10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
21,650 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 5 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #23

Sep 162019

Acadia

  • 42,000 miles

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

The shifter is in park with the P lit up, but I cannot shut off my car. A message comes on the screen that says shift to park then push off. It continues to run until I take it out of park and put it back in.

- Meade, KS, USA

problem #22

Sep 302019

Acadia

  • 41,000 miles
When turning off the vehicle, a warning message comes on saying "shift to park" even though the vehicle is in park. The shifter reads park and so does the dash. Vehicle is unable to be completely turned off or locked with this message appearing. It requires turning vehicle on and off, moving shifter in and out of park, jiggling shifter buttons, etc. This can take one try or multiple tries. I just had this fixed by the dealership (replaced shift control) and was disappointed to find that this is a known issue, affecting many vehicles and it is still the responsibility of the vehicle owner to pay for the expense if the bumper to bumper warranty is expired. The shifter runs the power train! why is this not under the power train warranty and why is this not a recall? now, in researching, I'm seeing that many have had it happen again after the issue has been "fixed". dealer tech notes tsb 19-na-206 in his report.

- Darwin, MN, USA

problem #21

Sep 262019

Acadia

  • 50,000 miles
Car warns to put in park when it is in park. Dealer fixed it a year ago and it has started again

- Muskogee, OK, USA

problem #20

Sep 262019

Acadia

  • 36,500 miles

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

When shutting the Acadia off it prompts a message saying must be in park. It is in park but computer is not recognizing it. This forces you to leave car running. If you dont then your battery will go dead. When speaking to local dealership they are aware of issue but dont know anything to resolve it. Customers shouldn't have to pay for this since it's a safety issue.

- Logansport, IN, USA

problem #19

Sep 252019

Acadia

  • miles
When putting my vehicle in park and pressing the engine off button, I get an error message "shift to park", and the vehicle beeps and will not turn off the electrical, but the car is already in park. I am unable to turn off my vehicle completely. I have to press start again and put the car in reverse and back to park, sometimes multiple times in order for the vehicle to register that is in park and allow me to shut off my vehicle completely. I am concerned that the vehicle may not actually be in park when I put it in park. I do not want it to roll down a hill and I want to be able to turn off my car without being concerned it will continue to run electrical and kill my battery.

- Seattle, WA, USA

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problem #18

Sep 062019

Acadia

  • 15,000 miles
Vehicle states "action required - shift to park" even though vehicle is in park. Accessories stay on and vehicle continuously sounds warning chime. This problem occurs every time vehicle is shifted to park.

- Shelby Township, MI, USA

problem #17

Sep 092019

Acadia

  • 33,000 miles

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

When the car is shifted into park, the dashboard shows a warning that the car is not in park. The car then won't turn off completely.

- Stephens City, VA, USA

problem #16

Sep 022019

Acadia

  • 34,000 miles
The vehicle shows a warning with a bell tone 'shift to park' when the car is already in park. It stops only after wiggling gear shifter numerous times.

- Aurora, IL, USA

problem #15

Sep 012019

Acadia

  • 18,000 miles
Shift to park I shift the car into park and try and turn the car off and it still says shift to park like the car isnt in park but it is. It wont allow me to turn the car off. I have to shift it into different gears or jiggle the shifter for it to register. I have had to resort to removing the battery cables off to turn it off one time as well. The car when it does shut off feels like the transmission isnt fully engaged.

- White Lake, MI, USA

problem #14

Apr 242019

Acadia

  • 32,000 miles
First of all, this issue is being reported by hundreds if not thousands of GMC Acadia owners. I received the "shift to park" message months ago while it still was under the 36,000 mile warranty and then it went away until last week. I got a "shift to park" message when I turned the vehicle off even though the gear was in the shift position. This caused a number of secondary issues that are now compromising the safety of the vehicle. Once I am able to turn the vehicle back on after it drains or kills the electrical system, I am getting a number of issues. However, the ones that concern me the most are the rolls even though the vehicle is in park, loss of power steering, loss of AWD, loss of stabilitrack, loss of ABS, braking system error and power surges. These are the most concerning but I am also having issues with my dashboard, navigation, and vehicle instruments. I called the GMC dealer who had no problem telling me the gear shift box needed to be replaced, not covered under warranty and they had no idea when they can fix it because it was on a national back order. What really disturbs me is that there are lawsuits going on dealing with this particular issue and that literally it compromises the safety of the vehicle and neither GMC or the NHTSA have acted on this. I was driving today and realized how dangerous it was to operate a vehicle under these conditions. You can literally be driving and the vehicle have a power surge which makes you lose control caused by a malfunction in the gear shift box. I am assuming that no one will due anything until several people are either killed or seriously injured. This issues has been reported on models going back to 2017 and here we are in 2019 and still have the issue. Please help us, this issue is happening to thousands of drivers and it is not being addressed by the NHTSA or GMC. Please recall or stop selling

- Castle Rock, CO, USA

problem #13

Aug 212019

Acadia

  • 21,000 miles

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

My 2018 GMC Acadia has warning of shift to park. When it is in park. And will not allow me to turn off the car. I feel this is a major issue. This only happens when it is stationary.

