GM Shift to Park Error Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Chevy owners have lodged a class action lawsuit against General Motors LLC (GM).
- Why: Plaintiffs allege GM is refusing to fix a defect affecting hundreds of thousands of its popular Chevy vehicles, including the Malibu, Volt, and Blazer.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Michigan federal court.
General Motors (GM) designed, manufactured, marketed, distributed, serviced and sold vehicles that fail to detect when they are put in park, instead signaling a “shift to park” error, a class action lawsuit alleges.
Lead plaintiffs, James Bertagnolli, Gregory Fladeboe, and Juanita Crawford allege the shift defect affects hundreds of thousands of 2016-19 Chevrolet Malibus, 2016-19 Chevrolet Volts, 2018-19 Chevrolet Traverses, and 2019 Chevrolet Blazers. They want to represent owners of those vehicles in a class action lawsuit filed in Michigan federal court.
Bertagnolli, Fladeboe, and Crawford claim the shift to park defect does not allow them to shut off their vehicles and Chevy owners must resort to “tricking” their vehicles into detecting that the vehicles shift lever is in the park position.
Automaker Will Not Fix Shift to Park Defect
The class action lawsuit alleges GM had knowledge of the defect, as evidenced by posting a bulletin to its dealerships back in 2017, however failed to address or resolve the issue with drivers.
The plaintiffs say that they and other Chevy owners are forced to fix the shift to park error at their own expense.
The plaintiffs claim this is a breach of contract on the behalf of the Defendant and is in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which governs warranties on consumer products.
“Had Plaintiffs and other proposed Class Members known that the defect existed at the time of purchase or lease, they would not have bought or leased the Class Vehicles, or would have paid substantially less for them,” states the shift to park class action lawsuit.
Bertagnolli, Fladeboe, and Crawford are seeking damages and restitution from General Motors for themselves and on behalf of all others similarly situated. The plaintiffs are also asking the automaker to notify all Class Members about the shift defect.
Another class action lawsuit filed earlier this month against General Motors alleges it knew millions of its SUVs were fitted with defective airbags and seatbelts.
The allegations came just days after the car manufacturer issued a recall on 50,000 of its Chevrolet Volt electric vehicles determined to be a fire risk on account of a battery defect.
Do you own a Chevy Malibu, Volt, Traverse, or Blazer? If so, do you have trouble turning off your vehicle? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by David H. Fink of Fink Bressack, Michael F. Ram and Marie N. Appel of Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group, and Samuel J. Strauss of Turke Strauss, LLP.
The GM Shift to Park Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Bertagnolli et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 2:21-cv-11910, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division.
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220 thoughts onGM Refusing to Fix ‘Shift to Park’ Error in Popular Chevy Vehicles, Says Class Action
My Traverse is not turning off the park error light. Just started today and have been trouble shooting it. I have to disconnect the battery every time. Now the button that locks the door on the outside doesn’t work. Thought maybe battery was going low but now I seen it could be the switch.
2019 Chevrolet traverse with the same issue. So very frustrating. Chevy should be responsible for this known issue.
my 2019 malibu has the same problem and the bumper to bumper expired 6 months ago and i only have 8950 miles on it. GM should pay for this
I have the same problem with my 2015 Chevrolet Malibu. I put it in park, go to push the button to shut it off and it says shift to park and it will not shut off. Before I read about the troubles online, I replaced the battery because this problem also kills my battery and I thought maybe something was wrong with my battery, however it is still happening and now I realize why. Interested in joining class action suit.
I have a 2017 Chevy Malibu. The same Shit To Park error message started to appear after 24K miles driven. I can’t believe that GM is not helping to resolve this issue. Not a good customer relation! I have to contact the dealership yet.
I’m having the same shift to park issue as everyone else. Mine just started about a month ago on my 2019 Malibu. I have an extended warranty so I’m going to have it fixed but this should be recalled. Once it is, I’ll submit for my deductible to be reimbursed. I don’t have the time to sit and play with the shifter to get the message to go away. I’ve watched the fix it yourself videos but I’m not willing to risk breaking something to fix something. I’ll let the professionals do it. Very aggravating!!!
I have been having the issue on my 2019 Chevy Traverse, started a few months ago. I have sat in my car for long periods of time, wiggling, going in and out…turning car off and on many times, to get it to stop. I first googled it and saw the massive complaints and found the “trick” to get it to stop. I finally had time to take it into dealership today, $168 for diagnostic and then a total of $588 to add the replacement of the shifter harness. I’m declining to get it fixed, as I feel this is a widely known issue that should be up for recall and manufacturer fix. Had I known this is a common problem, would have never purchased this vehicle. Makes me want to get rid of it, just for the fact that the manufacturer isn’t working to resolve the problem.
We just purchased a 2019 Chevy Malibu and were unaware of the “Shift to Park” issue. We have been experiencing it since the day we purchased the car. The dealership we purchased it from is ignoring us and the problem is getting worse. We are reluctant to have GM try to fix the issue as it is our understanding that they replace it with the same part and the issue may arise again.
I have a 2018 malibu and within the last month, I’ve been having this issue. I thought it was something I did at first. Then it started happening more frequently. I would tap on it until it went away. A few months ago it was the issue with the car stalling while I was driving, that was scary because I was on the highway and the speed went from 75 to like 45/40 mph in Austin, Texas traffic!! It was repaired, however I should have given the car back then. This car is like a problem child!
Presently have a 2019 Chevrolet Traverse ( mileage 38131 ) that had a ” Shift to Park” problem. I could not TURN OFF the vehicle. Took the Traverse to the local Chevrolet dealer ( where I originally purchased) on 28 Oct 2022 and they fixed it for $ 491.59. The Deal’s Invoice states
” VEHICLE HAS A SHIFT TO PARK WARNING LIGHT AND VEH WOULD NOT SHUT OFF”. Also states ” FOUND SHIFTER FAULTY CAUSING MESSAGE. REPLACED SHIFTER AND INSTALLED UPDATED JUMPER HARNESS”. Request assistance in joining any Class Action Suit to recover
costs.
I had the error “Shift to Park” occur over the last year but that it was user error due to having items in caddy in front of shifter and maybe that had caused the error until this week. I was stranded in a parking lot and could exit my Blazer due to the “Shift to Park” error. After 30 minutes of fiddling with the shifter I was able to stop the error and exit my vehicle. I had my local Chevy dealership fix it today and cost me over $400 out of pocket due to my vehicle warranty ran out a few months ago. If I had known this was a Blazer defect I could have fixed under warranty and Chevrolet would have covered it. Not happy with this cost or Chevrolet. This wasted $400 was not in my budget.