— A Chevy "Shift to Park" lawsuit alleges General Motors vehicles cannot be shut off even when drivers shift the vehicles into PARK.
The Chevrolet class action lawsuit includes Illinois entities and consumers who purchased or leased these GM vehicles.
- 2016-2019 Chevrolet Malibu
- 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt
- 2018-2019 Chevrolet Traverse
- 2019 Chevrolet Blazer
According to the Chevy Shift to Park lawsuit, the error message appears on the instrument cluster when the vehicle is already in PARK, leaving a driver trying to find ways to shut down and lock the vehicle.
The plaintiff who filed the lawsuit alleges he has repeatedly been stuck in his vehicle at various locations as he tried to find a way to make the Shift to Park message disappear.
"To get his vehicle to detect that the shifter is in fact in “Park,” Plaintiff was forced to repeatedly wiggle the shifter, shift it through its gears, and start and shut off the engine." — Chevrolet Shift to Park lawsuit
GM allegedly knew about the problem as it issued the first technical service bulletin (TSB) in January 2017.
Chevy Shift to Park TSBs
Bulletin PIC6244, “Diagnostic Aid For Vehicles With Shift To Park Message And All DTCs P1AEE P1AEF P1AF0 P1AF2 P1E22,” warned GM’s dealerships of the Shift to Park issue on 2016-2017 Chevrolet Malibu and Chevrolet Volt vehicles.
The TSB was later updated to include 2018-2019 Chevy vehicles.
In December 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” concerned Shift to Park messages on 2016-2018 Chevrolet Malibu, 2018 Traverse and 2017-2019 Acadia vehicles.
In September 2019, TSB 19NA206, titled “Intermittent Shift to Park Message Displayed While Vehicle in Park," was sent to dealers about Shift to Park messages on 2016-2019 Chevrolet Malibu, 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt, 2018-2019 Chevrolet Traverse and 2019 Chevrolet Blazer vehicles.
Chevy dealers allegedly force customers to pay for repairs even when the vehicles are covered by their warranties.
Chevy owners claim they they must pay to replace the transmissions and park switches in the transmission control assemblies, but the replacement parts are also allegedly defective.
The Chevy Shift to Park lawsuit also alleges the vehicles lose their values and affect the safety of occupants.
The Chevy Shift to Park class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois: Ben Emmrich, v. General Motors LLC.
The plaintiff is represented by Clifford Law Offices PC, Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group, and Turke & Strauss LLP.