2018 Chevrolet Traverse POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
Shift to park errors over multiple years, shutter when accelerating. Now pressure control solenoid code vehicle will not go in reverse or shift out of first gear. Transmission needs replacement. This is my family vehicle, i have 3 small children and it has turned off at stop lights etc. My families safety has been jeopardized many times driving this vehicle, especially the last time in particular. The vehicle stopped engaging in reverse and then in first would accelarate by itself on the way home from my 8 year olds baseball game.
i am getting a shift to park error code on dashboard. The shifter gear is in park but the vehicle will not turn off. I have called the dealer several times and they are told the problem but eventually they hang up on me. There seems to be a class action suit out for the issue but no recall. I would like to see recall because this is a serious safety issue. One if the vehicle does not completely turn off and you are not aware of the issue then your battery can run out. If you are in a urban/remote area which I am no dealerships for about 50 miles away can be a serious problem being stranded on the I 15 freeway. When you put the vehicle in park sometimes it pops out of gear too. There were no previous warnings prior to the shift to park dash indicator. I am not a rich person. My vehicle just has over 72,000 miles. This should be covered by a recall. Please help.
The vehicle will not shut off and vehicle information screen states Shift to park. When this happens we have 2 options. 1st to sit and wait for the vehicle to turn off(takes over an hour on average), 2nd Disconnect the negative battery connection. The vehicle shuts down nearly instantly. Then reconnect the battery before being able to use the vehicle again
Shift to park error. Happens often when the car is in park, the error states that the car is not in park and has an alarm that goes off. I am unsure if the car is safely in park and not sure my car will lock if I do not try to cancel out the message by continuously starting the car back up and shifting the gears to ensure it is in park. It happens very frequently. I was told by the dealership that they have replaced a lot of these parts and they are not sure why a recall has not been issued yet.
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that after turning off the vehicle, the interior and exterior lights remained illuminated. Additionally, the radio remained on, and the horn sounded off. The instrument panel displayed the words "Shift to Park," which, the contact performed; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, an appointment was scheduled. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 52,000.
I was driving on the highway and without any warning, the acceleration did not work in my car. I coasted to the side of the highway and waited for over an hour for a tow truck to arrive. Chevrolet replaced the transmission. I was told Chevrolet would consider rebates if I go through a Chevrolet dealership to fix it. They charged $2,000 over other shops, but only offered $200 off. They also took over a month to repair my vehicle. I wish I did not use them for repairs. Also, during heavy rains, the car leaked water through the electrical components in the roof. We intervened several times, but water persistently came through. Finally, we purchased the car at under 30,000 miles and immediately needed to replace the exhaust and shift to park feature. The car would not recognize when I was in park and could not turn off.
I placed my car in park & an alert went off stating, “shift to park.” My car would not turn off, after multiple attempts, until I turned it on & off & drove the car a short distance. This has happened several times this month, with no warning or symptoms. My car is currently in for service & the dealership mentioned there’s a shortage in the switch, requiring a $400 repair. I feel my safety & that of others, is at risk, as my car currently does not know if it’s in park or drive. What’s to say this issue won’t arise, when I’m driving down the interstate at 70mph? Or I am having a medical emergency & can’t turn my car off to place it in park? I did a google search & apparently this is a very common issue with this type of car. The dealer mentioned it would have been covered under a 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, but my car is 4 years old with 37,000 miles on it.
When I put my car into park and turn it off I’m Shift to park error code. So the car stays on and won’t turn off. I turn the car on and off shift the gear and nothing happens. I have to sit in the car a hope that it goes into park. See photo.
Attempted to park vehicle in level parking lot. Vehicle appeared to go into Park. Driver Information Center indicated that vehicle was not in Park and provided warning bells. When exiting the vehicle was providing warning more warning sounds and would not stop. Vehicle was in Park, but would have run warnings until battery discharge. Tried cycling vehicle, contacted On-Star and began troubleshooting with them. I was unable to resolve with them and GM support. Took to dealership and after troubleshooting was resolved by following steps in TSB 19-NA-206 which was performed outside of any warranty coverage.
When I turn off the vehicle, there is an audible dinging that does not stop and a message "shift to park" on the screen. This warning and message does not stop and therefore would run down the battery if left. I googled a solution before taking to the dealership and it turns out, this is a common failing in many Chevy vehicles. It is a small part located in the shift control, literally a 1 inch strip of flexible metal, that isn't making a good connection to a sensor. Chevy should fix this or replace for free since it is clearly a defect, but instead service departments charge a diagnostic fee ($169) and I was told it would be a $777 fix on top of the fee. With the "shop fees" it would cost $1,000.
