— Chevrolet Shift to Park issues have caused a class action lawsuit that alleges gear shifter issues prevent California drivers from shutting off their General Motors vehicles.
The plaintiffs allegedly "have repeatedly found themselves stuck inside their vehicles at home, running errands, and at various other places away from home, unable to shut off their vehicle."
The Chevrolet lawsuit includes:
"All persons or entities in the state of California who bought or leased a 2016-2019 Chevrolet Malibu, 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt, 2018-2019 Chevrolet Traverse, or 2019 Chevrolet Blazer."
The alleged Chevrolet Shift to Park issues caused two California owners to file the lawsuit.
Plaintiff Doug Spindler purchased a used 2017 Chevrolet Volt in February 2020, and plaintiff Makesha Satterwhite purchased a new 2019 Chevrolet Traverse in August 2018.
The plaintiffs claim there are hundreds of thousands of Chevrolet vehicles that contain the alleged defects that cause the Shift to Park messages to appear. The vehicles allegedly fail to detect when drivers shift the vehicles into PARK which prevents the vehicles from being shut down and prevents drivers from locking the vehicles.
According to the GM class action lawsuit, a Chevrolet driver cannot shift the vehicle into gear once the Shift to Park message appears, leaving the driver stranded and forced to call a tow truck.
Chevrolet Shift to Park TSBs
GM allegedly knows about the Shift to Park issue because technical service bulletins (TSBs) have been issued to dealerships for when owners complain, beginning in January 2017.
TSB PIC6244 was entitled, “Diagnostic Aid For Vehicles With Shift To Park Message And All DTCs P1AEE P1AEF P1AF0 P1AF2 P1E22,” on 2016-2017 Chevrolet Malibu and Chevrolet Volt vehicles.
Bulletin PIC6244 was updated in October 2017 to add 2018 model year vehicles and updated in September 2018 to add 2019 model year vehicles.
On December 5, 2017, GM issued TSB PIE0441 titled, “Engineering Information – Shift to Park Message Displayed,” for 2018 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles.
Then in December 2018, TSB 18-NA-297 titled, “Message Displaying Shift to Park when in Park,” was issued to dealers regarding 2016-2018 Chevrolet Malibu, 2018 Traverse and 2017-2019 Acadia vehicles.
And in September 2019, GM issued TSB 19NA206 titled, “Intermittent Shift to Park Message Displayed While Vehicle in Park," warning dealerships of the shifter problems on 2016-2019 Chevrolet Malibu, 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt, 2018-2019 Chevrolet Traverse and 2019 Chevrolet Blazer vehicles.
The GM class action lawsuit asserts dealers refuse to admit the shifter problems exist which forces customers to pay their own money for repairs.
And even when customers decide to pay for repairs, GM allegedly "replaces the faulty drive unit (transmission) and/or the park switch in the transmission control assembly with another faulty drive unit (transmission) and/or park switch."
The class action further alleges the Chevrolet Shift to Park issue impacts the safety and values of the vehicles because drivers must try to wiggle the shifters, shift through the gears and start and shut off the engines.
The Chevrolet Shift to Park lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California: Spindler, et al., v. General Motors LLC.
The plaintiffs are represented by Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group, and Turke Strauss, LLP.