NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2018 GMC Acadia. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Stabilitrak Warning keeps showing up on dashboard as I turn my vehicle certain down certain roads, round abouts etc like my car shifts or makes it hard to control going around/through certain road conditions.
When I place the gear in park and shut car off, the display states to shift car to park. A loud continuous beep ensues and I would have to start and turn car off several times. The car does not lock nor stop on its own.
The GMC Acadia displays a "shift to park" error. The truck is in park (or appears to be) and the truck says it is not and will not allow it to be turned off. This is a common error with the truck and GMC is refusing to take responsibility and this can cause a fatal error if the truck is not in park and rolls away.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while turning off the vehicle, the place shift lever into park message was displayed. The contact had to restart the vehicle several times and move the shifter into the park position for it to disengage. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed the contact about the button on the gear shifter that may be used to reset the system. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,400.
Seemingly at random a warning will pop up on the driver dashboard “Steering assist is reduced at this time”. This will lead to a engine coolant temp reading of 0 degrees, no a/c and reduced steering functionality. Through further investigation the OBD code P0128 tells us it’s a faulty Thermostat or Thermostat sensor. Even if you get these parts replaced, the issue still comes back. I’ve seen these exact complaints at least a thousand times across multiple years of this model/make 2016,2017,2018,2019. This is clearly a manufacturers fault and needs a recall before people get hurt.
When I park my 2018 GMC Acadia, my infotainment screen states the following warning: "SWIFT TO PARK", but I have already put my car in PARK. This warning started appearing around 28,000 miles; my currect mileage on my Acadia is 28,379 miles. I have checked if there are any recalls on this issue, but found none, but this issue started appearing in the 2017 models
Shift to park error when turning off vehicle, which would not allow the engine to shut off. Had to have shifter and harness replaced.
“Action required Shift to Park” indicator comes on when trying to park vehicle. Vehicle does not recognize that it is in park. Vehicle will continue to move a short distance before recognizing that it has been placed in park and then comes to an abrupt stop. Vehicle sometimes has to be shifted between drive and park several times before it will recognize that it is in park.
The shift leaver when putting in park has an error code that the vehicle is not in park when it shows it is. The dealer said this is a common problem and replaced the shift leavers wire harness for 600.00. When this happens there is no way to turn the veh power off and it rolls a little before it engages.
When shifting the car into Park the P lights up and the car appears to be in Park, but an alarm goes off when you press the stop button to turn the car off. Action Required : Shift into Park. You have to restart the car and move the shifter or press the button on the shifter to get it to recognize that the car is in Park. This has gotten worse, last time it took over 20 minutes to get the car to recognize it. I have the car scheduled to go to the shop tomorrow. Warranty has expired due to date. Car only has 17,760 miles on it. 05/27/2022 was the last time the car was driven. I am sure they will try to charge me for this. It is a known issue and there seems to be a class action law suit over it. TSB - 19-NA-206 Dated September 2019. This should be a recall.
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.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after shifting into park(P), the gear shift indicator showed the vehicle was in park(P) however, while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the "Shift to Park" warning light remained illuminated. The contact was unable to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that after shifting between drive(D) and park(P) several times the contact was able to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,200.
When placing the car into park, dash indicated that the car was not in park. So, emergency brake had be utilized until the problem was determined by a GMC dealer rep. When asked, the rep did stated that this problem was happening with these vehicles. Safety of driver or others was definitely put at risk, car could have rolled out of my driveway or if parked elsewhere. Definitely felt unsafe operating this vehicle. This was happening on a regular basis prior to scheduling an appointment, approximately 2 weeks. Appointment was made at dealer and it was determined that floor shifter had to be replaced. Failure to be able to get the car in park indicated as above. This should be a recall and not a financial responsibility of owner.
unknown
Shift to park warning when parking and shutting down vehicle. Shifter is in park but will not shut off electrical system of vehicle.
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.
Blind spot warning light is not working. There is a previous recall for this for 2014-2017 GMC Acadia Models for the same issue. The issue has not clearly been fixed with models after 2017
Cars emergency brake locks up for no reason. Happened on several occasions but last instance burned out actuator and locked up calipers from just sitting on a hill with foot on brake. This is a huge safety issue when it locks up for no reason on a road. It’s stranded me at least twice because it’s hard to undue.
Thermostat fails frequently leading to reduced steering assist and temp gauge drops to below cold while fan runs on high. Along with sporadic blackout on all interior screens/instrument panel.
The gear system fails to recognize when the car is in park. I have had the gear box replaced once on this car, and it is failing again. The car has 92000 miles. The problem is that I cannot shut the car off completely or lock it because the system does not recognize that the car is in park. My dealer told me last time that the problem is caused by a faulty sensor. Now it's happening again. This is a major issue and GMC needs to correct it. Thankfully I bought an extended warranty so they will have to fix it again, but this is absurd. No other car I've had has ever had this issue.
A thermostat failure displays a "steering assist" warning while driving. The thermostat housing has been replaced twice in 3 years after this warning.
