Equipment Problems of GMC Acadia - part 1

I have a 2021 GMC Acadia that keeps saying steering assist not available. But when it does this, the temperature gage stops working and so does the ac. After you turn the car off the fan still runs for at least 10 minutes.

See all problems of the 2021 GMC Acadia 🔎.

Vehicle is showing message of “shift to park” while trying to turn ignition off and currently in park. There is a current recall but it is saying this vehicle is not included in recall.

See all problems of the 2017 GMC Acadia 🔎.

I have had multiple sensor issues with my Acadia since reaching 60000 miles. Currently, there is a thermostat sensor causing hard shifting, no cold air blowing from the ac, stabilitrack, traction control, steering assist reduced and fan running after turning off. I would not report it but I am in a facebook group where multiple people are reporting having the same issue in their Acadia's.

See all problems of the 2022 GMC Acadia 🔎.

The transmission in my 2017 GMC Acadia needs to be replaced. According to an article from qulll&arrow, llp, transmission problems affected the 2017, 2018, 2019 and some 2020 models, however, my VIN number is not included in this. I am reporting this so it can be documented in case other owners come forward and a pattern can be established.

Vehicle has shift to park message, and will not allow the vehicle to shut down even though the vehicle is in park.

Unknown.

See all problems of the 2011 GMC Acadia 🔎.

When I park and then turn the car off the car fails to recognize that the gear shifter is in the park position. As a result, the car doesn’t fully shut down, leaving the engine running or the electronics active. This drains the battery. I have seen this issue is recalled for other 2019 Acadias but don’t under why it is not recalled in mine. I’m afraid I’ll be out and about and unable to turn my car off resulting in a dead battery and being stranded.

See all problems of the 2019 GMC Acadia 🔎.

Check engine light comes on, temperature gauge stops working, driving assist reduced notification, engine fan runs on high only. Temperature gauge and sensor were replaced 27,000 mi ago when this happened before.

When the vehicle is put into park and I turn the vehicle off I get an alert on my console saying "shift to park". I called gm customer service and was told "harness" had been replaced in 2020. I bought the vehicle in 2021. Last year I had to replace the "harness" and it is doing it is now doing it again.

Shift to park message, and chime remain on after car shift handle is already placed in park. Car rolls. Ongoing problem/defect well documented/reported among other similar units.

At startup today vehicle displayed “brake assist failure. Press hard to brake. Speed limited. ” it also displayed “service. ” it also displayed “esc,” and the word “service. An internet search indicated this may be a common problem of this vehicle, caused either by a software error in the electronic brake control module, or due to a defective brake master cylinder. There is a gm service notice for these defects, n242471431. Regardless of the cause, the brake is extremely mushy, and requires a high degree of force to stop the vehicle. Gm says there is no recall due to this defect. This is a brand new vehicle and therefore it must be a defect in the vehicle. Given that braking is a fundamental safety issue, it’s hard to believe there is no recall already issued.

Shift to park. Car will not register as in park. Have previously had issue fixed and has started again. Was told this is a common reoccurance and would likely happen again over time even if I pay to have it fixed again. Yesterday I spent 45 minutes trying to get the car to turn off. If it says shift to park the car will not shut completely down and there is nothing that can be done. I spoke with GMC for 30 min and was finally told to unhook the battery because they have no way to make it shut off without going to a dealership which was closed at the time.

My 2018 GMC Acadia has had the "shift t park" alarm and indicator going off after my car is turned off and in "park" it only happens intermittently, but frequently enough to be annoying. The dealer and gm told me because my VIN wasn't in their recall range, they would not honor the recall. This has been happening since I purchased the car in 2018.

See all problems of the 2018 GMC Acadia 🔎.

Battery saver ignited comes on and and the entire dash flickers and turns off ! this happened in a middle of an intersection and I could move my car. We jumped it and went to the nearest auto zone replaced the battery . It was pulling 89 amps . The next day it popped up again and we replaced the alternator. Upon replacing this there was oil everywhere! and we don’t know where it is coming from . Now shift into part light comes on !.

