Owner-reported complaints naming the electrical system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the electrical system — wiring, battery, charging, control modules, infotainment and electrical accessories. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 28 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 28, in the owner's own words
While driving the stereo went off, the ac, the car stopped in middle of the road and I lost all electrical. I tried turning back on and the emergency brake light was on and the dash said "Steering Assist is Reduced, Drive with Care.” I was able to put it in neutral and get it out of the way. Battery is good Fuses were all checked 350 replaced Car isn’t starting or Turing over, but some of the lights have turned on.
Brakes have screeching noise Transmission jumps when changing gear The shift to park is so constant can not even go out because it takes more than 20 to 30 tries for it to accept park and turn Vehicle off! I have taken it to the dealer for the concern stated no recall or warranty At this point I am afraid to even leave it in shift to park and walk to the store and it gets stolen or leaves me stranded with my children
Burning oil. There is something wrong. I took it to the dealership i still have warranty i really think this needs to be looked into.
When I put my car in park and turn it off I get an error message that I need to "Shift to Park". It shows in the dash that it is in park but my radio, and lights stay on. I have to restart my car and put it in park, reverse, or neutral and try to put it in park again. I takes several try's to make the error message go away.
The alternator failed randomly while driving down the road. The vehicle only has 26500 miles. There was no lights on prior to the car stalling. When it failed my whole car started to flash every warning at the screen to me. My car then stopped working and I barely was able to coast into a parking lot. Luckily I was not on the highway and no one was behind me when the car stopped working. The problem was confirmed by the dealer it was the alternator. What sucks though is that the alternator killed the battery. The battery is not covered by warranty so it is $507 to replace a battery.
Vehicle started to show error for shift to park. Not able to shut vehicle off. Vehicle drives fine but when I go to park and vehicle is in park. I go to turn vehicle off and error appears. I called dealership according to them just to look at vehicle its going to cost me $275.. For everything else $1,100. After reading all the complaints on this issue why has manufacture done anything. Obviously this is a well known problem I've always loved my chevy
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power in the middle of the roadway. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the starter. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000. The VIN was not available.
I was driving to work at 0530 on 11/10/24. I was on the highway driving the speed limit. A light came on that read "service ESC". Within 2 minutes of this light coming on, I heard a loud noise and the tail end of my car started to spin out. My power steering went out, my brakes did not work and I hit the guard rail very hard. The "electronic stability control" system in my car, turned off on me with only a minute warning, and almost killed me. My car was totaled and deemed a complete loss. Any advice would be appreciated.
Vehicle would not start. Towed to repair shop. 350A fuse blown that controls ignition system. Pulled starter to inspect for damage. Transmission Flex Plate had 7 broken teeth with a tooth being lodged in the starter housing.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that the "Shift to Park" message was displayed on the instrument panel while attempting to park the vehicle. The contact also stated that the ESC (Electronic Stability Control) warning light was displayed while at a complete stop, and an audible chime was heard during the failure. In addition, the START/STOP function failed after removing the foot from the brake pedal while at a stop light. The vehicle shut off without warning as the contact attempted to depress the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that a motorist assisted with pushing the vehicle to the side of the road. The contact called for Roadside Assistance and a Police Officer assisted with jumpstarting the vehicle. The Police Officer then escorted the contact to a nearby gas station where the contact purchased a new battery. Initially after the battery replacement, the contact experienced no failures with the vehicle; however, the shift to park failure had recently returned. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000.
On 10/12/24, I received an error code that my charging system needed serviced. I was about an hour from my house when I saw the error. I immediately turned on the voltage display and it said the voltage was 11.8. As I was driving home I had an additional error message that said entering battery saver mode. Luckily, I made it home before I was left stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the night. With only 57,323 miles on my car, I had NO idea it would be the alternator. I took my car to Auto Zone to have the battery tested and they said it was fine. I had my mechanic check on Monday 10/14/24, and it turns out the alternator was indeed bad. S
My rear exhaust manifold cracked, was told there should have been have been a recall on them bc they are defective. GM is covering 2019 and 2021 Models, but not 2020 models. I had to replace my alternator at the Chevrolet dealership 6 months ago. In the last month, have had the shift to park message come up on my car and that has something to do with the transmission.
When putting my Traverse in park, the car will intermittently say "shift to park", causing me to have to put it back ion reverse, put it back in park and hope it works. The car will not shut off if it says it's in park, causing you to be stuck in there. Also could cause it to not start if the vehicle thinks it's not in park. To note as well, there is already a recall out for 2018-2019 chevy traverse models, along with others. This needs to be extended to newer models as well.
