2019 GMC Acadia complaints

The transmission keeps slipping, clunking, and not shifting correctly. Not shifting or down shifting correctly up and down hold or at stops. My husband is a trained mechanic and has confirmed through his place of employment that the transmission is failing. It hasn’t no yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance. No warning lamps, but the transmission temp rises to 270F+ In regards to the next question.. the issue is ongoing.

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after arriving at her destination and shifting into park(P), the message "Please Shift to Park" was displayed and the vehicle could be turned off. After several attempts, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. 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 88,000.

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and shifting to park(P), the message "Shift to Park(P)" was erroneously displayed, and the vehicle could not be turned off. After several attempts, the contact was able to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the shifter cable bushing was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

Shift to park issue car is in park car is not recognizing it and won’t turn off accessories

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated the center rear seat belt failed to extend as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure or repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 72,456.

AFTER PUTTING CAR IN PARK AND TURNING ENGINE OFF, SHIFT TO PARK WILL APPEAR ON DASH- CAR ALREADY IN PARK .

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 occurr

Unknown My 2019 Acadia Denali has/is been repaired 6 times in 1 1/2 years for engine oil leaks , has had transmission repairs twice , radiator repair and replacement. Also suspension warranty work as well . I feel the oil leaks is and has been excessive and dangerous due to no warning lights never displayed to alert me to check oil

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.

The contact owned a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving at 20 MPH and attempting to adjust the steering wheel, the steering column and the steering wheel detached and fell in the contact’s lap. No warning light was illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the steering column and steering wheel needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,298.

Failure to be in park alarm when shifter is in park. Must play with shifter back into park to stop alarm bells and notice on dash. Supposedly there was a recall issued however not shown on this site per my vin #1GKKNXLS7KZ107842. Very irritating, please advise.

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.

Check engine light comes on, engine temperature gauge stops working engine fan runs on high only. I have replaced the thermostat/sensor once already and now it needs to be replaced again.

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.

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.

When put in park it dings for a long time shift to park. I have read that this is an issue there has been recalls but mine is not on recall. However this does this like every other time I use it . I’m worried I will be left stranded with dead battery

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.

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted into park(P); however, the “Action Required 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 and advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The failure mileage was unknown.

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

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)

July 31, 2025 Our 2019 Gmc Acadia would not shut off in a parking lot, I was 45 minutes from home. A message on display says shift to park. This is a safety concern as the vehicle might not be fully secured in park, the vehicle won't shut off and will drain your battery. There is an ongoing class action lawsuit related to this issue, alleging that GM has been aware of the problem for some time but has not provided a satisfactory fix according to Lemon Law Auto Fraud. I called the gm dealer and they quoted me $500 to fix this issue.

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

Vehicle's "SHIFT TO PARK" warning is often displayed when vehicle shifter is in PARK and then the engine is turned off. Often takes several attempts to correct the problem by restarting and turning off the engine or by manipulating the shift lever while in PARK. These is a current recall for this issue with the same year, make, and model of vehicle. Checking the VIN against the NTSB recall list shows this vehicle is not included in the recall.

Last week, the coolant gauge , on our 2019 GMC Acadia, was reading below "C".... The "Steering Assist" warning was disabled on the on-screen display and the Air conditioning stopped working. Took the car to a mechanic, who read the codes.... Mechanic stated that all symptoms were based on a defective GM thermostat. The thermostat was "stuck-open" causing the "steering assist" to be disabled as well as the A/C from being disabled as well. It seems GM has updated the part since when the series of Acadia were manufactured. After getting it repaired, at of our pockets, we researched and noticed that thousands of other GM Acadia owners had the same exact 3 symptoms: (1) malfunctioning coolant reading (2) "Steering assist" disabled (3) a defective ("stuck-open") thermostat..... Symptoms were exactly the same for all parties involved. We have owned many vehicles never had a thermostat fail before 65k Miles.... It became a safety issue since the car disables the "steering assist" based on the thermostat being stuck open. Contacted GM corporate which stated unless a recall, there would be no compensation. GM needs to make it right for the thousands of GM owners whose car has the 3.6L engine In short, this is a major issue since the car's steering system is NOT working correctly We would like a recall to be initiated. Thank you.

Shift to Park Vehicle does not recognize the gear shifter is in the park position. Vehicle does not fully shut down.

When trying to park car, vehicle will not detect the shifter is in park. If the car does not detect its in park it will not turn off and stays running hampering your exit from the vehicle. This is truly an unsafe condition due to not knowing how to get the car to shut down as well as not knowing if the car will roll if you do get out.

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)

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

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.

I noticed when I put my car in park and turn key off, it’ll ding to warn me to “shift into park” this been becoming a problem recently and it’s been happening more often.

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.