When putting my vehicle in park and pressing the button to shut off my car, a warning appears on the dashboard saying “warning: put vehicle in park. ” & it is in park. I have to wiggle the gear shifter in order for the warning to go away and if it won’t go away, then my car won’t turn off. There was a recall on it in 2018 & I need mine fixed. Somehow, my vehicle was not apart of the recall but it needs to be. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

With the "shift to park" function, where the vehicle displayed the message even when it is in park, preventing the me from turning off the ignition.

Car gives “shift to park error” around every 5th time I turn it off. I have to turn the car back on and repark it to be able to actually turn off.

1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? the issue was with the gear select switch and jumper harness, related to the "shift to park" malfunction in my 2019 GMC Acadia. Yes, the components were available at the time of the repair with the GMC dealer. 2. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? the vehicle would not recognize when it was in "park," which prevented it from being turned off. This could lead to unexpected vehicle movement or battery drain, and creates a safety risk if the driver assumes the vehicle is secure when it is not. It also poses a hazard if the vehicle cannot be safely shut down in an emergency or in unsafe conditions. 3. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes, the issue was reproduced and confirmed by a GMC dealer during an appointment on July 22, 2025. They diagnosed the problem and verified that the gear select switch and jumper harness needed replacement. 4. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? the vehicle was inspected and repaired by an authorized GMC dealer. 5. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? no, a "shift to park" warning message appeared and the vehicle would not allow me to turn it off without shifting in and out of park multiple times. This first occurred on July 18, 2025, and continued until the repair was made.

Since buying my 2019 GMC Acadia multiple times a day my auto shift to park will not allow me to lock my door as normal. It says there is no recall associated with my VIN number however my particular year, make and model has the same issue. Please make this make since.

Around 7k miles on the vechicle, driving down the road it kept coming to a stop and skipping. Pulled into the parking lot the best that I could and put it into park. After it wouldn't shift into anything. Never gave any dash signals. It is currently in the shop getting a whole new transmission.

When vehicle is placed in park, it is still showing a "shift to park" message once car is turned off.

I get a warning whenever the car is placed on park with the shifter telling me to shift to park even though it’s already on park. This causes the car to not be able to turn off.

Shift to park issue. This 2019 Acadia denali has been serviced twice for a shift to park issue:(it’s a known problem that occurs when Acadia vehicles fail to recognize that the gear shifter is in the park position). The first time was under warranty in 2022 and it has just been serviced again for the same problem. The system is the same as the older gm recall for this problem and the recall should also include this model as well but unfortunately it does not.

The vacuum pump on my 2021 GMC Acadia failed causing my breaks malfunction. This problem was confirmed by a certified mechanic that repaired it. This is in conjunction with the NHTSA recall issued under n192268490.

On my 2019 Acadia, the message shift to park keeps appearing on my dash when I shirt the car into parked. It's getting more frequent and when I called GMC it's a well known problem to where the lady taking my appointment says yes we are aware it's happening alot. They want to charge 800 to fix a problem that should be a recall. It's a well known problem and there has been cases and suits brought up and GMC will not make a recall on this even though the mechanic said I can't believe this hasn't been recalled. Can you help with making GMC do a recall in the shift to park. Thank you.

Whenever parking the car and trying to stop (shut off) the engine it will randomly say “shift to park” and I cannot shut the vehicle off.

Faulty shifter assembly (shift to park) car stays on while in park because of this issue.

We receive a shift to park message when we try to turn our 2019 GMC Acadia off. The vehicle is already in park, but an alarm bell keeps going off telling us it is not. The vehicle will not allow us to shut off the vehicle properly and results in battery drain and inability to lock the vehicle. We have noticed there is a class action lawsuit and recalls from previous year's models and the 2019 model manufactured in ohio, but ours was manufactured in tennessee. Our year, make, and model isn't listed in the class action lawsuit and/or a recall. This is very frustrating considering the number of similar issues/complaints in regards to this shift to park problem. I feel GMC as the manufacturer should be held liable for a faulty part and they have failed to correct this issue in later models since they were aware of the issue with the 2017-2018 Acadia models built in tennessee.

The shift to park notification keeps coming on everytime we go to put the car into park. It takes about five to ten minutes shifting back and forth to get the car to shut off.

When I turn the ignition off it sends me a message that I must shift to park. The car is in park at that time that I get the message. I restart the car and move the shift to reverse or drive and move the car and place in park and that may correct the problem or I may have to do this once, twice even three times before it corrects. The warning bell will continue to ring and the radio continues to play until I can get the situation corrected.

