NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
Engine power reduced came on after I was driving from a patient’s home. My car started driving very rough. I had to pull over because I was in danger of being hit from behind. I took my car to a mechanic and was diagnosed with the code DTC P2714. I looked online and there are a lot of people having this issue and being put in dangerous situations when we drive. Chevy knows about the issue and has not issued any recalls. Unfortunately for me my vehicle is past the limited warranty so now I have to save up money to get my transmission serviced. I’m never buying American again. I could’ve been really hurt when my engine cut off.
A loud popping noise heard through the radio when light pressure applied to brakes. Noise loud enough to scare the hell out of all the occupants in the car. Brakes squeaked when car was in reverse. Tried to slow down on wet pavement. Car started to veer to the right. Forward collision warning nor automatic emergency braking worked. Pushed brake all the way to the floor and the car did not slow. Rear ended another car. No airbags deployed. My passenger was okay. I got diagnosed with a concussion. Do not know if the occupants in the other car were injured.
Shift to park error. I put the car in park but it tell I get a notice to shift the car in park when it’s already in park. Beeps and continues to tell me to shift my car in park when it’s in park. Turn off the car get out and close the door and the notice and beeping continues while the car is off and in park. Been happening since I bought it.
On numerous occasions (typically when needing to accelerate into the flow of traffic), the Reduced Engine Power message and engine light came on, the car rapidly decelerated to 35 mph, and would not accelerate rapidly. Turbocharger, waste gate actuator, and other parts need replaced and reprogrammed, but issue persists. On one occasion, power was reduced and car was stuck "revving" at 25 mph. I have had to swerve off the road to avoid a crash of being rear-ended. Issue started around 60,000 but has happened at least 5 separate times.
IN January my fuel gage stopped working , unable to know how much gas I had. The fuel pump and floater needed to be replaced If fuel was not getting to the engine the vehicle would stop working causing a possible accident with other drivers . I did not use this vehicle for many days until a mechanic cleared for useage . It cost me $320.00 of my own money to fix this for safety concerns. As of today 1/22/25 I has been fixed by A-Plus in North Fort Myers.
Found standing water in spare tire well. Back seat constantly wet, growing mold. The whole back area is moldy, mold under driver seat. My back passenger door seal has mold and water. Seat belts in back, MOLD. I had to wear a mask just to drive to the store. The mold turning black the day I took it to a shop for a water test. It's been two days and I still haven't heard anything about the water test.
I have brought my car into the dealership over the last few years at least 6 times for the same issues. Currently there are two codes coming up as permanent on my car which is for the Evaporative Emission System Flow and Brake Booster Hydraulics performance. I drive my child of three every day and the number of times my check engine light comes on and goes into reduced engine power is not okay nor safe.
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The contact stated that while attempting to remove the key from the ignition, the key remained stuck in the ignition cylinder. The contact had to turn off and restart the vehicle several times to be able to remove the key. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who sprayed the ignition cylinder to clean the cylinder; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was returned to the dealer who diagnosed that the shift lock mechanism failed to recognize that the vehicle was in park(P). The shifter assembly was replaced. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and opened a case. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
While driving the car will cut off and on real quick. The headlights will flash on their own. Security systems cuts off and the brakes function messes up.
I have had this vehicle at the garage for the 4th time in 2 months for the same issues. It would not start. the fuse box keeps blowing. The starter was replaced and the Alternator was replaced and the fuse box 3 times so far. It is in the auto repair shop now for the same issues. the mechanic has done an inspection and diagnostics and cant find what is wrong. There were no warning lights to warn me of anything. I have spent 4500+ so far in repairs and more to come.
