general problems of the 2017 GMC Acadia - part 1

When I shift my car to park, it doesn't register that it is in park. It won't let me shut the car off. I can move the gear shift around a bit and it will eventually say it is in park. It can take sometimes up to 10 minutes for me to be able to shut off my car. I have read that this is a known issue and there was a recall, but my VIN number was not included for some reason? the issue started about a month ago and has been continually getting worse.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was slipping while attempting to change gears. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10-15 mph, the vehicle made an abnormally loud blower motor sound while accelerating, before the vehicle lost motive power. The transmission was shifted to neutral(n) and pushed to the side of the roadway. The tpms warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who determined that the transmission clutch had failed, and the transmission needed to be rebuilt or replaced. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed there was no recall coverage or warranty coverage on the VIN for the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 132,000.

The transmission failed at 90k miles, causing shuddering and stalling on acceleration. This has occurred several times on major highways and is very dangerous.

I have gotten a alert on my vehicles dashboard after parking saying "shift to park" my car won't turn off until I can wiggle the shifter just right or have to take it out of park, back to drive back to park. I didn't have my radio on once and I didn't notice it wasn't all the way off and my battery went dead.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while attempting to shift into park(p), the vehicle failed to turn off, with the "shift to park" message displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that after several attempts, the vehicle eventually turned off. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 17v516000 (power train). The vehicle was not repaired and remained with the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Drive shaft has excessive play.

The vehicle keeps shaking specially at the first and second gear, up to 40miles/hr and at any up hills roads. I took it to the mechanic and he said that it’s an issue in the transmission and needs to be replaced. Also the engine fan randomly turns on automatically, and a warning message stating “steering assist reduced. Drive with care”.

Very bad shuttering when driving, took it to transmission shop and they said it needs to be replaced.

A couple of months ago, I tried to put my car in park and shut it off the same way I have for years. The car made a rapid alarm sound and displayed a shift to park message on my dashboard. In order to get the car to shut off correctly, I had to squeeze the button on the shifter and gently push forward and backwards until the car recognized that I was in park. This now happens approx. 1 in every 15 times I try to turn off my vehicle. When this happens, I do not know if my car is actually in park and this is just a sensor issue or if the car is in fact struggling to shift to park!? if that's the case, couldn't it roll into someone or some thing? I remember Jeep having this issue a few years back, where people were killed when their "parked" Jeep rolled over them. I think a famous actor was one of those victims in his driveway. Has GMC ever released a statement as to why only some VIN #s are included in this recall, when many of us on here are experiencing the same issue??.

The vehicle would not recognize the truck was shifted to park. The gear shift was replaced in 2024 and the same problem occurred 9 months later. The first GMC repair location did not connect the shifter cable correctly, causing the problem to persist. I had to pay twice to resolve an issue seen in many of the 2017 GMC Acadia models. This problem should be considered a recall, and charges for repair should be covered by GMC.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after shifting to park, the vehicle could not immediately be turned off. The message "shift to park" was displayed. The contact stated that after several attempts, the vehicle was able to be turned off. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 17v516000 (power train). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 59,000.

Shift to park. Vehicle does not turn off when in park. This recall is in effect on other 2017 Acadias but for some reason ours is not under the recall. Had this issue in 2020 and it was repaired at our cost. It is now doing the same thing.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while attempting to shift to park(p) to turn off the vehicle, the message that the vehicle was not in park(p) was displayed. The contact stated that the gear shift indicator showed that the vehicle was in park(p). The contact shifted to drive(d) and then back to park(p) several times before being able to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had become a recurring failure. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was 89,776.

Twice the shift to park function of the vehicle has failed, once in 2020 and again in 2025, it appear that there is a recall for the year make and model vehicle, but for some reason my particular VIN in not included in this recall. The recall needs to be expanded to address this safety issue.

Shift to park on the dash display.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle failed to turn off. The contact shifted from park (p) to drive(d) and was eventually able to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that the letter p(park) was outlined in yellow and was illuminated on the instrument panel. Additionally, the contact stated that while attempting to close and lock the driver's side door, the door failed to lock securely. The contact stated that the failures occurred simultaneously. The contact stated that the failures were intermittent. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after making a left turn and stopping at a traffic sign, there was an abnormal clicking sound coming from underneath the vehicle. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was hesitating before gaining forward momentum while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the vehicle bucked or lunged forward while accelerating. The contact stated that there was no warning light during the failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the intermediate drive shaft was failing. The mechanic informed the contact of NHTSA campaign number: 17v516000 (power train) and advised the contact to take the vehicle to a dealer to be repaired. The contact had called a local dealer and was informed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while attempting to shift into park, the message "shift to park" was displayed. There was no warning light illuminated. Due to the failure, the contact was unable to turn off the vehicle. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced technical service bulletin: pit5616; as a possible cause for the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Sudden onset of extensive shuddering/shaking when shifting gears.

My transmission is burning on the inside with no warning or indication. Transmission fluid is black and burned. Experienced jerking and hesitation when gears are automatically shifting.

Transmission shutters, shakes and jumps while accelerating. Forward collision warning will come on at any point even if there is no vehicles in front of me. I have contacted GMC but was told that it’s a normal transmission issue.

