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
Taking my 2018 Traverse into the dealership next week for this issue!
My 2019 Traverse gives me the Shift to Park message 90%+ of the time. I have to jiggle the gear shift multiple times and this will usually work but not always.
If you press the bottom button on the shifter a couple of times it shuts off. But it’s infuriating to even have to do that.
This error has started happening on my 2019 Traverse. Very annoying.
I have a 2018 chevy Volt, It was towed to Nashville for repair because of shift to park message. It says drive unit. My car would not go in park and actually said shift to park several times while driving losing power forcing me to pull over in busy traffic. Once sitting and wiggling gear shift and shifting back and forth it would let me drive. Now it wont let me do the wiggle to get it going.
I have a2016 Malibu that has intermittent “Shift Into Park on the DIC even though vehicle is in park. It takes much fidgeting with the gear shift to get the error to cliae.
Just hit 1 year since we bought our 2018 traverse. Also just started experiencing the “shift to park” defect. It is very upsetting to know we are going to drop a ton of money to get this fixed.
Just purchased 2019 Blazer just a month ago
Completed end of lease buyout just a month ago of 2019 Blazer.. Have recently begun to deal with “Shift to Park” error message and accompanying annoyance of trying to get the car to shut off . Have an appointment in a couple days – counting on a big bill! G M needs to issue a recall as this has been a problem since 2017,
My husband just experienced this issue on March 5, 2022 with his 2020 GMC Sierra AT4. Still under manufacturer warranty, but they’re saying we might have to pay out of pocket. Already $500 in and they’ve barely touched the truck! No definitive answer yet. Please help.
2016 Malibu and under 10,000 miles. Just paid over $500 out of pocket to get it fixed :(
I have a 2018 Traverse that just started having this issue. I have had to back up and pull forward several times for the shift to park to recognize it is in park. I also called GM and they said my car is out of warranty and this would be out of pocket.