In March 2025 my 2019 Arcadia with only 44112 miles begin indicating a Shift to Park error message when I parked and shifted into park the error message showed on the instrument panel and the warning alarm sounded and would not stop showing the error message until I restarted the car and shifted from drive to park repeatedly. I couldn’t get out and close the door, and the warning stop, it would continue to sound the warning. The only way to stop the warning message and alarm was to stay in the car and repeatedly start the car shift to drive into park switch it off and if it still showed the error and warning, do it all over again. This could take up to several minutes and many tries. If I had of left the car all the warning would have been sounding indicating it wasn't in park. I didn't know if it was really in park or not and if not, the car could have potentially rolled off causing injury or damage. To try and determine what was the cause of this problem I searched the internet to find a solution, to do a reset or simple fix and discovered that GMC had known about this issue since 2016 and the only solution was an in the shop repair requiring replacement of some parts. The "Shift to Park" error in GMC vehicles is considered a safety issue by many owners and has led to class-action lawsuits. The issue, which prevents vehicles from recognizing when they are in park, can lead to the engine not shutting off, potential for vehicle roll away, and even entrapment inside the vehicl

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.

I took my 2019 GMC Acadia in for an inspection and was informed that the toe links were loose and fail inspection. Upon researching this failure, I found that there is a recall for this, but my VIN was no included. I don't understand why not given what I'm seeing from other owners. I quote from the GMC Authority site: [XXX] "GM and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have issued a recall for certain 2022 model-year Cadillac XT5, Cadillac XT6 and GMC Acadia crossovers over an issue related to the rear toe links. The problem: affected vehicles may have a left-rear suspension toe link with a fastener that was not properly tightened during assembly at the factory. The GMC Acadia is built at the GM Spring Hill plant in Tennessee, but will soon be moved to the GM Lansing Grand River plant to make room for the Cadillac Lyriq. The Cadillac XT5 and XT6 are also built at Spring Hill and will remain there for the foreseeable future." Based on other feedback seen, it appears this should be a recall for my vehicle as well. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Shift to park light comes on and car won't shut 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.

My coolant thermostat went out, causing my AC and steering assist to stop working. I have spoke to multiple other people who have had this same issue with their GMC Acadia and I believe this should be a recall. It’s going to cost me $1200 to have this issue resolved.

Car has delayed shifting, and jolting when switching gears. Transmission temp gets up to 270 degree while driving

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.

My 2019 GMC Acadia is now undergoing the same repair for at least the second time. This is the common issue known as the Shift-To-Park issue. You can read about it here - [XXX] Below are the commonly affected years: 2017 – Acadia 2018 – Acadia 2019 – several models (I own a 2019 GMC Acadia) 2020 – several models 2021 – Acadia and Traverse Despite falling into the year, make, model and issue - When I look up my VIN - No recall or warranty information is available, saying that my vehicle is NOT affected by this issue. However, this is now the 2nd (maybe 3rd) time I am having to come out of pocket to have this issue repaired. It originally happened in July of 2022 with around 40-44k miles on the vehicle. It is now happening again May of 2025 with around 72k miles on the vehicle. If I search further back, I imagine the first owner may have had the same work done too. Clearly this vehicle is affected by the issue buy according to my VIN it is not. GM (General Motors) told me that they offer no sort of help or reimbursement unless my VIN is associated with the issue. Can you guys please either add my VIN or extend out the warranty / recalls to ALL - Because this is absurd. My car doesn't recognize that it is in Park and stays on, preventing me from shutting down the vehicle / engine. Asking me to "Shift-To-Park" INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

While driving the thermostat will go to zero and the steering assist is disabled. I have read a lot of forums that this is a known issue. The only way to reset it, so we have A/C is to disconnect the battery and it will last a day or two and do the same thing.

“Park to shift “ warning keeps showing up when shift the gear to PARK.

My 2019 GMC Acadia with 33,000 miles on it started to give me a notification to "Shift to Park" even though I had already shifted the vehicle into park. A "ding! ding! ding!" alarm wouldn't go off and the vehicle wouldn't turn off unless I repeatedly changed the gears until it read it was in park. This went on for a few weeks and got progressively worse. I read on a GMC forum that the vehicle could slip out of gear while driving and potentially cause an accident. My mechanic found the shifter assembly to be defective and replaced the entire Gearshift Lever Assembly. He said there was a plastic piece in the gearshift that snapped off and said this was an issue in the older models but thought GMC had fixed this issue by 2019. Unfortunately, I was past my 3 year / 36K mile warranty and had to fork over $1300 to have it repaired.

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

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that occasionally while attempting to park the vehicle and shifting the gear selector into park(P), the message "Please Shift to Park" was displayed; however, there was no warning light illuminated. The contact was unable to turn off the vehicle during the failure. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 77,000.

I am receiving a "Shift to Park" notification on most instances that I shift the car into park. When this warning engages, the car will not allow me to turn it off as it does not recognize that it is in park. After researching this issue, I found that there is a GM Recall for 2017-2019 GMC Acadias for this very issue. However, my VIN is not included in the recall so I do not qualify to have the issue fixed and would have to pay a substantial amount out of pocket.

When I park my car it beeps and says my car is not in park. Many other models of the 2019 GMC Acadia, along with other GM vehicles, may be affected by a "shift to park" recall. This recall addresses a defect where the vehicle may display a "shift to park" warning message even when the vehicle is actually in park, potentially preventing the ignition from being turned off and the key from being removed. This is exactly what my car is doing but they say my VIN is not included in the free fix. I brought my vehicle after it died to a GMC dealership and they said it will cost 1,000 to fix. My safety is at risk because I drive to different locations as a therapist and I often drive home at night in remote locations.

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.