2011 GMC ACADIA Complaints

DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY COMING OFF OF AN EXIT RAMP, THE POWER STEERING FAILED AND WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE STEERING. TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL WAS LIKE TRYING TO PULL ON DEAD WEIGHT TO GET IT TO TURN. THIS CONTINUED AND SEEMED TO GET WORSE AS I SLOWED THE CAR TO A STOP. UPON DRIVING AGAIN A FEW MINUTES AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED, POWER STEERING RETURNED FOR 10 MILES OF DRIVING ON THE WAY BACK TO MY HOME, AND THEN FAILED AGAIN. NO WARNING LIGHTS APPEARED WITH POWER STEERING FAILURE, AND CAR IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. *TR

THIS IS MY CAR, BUT MY HUSBAND AND I TRIED TO TAKE A LONG TRIP IN THE CAR AND MY HUSBAND FOUND THAT HE WAS NOT A SAFE DRIVER DUE TO THE UNCOMFORTABLE HEAD REST DESIGN. MY HUSBAND IS 6' 4" TALL AND THE ACADIA HEAD REST PUSHES HIS HEAD FORWARD AND DOWN AT AN AWKWARD ANGLE. THIS CAUSES HIM TO BE FATIGUED, GET A HEADACHE FROM HOLDING HIS HEAD AT AN AWKWARD POSITION AND DOES NOT ALLOW HIM TO LOOK THROUGH HIS GLASSES CORRECTLY. THIS IS AN UNSAFE SITUATION FOR A DRIVER DURING A LONG TRIP. I CONTACTED GM TO SEE IF WE COULD GET A DIFFERENT HEAD REST THAT WOULD BE SAFE AND COMFORTABLE FOR A TALL DRIVER BUT THEY SAID THAT THEY COULDN'T HELP US. THEY DID ADMIT THAT MY HUSBAND IS NOT THE ONLY DRIVER WHO HAS EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM. *TR

HEAD LIGHT MOUNTS HAVE MELTED DUE TO HEAT FROM THE DAYTIME HEADLIGHT BULBS. NOW I CANNOT MAINTAIN FUNCTIONING DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS. BULBS BURN OUT IN JUST A FEW DAYS USE. GM CLAIMS THIS IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE AND THEREFORE WILL NOT REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT UNITS. *TR

AIR CONDITIONER/COMPRESSOR HAS FAILED AND THE UNIT IS LEAKING FREON INSIDE THE CAR CABIN WHEN AIR CONDITIONING OR VENTS ARE OPEN. THERE IS ALSO A HISSING SOUND AND EXHAUST COMING FROM THE COMPRESSOR, WHICH WAS PROCEEDED BY A BURNING SMELL WHEN THE UNIT INITIALLY FAILED. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH, IT APPEARS THAT THIS IS AN ON-GOING ISSUE FOR PEOPLE WHO OWN THIS PARTICULAR MAKE AND MODEL OF CAR - THERE ARE DOZENS OF PEOPLE DOCUMENTING THIS ISSUE ONLINE, BUT GMC REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM. WE CONTACTED THE DEALER AND WERE INFORMED THAT NOT ONLY WOULD WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE PROBLEM, WHICH RESULTS IN THE COSTLY REMOVAL OF THE DASHBOARD, WE WOULD ALSO NEED TO PAY TO FIX IT EVEN THOUGH THERE IS LESS THAN 40,000 MILES ON THE CAR AND IT IS BARELY 2 YEARS OLD. WE HAVE HAD TO SHUT THE VENTS AND FORGO USING THE VENTILATION WHEN DRIVING BECAUSE THE LEAKING FREON CAUSES PASSENGERS TO BECOME LIGHT-HEADED AND DEVELOP A HEADACHE. WHEN THE WEATHER IS HOT, YOU NEARLY SUFFER FROM HEAT EXHAUSTION WHILE DRIVING. ADDITIONALLY, THE HEATING HAS ALSO FAILED AT THIS POINT, RENDERING THE SYSTEM USELESS. *JS

IN WET / RAINY CONDITIONS, POWER STEERING FAILS AS BELT GETS WET AND LOOSES ALL TRACTION. THIS HAS OCCURRED MULTIPLE TIMES AT VARYING SPEEDS AND HAS TWICE ALMOST RESULTED IN ACCIDENTS AS WE WERE NEGOTIATING TURNS. VARIOUS ONLINE AUTO FORUMS HIGHLIGHT THIS AS A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH THE GMC ACADIA. WHY HASN'T A RECALL BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS SAFETY ISSUE? DEALER STATES THERE IS NO FIX. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 GMC ACADIA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE PARKED, THE VEHICLE ROLLED AWAY AND CRASHED OFF THE SIDE OF A CLIFF. THE CONTACT WAS NOT INJURED. THE VEHICLE WAS STILL IN PARK WHEN IT WAS TOWED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND THE CONTACT WAS AWAITING DIAGNOSIS. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 45,000.

