2018 Chevrolet Volt: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Aug 7, 2025 · Electrical · CA

When shift lever is moved to Park, the car often does not recognize it is in Park and can't be shut down. It takes a lot of time of moving the selector in and out of Park to finally get the car to recognize it is in Park. During an occasion when the car would not go into Park, the car ran for hours while the driver was at work. This seems to be a known issue (micro switch) with this model. This is available for inspection upon request. Safety is at risk because this condition leads to not being able to shut the car down, which leads to the potential for a dead battery and getting stranded. While I have not yet had my car's problem reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center, there is a lot of evidence in online forums of the prevalence of this problem. The vehicle/component has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There weren't any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure as long as we've owned the vehicle. We purchased this vehicle less than a week ago, on August 2, 2025. The issue presented itself once on our test drive and again intermittently in the six days we've owned the vehicle.

Filed Aug 4, 2025 · Electrical, Fuel system · TN

On [XXX], our 2018 Chevy Volt experienced a critical BECM (Battery Energy Control Module) failure while being driven by our [XXX] daughter. The failure caused the vehicle to enter limp mode, resulting in a severe loss of power and the inability to shift properly. Most alarmingly, the brakes failed to function correctly—despite being fully engaged, the car continued to move forward at a red light, placing our daughter in immediate danger. She was only able to safely stop the vehicle by maneuvering it off the road into a parking lot. This BECM defect is a well-documented issue for Chevy Volts from 2016 to 2018. However, Chevrolet has refused to cover our VIN under the existing special service bulletin, despite our vehicle using the same faulty part number as those included in the recall, and has provided no explanation for this exclusion. As a result, we are being forced to pay $2,100 out of pocket to replace a part that GM knows is defective. This is an unacceptable financial burden for a safety-critical issue. GM should immediately issue a recall for all vehicles equipped with this faulty part number to ensure the safety of all drivers and prevent further undue costs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Mar 7, 2024 · Airbags, Electrical · CA

Chevy Volts from 2016 - 2019 all have a manufacturing defect which can prevent the driver from powering - the error message is "Shift to Park". GM released a Volt Service Bulletin in May 2021 but offered no assistance to replace the defective part. On [XXX] I was driving home on [XXX] headed [XXX] from Santa Cruz in fair weather in the afternoon. This highway can be dangerous with limited shoulders and poor visibility, making it an unsafe place to pull over. While traveling at about 55 mph, the car made an alert sound and illuminated the check engine light and presented a message "Shift to Park". I was running out of room on the shoulder to pull off safely so I had to make the quick decision to pull off to the left-hand shoulder. I followed the instructions on the display which said to shift into park, followed by shifting back into drive. During this time I had my foot on the brake, but after removing my foot from the break, the vehicle began to roll towards traffic, so I put my foot back on the break. I tried powering the car off/on multiple times and tried to get the car to go back into drive but was unsuccessful. Eventually, I put the car back into park, called a tow truck driver, and waited for over an hour to have my car safely towed off [XXX]. Prior to this, I had not experienced any of these or similar symptoms. An OBD code scan was done (screenshot attached). Once at the Chevy dealership, they confirmed that the car could, at that time, shift into park and were not able to reproduce the "Shift into Park" issue. However, they reported that the car was revving high and the transmission would not shift into the proper gear ratio. The dealership was not able to fully diagnose the problem and instead suggested to replace the entire transmission as assembly and then continue investigating. We reached out to the manufacturer, Chevrolet/GM, about the issue(s) and were ed case # [XXX] while they work with the dealership to investigate further. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (F

Filed Dec 8, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · VT

The Battery Energy Control Module needs to be replaced (BECM). The car is available to be inspected at Key Chevrolet in South Burlington, VT. The car was parked when it failed. The car wouldn't start (lights on the dashboard came on) and it wouldn't turn off. I got a "shift to park" error message, regardless of which gear I was in. The car wouldn't go into Drive to go forward with either the drive battery or the gas generator. I had the car was towed to the dealership. It was inspected and diagnosed by them. When they did the diagnosis, they said the BECM had failed and there were cells in the drive battery that needed to be replaced. The BECM failure is a common problem with Chevrolet Volts and is covered by the Voltec warranty. There were no warning lights or other warnings (e.g., reduced propulsion) whatsoever. The car had shut off like normal but would not start or turn completely off. I was fortunate to have had the BECM fail while the car was parked. My understanding is that BECMs can fail while the car is moving and the power will stop and you won't have any control.

Filed Dec 1, 2023 · Fuel system · CA

On 8/3/ 2023, my 2018 Chevrolet Volt lost propulsion power while I was camping in the Lassen National Forest near Susanville, CA. I was leaving my campsite when I was on the way to Bend, OR when the car lost power and went into limp mode. It was a two lane road on CA 36 without a shoulder, so I was stuck on a travel lane. I was able to turn the car off and on for a few seconds where I would reach a maximum speed of about 15 mph for about 5-10 seconds before the car would go into limp mode again. I did this for about 20 to 30 times until I reached an incline and the car did not have enough power to inch up the hill, so I had to push the car down the travel lane to the nearest open space I could find that would not block the travel lane. After walking two miles to get cell phone reception, I was able to contact AAA where then towed my vehicle two hours south to the nearest Chevrolet dealership in Reno, NV (Champion Chevrolet). I had to rent a car to continue my trip and eventually get back home. On 8/21/2023, I was contacted by Champion Chevrolet and was told that the issue was the issue was the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) and that was going to be covered under warranty. However, they noted that the BECM was on national backorder and that there was no ETA for when they would receive the part. Because of this, I had to extend my rental for the month at a cost of about $1,800 to be able to get home to Los Angeles. As I write this on 12/1/2023, I have still not received my vehicle from the dealership and the part is still not available. I've now lost almost 4 months of use of my car and still make payments on it, after I purchased it at lease end. The car had about 55,000 miles on the odometer when the car stopped working and the BECM issue was discovered. The status on the part for my car is still backordered with no ETA. After reading GMs claims they have sufficient replacements in supply, I write this complaint to call their bluff, as no parts are available.

Filed Jan 25, 2023 · Transmission · NY

Car doesn't shift into gear, just goes into neutral. Car says 'shift into park' and won't turn off when in park and the power button is pushed.

Filed Jun 20, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · OH

Going 80 mph on the freeway with adaptive crusie control on, the car begins to jerk, and the rpm's shoot up and down. The adaptive cruise control disengages, the stabiltrack, abs, and engine light turned on and the car goes into limp mode. As I slow down, the speedometer keeps increasing up to 90. After, I inspected the driver wheel speed sensor and discovered that the sensor tip in the hub had been damaged. The anti-click washer had broken and began cutting the sensor until it failed.

Filed Sep 11, 2021 · Transmission · CA

The car doesnt shift into parking and engine keeps running.

Filed Aug 23, 2021 · Engine, Transmission · WV

Car will not shift to park. Will not allow the car to be turned off.