GMC Acadia owners have reported 905 problems related to power train (under the power train category). The most recently reported issues are listed below. Also please check out the statistics and reliability analysis of GMC Acadia based on all problems reported for the Acadia.
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.
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all problems of the 2017 GMC Acadia
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The transmission failed at 90k miles, causing shuddering and stalling on acceleration. This has occurred several times on major highways and is very dangerous.
Leaking transmission fluid- transmission fluid all over the underbody of my car. No reason to be leaking. Can’t find where it’s coming from. Every time I park than move to leave there is a puddle of transmission fluid.
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all problems of the 2024 GMC Acadia
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Shift to park light comes on and car won't shut off.
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all problems of the 2019 GMC Acadia
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Car has delayed shifting, and jolting when switching gears. Transmission temp gets up to 270 degree while driving.
About a month ago when I shifted my vehicle into park and shut the vehicle off, "shift to park" appeared on dash display for which I had to restart the vehicle, shift it into another gear and attempt to shutoff the vehicle again. Occasionally this would work but not all the time. Other times when shifting into other gears did not work I had to restart the vehicle, press the shifter button multiple times and then was able to shut the car off with no "shift to park" appearing. On 7/11/25, arrived to work and had to performed the shifting the vehicle into another gear and was able to shut the vehicle off. When I went to leave for lunch, the car would not start at all, check the gm app and it stated "critically low battery". A CO-worker helped jump the battery and I was able to start the vehicle. When I went to leave work for the day, the vehicle would not start again with no notification as to why. My CO-worker jumped the battery again and vehicle started now with all the system lights on dash staying on and warnings displayed. 7/12/25 vehicle struggled to start and all system lights were still on. Later in the day, the vehicle would not start and all overhead, dash, display, taillights would not shut off. We jumped the battery and took the vehicle to our local dealer.
Unknowingly what the actual issue is in this 2016 GMC has major safety risk in electrical major different problems it has caused me safety issue with little one in the car and my family not knowing the issue with not understating it is a safety risk it has shut off 20 times restarting the radio for no reasoning also it sounds like the powertrain is going to stop working unless u put in l shift which I think that is nuts I was on the highway and it just stopped with the key locked in it like what actually f is going on this SUV has had problems since day one.
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all problems of the 2016 GMC Acadia
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Ratle sound in the engine thinking it may be the timing chain. Code p0430 came on stating catalytic converter bank 2 needs replaced. We replaced O2 sensor downstream on bank 2 code was cleared by shop. After driving a few miles same check engine light came on and I took it to the shop they hooked it up to run the code and it was the same p0430 again.
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all problems of the 2012 GMC Acadia
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Component: shifter assembly & jumper harness safety concern: can't turn off vehicle - carbon monoxide poisoning, physical safety when parking not at home, as I would have to leave vehicle running. . . Message in dash was present when I brought vehicle to dealer. Dealer also replicated no inspection other than dealer. Part returned to me. Warning message has been coming on for past 60 days or so, progressively getting more frequent I receive a 'shift to park' message in telltale after I have shifted to park. At times, vehicle will not shut off until shifter is manipulated for several minutes. I have concerns that I cannot park vehicle in garage, if I cannot shut it off. Gm is well aware of issue, but has yet to recall them. Dealer actually had replacement shifter in stock for a same day repair. . I was charged $778. 98 for the repair, and gm's customer assistance center response to me simply was to file a complaint with NHTSA. My wife does not feel safe driving, as there is no guarantee vehicle will turn off. Dealer replicated issue when I brought to dealership. Dealer has replaced part and has them. Warning lights only appeared when problem reared itself, initially began about 60 days ago, but is not occurring on approximately 2 of 3 shut downs.
When placing the gearshift in park a warning on the dashboard says the vehicle is not in park and I get warning bells when shutting the engine off. This has been happening for almost a month.
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all problems of the 2018 GMC Acadia
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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.
Transmission went out at 4,150 miles vehicle was having hard shifts and slipping.
"shift to park" warning error when vehicle is in park. Although I have heard there was a recall, I am not seeing any when I've entered my VIN #. The issue has happened multiple times over the last 6 months.
