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GMC Acadia collision warning problems

11 of the 5,599 owner complaints about the GMC Acadia describe false forward collision warnings, most of them for the 2021 model year.

owner complaints
11
worst model year
2021
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below

By model year

  • 2026
    1
  • 2025
    2
  • 2024
    1
  • 2023
    1
  • 2021
    2
  • 2020
    1
  • 2019
    1
  • 2017
    1
  • 2014
    1

What owners say

Filed Oct 16, 2026 · Airbags, Driver assistance · 64,000 miles · WA · crash · 1 injury

The contact owns a 2021 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH, traffic stopped abruptly, and the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard; however, the vehicle continued to accelerate while the Forward Collision Avoidance warning feature activated with a red warning light on the instrument panel. The contact attempted to steer off the road to avoid a collision; however, the vehicle crashed into the vehicle ahead, resulting in a three-vehicle collision. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. Another driver involved claimed unknown injuries, and the contact sustained whiplash but did not seek medical attention. Police were called, but a police report was not filed at the scene. The vehicle was towed to an independent tow yard. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000.

Filed Jun 10, 2026 · Airbags, Driver assistance · 4,700 miles · AL · crash · 2 injuries

The contact owns a 2026 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while at a stop sign and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated and crashed into the rear passenger's side of a Semi Truck. Both the AEB and the IAEB failed to engage during the incident. The vehicle sustained severe front-end damage. The contact stated that the air bags failed to deploy, and the Forward Collision Avoidance System failed to engage to prevent the crash. The driver sustained a neck and right shoulder injury. The front passenger seat occupant sustained a right arm and left leg injury, and a headache. No medical treatment was received. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed away. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 4,700.

Filed Jun 7, 2026 · Driver assistance, Electrical · KY

Thermostat in these are all bad and everyone keeps having problems with them. Also forward collision warning and steering stability warning come on. Thermostat needs to have recall. Everyone is having the same problems.

Filed Aug 18, 2025 · Brakes · PA

Purchase vehicle on August 13, 2025 with 27 miles on it. Drove home from dealership. Started the car on Friday morning and all of these warning lights appeared - Electronic Stability Control, Brake Assist Service, Brake light indicator, ABS indicator, traction control indicator, collision warning indicator. Car only had 69 miles at the time. Took vehicle to dealership on August 18, 2025. After diagnostics were performed, it was determined that the Master Brake Cylinder is the issue. The part is on back order and there is no estimated time of when the part will be received and installed. Dealership Rep told me that it was safe to drive the vehicle to the dealership. Service Technician then explained to me that I should not be driving the vehicle.

Filed Aug 16, 2025 · Brakes, Driver assistance · PA · 2 injuries

While driving under normal conditions, the vehicle experienced a sudden, violent deceleration. The emergency braking and collision avoidance systems activated spontaneously, as if the vehicle had struck or was about to strike an object. There was no obstacle, impact, or external threat present. This uncommanded braking caused significant physical stress and injury to the occupants. Critically, multiple safety systems failed during the event: The seat belts did not lock, failing to restrain the occupants; The airbags did not deploy, despite the severity of the deceleration; no warning indicators or diagnostic alerts were present before or after the incident. These failures directly contributed to physical injuries, including TBI (concussion, spinal trauma, etc.) which required emergency medical treatment and ongoing care.

Filed Aug 7, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · SC

Instrument cluster malfunction. Entire instrument cluster blacking out every 60 seconds, then rebooting nonstop while driving. While this was occurring, none of the advanced driver assistance systems functioned, nor did the speedometer or other gauges. This occurred while on a trip, and meant having to travel a long distance without having emergency braking, collision warnings or the ability to monitor speed. The car was taken to local dealer and they replaced the entire instrument cluster.

Filed Jul 9, 2025 · Brakes, Driver assistance · TN

Car driven off the lot 06/14/2025 On Sunday 07/06/25 (21 days from purchase) while driving home from a 30 minutes away from home trip with 3 young children with me, the car gave multiple alerts and service warnings. "Service Brake Assist" and "Service ECS" Lights / Symbols related to the following were also displayed: Traction Control System (TCS)/ Electronic Control Stability Light, Anti-lock Brakey System (ABS); Brake System Warning Light, Forward Collision Alert and BREAK light I stopped the car immediately and pulled to the side of the road. After restarting vehicle, lights were still displayed and service alerts still on. Power steering was very diminished and the breaks were struggle to break. Acceleration was also impacted and every time I breaked it appeared as though the car was trying to accelerate. I was able to drive the car home slowly following back roads. On Monday 07/07/25 I called the dealership and arranged a tow to their facility. On Tuesday 07/08/25 after multiple "unavailable to take your calls" I was finally able to connect with a service technician who indicated the break master cylinder needed to be replaced. I was not given an ETA on the completion of this repair. I have owned the car for 21 days. It has 1073 miles on it!!! I have 3 young children! The original route home was via a very heavy interstate! What if the brakes failed me while driving an interstate! I praise God I was able to get home safely with my children

Filed Feb 2, 2025 · Driver assistance · FL

While using the super cruise system I am experiencing unexpected braking of the car as it thinks it is about to rear end the vehicle in the right lane it is passing in the left lane. This happened multiple times on a recent highway drive. I am worried I am going to be rear ended by cars following me or the victim of road rage as it appears to other drivers I am brake checking them while in the passing lane. Additionally the adaptive cruise control and super cruise seem to fail to detect the vehicle immediately in front of me and fails to slow down with adaptive cruise control or attempt to change lanes when using super cruise. In both instances I have to manually brake and or change lanes to avoid a rear end collision. While manually driving the vehicle I am also receiving collision alerts when overtaking cars in the right lane while I am passing them in the left. The super cruise was able to identify cars entering the highway from on ramps multiple times and would auto lane change correctly. This leads me to believe the sensors are working but software may not be utilizing correct distance analysis when slamming on brakes as it passes a vehicle. I am scheduling a dealer service call, but feel like they will tell me there are no computer errors. There are no recalls on file. The on-star monitoring is reporting no errors. Seems like a design flaw, logic error that will require a software update.

Filed Oct 29, 2024 · Driver assistance, Transmission · TN

Transmission shutters, shakes and jumps while accelerating. Forward collision warning will come on at any point even if there is no vehicles in front of me. I have contacted GMC but was told that it’s a normal transmission issue

Filed Sep 5, 2022 · Driver assistance · IN

Twice this vehicle has exhibited this behavior. The collision avoidance system would flash a red warning on the HUD showing that a pedestrian was in front of the vehicle with the vehicle brakes 'hard' engaging causing the vehicle to 'nose dive' even though there was no pedestrian in front of the vehicle. This is disconcerting to those inside the vehicle and potentially be a crash issue with any vehicle following to close behind my Acadia. This may be an issue with the sensors/software used by GM and thus a safety issue that should be reviewed.

Related recalls

Back over prevention: sensing system: cameraReported September 22, 2022 · 95,231 vehicles affected
What is wrong
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Cadillac XT5, XT6, and GMC Acadia vehicles equipped with the optional Surround Vision feature. The rearview camera coaxial cable connectors may have been crimped improperly, causing the rearview camera to fail or function intermittently.
Risk
An inoperative rearview camera can reduce the driver's rear visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the coaxial cables, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 18, 2023. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006 or GMC customer service at 1‑800‑462‑8782. GM's number for this recall is N222378380.

Recall number 22V709000 · Recall details

Questions about the GMC Acadia collision warning

Which GMC Acadia years have false forward collision warnings problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2021 (2 complaints), 2025 (2 complaints) and 2014 (1 complaints).

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