This vehicle has approximately 35,000 miles of driving time on the odometer. This car will not recognize that the shift lever has been place into the Park position. Doors will not lock when the car is turned off. If trying to seek refuge from an assailant, the car will only alarm but will not lock the doors for safety. Also, while storing items in the vehicle while at a metropolitan hospital (where I work) or a metropolitan grocery/fuel station, the vehicle will only alarm but will not lock under any circumstance. The car is responding as if the car is still in a movement gear position and will not recognize the shift position of Park. I have heard of many similar documented cases regarding this particular shift issue in relation to the 2021 Chevrolet Trail Blazer yet there has been no related recall related to this ever more prevalent repair need. some reports (not ours...) report the automobile transmission converting to park while in movement and while in a selected movement shift position. I do not want this to happen to me. My car (VIN # [XXX] ) is at the dealership for repair. The dealership informs us that the needed part(s) are currently under manufacture at a supplier and that there is no estimated date for the part(s) arrival or date to complete this repair. The car cannot be driven safely in a metropolitan area because in cannot be locked with the ignition off and the car just continues to alarm if walked away from. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Trail Blazer. The contact stated that after shifting to the park position the message "Shift to Park" was erroneously displayed and the vehicle would not shut off. The contact had to shift multiple times before the transmission switched to the park position and the engine was able to be shut off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the shifter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and confirmed that the part was on backorder. The failure mileage was 16,600.
Receiving "Shift to Park" alert when vehicle is already in Park.
Our 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer was purchased last December in 2023. For at least a week now the "shift to park" alarm goes off, practically every time we put it in park & turn the engine off. It wont shut up. The lights stay on, and it won't let you turn the alarm on. Sometimes if I wait and go back & jiggle the gear shifter through different gears, and turn the engine on & off it might stop, show me a "check the rear seat" warning, and be alright( until the next time I drive it and try to park it). It's becoming more & more persistent. I checked with the Chevrolet dealer, and they said the vin number isn't listed under the recall, so GMC won't cover it. We don't have the money to take care of it ourselves, and don't know what to do.
When I place my car in park, a "shift to park" message appears on the dashboard. I am unable to fully turn my car off and the car will ding at me. I have tried driving around the parking lot, pushing the shifter from side to side and into another gear then park again, going forward and backward, but the problem still exists. It started to occur more frequently, until it occurred every time I drove the car. I'm not sure if the car is actually in park, so when I finally get it to turn off, I place the emergency brake on. I can not physically turn the car off when this message appears on the dashboard. I took the vehicle to the service center of the dealer on 11/12/2024. I was told this has been a big problem with GM cars and they have had many cars coming in with the same problem. Currently the part is on backorder, and there is not an ETA as to when it will be available due to high demand for this part.
I was driving on the highway and out of nowhere the exhaust pipe after the converter had fallen on the road at highway speed. It happened to be the rear pipe leading to the muffler, which is behind the rear bumper, so when the pipe fell, it fell facing the front of the vehicle. The fact that I was able to get the vehicle to a nearby rest stop safely was amazing in itself, that nothing more tragic happened at highway speed with the exhaust pipe facing forward on the ground is a miracle. How does this happen to a 3 year old vehicle? The flatbed driver said he thought there was a recall on the Trailblazer, as he had towed several with the same problem. I called GM, they assured me that there was no recall and could schedule me a service appt to have the vehicle assessed and repaired, I declined, I already have an estimate from my local repair facility, which is still quite a bit of money.
When attempting to park the car I am able to shift into park, however, I get a message on the dashboard to “shift to park”. Dashboard also shows a “p” to reflect car is in park creating a contradiction on the dashboard of displayed items. When this occurs the car will not shut off. Dealer service has indicated this is not producing an error code, they have had many complaints, and the issue is not covered by power train warranty and part is back ordered. I am very concerned about the safety of my vehicle given the indicated failures of the shifting mechanism and Chevrolets inability to remedy the issue due to unavailable parts.
