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
I just paid over $400 to get this shift to park issue fixed and I purchased an extended warranty. My car is a 2018 with only 11,000 miles!
Getting ‘shift to park’ error message on recently purchased 2018 Chevy Traverse.
I am having this issue with my 2018 Traverse as well. I called the dealer when it first started happening and they told me it would be $150 just to run a diagnostic. My friend mentioned her 2018 Acadia is doing the same thing. Today it took at least 15 tries to get it off so I decided to google and found the information here.
Currently having the same issues with my 2018 Chevy Traverse! It is a safety issue and GM needs to fix it!
I’m having the same “shift to park” issue on my 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 lt. It started June-July of 2021. Contacted dealership and was told the Silverado doesn’t have this issue. And if so there is no fix for it at this time. Now my truck is out of warranty because im over the mileage and they said i have to pay for any repairs.
Having this problem with my 2016 chevy malibu!!
I am having the same issue. 2019 Chevy Malibu. 49,000 miles. They say it isn’t covered under my warranty and told me up front I have to pay for $149 diagnostic fee first. If you tap the trigger that you squeeze on the gear shift 3-4 times the message goes away and you can leave the vehicle. My appointment is next week. Dreading the cost.
I have a 2016 Camaro and I have this problem. It’s so annoying and very frustrating. I will take it to the dealership next week. Not looking forward to the anticipated high repair bill ?
I just recently began having this problem on my 2018 Malibu. 46,000 miles. This is frustrating that this is an ongoing problem with these vehicles and it has not been listed as a recall forcing thousands of people to pay out of pocket for this.
Yep. I have a 2019 Chevy Malibu. Same problem. It goes in next week. I was told no warranty.
I purchased a used 2019 Chevrolet Traverse on Nov. 2, 2021. It had only 17,000 miles. It now has 18,700. About six weeks ago, I had my first experience with the “shift to park”: issue (push-button ignition, 9-speed transmission), A few restarts finally got the engine shut off. The problem occurs at least one-third of the time I attempt to turn off the engine. After I restart the engine, I shift back into drive or neutral, set the parking brake, wait a few seconds, and shift into park. I have had to do this up to 10 times on occasion, and often it takes at least 5 attempts to get the car to recognize that the shift lever is in park. “Jiggling” the shifter has no effect on the problem. I have read the discussions of body control module issues, corrosion/debris on a sensor, jumper cables, and other explanations. My Traverse is out of the basic warranty on a time basis. The powertrain warranty is still in effect. GM obviously has known about this issue for years and has issued TSBs but no recall. This seems to be a serious safety issue that should have spurred several recalls over the last five years or so. I will take my Traverse in for service soon to get my dealer’s explanation and remedy for the problem. I do not have confidence it will be fixed correctly based on many other comments I have read on other forums. After all the recalls GM has had with ignition systems over the years, you’d think they would want to get out in front of this one.
I am having the shift to park issue on my 2018 Chevy Traverse. Going to repair shop tomorrow. I have 32k miles on it.