2018 GMC Acadia Power Train
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
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Car will not shift into park therefore I cannot turn the car off without disconnecting the battery. Dangerous bc you don’t know if the car is in park or not when you have to get out and stand in front of car to life hood and disconnect battery.
2018 GMC Acadia comes up with an error message "shift to park" and does not allow me to fully engage my car into the parked position when stopped and parking.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle and attempting to shift into park, the vehicle failed to recognize that the transmission was in park(P). There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that several attempts were required to shift the vehicle into park(P) to turn off the vehicle. The contact further stated that on other occasions, the vehicle remained stuck in park(P) and failed to shift into drive(D). The contact related the failure to TSB: 19-NA-205. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
Gear shifter will not go into park.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the gear shifter was shifted into park; however, the gear shifter failed to function as intended. The contact stated that the “Shift to Park” message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed shift to park gear. The contact stated the dealer had not provided a cause for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
URGENT SAFETY DEFECT — RECURRING “SHIFT TO PARK” — ROLLAWAY RISK Vehicle: GMC Acadia | ~99,684miles Same defect repaired FREE under GM goodwill in 2021 (shifter replacement, TSB 19-NA-206) after 4 failed attempts. Now FAILED AGAIN in 2025 — vehicle will not shut off, drains battery, risks unintended rollaway. GM dealer refuses repeat coverage despite prior admission of defect. This is a KNOWN DESIGN FLAW — thousands of complaints — NO RECALL. DEMAND IMMEDIATE SAFETY RECALL — this is a fire/rollaway hazard. Attached: 2019- 2021 repair order ($0), TSB 19-NA-206, prior NHTSA complaint, previous TAC CASE: 9-6623251184.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and occupied, the shift to park message was displayed while the vehicle was in park. Neither an independent mechanic nor the dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number:17V516000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was 113,000.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that on several occasions while shifted to park(P), the message "Shift to Park" was displayed with an audible chime. The vehicle was turned off and after the contact depressed a release button under the shifter knob, the vehicle recognized the gear selected and was able to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the "Shift to Park" message was displayed, preventing the vehicle from turning off. After researching the failure, the contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V172000 (Power Train). The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that a diagnostic test was needed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while shifted into park(P), the vehicle was unable to be turned off. The message "Shift to Park" was displayed on the instrument panel even though the gear shifter was in park(P). The gear shifter was shifted to park(P) and wiggled several times before the transmission was properly shifted into park and the vehicle was turned off. The contact stated that the failure had occurred once before, and the battery cables were disconnected to turn off the vehicle. The contact became aware of an undisclosed recall online; however, the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,800.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted into park(P); however, the “Shift to Park” message was displayed. The contact shifted the gear shifter back and forth and then shifted into park(P) before the proper gear was recognized. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon shifting to park(P), the message "Shift to Park(P)" was displayed intermittently, and the vehicle failed to turn off. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer, where it was diagnosed that the shifter module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 129,573.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted into park(P), but the “Shift to Park” message was displayed. The vehicle made an audible chime. The contact shifted the gear shifter back and forth, then shifted into park(P) before the proper gear was recognized. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000.
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.
"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
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.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the "Shift to Park" message was displayed on the instrument panel. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission control harness needed to be replaced. The contact researched and was made aware of an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 42,187.
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.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after shifting to the park(P), there was an audible warning alarm activated, and the message "Shift to Park" was displayed, and the vehicle failed to immediately turn off. After restarting the vehicle and jiggling the gear shifter, the failure was corrected. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the gear shifter assembly was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but while picking up her daughter from school, the gear shifter was shifted into park(P), and moments later, the vehicle started rolling backwards. The contact had to activate the parking brake to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was later towed back to the dealer. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 120,000.
The car no longer recognizes when shifted into Park. It will not allow things like door locks and so on.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and shifting to park, the vehicle failed to turn off. During the failure the message "Shift to Park" was displayed even though the gear shifter was in park(P). After several attempts, the vehicle was able to be turned off. The contact also stated that during the failure, the vehicle would roll backwards. 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 failure mileage was 70,000.
While I was driving the vehicle started jerking and not changing gears. Several times it almost caused an accident with me and my son in the car. I turned the car on/off and restarted it at the red light, the exact same thing happens. Lucky a GMC dealer ship was near by. I was able to get there still jerking and not changing gears. No warning signs appear during this whole time. No prior issues with the transmission. Once I made it to the dealship then engine like came on. Really now! The dealer checked vehicle and stated the transmission is gone out. I was flabbergasted, almost $10,000 had to be replaced.
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon arriving at her destination, the contact shifted into reverse to park the vehicle; however, after parking and shifting to drive(D), the vehicle failed to respond. The contact became aware after several attempts that the transmission was stuck in park(P). The blank warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the inline shifter wiring harness. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: 19-NA-206. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 111,000.
Vehicle shudders and jerks while accelerating. This caused a scary incident while driving on ice.
My wife was taking the children to school when she arrived she placed the car into park and attempted to shut off the vehicle. Once the power button was depressed a beep was heard and the dash said shift to park. She had to turn the are on and off multiple times. I contacted gm and they said there is a defective pin in the shift controls but this issue is not covered by a recall.
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Quick Summary
The 2018 GMC Acadia has 108 Power Train complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.