs this time. This is a safety issue that GMC is well aware and should not happen to begin with let alone after repairs. In no way am I going to be held responsible for repairs that obviously were done with either defective parts or parts that were limited to only 3 years without my knowledge. If I knew I would have to do the same repair in 3 years and I would be responsible for it, I would have argued for better parts to begin with. GMC needs to know that this is a real problem that needs to be dealt with immediately.

- Rockaway, NJ, USA

problem #80

Dec 302021

Acadia

  • miles
After parking the car and putting transmission in "Park" car would start rolling forward and display message " shift to park" Luckily i was able to jump back into the car and apply brakes before car caused any serious damage to property or people around.

- Monroe, CT, USA

problem #79

Jun 012021

Acadia

  • 25,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle and shifting the transmission to the Park, the vehicle would either roll forward or backward. An audible warning "Shift to Park" was also activated. The gear shifter was jiggled to correct the failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 25,000.

- Macomb, MI, USA

problem #78

Sep 132021

Acadia

  • miles
After putting the vehicle in park, I get a "shift to park" error. The car does not recognize it is in Park, so it will not shut off completely. It takes several attempts of restarting the car and putting back into park before it will recognize it is actually in "Park". This has been happening for several weeks.

- Wilmington, NC, USA

problem #77

Feb 082021

Acadia

  • 44,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted to the park position however, the gear shift indicator failed to show that the vehicle was in park. There were several attempts made before the shift indicator showed that the vehicle was in Park. The vehicle was diagnosed but not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.

- Russell Springs, KY, USA

problem #76

Jun 272021

Acadia

  • miles
Shift to park not happening. Stop the car and then the shift to part indicator shows up in the driver information center. So far I have been able to clear it out. Going into the dealer first thing in the morning. I have looked and there appears to be a class action on this issue and a TSB. I just bought this vehicle and was not told about this issue.

- Rapid City, SD, USA

problem #75

Apr 152021

Acadia

  • 39,000 miles
When I put my car in park and turn off it will randomly say "shift to park" it started doing this in Aug or Sept 2019 the car was under warranty and I brought it to a dealer to "fix". fast forward April 2021 it started to say shift to park again and car is no longer under warranty. Called different dealers even the one I brought the car to fix problem (that was a joke), they know its a problem and saying since that part got fixed in 2019 with a bad part and now there is a a newer fix that should work better, but I will have to pay for diagnostic test and part again. Again they know it is a problem with these cars and it needs to be recalled. I have to turn the car off and on reshift, push the shifter harder, etc to get the message to go away so I can turn my car off.

- Belton, MO, USA

problem #74

Apr 162021

Acadia

  • 54,000 miles
Vehicle will not shut off as it shows shift to park. Reoccurring problem.

- Oshkosh, WI, USA

problem #73

Sep 072019

Acadia

  • 19,000 miles
The six speed transmission always exhibit bucking/hesitation when shifting from 1st gear to 2nd gear. Also, when speed between 40mph to 50mph, the transmission exhibit severe hesitation to downshift when press throttle pedal. Moreover, the transmission exhibits harshness when downshift when decelerating from 45mph to 0mph.

- Pinehurst, NC, USA

problem #72

Apr 152019

Acadia

  • 45,900 miles
Shift to park error, on computer display.

- Moffit, ND, USA

problem #71

Oct 192020

Acadia

  • 16,972 miles
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that the vehicle was started remotely while still in park, however it independently shifted out of park and into reverse. The contact stated that the vehicle traveled across the yard onto the main road and crashed into a building. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to an independent autobody shop but the failure was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 16,972.

- Levittown, PA, USA

problem #70

Jan 082021

Acadia

  • miles
Place shifter in "park", turn off engine, and get "shift to park" message on console. While message is displayed, the car constantly beeps, warns, lights not turning off. Have to start the engine back up, and place the shifter into drive and then back to park. Sometimes have to do this 5-10 times in order for the car to turn off. This first happened at 11K miles (under warranty) and dealership fixed. I am now at 16K miles and it is happening again (out of warranty this time).

- Danville, CA, USA

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