2019 Chevrolet Traverse: battery drain or dead battery

Filed Jul 23, 2026 · Electrical, Transmission · TX

My car WILL not register that it is in park even though the dash says it’s in P and my gear shift is pushed all the way up in the park gear. It has taken hours some days for it to finally acknowledge that it is indeed in the park gear. I do NOT have time for that! And if it gets to the point where I have a dead battery because I didn’t “shift to park”, Chevrolet WILL be paying for it. This is insane and apparently has been an ongoing issue for a decade! FIX IT!

Filed Mar 15, 2026 · TX

"Shift to Park" alarm continues to appear when the car is in park. At times it does not clear for 10 minutes or so. On a couple of occasions I could not get it to go away for 30 minutes. This is an issue that drains the battery and have caused me to remain in the car to start and restart the vehicle until it is no longer present. Which damages the starter.

Filed Jun 24, 2025 · Electrical, Transmission · IN

Upon shifting to park, an error message prompts us to "shift to park". The shifter is in park position, however the vehicle says it is not. The Chevy dealer recreated the issue and advised to repair because it will lead to not being able to turn off the engine, or not being able to start the engine, or it will drain the battery. Any of the above could lead to a safety issue depending on where the failure could occur. I had the veicle repaired at the expense of $501.29.

Filed Jan 25, 2024 · Electrical, Fuel system · CA

The vehicle is equipped with auto stop technology that the driver can’t disable. While driving, the system is designed to initiate auto stop when vehicle comes to a stop. When my foot lifts off the brake to proceed, the engine kicks back in and vehicle moves forward. Two weeks ago at a stop, the engine did not kick back in. I had to put the car in park at the light and after several attempts to push the ignition button, the engine finally kicked back on. The vehicle had the same issue later that day so I scheduled with the dealer for 4 days out. No warning lights came on. My onstar app did not produce any error notice. Meanwhile, I saw a video to override auto stop, put vehicle in low gear 6. That’s what I did to get through to appointment. By day 3 (dealer is day 4), I returned to vehicle after an hour meeting and it didn’t start at all. The check engine light turned on, NOT the battery light. Had vehicle towed to dealer who said the only alert was a bad battery. (Battery is 16 mo with 36 mo warranty & alternator 5 mo old). I replaced the battery. Picked up vehicle from dealer and 5 miles away at a stop, vehicle shut off. I put vehicle in park, pushed ignition button and engine turned back on. I thought it was a fluke. 6 days later the vehicle turned off at stops on four separate occasions. Each time the battery was fully charged. On one last instance at an intersection stop, the vehicle shut off, would not restart when I pushed the ignition button, brake pedal became stiff, and dash lights and radio were completely off, as if the battery died. I let the vehicle sit at the intersection for 30 seconds before trying the ignition button, and it finally fired up. To get home, I put it in neutral at each stop to keep it from going into auto stop. This issue is not generating an “error” on the computer so dealer techs have no idea what to do. When I bypass auto stop by shifting to neutral at stops or driving in L6, there is no issue whatsoever with the vehicle.

Filed Sep 22, 2023 · Electrical, Transmission · FL

Listed on a Chevy website as a recall for 2018-2019 Traverse “shift to park”. It isn’t listed on your website or with the dealership. Over 170 complaints for the car not recognizing that you put it in park, which can drain the battery or worse cause your vehicle to move when it shouldn’t. I just paid $100 (luckily I had coverage), but this should be recalled. Dealership stated the part was on back order, which means a lot of people are having the same issue. This should be recalled and money refunded to customers.

Filed Jun 20, 2023 · Brakes, Engine · GA

My vehicle has been displaying a ''shift to park" message. The message appears when I put the vehicle in park. When I go to turn off the car the vehicle will not turn off. Sometimes If I giggle the gear shifter violently enough the car will turn off. I have had leave my car running on multiple occasions. Woken up to dead battery's because my car WILL NOT TURN OFF. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership on 3 occasions to be looked at. The first time it was noted and I was told they couldn't look at it. The second time My vehicle needed all new transmission work ( on a 2019 model car) but was told since they couldn't recreate the shift to park message they couldn't do anything about it. The 3rd time they were able to recreate the issue but wanted me to pay $1k+ for ''fix'' the problem. But the fix was just to turn off the display message. My vehicle will not turn off.

Filed Nov 12, 2022 · Electrical · KY

When the car is in Park, it gives a shift to park error, even though it is in Park. It began about a week ago. I use to be able to wiggle the gear shift a bit and it would go away. Now the problem is constant. And you can’t just ignore it as it beeps and the lights stay on draining the battery.

Filed Aug 31, 2022 · Fuel system, Transmission · IL

2019 Chevrolet Traverse having "shift to park" error when shifted into park and it will not turn off. I am not able to shut down my vehicle occurs, which is at random but with more frequency lately. I often have to turn car on, put into reverse and repeat the process, or jiggle the gear shifter to get it to turn off. I have read this is a common issue and GM is being sued in a class action lawsuit because of it. My dealership isn't acknowledging it and wants me to pay to have it completely replaced. I have also read it gets worse in most cases and in some cases causes the vehicle to shift into gear accidentally or drains the battery completely because it thinks the car is in drive and stays on. Possibly related, the vehicle is starting to "buck" when in slow acceleration/shifting automatic gears.

Filed Feb 28, 2022 · Electrical · FL

My vehicle is not registering whenever it is put into park. The dashboard keeps signaling that it needs to be shifted into park when it already is and refuses to turn the vehicle off because it’s not registering that it did is in park. Upon researching the issue, I found that this is a common problem due to defective parts and once fixed by the dealership people have reported having the same problem within the next few thousand miles. This same issue is happening with different models of gm vehicles as well and I believe due to the widespread and common occurrence of this specific related issue that there needs to be a recall to have the problem resolved. I am unable to even drive my vehicle due to this. I can not turn my vehicle completely off which drains the battery.

Filed Jan 30, 2020 · Electrical · 27,326 miles · CA

Tl* the contact called on behalf of his wife who owns a 2019 chevrolet traverse. The contact stated that the third interior roof light remained on draining the battery. The vehicle was taken to (win chevrolet, 2201 223rd st, carson, ca 90810), on three separate occasions to be repaired however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the battery was replaced and the light was rewired however, the repairs failed to fix the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 27,326.