My car on has 54,000 miles on it. For the last two weeks it has started showing that it is not in park when it actually is and continues the warning until I have shifted back and forth at least 4-5 times to clear the message and then able to exit the vehicle. It will roll forward or back to some degree even though it seems to be in park but it messages that it is not. When calling our dealership they do not show a recall and state it will be $180. 00 just to look at it, not counting repair for this. There have been no other warning in the system and no accidents at this time. I do have children that ride in this car and could cause a serious situation if the car were to roll or be in gear.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that the vehicle had to be turned on and off approximately 2 - 3 times to place the gear shifter in park(p), for the transmission to remain in park(p). The message “shift to park” would be displayed on the instrument panel. The failure was intermittent at first but since started occurring more frequently. The dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 91,587.

Car will not shut off. Shift to park problem.

The "shift to park" warning light comes up every time I put my car in park. I have to move it back and forth multiple times to get it to acknowledge that its in park or the vehicle will not shut off. This is a dangerous situation in that the car could easily roll when I am not in it. I know that this is an ongoing issue with the 2017-2018 GMC Acadia and don't understand why GMC won't issue a recall for this. If this were to cause injury or an accident then they are 100% liable. I started having these issues about a week ago. My husband took it to the dealership and they told him that its not a recall or under warranty. I cannot afford to fix this myself at this point.

While parking, cannot turn off the vehicle because of a warning to shift the transmission to park, even though the shifting mechanism is in the park position. Happens very frequently where sometimes up to 10 minutes trying over and over to safely park the car. Has been happening for all of 2024 but getting increasingly more difficult to park.

The car will not shift into park from drive. When trying to park I have to shift from drive to park several times before it will finally go into park. It is getting worse.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted, with the shift to park message was displayed. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to shut off when the contact attempted to engage the parking brake. The contact forcefully engaged the parking brake to shut off the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was determined that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the nhsta hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.

Vehicle developed a major shudder and vibration from transmission. There are reports of the symptom in other complaints and a service bulletin released by gm for replacing the transmission fluid only(filter is internal and can only be replaced by removing and disassembling the transmission). When this malfunction is coupled with an evap sensor failure, loss of acceleration and engine stall occurs. The evap failure code did not appear for several weeks. I would suspect any type of engine miss will cause the same failure. Replacing transmission fluid does not remedy the severe shuddering from the vehicle.

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon parking and turning off the vehicle, the message "shift to park" was displayed while the gear shifter was in park(p). The contact stated that upon restarting the vehicle and shifting out of park and shifting back into park(p) several times, the vehicle responded as needed. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing, and the dealer charged a fee for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.

Many times after shifting the car into park, a message is displayed saying that the car needs to be put in park. It takes many time of turning the car on and off and moving the shift back and forth in order to get the message off and get the car to shut off. I notice that some 2017 and 2018 Acadia models have received recall notices addressing this problem. Our VIN number does not show up in the recall notices. Is there a reason why our car would not be covered as we have the same issue as cars that have received recall notices. Any help that you could provide would be very much appreciated. It is a very frustrating problem.

Violent shifting in the transaxle when vehicle is shifting between lowers gears. Transaxle causing a shuddering vibration on inclines. It feels like the engine is misfiring, but it is the torque converter/transmission/transaxle failing.

The error 'shift to park' continuously shows up on the dash area after I have shifted to park. All electronics that I can see stay on. I am not sure if other electronics that I can't see stay on. The vehicle engine will turn off with this message lit, but I cannot lock the doors.

I was traveling at the posted speed limit of 80 mph on rt 90 in south dakota at 10:30 pm and the GMC Acadia was working without any issue when all of a sudden various warnings flashed on the dashboard with one of them being power saver mode engaged. Within about 3 minutes various other warnings flashed and the vehicle motor turned off along with all of the electrical systems. Luckily, I was able to maneuver the GMC Acadia to the shoulder of the highway safely. The vehicle would not start and for about a minute or so we were trapped in the Acadia. We could not unlock the doors or wind down the windows until I pressed the start/stop bottom several times. Onstar did not work either. Once we could get out of the Acadia, my wife called 911 and in roughly 20 minutes or so, a police officer arrived at our location. We also called aaa and had a tow truck take the broken down GMC Acadia to a garage for repairs. It turns out that the alternator went bad and rendered our GMC Acadia useless in roughly 3 minutes from the initial warning. There was absolutely none of the tell tale warnings of a bad alternator. We did not see or observe any dim lights, hesitating starts or any other things associated with a bad alternator prior to the 3 minute warning before the vehicle completely was inoperable. We are very lucky to be alive. If route 90 was more congested with traffic at the time of this incident, we might have been serious injured if not killed. Imo this GMC Acadia is a death trap. This vehicle warns the driver when the key fob’s battery is low many weeks before it needs to be replaced. It should warn you more than 3 minutes if not several hours prior to the vehicle being completely immobilized. It should be noted that the check engine light came on several hours before this incident and I called onstar and they ran the diagnostics and returned a p0420 code which is related to emissions. The check engine light turned itself off about 1 hour before incident.