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.
Shift to park notification keeps coming on after shutting off the car. It obviously has been shifted in to park before turning off the engine, but the notification keeps popping up. I have had the shift harness replaced by a mechanic once alreafy. He says this is the GMC authorized fix. IT DID NOT FIX THe PROBLEM! Of course, he'll put another shift harness for me, but what are the odds that will solve anything. GMC needs to come up with a better solution! It is frustrating and time consuming trying to come up with whichever trick will work to make the notification to away. I am not a very happy customer!
My “Shift to Park” warning light pops up when attempting to park the car and shut off the engine. My wife had the problem at the grocery store and was very upset. This problem is constantly happening, my wife refuses to drive the car. I called the GMC dealer to get it looked at and was told it would be 2 weeks until they could diagnose the problem. Also it would cost $150 to look at it and I see the repair could be between $400 and $2000. The warning lights won’t stop and the constant bell dinging won’t stop until the battery is dead. All anyone has to do is Google “ shift to park” to see this is a defective switch. Many states have filed class action suits. A recall needs to be issued. My car has 33k miles on it.
Shift to park switch is defective. Switch will not register transmission is in park causing an alarm that runs battery dead. Car has set in my driveway 3 months unable to drive.
when the car is in park it thinks its still in gear and there is an alarm that says "SHIFT TO PARK". Car cant be turned off. It rolls. its unsafe. It was repaired once for this in 2019. It came back 2 weeks ago. Dealer wont honor correcting the repair.
Had to replace the shifter, harness, and parking assist module to the tune of $1569.00! When it was put into park the system would not acknowledge it was in park...therefore I could not lock the vehicle and an alarm kept going off. My Acadia only has 12,000 miles on it...NO excuse for having to replace those parts with or without a warranty! Dealership said I am not the only one this has happened to...they have replaced a number of them!
SHIFT VEHICLE INTO PARK AND THEN TURN VEHICLE OFF. WARNING LIGHT COMES ON WHICH SAYS "SHIFT TO PARK." TURN VEHICLE BACK ON. MOVE SHIFTIER FROM PARK TO DRIVE AND THEN TURN VEHICLE OFF AGAIN. WARNING LIGHT COMES ON AND WARNING "SHIFT TO PARK." DO THIS A FEW MORE TIMES AND IT FINALLY THE WARNING STOPS. IT DOES THIS INTERMITTENTLY.
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.
I purchased my 2018 GMC Acadia in 2021. Two days after I purchased the "Shift to Park" error occurred. I contacted the dealer and they said that yes these cars are not recognizing they are indeed in park. After several phone calls back and forth they agreed to repair. Well now 3 years later it began to show the Shift to Park error once again. I looked up to see if they had recalled yet and GM has recalled on SOME vehicles but not sure why others like mine are excluded. I would assume this is a safety issue since the car cannot recognize its in park. I am also not returning to the dealership for repair since I don't believe it was repaired to begin with or the replacement parts are also defective. This seems to be that it will be an ongoing issue and additional costs to me every time this issue comes up.
When the vehicle is in park, and I attempt to turn vehicle off, I get a messege saying to put vehicle in park. Vehicle will not turn off.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon depression of the brake pedal, the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard without warning. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer where she was informed that the brake pads and all four rotors needed to be replaced. The contact then called Brad Deery Motors (112 N. 2nd St, Maquoketa, IA 52060) and was informed to take the vehicle in to be diagnosed. The contact was then informed that only one of the rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure persisted. The contact also stated that upon attempting to park the vehicle, the shift to park warning message would illuminate on the instrument panel. The contact had to repeatedly shift the vehicle in and out of the park before the vehicle would recognize the shifter in the park position. The manufacturer had been notified of the failures but offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.
I'm getting the "Shift to Park" message when my vehicle is already in the Park position. This issue first started happening in 2019 and I took it to my local GMC service center to be looked at since it was still under warranty. It started happening again about 2 weeks ago. My extended warranty and powertrain has expired, so I'm concerned that the same dealership will charge me for this repair when I take it this week. If this is a known issue with this vehicle, as evidenced by the scores of complaints related to this issue, why isn't there a recall on this vehicle?
Car won’t go into park though I’ve shifted to park. Car starts beeping and displays “SHIFT TO PARK!” even though the vehicle is shut off and gear shifter is in park position. I took to dealership, they stated, “gmc NEEDS to recall this, we have to repair every single GMC Acadia we sell with unfortunately the same defective parts” it’s a $500 fix. I just use my parking break everytime I park now.
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.
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.
Vehicle does not recognize when in park, safety issue as passenger or driver could step out of vehicle while still in reverse. Unable to shut down vehicle due to not recognizing vehicle is in park.
