152 complaints reported

2017 GMC Acadia Power Train

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
152
Crashes
2
Fires
0
Injuries
1

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Oct 2025

There is a continuing issue with the shifter causing a "Shift to Park" message that is resulting in the vehicle electrical system not turning off. This is causing the vehicle to drain the battery and not able to lock the vehicle while the "Shift to Park" message is displayed on the instrument panel. Concerned not only what is mentioned above but mainly concerned in not knowing if the vehicle is truly in park that may cause the vehicle to roll.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Dec 1969
Oct 2025

The contact's boyfriend owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked abnormally while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to determine the cause of the failure; however, the mechanic stated that the failure was related to the transmission. The contact called two local dealers about the failure, and both stated that the vehicle could not be serviced in the near future. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Nov 2025
Oct 2025

Driving down the street and I heard a extremely loud drop. The transmission went out with no warning or even indication of trouble. The vehicle ran very smooth until that point.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2025
Oct 2025

When I shift my car to park, it doesn't register that it is in park. It won't let me shut the car off. I can move the gear shift around a bit and it will eventually say it is in park. It can take sometimes up to 10 minutes for me to be able to shut off my car. I have read that this is a known issue and there was a recall, but my vin number was not included for some reason? The issue started about a month ago and has been continually getting worse.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2025
Aug 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that the vehicle had to be turned on and off approximately 2 - 3 times to place the gear shifter in park(P), for the transmission to remain in park(P). The message “Shift to Park” would be displayed on the instrument panel. The failure was intermittent at first, but since started occurring more frequently. The dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 91,587.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2024
Jul 2025

The transmission failed at 90k miles, causing shuddering and stalling on acceleration. This has occurred several times on major highways and is very dangerous.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2025
Jul 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was slipping while attempting to change gears. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jul 2025
Jun 2025

Drive shaft has excessive play

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Apr 2025
May 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while attempting to shift into park, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. There was no warning light illuminated. Due to the failure, the contact was unable to turn off the vehicle. 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 contact referenced Technical Service Bulletin: PIT5616; as a possible cause for the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Dec 2024
Apr 2025

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Apr 2025
Apr 2025

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: May 2025
Apr 2025

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Mar 2025
Mar 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while attempting to shift to park(P) to turn off the vehicle, the message that the vehicle was not in park(P) was displayed. The contact stated that the gear shift indicator showed that the vehicle was in park(P). The contact shifted to drive(D) and then back to park(P) several times before being able to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had become a recurring failure. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 89,776.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2025
Mar 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that the shift to park message was displayed. The vehicle failed to recognize the gear that transmission was shifted into. The message “Steering Assist Reduced - Drive with Care” was displayed. There was an abnormal beeping sound when the door was closed. The contact had to move the gear shifter to shift into the selected gear. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the thermostat and the gear handle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired under the warranty, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted, and informed the contact to keep the receipt for a possible recall reimbursement and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2018
Mar 2025

very bad shuttering when driving, took it to transmission shop and they said it needs to be replaced

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Mar 2025
Mar 2025

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??

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Mar 2025
Mar 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after shifting to park, the vehicle could not immediately be turned off. The message "Shift to Park" was displayed. The contact stated that after several attempts, the vehicle was able to be turned off. 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 contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V516000 (POWER TRAIN). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 59,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2025
Feb 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after the vehicle was parked and the gear shifter was shifted to park(P), the vehicle failed to turn off as intended. The message "Shift to Park" was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked, and the gear shifter was shifted to park(P), however the vehicle failed to recognize that the gear shifter was in park(P). The contact jiggled the gear shifter button several times and was able to turn off the vehicle. The failure was intermittent. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired, and the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Feb 2022
Feb 2025

Shift to park on the dash display.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2025
Jan 2025

My transmission is burning on the inside with no warning or indication. Transmission fluid is black and burned. Experienced jerking and hesitation when gears are automatically shifting.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Nov 2024
Jan 2025

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that after making a left turn and stopping at a traffic sign, there was an abnormal clicking sound coming from underneath the vehicle. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was hesitating before gaining forward momentum while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the vehicle bucked or lunged forward while accelerating. The contact stated that there was no warning light during the failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the intermediate drive shaft was failing. The mechanic informed the contact of NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V516000 (Power Train) and advised the contact to take the vehicle to a dealer to be repaired. The contact had called a local dealer and was informed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2025
Dec 2024

Vehicle developed a major shudder and vibration from transmission. There are reports of the symptom in other complaints and a service bulletin released by GM for replacing the transmission fluid only(filter is internal and can only be replaced by removing and disassembling the transmission). When this malfunction is coupled with an EVAP sensor failure, loss of acceleration and engine stall occurs. The EVAP failure code did not appear for several weeks. I would suspect any type of engine miss will cause the same failure. Replacing transmission fluid does not remedy the severe shuddering from the vehicle.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2024
Dec 2024

Sudden onset of extensive shuddering/shaking when shifting gears.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2024
Nov 2024

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that upon parking and turning off the vehicle, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed while the gear shifter was in park(P). The contact stated that upon restarting the vehicle and shifting out of park and shifting back into park(P) several times, the vehicle responded as needed. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing, and the dealer charged a fee for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2024
Nov 2024

My car on has 54,000 miles on it. For the last two weeks it has started showing that it is not in park when it actually is and continues the warning until I have shifted back and forth at least 4-5 times to clear the message and then able to exit the vehicle. It will roll forward or back to some degree even though it seems to be in park but it messages that it is not. When calling our dealership they do not show a recall and state it will be $180.00 just to look at it, not counting repair for this. there have been no other warning in the system and no accidents at this time. I do have children that ride in this car and could cause a serious situation if the car were to roll or be in gear.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2017 GMC ACADIA, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2024

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2017 GMC Acadia has 152 Power Train complaints on file. 2 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.