Our arcadia 2019 with 40000 miles has shift to park problem. 2017 thru some 2019 had recall notice and were fixed by GMC. Why doesn't it apply to this vehicle. We had to pay $1500 to dealer. There is an obvious problem and they have admitted it. Time for government to step in or do a class action lawsuit looks like they are filed by state.
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 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon arriving to his destination, the message "please shift to park" was displayed. There was no warning light illuminated. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to technical service bulletin: 19-na-206. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000.
For the past two weeks, when the Acadia is put into park and the engine is turned off, the warning bell chimes nonstop and a dashboard message appears to put the vehicle into park even though it is already in park. The vehicle needs to be restarted and then put into drive or reverse and then back into park. With irregularity it may or may not work. Sometimes the car must be turned on and off 5 or 6 times before it recognizes that the transmission is truly in park.
Some times when vehicle is shifted into park it doesn’t recognize it is in park. I have to turn the vehicle off and restart it, shift into drive and back into park. Sometimes it takes a few times. My neighbor has a 2018 traverse and had the same issue.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon reaching his destination and shifting the vehicle into park, the vehicle failed to recognize that that the shift lever was in park. The contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The shift to park warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 61,000.
The car no longer recognizes when shifted into park. It will not allow things like door locks and so on.
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.
When shifting into park the car still states to "shift into park" on the dash and will not fully shut off. I still need to take the car into the dealer for service to fix. This seems to be an issue.
The thermostat failed which cause the steering system to fail and car to not read temperature.
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all problems of the 2021 GMC Acadia
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Drive shaft has excessive play.
Shifting to park and vehicle stating the vehicle is not in park, won't let me turn the vehicle off. Transmission going out, brought to many shops letting me know that the transmission is not working properly but won't give an engine light if anything is wrong with vehicle, wont show on readers what is wrong with vehicle. Electrical, doors will automatically lock and unlock most times lock and locks me in the vehicle having me have to climb through the windows and having to leave my windows open or locks me out the vehicle and can only get in by climbing in the trunk. Testing has been done and brought to gm to figure out the issue, and they replace the computer in it but still has the problem. I have had shops tell me these are all huge issues that needs to have a recall because my vehicle is not the only GMC Acadia that does all this. How is any of this safe for me and my kids.
After shifting car to “p” park, it still says shift to park and drains the battery.
I have a 2019 Gmcacadia denali with less than 60000 miles. The problem I have with the vehicle is I get a error that say "park to shift. I don' know if it is in park or not. I am afraid that it isn't in park and will create a safety issue and injuries. It is my understanding that the same problem with the 2020+ GMC Acadia and is listed in a recall. Why isn't 2019 not included in this recall?.
For 3 weeks now, my dash keeps telling me to shift to park when my gear shift is already in park. Car will not allow me to secure it because it thinks the car is not in park!.
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”.
Leaking transmission fluid.
The vehicle stalls when air start kicks on so when stopped auto stop kick on and when your ready to go the go stalls to turn back on. I have also lost power to the car randomly. Power train issue on car keeps coming on with engine light. I have taken to dealer when car was under warranty and they were very dismissive to my issue. They changed some sensor under warranty and they said the issue was fixed. But the issue remains and it’s causing several issues to the car with also a fueling code to the engine light.
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all problems of the 2020 GMC Acadia
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Very bad shuttering when driving, took it to transmission shop and they said it needs to be replaced.
I have had nothing but issues with this vehicle from the day I purchased it. I should have been more leery of purchasing a vehicle with so few miles on it as a certified vehicle. First issue lift gate wouldn’t work. Had to have sensors replaced twice. Next was the purge valve sensor that has went bad 3 separate times. Then the crankcase vent sensor. Paid a fee for diagnostics, it was not repaired took it back when the engine light came back on, they replaced it without charging but I was advised it’s not covered under warranty. And most recently my check engine light came on yet again today now reading an issue with the engine cooling system. Unfortunately the dealer is so booked out, my only option is to drop it off and hope they can get it in by a cancellation or no show. Seems there are new issues ever 3-6 months with the car.
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.