I have numerous warnings, shift to park, steering, cross traffic, this endangers myself and anyone else around me, i have read several class action suits involving these problems and it could cause my vehicle to pose a danger, I have taken my vehicle in to a certified dealer and they state there is no known recalls associated with my vehicle which is strange because GMC knows that there are thousands of vehicles having the same problem, did I buy a lemon? These problems are clearly manufacture related and in no way normal wear and tare. I should not have to compensate these issues when I paid near 40,000 for it
Electronic park brake failed to release, flashing park in red on my instrument cluster and after numerous attempts to release it the amber wrench sign also displayed . I could only get it to release after disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it after a few minutes lapsed. It has continued to do this as recent as last week around the 1st of June 2022.
SHIFT TO PARK - I originally thought I was turning the car off too quickly. I would put the car in park and hit the button. Then I would get an error message (with Loud beeping) "SHIFT TO PARK." The car will not turn off completely or stop beeping until i turn it back on, and shift into drive and back into park. This last week the problem has escalated and keeps giving me the error message. I have had to leave my car with loud beeping and unlocked. I am driving with a battery charger hoping I will not have to use it. I am shocked this is NOT a recall.
VEHICLE WILL NOT SHUT OFF AS IT SHOWS SHIFT TO PARK. REOCCURRING PROBLEM.
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.
SHIFT TO PARK WARNING IS COMING ON, I AM NOT ABLE TO TURN THE CAR OFF. THE CAR IS ROLLING EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD WHILE IN THE PARKED POSITION. I HAVE TO TURN THE CAR ON AND OFF MANY TIMES PLUS PUT IT IN FORWARD, REVERSE, NEUTRAL AND MOST OF THE TIME THAT STILL DOES NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. THE CAR WILL NOT TURN OFF, AND IT IS ROLLING FORWARD OR BACKWARD WHILE IT IS PARKED.
Was driving down a dirt road and suddenly the airbags deployed for no reason. Ruined the car.
When I put the vehicle in park to exit the vehicle I get an alert on the dash that says to put the vehicle in park. The vehicle is in fact parked but I can't shut it off or lock it. I have searched and found that there was a class action lawsuit but no recall. The dealership keeps telling me that there isn't a fix for the problem.
WILL SAY THAT VEHICLE IS NOT IN PARK AND WILL NOT SHUT OFF. CONSTANTLY SAYS REMOTE DEVICE NOT DETECTED DESPITE ME USING THE REMOTE TO START OR TURN THE VEHICLE OFF. WILL NOT OFFICIALLY TURN OFF SAYING REMOTE NOT DETECTED AND RADIO WILL STAY ON. I CAN USE THE REMOTE TO TURN IT BACK ON BUT THE RECEIVE THE SAME ERROR MESSAGE, THIS HAPPENED 4 TIMES WHEN WE PARKED AT THE BALL FIELDS SUNDAY. HOW FRUSTRATING THAT WE HAD TO HANG BY THE CAR HOPING THE NEXT TRY IT WOULD COOPERATE. THIS IS CLEARLY A PROBLEM THAT GMC NEEDS TO FIX. THESE ARE NOT ONE TIME ERRORS, I HAVE SOME TYPE OF ERROR DAILY.
Water is leaking down back window from 3rd break light. Seal is bad/crushed was never put in right
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.
MY 2018 GMC ACADIA WAS BOUGHT NEW. IT HAS AN ISSUE WITH THE SHIFTER REGARDING "SHIFT TO PARK". WHEN THE VEHICLE IS PLACED IN PARK THE SENSORS OR COMPUTER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE IT AND YOU HAVE TO SHIFT IN AND OUT OF PARK TO GET IT RECOGNIZED. MY CAR HAS ROUGHLY 42OOO MILES ONLY AND WAS STATIONARY WHEN THIS OCCURRED. I CALLED MY LOCAL GMC DEALER IN NEW JERSEY AND THEY SAID IT WAS NOT UNDER RECALL, IT IS A KNOWN ELECTRICAL SHORT AND MY VEHICLE IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY. THEY WANTED 400.00+ TO FIX THE PROBLEM OR ISSUE. UPON AN INTERNET SEARCH I LEARNED THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. I FEEL AS A CONSUMER THAT GMC SHOULD GENERATE A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE REGARDING "SHIFT TO PARK". THANK YOU
MY 2018 GMC ACADIA WAS BOUGHT USED. IT HAS AN ISSUE WITH THE SHIFTER REGARDING "SHIFT TO PARK". WHEN THE VEHICLE IS PLACED IN PARK THE SENSORS OR COMPUTER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE IT AND YOU HAVE TO SHIFT IN AND OUT OF PARK TO GET IT RECOGNIZED. I CALLED MY LOCAL GMC DEALER IN TENNESSEE AND THEY SAID IT WAS NOT UNDER RECALL AND MY VEHICLE IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY. THEY WANTED 400.00 TO FIX THE PROBLEM OR ISSUE. UPON AN INTERNET SEARCH I LEARNED THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. I FEEL AS A CONSUMER THAT GMC SHOULD GENERATE A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE REGARDING "SHIFT TO PARK". THANK YOU
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026