On [XXX] I shifted my 2021 Chevy Trailblazer to park and and was unable to shut off the vehicle. When I shifted it to park it kept displaying an error "Shift to Park" on the dashboard, but the shifter knob was correctly in park. I attempted to press the power button to turn off the car and it wouldnt do anything but beep. I tried multiple times to shift to park to get the car to recognize it was actually in park and turn off the vehicle but I was unable to do so. I was frantic and panicked to find I could not turn off my vehicle as I park on a apartment complex lot. That day I took the car to Henna Chevrolet in Austin Tx for repair. They said the part was on backorder from GM with no ETA. It is now November 1st and there is still no ETA on when I will get the part for my car from GM. This has been going on for 3 weeks now with no end. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
2021 Chevy Trailblazer When I go to park my car, there is a constant error of 'Shift to Park'. The car is already in park. I must wiggle the shifting knob, restart my car, or drive around before my car will turn off and recognize that it is in park. My safety is compromised each time I get in the car. If the car cannot recognize it is in park, what happens when it can't recognize it is in drive as I am on the road? Or reverse? Or any gear? My safety is also affected because my car does not realize it is in park, and at times I cannot exit my car. I am highly concerned that the car does not truly know which gear it is in and it compromises not only my safety, but the safety of my family/other passengers, and other drivers on the road. The problem is a known problem and there is an active fix bulletin for the problem. GM cannot get the part in stock - it has been 5 weeks. It affects not only my year, make, and model, but many others too. GM continues to sell the cars with this known safety defect. This defect has been confirmed by the dealership, and GM has sent out a known fix for the issue (TSB PIT5616A). There is also a class action lawsuit for this specific issue with GM. GM's solution to me is to trade in my car for a newer model rather than waiting for the part. In addition, many cars of my year, make, and model require a whole new transmission, but GM will only replace the shifter harness to start with, if and when they receive the part. I was told that the part could take up to six months to receive. For an issue that has been happening since at least 2019, this is unacceptable. The only warning that I receive is when I am trying to shut off my car and it will not shut off due to this error. This has been happening to my car for 2 months, but there seems to be a history of this defect since at least 2019.
The rear shocks on the 2021 trailblazer are faulty and are blowing out causing the rear tires to bounce and eat away at the tread exposing cords becoming a safety hazard. The rear shocks blowing out is happening on several 2021 Trailblazers causing there to be a national back order leaving these vehicles and drivers to be at risk of serious accidents and injuries.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - The shift lever/gear control malfunctions when trying to put the vehicle in park. The vehicle once the lever is in park on the dashboard it will say !Place vehicle in park. When it is in park you can't open the doors or turn off the vehicle. You can try to jiggle the shift lever but it doesn't move out of park. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? - Unable to get out of the vehicle, the system locks the doors. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? - It has occurred at the beginning of the year. No it hasn't been confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? - No Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? - Once you put the shift lever in park and try to turn off the car the warning lamp comes on and says Place in park. But the shift lever is in park. You are unable to move the shift lever. I don't know the exact date it first started happening but I believe it was at the beginning of the year.
Unknown key keeps getting stuck in the ignition.
After placing the vehicle in park I get the “shift to park error”. I can’t leave the vehicle, or lock it. It can take any where from 5 to thirty minutes for it to actually read the shift. My car is now not reading my key 80% percent of the time. The vehicle turns off while driving down the road. Saying no “remote detected”. The key has been locked in the Car twice. Which should be impossible. I’ve been stranded outside of my vehicle at night in Atlanta for long periods of time. Trying to get the vehicle to unlock because it is not reading the key.
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The contact stated that while the gear shifter was in the park(P), the message “Shift to Park” was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the gear shifter needed to be replaced. The mechanic informed the contact to use the parking brake while parking the vehicle. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that parts were on back order. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 16,000.
Odometer: 50,379 Purchased used on April, 1 2024 Odometer: 47,027 Brought to dealer on 8/28/2024 for service. About two weeks ago we had a "Shift to Park" message is displayed on the DIC after the vehicle was placed in Park and shut off. Started it again and then put it in drive then back to park. Message went away. Then over the course of the next week this happened many more times to the point where we were stuck in a shopping parking lot because we could not leave the car as it kept beeping to fix the issue. Made appointment with dealer. After Diagnose from dealer they said it needed to perform Service Bulletin #23-NA-119, recommend replacement of transmission control. They at first wanted us to pay for it and we advised dealer we had a Chevy warranty. After a few days they advised it would be covered under warranty except for our $50 deductible. Main problem is the part # 13545091 was not available locally and dealer had to research to find part. Advise it could take until 9/26/24 to find part. This should be a no charge RECALL by the Mfg. as this can be a safety issue and to ensure more parts are in stock by dealer.
