GMC Acadia Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Shifter Defect

A Tennessee driver has filed a class action lawsuit against General Motors, saying GMC Acadia vehicles possess a shift defect that can prevent the vehicle from registering that the shift lever has been moved to park.

Allegedly, this problem causes drivers a range of inconveniences, and in some cases, can cause the vehicle to move even when a driver has shifted the vehicle to park. 

Rilla Jefferson says her new 2017 GMC Acadia began experiencing shifting problems not long after she purchased it.

Allegedly, when she shifted the vehicle to park, the vehicle would not register the change, preventing her from successfully parking the vehicle and turning it off.

Jefferson says the problems did not stop there.

She said if she could get the vehicle to park and turn off, it was often hard to get it to turn on again.

According to Jefferson, GMC only found a solution to the problem two years after the first defective Acadias were released into the market, financially harming thousands of customers in those two years.

Jefferson recounts that she purchased her new 2017 GMC Acadia on Oct. 25, 2017, from an authorized dealer in Bartlett, Tenn.

Allegedly, she was assured by the dealer that the vehicle was free from defects of workmanship, so she agreed to purchase the vehicle.

However, Jefferson says, these assurances were false because her vehicle did possess a defect.

She explains that on May 16, 2018, she began experiencing a defect with the shifter.

Allegedly, her vehicle and others like it possess a defect that causes the vehicle not to register that it is in park even when it has been shifted to park.

According to Jefferson, this defect was caused by a problem with the design or workmanship of the vehicle.

The GMC Acadia shifter defect class action lawsuit says that after Jefferson experienced the defect, she took her vehicle back to the dealer from which she bought the car.

Jefferson asserts that the dealer did not attempt to make any repairs to the vehicle and did not document Jefferson’s complaint about the shifter defect.

After Jefferson complained to the dealer, she continued to experience the problem repeatedly.

Allegedly, she says, the vehicle would manifest a number of problems in connection with the defect, including failing to register as being in park or not turning back on when it was turned off.

She explains that when the defect manifests, the vehicle will either not start or will hesitate when starting because of the defect.

According to Jefferson, General Motors has stated the shifter defect can cause these problems.

Jefferson says she took the vehicle back to the dealer on July 17, 2018 in an attempt to have the shifter defect addressed.

The dealer reportedly inspected the vehicle but did not make any repairs. Afterward, Jefferson reportedly continued to experience problems.

On Nov. 14, 2018, Jefferson, with the help of a lawyer, sent GM a letter about the shifter defect, explaining she continually experienced the shifter defect but her dealer did not conduct any repairs. 

Finally, she recounts that she took her vehicle back to the dealer around March 2019 and complained about the defect.

Allegedly, she was told by the dealer she would have to pay out-of-pocket for the dealer to inspect the vehicle or perform any repairs.

According to the GMC Acadia shifter problem class action lawsuit, GM failed to repair the defect during Jefferson’s warranty period, in an attempt to pass the costs of the defect to her.

The GMC Acadia class action lawsuit seeks to represent not only Jefferson, but a Class of all other Tennessee owners or lessees of 2017-2018 GMC Acadia vehicles.

Jefferson says many other consumers have recounted similar problems with their vehicles, which GM failed to repair.

From these extensive consumer reports and complaints, GM knew or should have known of the defect, Jefferson alleges.

She states that GM even included the problem in a May 29, 2018, Technical Service Bulletin provided to dealers, which stated the “vehicle displays shift to park message on dic when in park. Vehicle may not shut off when put in park or may not start.”

The bulletin reportedly stated the cause of the problem was unknown, but engineers were still investigating the issue. 

The issue was also recorded in an Oct. 3, 2018, service bulletin, Jefferson says.

In the same bulletin, GM supposedly stated that “the cause of the condition may be the park switch in the transmission control (shifter) assembly not pulling BCM signal low to electronically show Park condition.”

The bulletin went on to say the problem could be corrected by “replacing the transmission control (shifter) assembly.” 

The Acadia parking issue class action lawsuit says GM did not come up with this repair for more than two years after it began to sell the Class vehicles.

According to Jefferson, many consumers were harmed in the interim because they unknowingly purchased defective vehicles and were offered no repair.

Have you ever purchased a defective vehicle? How did you handle the situation? Share your experience in the comments below.

Jefferson is represented by Susan S. Lafferty of Lafferty Law Firm Inc. and by Sergei Lemberg. 

The GMC Acadia Shifter Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Rilla Jefferson v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 2:20-cv-02576, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

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