Electrical ground problem affecting transmission control is evident by a Shift to Park warning that displays on the driver information center and prevents vehicle from being turned off. GM has this problem so we’ll documented that a TSB exists and is on file with NHTSA. The inability to turn off the vehicle when this is encountered is a significant safety issue. We paid out of pocket to have the fix recommended in the TSB applied to our vehicle.
Shift to Park message displays on the Driver Information Center (DIC) when the vehicle has been shifted to Park and the ignition has been turned to the Off position. This causes alarm chimes to go off when door is opened and the battery to drain.
My vehicle will not always go in to park allowing the vehicle to move and not to be locked if it doesn’t roll when “parked”. GM knows this is an issue and refuses to do anything to correct the issue.
I HAD PURCHASE A 2018 CHEVY TRAVERSE FROM CURRY CHEVROLET IN THE SAME YEAR, I NOTICE A LITTLE SLIPPING WITH A LITTLE JERKING SOMETIMES A FEW MONTHS LATER AND THE SHIFT TO PARK WAS ACTING UP. I CALLED CURRY AND ASKED THEM IS THERE ANY PROBLEMS OR RECALLS WITH THIS MODEL, SERVICE DEPT SAID NO, THEN I HAD CALLED A DEFERENT DEALERSHIP THEY SAID THE SAME, AND I HAD CALL CURRY ABOUT THREE TIMES REGARDING MY THIS PROBLEM, SO I KEPT CHECKING MY VIN# ON CHEVY .COM NOTHING COMES UP. SO I WENT ON LINE TO FIND OUT I WASN'T ALONE REGARDING THESE PROBLEMS EVEN WITH LATER MODELS. THEN I CALLED CUSTOMER CARE TWICE TO MAKE SURE THE INFO I WAS GIVING WAS THE SAME, I HAD EXPLAINED MY PROBLEMS WITH THEM, SHE SAID THERE ARE NO RECALLS UNDER MY VIN# AT THIS TIME, I WENT OVER MY WARRANTY WITH BOTH CUSTOMER REPS, BOTH WERE ACCURATE THAT MY VEHICLE IS STILL COVERED. I ALSO RECEIVED INFO THERE IS A BULLETIN OUT #18-NA-121. I AM HOPING THERE WONT BE ANY PROBLEMS CORRECTING THESE ISSUES, I AM PREPARED FOR A FIGHT GETTING A LAWYER AND GOING TO MANY NEWS STATIONS, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WOULD YOU PUT A DEFECTIVE PART NOT ONLY IN MY MODEL BUT OTHERS WITH OUT SOLVING THE PROBLEMS FIRST ACCORDING TO OTHER OWNERS THAT HAD POSTED THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH THE POWERTRAIN. I AM TRULY DISAPPOINTED WITH CHEVROLET, AND TO THINK I LEFT FORD & DODGE. *TR
FIRST ISSUE IS, WHEN YOU STOP DRIVING THE TRAVERSE, PLACE IT IN PARK AND HIT THE BUTTON TO TURN OFF THE ENGINE, IT WILL SHUT OFF THE ENGINE BUT NOT THE ELECTRONICS. THE CAR DISPLAYS "ACTION REQUIRED SHIFT TO PARK" EVEN THOUGH IT IS ALREADY IN PARK WITH THE RED P LIT UP. YOU CANNOT TURN OFF THE VEHICLE UNTIL YOU REPEATEDLY START THE VEHICLE, PLACE IT IN DRIVE THEN BACK TO PARK. EVENTUALLY IT WILL WORK CORRECTLY. VEHICLE WILL NOT LOCK WHEN THIS HAPPENS. THIS NOW HAPPENS EVERY TIME I TRY TO TURN OFF THE VEHICLE. I AM JUST OUT OF WARRANTY AND DEALERSHIP SAYS I NEED TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN AS THE RECOMMENDED FIX FROM MANUFACTURER DID NOT WORK. ALL OF WHICH ARE OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES DESPITE THIS BEING A WELL KNOWN ISSUE. ALSO, VEHICLE WILL RANDOMLY HAVE A LONG DELAY BEFORE THE VEHICLE SHIFTS IN GEAR. YOU SHIFT TO D AND HIT THE GAS AND THE ENGINE REVS LIKE IT IS IN NEUTRAL AND EVENTUALLY IT WILL FINALLY START TO GO. THIS DELAY WITH ENGINE REVVING ALSO HAPPENS RANDOMLY WHEN AT A STOP AND ACCELERATING THROUGH INTERSECTIONS AND I HAVE HAD A FEW NEAR MISSES OF ALMOST BEING HIT BECAUSE OF THIS! THIS SECOND ISSUE ONLY SEEMS TO HAPPEN WHEN GOING FROM A STOP.