My 2022 Acadia does not go into park at times even though the control button shows that it is in park. On may 15, 2025, I pulled under my carport and put the car in park. As I reached for my purse in the passenger seat, the car started moving forward even though it was in park. It ran through my privacy fence and injured my daughter who happened to be on the other side of the fence. She had some pretty severe bruising and scrapes on her hip, thigh, and upper body. The pain is bad enough, but her arm and shoulder was injured. It continually feels like something running up and down her arm. This is three weeks later and she still has the problem. The horrifying fact is the reality that I could have killed her through no fault of my own. I had the car towed to the dealership because I was afraid to drive it. Of course, the service department said they ran a test through the electrical system and found no problem with it. They brought my car to the front and told me there was nothing wrong with it. In fact they said they had not heard of that kind of problem. When I have to park I find a parking spot that would be least likely to have someone walk in front of it. If I have to park facing anything I will not pull up fully into the parking space so if my possessed car decided to go for a joy ride while in park again, at least someone would have a running chance to stay alive. I consulted the internet trying to find a fix to the problem. What I found was that gm has had the problem for years and has no idea how to fix it, yet they are allowed to continue to sell vehicles that are a potential safety hazard to society. My vehicle is a safety hazard to me and to society. Also learned that if you take you car to the repair shop you are appeased thinking they repaired the problem and yet it continues. When your warranty runs out, gm expects you to pay for any further visits to the shop. As far as I'm concerned selling gm products could be considered a fraudulent activity!.

My Acadia car has been having some problems with the shift to park. I put my vehicle on park and my doesn't turn off because it keeps saying that it hasn't shifted to park. Do to this issue my battery car has been draining and my family and I got locked in. I bought the car not to long ago and it's been an issue ever since its getting worse as time has past. I'm really wanting this fix as it can take hours to turn the car off.

Vehicle producing code p2138 then goes into limp mode stating to service stability, traction control off and engine reduced power. Replaced throttle body and acceleration pedal position sensor and error was still present.

See all problems of the 2012 GMC Acadia 🔎.

Shift to park error message consistently displayed forcing repeated restarting of the vehicle so that it finally recognized that the vehicle was in park and would unlock the doors for safe exit from the vehicle. This was a known issue by general motors and they have 2 class action lawsuits filed n the states of ohio and tennessee for this issue with well over 110,000 vehicles affected. General motors refuses to acknowledge this defect and fails to issue a recall. Their only offer when I took this vehicle to a gm certified dealership was to offer 15% towards the replacement of the shifter assembly. The excuses made were the vehicle was out of warranty as well as over in mileage. I bought this vehicle used from an Acura dealership and accepted delivery of it on [xxx] with approximately 33,417 miles. I started to experience the shift to park error message at 36,013 miles in early may 2025. By the time I was able to receive instructions from GMC customer care and secure repair for this issue the vehicle mileage was approximately 37,000 miles. It is not a pleasant feeling to be trapped inside your vehicle until you can get it to finally recognize that the vehicle truly is in the park mode. With the hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road with this issue I feel gm should recognize their problem and perform a vehicle recall. This flaw had been installed in numerous gm vehicles manufactured as early as 2017. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

This 2012 GMC Acadia denali with close to 160k has been in the shop several times due to it randomly stalling out it kept basically locking me out from starting the car a "service anti-theft system" would flash across the dash followed by a flashing check engine light along with a lock and key symbol. A local gm repair shop had it in 3 times for them to tell me they couldn't figure it out or get the vehicle to "act up" they cut me two new keys and tightened up what they claimed to be loose battery cables just for the vehicle to die/stall with a no crank no start happen literally 10 minutes down the road after paying almost 600$ for repairs and that it was towed back 3 times for the same issue spanning over two months of them not being able to figure out the issue. Salvador ended up replacing the anti-theft control module after the 3rd time having to tow it back and forth just to leave the shop and I couldn't start the vehicle the next day after handing over almost another 400$ and less than 15/20 miles of drive time. Gm needs to get this issue figured out!!! there anti-theft system locks people out from starting their vehicles more than it does actually preventing actual theft. This will eventually end up causing a major crash at an intersection or highway if the anti-theft system keeps failing it just randomly cuts out power to the engine while driving.