- Rockford, MI, USA

problem #12

Aug 212019

Acadia 6-cyl

  • 41,000 miles
2018 GMC Acadia VIN [xxx] my car has 41,000 miles. When I park and try to shut my car off a message pops up that says "shift to park". it will not allow me to shut my car off because it does not identify that it is in fact in park. Today it took me 15 minutes of turning my car off and on and shifting in and out of park to get it off. Two days ago my car started to roll backwards as if it were in neutral. This is a serious safety hazard and needs to be recalled! information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Fort Campbell, KY, USA

problem #11

Jun 262019

Acadia

  • 9,500 miles
GMC Acadia will not register when the driver shifts the gears into park. An error message 'shift to park' is shown on the dashboard even though the gear is in park. The driver is unable to turn the car off because of the error message. It takes several turns of switching the car on and off and flipping through all the gears in order for the message to disappear so that the car turns off. The car was taken to the dealer on June 26 for repairs and has been sitting there over a month because they are unable to correct the issue.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #10

Jul 282019

Acadia

  • 37,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. When the vehicle was turned off, the instrument panel remained illuminated and "put the vehicle in park" was displayed. As a result, the battery died. The contact called reno Buick GMC Cadillac at 775-333-0000 (located at 900 kietzke ln, reno, nv 89502) and scheduled a diagnostic appointment. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The contact was referred to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 37,000.

- Dayton, NV, USA

problem #9

Jul 012019

Acadia

  • 34,000 miles
While stationary, instruments show a shift to park message, even though the car was in park. Acadia would not fully turn off until this message is not present. The only way found to have the message clear is to continually shift from drive to park until it recognizes that the car is indeed in park. This happens repeatedly - 8 out of 10 times I drive my car.

- Magazine, AR, USA

problem #8

Jul 162019

Acadia

  • miles
Cannot leave car. "shift to park" message appears even with car is parked. Sometimes takes 15 minutes to put car in park

- Frederick, MD, USA

problem #7

Jul 112019

Acadia

  • 18,000 miles
When I try to shut off ignition I get a warning on the dash that says to put vehicle into park before shutting the vehicle off even though the vehicle is in park already. I have to shift in and out of park or ride around again and then trying parking again to get it to shut off. Once I even left it running and went into the store because I could not get the vehicle to shut off due to it thinking it was not in park and it was.

- The Villages, FL, USA

problem #6

Jun 212019

Acadia

  • 17,500 miles
After parking, my Acadia would not shut off completely. A message came on the dash, 'action required, shift to park'. a constant chime was sounding also. I restarted the car, shifted out of park, back into park, tried to shut off again...same thing....4X's!!! I went right over to the dealer where I bought my car and explained what was happening ( couldn't shut off there either). Service manager knew immediately what the problem was but says the part (gear shift) is on backorder and has no idea for how long!!! what"?? why isn't this a recall" I've read quite a few of this same complaint so I can't understand how this isn't a recall already especially if the gear shift required to fix the problem is on backorder, it's obviously a bigger issue then 1 or 2. so for now, I just have to wait and 'keep playing with the gear shifter until it goes off' as I was told until the part comes in! how crazy is this

- Rockaway, NJ, USA

problem #5

May 022019

Acadia

  • 19,000 miles
1* purchased March 2018 (Acadia denali) since August 2018 in motion when I accelerate it sounds like a loud lawnmower & crackling sound in rear muffler area. Took it Chevy place in glenpool, ok. They couldn't find anything. 2* on 2 occassions, in motion, the car accelerated with a loud noise & as if it were getting power & not moving then jerks & speeds up about 15mph faster & I couldn't stop it. I kept slamming on my breaks, but the break would only go in so far. I was frightened with my 2 young boys in car screaming. It's like riding a horse & it takes off & you can't control it. 3* on about 8 or 9 occassions stationary I get out of my car & it makes a really loud annoying sound like a machine/robot powering down. My kids always say, it's going to blow up 4* the most annoying, for past month...stationary, every single day & time I turn my ignition off. It has loud beeping sound & check rear seat flashing on screen then shift into park flashes. This occurs every single time I turn my car off. Sometimes I have to just let it go on all day because I can't get it stop. I turn car on & off shift back & forth & it still will not go off. Sometimes it does after long periods of time. I don't have time to struggle with getting a car into park every single time I turn my ignition off. I have to beat it forward hard with my hand to the point my wrist is bruised. Now I have to use my foot to kick gear shifter into park. I'm afraid T's going to roll out & or down and hit something, someone or even one of my children. Which would not be good. I've seen several of same complaints. This really needs to be investigated & recalled asap. My elderly mother had to call my brother to another part of town to beat the gear shift into park. This car was brand new & I shouldn't have any of the above mentioned issues. It's frustrating thinking GMC was top of the line & it's not.

- Okmulgee, OK, USA

problem #4

Mar 282019

Acadia

  • 12,000 miles
When I go to put car in park and go to turn it off it saw shift to park on the information screen. The shifter is in park and P flashes on and off on the shifter. GMC has said they do not have a fix for this. This is a safety issue if you think you're in park and go to get out and it is not.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

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