Model # CC398GYU, purchased in April of 2024 needs to be included in the foam head rest recall because the foam is accessible by my toddler. The foam presents a choking hazard. It is not secure and the foam is exposed.
My 2021 Chevy Trailblazer has an error reading “shift to Park” that randomly appeared 2 weeks ago, now is doing it almost every time I stop my car, error has also cause my battery to die. When error is showing my car will not shut off. Took to a Chevy dealer and recommended changing the gear shift assembly, can’t guarantee it will fix the problem. They have ordered the part but $450 plus parts and labor for not a guarantee is concerning. I also travel for work and have been left stranded because of this issue.
Service power steering light It turns on and off frequently
The pick up on the vehicle is losing power it seems not letting the RPM's Go up or drop down before taking off. This cause the vehicle to move slower than normal Code keeps popping up losing power engine while drive and engine light comes on this goes on for about a week or so than stops and engine light disappear and reappears again.
05/29/24 I took this vehicle to Cronic Chevrolet in Griffin, Ga due to check engine light being on. Code detected purge pump it was still under warranty at that time only had 43,906 miles on had to get the purge pump replaced. Several weeks after getting it back I kept getting a shift to park message come up when trying to put it in park then started having trouble getting it to go into drive. I have had so many close calls from people almost bashing into me because my car will not go into drive and you constantly have to switch in and out of gears for it to finally go in. Its sucking the had right out due to it not shifting gears properly. The code reader detected transmission control module which I find to be faulty and understand there are serval recalls on this specific vehicle , when it started this issue it didn’t even have 50,000 miles on it!
Shift to Park comes on after vehicle is shifted into park and the vehicle is turned off. You have to hit the gear shift or jiggle it to register it is in park or start the vehicle and shift to neutral and back to park and turn it off a few times to get it to register it is in park.
I first noticed an issue about a year ago when an electrical blaring noise was coming from my speakers followed by popping and crackling noises. I have taken my car into the dealership several times without resolution. Since then, I have noticed excessive humidity in the vehicle and recently found the trunk was flooded. I took the vehicle in to the dealership again, and they say the interior fabric is compromised now and the electrical sounds I was experiencing are coming from electrical damage inside the body. I have now read another review online from someone who had the exact same experience with this make and model. I believe this is a safety hazard to drivers who are unknowingly driving around for months in a vehicle that could be flooding and could cause severe damages like in my case. I have documents to support these claims, but I do not have electronic copies. If someone reaches out to me I can provide hard copies.
The transmission shift control / transmission range sensor / shift interlock solenoid in my Chevrolet Trailblazer is malfunctioning. When I shift the vehicle into park, it fails to recognize the gear change and displays an error message stating, “Shift to Park.” As a result, I'm unable to shut off the engine properly, which poses both a safety risk and a serious inconvenience. I strongly urge the NHTSA to investigate this issue thoroughly and consider issuing a recall to address the defect.
Turbo failure resulted in loss of engine power. I was driving down the road and the engine light came on and I got a notification that the engine was in reduced power mode. The vehicle became very sluggish and lost speed. While I was fortunate that I was not on a busy road, had the incident happened on the highway it could have been dangerous given my loss of speed. What's of greater concern, this appears to be a common problem on the Trailblazer message boards. The dealer confirmed it was the turbo and stated that the part was on back order. This indicates the problem is occurring very frequently. The vehicle only has 33k miles on it.
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The contact stated while driving at 5–10 MPH, there was an extremely loud clicking and rattling sound coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that there was an unknown object moving inside the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the turbo needed to be changed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The dealer informed the contact that the sound was duplicated in other similar vehicles and informed the contact that no further action was needed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 48,482.
Coolant control valve causes car to overheat leaving car and passengers stranded on the side of the road. This is dangerous as it increases the risk accidents. The part is on back order since most of the vehicles with the original part are defective. Something needs to be done to correct this problem!
My vehicles check engine light came on at 80,000 miles with a reduced engine power alert. If I'm on the highway I'm unable to accelerate quickly if I needed to. We had the vehicle checked out and it was the Turbocharger that was bad. I had taken it to a Chevrolet dealership and they said other Chevy vehicles have already had a recall on some models for the exact same reason. I believe this is a serious problem with the Trailblazers as well for what I have found online. Please put a recall on this. It's very expensive repair for most people's financial situation.
