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 2017 Volt was towed four times (three times just this year) and in the shop for nearly six months this year alone with this problem. The Service Manager has been VERY helpful, but all his efforts haven’t solved the problem. GM needs to buy these cars back!
2019 chevy traverse. My car frequently traps me in my car bc it won’t shift into park. I e even been late to work a few times bc of this problem. I have to turn my car on and off and go in and out of gears to trick it to park. I am looking into non GM vehicles now.
Hello,
I have a 2017 GMC Acadia Denali, and this behavior is now happening in my vehicle. I have recorded several videos to demonstrate exactly what happens, and what all I have to go through to finally get the vehicle to recognize it is in “Park” and shut off properly.
Yes!!! I’ve been having this issue now for months. I fortunately don’t drive my car a lot now since I now work from home but I would like to get this fixed without having to pay out of pocket. I have a 2018 Chevy Malibu.
Sitting at the Chevy drealership as I type this. Shift to park issue was “fixed” under warranty on my 2016 Malibu in 2018. Now issue reappeared in 2021. Dealership is wanting $850 to fix. I’m pissed to find out that the shifter was replaced under warranty with an equally defective part.
I have this problem with my 2018 Malibu. It’s been happening for a several months. The dealership I called wouldn’t even tell me how much it would cost to fix it. I need to drive a lot for work and I’m worried this will affect my job.
I have a 2019 Chev Blazer that has intermittent shift to park issues. It is a real problem when putting it park and the vehicle not recognizing it. I am forced to sit in the vehicle and wiggle the shifter until it finally takes hold.
I have had two separate service attempts to fix my Shift to Park on my 2017 Malibu. I purchased it new and in the past three have had to have service look at it two different times. Since the last service, I have still had instances of it giving me the “Shift to Park” alerts when my shifter was in park…. Dealership told me I would have to have shifter replaced if it continued. Very frustrated and disappointing GM/Chevy will not fix this.
My car does all the complaints and more
I bought a 2018 Chevy Malibu from a dealership over the summer, a lawsuit or the problems were not brought to my attention, when the shift to park started happening I Google the problem. But another thing to watch for is the defrost button, it took me several times pushing it to get it off so I could have regular heat.
How do you join this class action? We have 2 Chevys that this is happening too. We have paid for one to be “fixed” and it did not fix the issue. They are saying it is now going to be hundreds of dollars.