GMC Acadia Problems — All Years, Common Issues & Reliability

We filled a report on 04/04/2026 with NHTSA at 12:16 pm but can't find a copy of the whole report. My husband John Chandler was driving our 2025 GMC Avadia Elevation. He was backing out of a parking place when he noticed it wouldn't stop while putting his foot on the break. He was able to put it into drive and it lundged forward and wouldn't stop. He kept pushing with both feet on the break and wouldn't stop. I tried pushing the start button to stop but because his feet were on the break it would restart so then pushed the park button and it stopped as we hit the building. The air bags did not depoy so not going that fast. I pushed the button for 911 and they came on to assist and call police. They asked if everyone was al right and other questions. Lucky no one was hurt and thank God for that. Tow truck was called and taken to local tow yard. The 2025 Acadia was transported to the repair shop but has not been inspected by the insurance company or GMC yet. After repairs are complete it will be taken to the local GMC dealer Ron Smith in Merced, CA for inspection. We did not notice andy warning messages prior to the accident.

I got into my car to leave, I placed my phone on the wireless charging pad. When I got to my location about 10 minutes later, I grabbed my phone and went to put the wrist band attached to my phone around my wrist. The wrist band is a metal chain and it burned me on the side of my wrist and top of hand. I took the wrist band off as fast as I could, then touched it with my fingers to make sure that is where the sting was coming form, and it was. The passenger in the car also confirmed that the wrist band was dangerously hot. I took pictures of the burn marks it left on my wrist and hand.

On several occasions, this vehicle break pretty hard for no apparent reason in a red rectangle with a crash symbol came up on the windshield a few times we’ve had people behind us which created dangerous situation and there’s no apparent reasons for this vehicle breaking there was nothing in front of us at times there were vehicles in the other lane, but at other times there were no vehicles around at all I was wondering if this what’s happening with other GMC’s or or any GM product.

My complaint does not involve an accident. The brakes on the 2024 Acadia Elevation are squealing very loudly, and have been doing so for the past six months or so. I have approximately 18,000 miles on it. I took my vehicle to the dealership twice for this issue, and I was told this time that the brakes are still good (still 8mm of pads) - even though it was showing 22% brake pad. They told me about the malfunctioning sensor and they fixed that, but the squealing is still there. I was told that it was the metal composition of the brake pads that is making that noise, and GM does not cover brakes past 7,500 miles (this 7,500 warranty is pointless because who would need brakes replaced in that short time frame, anyway?). That means I would have to pay out of pocket for the brakes! There is clearly something wrong with the structure of the brakes and I see on the Acadia forum that this is a common complaint. If the brakes are good, then why are the brakes squealing? Why am I being told that I just have to deal with the squealing sound? What can be done about this issue. It seems unfair to me that I have to come out of pocket to fix something that should not be "broken".

The contact owns a 2025 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the sunlight reflecting off the dashboard chrome onto the windshield was blinding, forcing the driver to use a cardboard to protect their eyes. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure via an online chat. The failure mileage was approximately 10.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Horn began sounding unexpectedly and intermittently while driving and parked. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The uncontrollable horn startled surrounding motorists and pedestrians, causing confusion and defensive reactions. While removing the fuse temporarily stopped the noise, it eliminated a critical safety feature. The horn remains inoperable as of 4/6/26. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? GMC Dealership. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? GMC Dealership. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No prior warning. Issue began Jan 31, 2025 (66 days after purchasing the brand new vehicle). Timeline of events: Jan 31, 2026: Horn began sounding unexpectedly and intermittently while driving and parked. Per dealership advice, the horn fuse was removed to allow for safe travel. Feb 5, 2026: First service visit. Service advisor reported a "kinked wire" was found and repaired. Feb 15, 2026: Issue recurred; horn sounded continuously while driving. Fuse was removed again to disable the horn; it has remained inoperable since. Feb 26, 2026: Second service visit. Dealership diagnosed the issue as a faulty steering wheel and placed an order (ETA: 7–10 days). Mar 3, 2026: Follow-up call. Advised the part was under “national control” with an additional 10-day delay. Mar 13, 2026: Dealership notified me that the steering wheel request was denied by GM because the part is restricted and the cause remained unproven. Mar 18–20, 2026: Third service visit (loaner provided). New diagnosis identified an internal failure in the SIR coil. Part was confirmed as backordered.