ISSUE 1 WHEN YOU STOP DRIVING THE TRAVERSE, PLACE IT IN PARK AND HIT THE BUTTON TO TURN OFF THE ENGINE, IT WILL SHUT OFF THE ENGINE BUT NOT THE ELECTRONICS. THE CAR DISPLAYS 'ACTION REQUIRED SHIFT TO PARK' EVEN THOUGH THE SHIFTER IS IN PARK WITH THE RED P LIT UP. YOU CANNOT TURN OFF THE VEHICLE UNTIL YOU REPEATEDLY START THE VEHICLE, PLACE IT IN DRIVE THEN BACK TO PARK. EVENTUALLY IT WILL WORK CORRECTLY. IT ALSO SEEMS TO CLEAR IF I SHIFT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO L THEN BACK TO PARK. ISSUE 2 RANDOMLY (BUT OFTEN) WHEN YOU START THE VEHICLE AND SHIFT IT INTO DRIVE THERE IS A LONG DELAY BEFORE THE VEHICLE SHIFTS IN GEAR. YOU SHIFT TO D AND HIT THE GAS AND THE ENGINE REVS LIKE IT'S IN NEUTRAL. LOOKING AT THE DISPLAY THE D KEEPS FLASHING THEN EVENTUALLY IT WILL STOP FLASHING AND THE VEHICLE WILL GO IN GEAR. THIS IS HAPPENING MORE AND MORE FREQUENTLY.
I WAS STOPPED AT AN INTERSECTION AND THE TRANSMISSION DID NOT ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO MOVE FORWARD, IT APPEARED TO DISENGAGE EVEN THOUGH THE SHIFTER AND DASH ICON WERE SET IN "DRIVE" MODE. THERE IS ALSO AN ALARM SOUNDING WHEN I SHUT THE VEHICLE MOTOR OFF AND THE DASH SCREEN READS "SHIFT TO PARK". I FOUND THAT I NEED TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AND SHIFT OUT AND BACK IN TO "PARK" IN ORDER FOR THIS ALARM TO SHUT OFF. IT APPEARS THERE IS A BAD CONNECTION BETWEEN THE COMPUTER AND THE TRANSMISSION OR VISA VERSA. GM HAS ALREADY ISSUED SEVERAL TSBS RELATED TO THIS VEHICLE AS YOU MIGHT BE AWARE.
MY VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION IS LAGGING. IT SOMETIMES WON'T GO WHEN IN DRIVE AND GIVEN GAS. THE ENGINE WILL REV UP BUT WON'T MOVE. IT SHIFTS HARD AS WELL. THE SHIFT TO PARK INDICATOR COMES ON WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IN PARK AND NOT MOVING. THE RADIO SCREEN SOMETIMES WON'T TURN OFF OR ON, LIKE IT'S FROZE. WHEN I TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AND ALL POWER IS OFF, I CAN WALK IN THE HOUSE AND ABOUT 4 MINUTES LATER MY RADIO COMES ON BY ITSELF. EVEN IF THE RADIO IS POWERED OFF. THE VOLUME WILL ONLY GO UP TO 32-36, AS FAR AS SOUND, WHILE THE RADIO SCREEN SHOWS 63. IT'S NOT LOUD AT ALL! WHEN I TURN THE VOLUME BUTTON DOWN, THE RADIO INCREASES VOLUME BUT STILL ISN'T AS LOUD AS BEFORE. IT HAS LESS THAN 30,000 MILES ON IT AND IT'S VERY UPSETTING. I'VE ALREADY HAD TO PUT IN THE SHOP TO REPLACE ONE FAULTY PART ALREADY.
AFTER I SHIFT CAR IN TO PARK I GET A WARNING ALARM TO "SHIFT TO PARK". I CONTACTED DEALER AND WAS ADVISED THAT IT WAS OKAY TO DRIVE AND SAFE HOWEVER IT TAKES ME ANYWHERE FROM 2-5 MINTUES TO GET IT TO SHUT OFF OR SOMETIMES I HAVE HAD TO LEAVE IT ON.
VEHICLE STARTS INTERMITTENTLY AND ONCE STARTED IT WILL RUN FOR A WHILE, THEN ENGINE WILL TURN OFF, ALL POWER STEERING, BRAKES ETC WILL NOT WORK. TRIED JUMPING THE VEHICLE AND WOULD NOT POWER CYCLE.
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Quick Summary
The 2018 Chevrolet Traverse has 20 POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.