The car has started to show a "Shift to Park" message on the dashboard when turning off the car. The car won't shut off until you give it a couple minutes and try again. This seems to be a consistent error with chevrolet models with a few years older and newer getting the recall.
Car battery drained after it sat unattended for 3 days. A jump-start started the car normally and it functioned normally until turned off. Once turned off, the hazard lights would randomly turn off/on, the door locks would randomly lock/unlock, and the parking lights would randomly come on. Replacing the primary battery had no effect. Outcome: Due to seemingly poor design, a drain pipe passes over the BCM (Body Control Module) and drips water directly into it. The mechanic indicated that this is a known issue to Chevrolet, but I do not see any information in the NHTSA about it. Hefty replacement part/labor cost.
Sunday night 4/7/24, I was on my way to the emergency department with my 5 month old baby to be seen. 30min into my drive i came to a stop light when my truck completely shut off (BLACKOUT) No Power, NO LIGHTS not even my hazard would turn on, my car wouldn't go into park or allow me to press on my breaks it was like they were glued stuck. all my doors locked and I couldn't get them to open, not even manually because of the nobs that go all the way in. I couldn't put the car into park or anything just got locked in my car and I couldn't even hit the OnStar because everything was off! I started to see cars coming from a distance so i started to panic because they were going to rear end us really bad, so i broke the driver window and went to warn drivers to please stop by putting myself at risk to get hit by a car because i didn't know what else to do, i had a 5month old baby in the back seat that would have died if I didn't pull her out and we got hit. I started to scream for help because it was dark and we were stuck. two cars came inches from rear ending us, which caused an accident between the two vehicles. thankfully a police officer was passing by and got behind my traverse to stop traffic. but if it wasn't for the cop i don't know what the outcome would have been. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. IF THE CAR WAS ON FIRE WE WOULD HAVE BURNED. THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED ASAP. Why would they design a car where you cannot get out. and why did it shut off like this. ???? I NEED ANSWERS PLEASE. I'M TERRIFIED TO DRIVE MY CAR AND THIS WAS A $38,000 VEHICAL THIS IS NOT OK!!!!
Alternator failed within 3 years and only after 45,000 miles. GM refuses to take any liability even though several other people experiencing same defect and part rated for over twice that length of period.
When the vehicle is shifted into "Park" the information system reports an error code "shift into park" and prevents the vehicle from being turned off. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are times when the vehicle fails to start with error code displayed "shift into park" even though the vehicle is infact in park. The error code is sometimes resolved when the shifter levers forward facing button is actuated multiple times. This false error code is a grave safety concern as it build complacency within the operators. This could potentially lead to an operator ignoring a true "shit into park" error code as a false one and exiting the vehicle while it is actually in gear or neutral and cause death or injury to an innocent bystander or the operator! Please investigate this error as it has apparently existed and been well documented in the Chevrolet Traverse since at least 2018. Yet Chevrolet still fails to acknowledge or resolve it!
On 02/24/2023 in the middle of a storm our Headlights suddenly going out for a few hours while driving the car when the knob is on AUTO. Had to turn them on manually. Then the next day we turned the car on they worked just fine. A couple hours later they went out again. Today 02/26/2023 they’re working again. This is a safety issue.
There is an electrical short that keeps shutting down the stereo. I bought my car new Dec 2020. In the summer of 2022 I was driving my car and the stereo and dashboard suddenly shut off. I pulled over and it came back on after a few seconds. I was told by Chevrolet first that the stereo was faulty and then that there was an electrical problem affecting the stereo. On Dec 24, 2022 I was driving my car and again the stereo suddenly shut off and started power cycling, turning off and turning on several times. I took it in to be inspected on Dec 26, 2022 and was told that there was an electrical issue affecting the stereo and they would have to get approval from the warranty company to have it replaced again. It was finally replaced yesterday 02/17/2023. Now I’m wondering if there’s an electrical problem what’s going to be affected next or how long til it causes problems again. I don’t feel safe driving my children in the car if it’s having an electrical problem.
I was driving down the street and my car started to randomly jerk. When I pushed the gas the car got slower. Once in a safe place I pulled over and sat there for a few minutes. When I accelerated again the car had a sound like the car was speeding up, but there was no speed. It drifted. So I crossed the traffic light and pulled over again. I turned the car off. I waited for about 5 minutes, turned the car on and that's when the engine light came on. I had to drive slower to make it home. Once I made it home I put the car in Reverse and noticed that my back up camera was not working as well. I am so frustrated.