I purchased my 2025 GMC Acadia on March 26, 2025. // My vehicle began to have electrical/communication/system issues in August 2025. // I took my vehicle to the dealer to address these issues at this time. When I got to the dealership, a representative performed diagnostics, and said "I can't even get a read on this. There is no signal coming from your module. You need to contact OnStar about this." // I called OnStar, and they ran a test, and stated that it is a manufacturing defect that needed to be handled with GMC. //No one informed me of the severity of the safety implications involved. // In March 2026, my vehicle was inoperable. The module controls everything, and was draining the battery at a severely high rate. I had my vehicle towed to the dealership. They tried to deny all liability and said that they weren't the dealership that sold me the vehicle. // I had my battery jumped so I could take it from the dealership have a new battery installed. My vehicle stalled and shut off while I arrived at the Auto Parts store. *** Answer to Questions: Q1: Yes. My vehicle is available for inspection. It is at the dealership. // Q2: My safety and others were put at risk because the brand new batteries were constantly draining and making me stall out in mid-traffic without having any control. // Q3: Yes. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer. They tried (and still are trying) to avoid responsibility. Other reports show that this is a significant safety issue with many GMC vehicles. // Q4: Yes. The vehicle was inspected by the GMC dealership. This is day-16 with no solution. // Q5: Yes, there were issues with the car, as stated above. But absolutely no indication that it would be safety issue. My engine was running normal the night before. No signs that the battery was low or dead and prohibit me from driving safely or that it would shut off.

While backing out of a parking place my husband noticed he couldn't stop the 2025 Acadia and almost hit restraunt behind us, while pusing on the break. He then started to go forward and kept saying "I can't stop it, it won't stop, I'm pushing on the break." The vehicle then went forward and couldn't stop even pushing on the break. I tried pusing the button to turn off the 2025 Acadia a couple times (possible turning back on and because he foot was on the break restarted the vehicle) and then pushed park to see if that would stop. We hit the building in front of us and stopped. The air bags did not deploy so not going that fast. I pushed the button for 911 and they came on to assist and call police and asked if everyone was all right and other questions. Lucky no on was hurt and thank God for that. Tow truck was called and taken to local tow yard.

Vehicle would not run due to a failed fuel pump control module. With a non-running engine, the transmission could NOT be placed into Neutral to be able to movie vehicle out of the road. Needed tow truck to move vehicle. This condition placed many people at risk as the vehicle could not be moved out of the way until a tow truck arrived.

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled, and the engine lost automotive power. The vehicle was able to restart. During a second failure, the vehicle lost automotive power and stalled in the middle of the highway, and the vehicle was unable to restart. An alert message was sent by OnStar reporting a transmission or engine failure and advised that the vehicle needed immediate service. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a fuel pump module failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 24,749

The vehicle has a serious transmission/drivetrain defect that repeatedly occurs when accelerating from a complete stop, especially onto an incline. The vehicle sometimes does not respond at all when the accelerator is pressed and fails to move, even though acceleration is being requested. In one recent incident, it remained stopped for about one minute before finally responding. During these events, the vehicle jerks and shakes severely and fails to gain speed as expected. This creates a major safety risk at stop signs, intersections, and uphill starts because the vehicle may not move when needed and cannot keep up with traffic. The problem has worsened, and during one of these incidents the check engine light came on. I have video evidence showing the loss of response to accelerator input, severe jerking/shaking, and the check engine light illuminating during the same event. The issue has been reported to dealers and GM customer service but has not been properly resolved.

I was driving on the highway, and the sunroof was closed and the cloth screen that would allow or not allow sun to come through was also closed. Then out of nowhere there was this explosion sound which scared me so much, I almost wrecked the car and at first, I thought maybe someone shot at my car and shot one of my windows but as I got to the side of the road I realized that none of my windows in the car had been shot and that it was the sunroof and I noticed that cause pieces of glass came into the car from the sides of the cloth barrier. This happened so fast and was so loud that it almost caused me to hit the other car in the lane to the left of me on the highway. Thank goodness I was able to react fast and pull the car back into my lane. I contacted the dealership and they indicated that they had not heard about this before and that I would need to talk with the service department but that it is closed now and not something that would typically fall under warranty. I did check online and see that this is a known issue for this vehicle so I don't understand why it would not be fixed cause it is going to hurt someone at some point. I am trying to get someone to look at it to get it fixed. There was no warning of anything. It just exploded all of the sudden and glass was all over.