The brake pedal goes to the floor and does not want to stop. There is a brake failure meesage on the dash.
Malfunctioning door locks cause safety issues for drivers and passengers. If you do an internet search, you can find thousands of questions on this specific issue for Chevrolet door electronics. They are doing nothing to correct this isse.
The Turbo is bad in the car at 90,000 miles. It is a common issue among these, lots of other people have the same issue with the “engine power is reduced” message popping up, per the 2021 Chevrolet TrailBlazer facebook group. There needs to be a recall so they can be fixed. It has happened on mine for the past few months and the dealer said the turbo is bad. The purge pump has already been replaced.
Turbo has went out twice or the piece that makes it go and has been replaced under warranty once and is going in the shop again
I’m just adding confirmation to my solenoid/waste gate/ turbo system reduced engine power on the 2021 trailblazer around 23,000 miles . [XXX] , Raleigh n.c INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Month of June of 2024 I purchased 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer LT with 31k miles on the odometer I had to service my vehicle and had to replace the fuel pump, took weeks to get in due to the strike that took place, Chevrolet will not back behind their employees nor their consumers. They only honored me 15pts on my vehicle, a few months pass and more issues arise one being the manifold sensor (a) and then another two days on the road the wiring harness thankfully my car was under a secondary warranty and I paid $200 per repair, although this became a very costly month being $600 car payment and $400 in repairs in a matter of a few months owning the vehicle, I am having similar issues again with the wiring harness a year later.
Shift to Park warning message continues to appear when already in park and trying to turn the vehicle off. Unable to exit and leave vehicle until you continually try jamming the gear into park over and over to get it to register.
On 7/2023, my timing chain broke causing shards of metal to get in the engine. Engine replaced with new engine. When I received car back, started having issues with transmission. Now transmission needs replacing.
CEL came on at 77,000 miles P1467 Is this covered?
there are no tethering clips at the base of the rear seat to secure a child's car seat. The bottom of the rear seat shows they should be there but the dealer confirms they are not . This is an immediate and dangerous problem and puts any child in a car seat in a chevy trail blazer at risk. Not sure how I'm going to secure the granddaughter's car seat safely .
My issue is with the vehicle's car seat latches. The latches in the Chevy Trailblazer (Manufactured) are designed in a way that is unsafe and also hard to install a car seat for children who are 2 and under or under 40 pounds. Car seat safety is important for all children as it could lead to damages of the head, neck, and or spine. I have installed 4 car seats in my vehicle (Chevy Trailblazer) with it being difficult but overcoming the problem. However, the car seat detaches itself due to the location of the latch (Vertically Slanted). After using the car seat multiple times, it cannot withstand the tension due to the location of the latch which then releases itself from the latch, potentially allowing for more problems to occur and is concerning for the safety of a child. I have, as of now, not have to deal with this problem with other manufacturers like Toyota, Kia, Tesla, Volkswagen, and Honda, where the latch is horizontal. The latch on GMs Vehicles is Vertically Slanted and located left or right of the manufacturers noted car seat latch display/button on the seat. I have only seen the Chevy Trailblazer (My Vehicle) and the GMC Yukon with this problem. I am sure there are others.
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The contact stated after parking the vehicle and pressing the Push to Start button to turn off the vehicle, an alarm sounded and the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. The contact shifted out of park(P) and slammed the gear shifter into park(P). The contact was then able to park and to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently while parking on a level surface. The contact stated that on several occasions the failure required turning off and restarting the vehicle to successfully park the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure occurred while attempting to park on an incline. The contact stated that the vehicle was unable to be parked on an incline after several attempts. The dealer was notified of the failure and an appointment was scheduled for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.
Strong gasoline smell noticed inside and outside vehicle. Took vehicle to dealership 3/1/24 where the smell was confirmed. Fuel rail was found to be leaking. Dealership removed and replaced all components damaged with leak. This problem started again Friday, 8/23/24. Did not resolve and got stronger. Car will be going back to the dealership Monday, 8/26/24 for evaluation.