This vehicle has completely lost power and stalled on the freeway twice. The first time, I was with my wife and children when it happened on the highway. The vehicle stalled in the far right lane of traffic and it wouldn't restart. We had to risk our lives and push the vehicle off the freeway and onto the shoulder while other vehicles raced by. We are fortunate that we did not die or become seriously injured. The second time the vehicle stalled on the highway, my wife was crossing the highway and the vehicle once again lost all power and shut-off. She is fortunate that she was not killed in a T-bone collision. The first time, there was a dash warning stating to SERVICE ESC. The second time, there was no warning lights or dash illumination of a problem beforehand. The vehicle has been taken to the Chevrolet dealership twice. They ran a diagnostic and stated the starter was pulling too many amps which caused the vehicles fuse block to blow, resulting in total failure of all vehicle components. Total repair cost for first repair was approximately 1,000 dollars. We are awaiting the service advisors diagnostic for this second incident. The first repair is covered under a 2 year unlimited mile warranty so hopefully when they replace the starter and fuse block this time, they will also find the root cause of the problem. I feel as if our lives and well-being are in jeopardy since the first incident and we no longer feel safe driving this vehicle which has stalled twice during highway conditions. I am confident that we will no longer be GM consumers due to these life risking incidents.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The parking brake symbol also displayed on the instrument panel. Additionally, the instrument panel then went blank. The contact drove the vehicle to his residence and parked the vehicle. The contact then noticed that after turning the vehicle off, the radio remained on and the contact was unable to manually turn off the radio. The contact attempted to start the vehicle the following day and the battery was drained. The contact had the vehicle jump-started and drove the vehicle to a dealer who attempted to diagnose the vehicle however, all the data had been erased. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 29,700.
All 4 doors do not lock or unlock, keyfob only works to open liftgate.
THE SURROUND VISION SYSTEM NOT WORKING. IT WAS OCCASIONALLY, NOW IT DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. WE ONLY GET A DARK SCREEN WITH A RED HAZARD TRIANGLE. IT STARTED THE DAY WE BOUGHT THE CAR AND THE DEALER CLAIMS THEY HAVE ANOTHER CAR LIKE MINE AHEAD OF ME WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. SINCE THE LAST WEEK OF DECEMBER THEY HAVE CLAIMED THAT GM DOES NOT HAVE A FIX FOR THIS ISSUE. I MADE A COMPLAINT WITH MY CHEVROLET CUSTOMER SERVICE CASE # 9-6485705057, BUT I DON'T GET ANY ANSWERS FROM THEM EITHER. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS SYSTEM IS TIED INTO THE ADAPTIVE BRAKING/CRUSE, BUT I HAVE YET TO HAVE THE VEHICLE TAKE ACTION IN THAT REGARD. IN CHECKING THAT OUT. I GOT WAY CLOSER THAN I FELT COMFORTABLE WITH, I KEEP WAITING FOR THE CAR TO REACT TO THE CLOSING DISTANCE BUT IT NEVER DID. I BACKED IT OFF MYSELF. I WAS WELL WITHIN TWO CAR LENGTHS OF THE VEHICLE AHEAD (55 MPH) AND CLOSING IN AT ABOUT 3 OR 4 MPH. IF YOU HAVE TO BE CLOSER THAN THAT FOR IT TO ACTIVATE THEN I WILL NOT BE USING IT. I HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS DEALERSHIP FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AND HAVE PURCHASED 3 AUTOMOBILES FROM THEM. THEY HAVE PERFORMED THE REGULAR SERVICE AND WARRANTY WORK ON ALL OF THEM WITH NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. FOR THEM TO HAVE AN ISSUE FIXING IT IS NOT TYPICAL OF THE SERVICE I HAVE RECEIVED FROM THEM IN THE PAST. SO, WHEN THEY TELL ME GM DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX THE ISSUE. I HAVE TO BELIEVE THEM UP TO A POINT. WITH THE SMALL WINDOWS IN THE BACK OF THIS VEHICLE. VISIBILITY IS EXTREMELY LIMITED, AND IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE. IF THEY CAN'T KEEP THE BASIC SURROUND VISION SYSTEM WORKING. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO MAINTAIN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES TO A LEVEL THAT PROTECTS ALL INVOLVED?
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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