PASSENGER SIDE DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT STOPPED WORKING. TOOK TO DEALER AND BULB WAS REPLACED. WITHIN A FEW MONTHS, BULB WAS OUT AGAIN. RETURNED TO DEALER IN JUNE 2013 AND DISCOVERED PART OF THE FIXTURE WIRING HAD MELTED. DEALER REPAIRED UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE SAME DAY WE PICKED IT UP, THE DRIVER SIDE DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT WENT OUT. RETURNED TO DEALER ON JUNE 21, 2013 AND DISCOVERED MELTED WIRING AGAIN. WE HAVE GONE THROUGH THREE BULBS AND HAD TO REPLACE THE MELTED WIRING COMPONENTS ON BOTH DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS. ALSO HAVE AN UNSOLVED ISSUE OF HIGH BEAMS WORKING OFF AND ON. THERE IS DEFINITELY A SERIOUS WIRING/ELECTRICAL PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED. THIS COULD POSE A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS FIRE HAZARD. THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS NOT SOME TYPE OF MANUFACTURING DEFECT! *TR

POWER WINDOW CONTROLS INTERMITTENTLY NOT WORKING TO CLOSE ALL PASSENGER WINDOWS FROM DRIVER DOOR CONTROL PANEL. ONLY WORK AROUND DISCOVERED IS TO LOCK/UNLOCK WINDOWS AND THEN CLOSE WINDOWS, WORKS APPROX. 75% OF TIME. *TR

DRIVING 40MPH, ACCELERATED INTO THE LEFT LANE TO PASS. REMOVING MY FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR, MY VEHICLE CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE WITH THE PEDAL MOVING TO THE FLOOR. AFTER REPEATEDLY STOMPING THE BRAKE AND DEPRESSING THE "CANCEL CRUISE" CONTROL BUTTON, I WAS ABLE TO REGAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE BEFORE HITTING THE VEHICLE AHEAD OF ME. THIS HAPPENED ABOUT 3.5 HOURS INTO A 9 HOUR TRIP, SO THE VEHICLE WAS WARM. I WAS ABLE TO REPEAT THE CONDITION 4 TIMES. TWICE WITH THE CRUISE ON BUT DISENGAGED AND TWICE WITH THE CRUISE TURNED OFF. I DISCOVERED THAT STOMPING THE BRAKES OR DEPRESSING THE CANCEL CRUISE BUTTON CLEARED THE CONDITION. AFTER A COUPLE OF STOPS, CONDITION OCCURRED A 6TH TIME AS I ATTEMPTED TO PASS A VEHICLE GOING 50MPH. AS I DEPRESSED THE ACCELERATOR, THE SYMPTOM RECURRED WITH MY VEHICLE ACCELERATING TO 80 MPH BEFORE CONTINUALLY DEPRESSING THE "CANCEL CRUISE" BUTTON RELEASED THE STUCK ACCELERATOR. ON 3 JUNE, TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT. NEITHER DEALER TECH NOR I COULD REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. . THINKING VEHICLE TEMP COUD BE THE DIFFERENCE, I LEFT THE VEHICLE WITH THE TECHNICIAN. HE DROVE IT FOR 3 HOURS AND APPROXIMATELY 150 MILES AND COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. DEALER OPENED GM TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CASE (71-1189923303) AND ALLEGEDLY GM HAS NO RECORD OF SIMILAR PROBLEMS. THE DEALER HAD NO RECOURSE BUT TO RETURN THE VEHICLE TO ME. I CALLED GM CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE AND REGISTERED MY CONCERN. SEVERAL DAYS LATER, GM CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CALLED SAYING THAT GM HAD NO RECORD OF SIMILAR INCIDENCES BUT HAD LOGGED ANOTHER VEHICLE SERVICE REQUEST (71-1191383116). I QUESTIONED THIS REVELATION AS I HAD FOUND SEVERAL DOCUMENTED SIMILAR CASES WITH ACADIAS ON EDMUNDS.COM. MY WIFE NORMALLY DRIVES THIS VEHICLE. I AM UNSURE HOW SHE WOULD HAVE REACTED HAD THIS HAPPENED WITH HER DRIVING. IT IS DEFINITELY A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 GMC ACADIA. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH WHEN THE AIR BAG WARNING INDICATOR REMAINED ILLUMINATED CONSISTENTLY ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE PASSENGER'S SIDE AIR BAG WAS FAULTY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM, WHO INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT A DEFECT WAS NOT COVERED UNDER THE SERVICE WARRANTY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 56,710.