Strange 2015 Impala, went on its own

Hi everyone, a newbie here, with a question and a concern.
I have 2015 Impala, with 3000 miles, I have it for two months, purchased brand new from a dealership just recently.
Two weeks ago I parked it on the side of the road, across my gated property so I could open the gate. I did not shut the motor off, I put it in park, and notice in the back of my mind that the car did not set up like it usually does when put in park, but since it never happened before, I did not pay much attention, it was just a quick note in the back of my mind. I got off the car, shut the door, cross the street and opened one side of the gate, then I noticed a motion and saw my car slowly moving away from me. The tree stopped it in about 300 feet, damaging neighbor’s fence. I ran to the car, opened door, the shift stick was not in park. I put it in park and shut the motor off, took out the keys and called my husband and police. The after all was reported (wit me having no explanation what exactly happened), my husband asked me for the key, got into the car and said - the shift is on Neutral, you did not put it in park! I said, no way it is on neutral, I just put it in park and TOOK the key off. He said, well I just shifted it in park to be able to start it.
OK I am sorry, i might explain it awkwardly, but the question is- how shift moved by itself twice, to neutral. And- is it SAFE to drive it at all. Thank you

I can’t answer your question, but I will say that I absolutely never leave a running car in Park without also applying the parking brake as a backup. I suggest that you get in that habit as well.

I think it is back to the dealer to have them pull the access cover on the shifter and check the detent adjustment. Obviously the part that keeps the gear shift in the park position is not adjusted properly in order to stay there. Its a warranty issue. Just tell them it is popping out of park without the part about calling Police, etc. etc. It’s just coming out of park.

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This car has an electronic transmission and the shifter is little more than a fancy switch. Take it to the dealer and get tell them what happened, it’s under warranty.

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This is not a brand new car.

Your experience suggests that it has aftermarket remote start and security systems… that were not installed properly and are misbehaving. That may be why it was back in the market so soon…

There’s also the possibility it was in an accident. That might explain the shifter problem.

Try a shop that specializes in automotive electronics. If that doesn’t work, I’d recommend checking with a lawyer for any possible avenues of recourse. Chances are that there are none, but it’s worth checking.

Good luck.

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Thank you guys. I have three weeks of the warranty left, so after car is from the body shop with all the repair of the meeting the tree, I won’t have it anymore. I am not sure why I have no warranty than few months when we purchased it, actually my husband made all the arrangements. We own a CNG station, and he found this new but 2015 impala in miles and miles away from us, it was transported to me. At the moment, I am trying to decide if it is safe to drive this car at all, as it shifted itself twice within 30 minutes. My previous 2015 new Impala was a lemon, too, the General Motors bought it back from me, and we found similar one, my current one, that also has a flaw obviously. My husband don’t want to talk to me at all about the accident, he said Just be careful next time. But I am kind of afraid to drive it after what happened. (( I would like to sell it after it is completely fixed in two weeks, because of safety issues, but how I can sell it with all these issues? The insurance agent suppose to contact the GM, to discuss possible defects and recalls, and contact me, yet two weeks passed by, with no word from him, I am assuming he was assured that there is no issues… Also, my previous the lemon Impala is for sale again online, although GM told us they will take it apart to see why there were so many problems.
The bottom line is, do you think it is possible that electronics fail somehow, and it shifted from park to neutral twice on its own, one time running, another time being off?

Oh and as for manually parking when it runs, Thank you, and you are right. It is not exactly my usual habit, I am 60 years old, and not new to driving etc, and before these two brand new Impalas started year ago, I never had any accidents or run away cars ((

+1
Additionally, I would be very wary of buying a car that was only driven for 3k miles over the past two years.

Without being there I have no idea what really happened. All I know is I never leave a vehicle running if I am not in it. Second after having a vehicle that had to be bought back why would you even get the same thing again?

Thank you for the suggestion. I will check out our local electronic mechanics, absolutely. My husband does not want to do anything after the car is out of the body shop, and he is avoiding any conversations with me about what happened, and why. This car runs on CNG and it is hard to sell these cars. This car had 600 miles on it when we purchased it. I out the rest on during time I own it. It probably was sitting there, or was a loaner, I can’t tell.

The fact that this car had been driven only 600 miles in two years didn’t give you pause?
:face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Not to argue but you have a very short time for the warranty so you must get it reported to the dealer before the warranty runs out. Body shop or no. It is a dealer issue. If you report the problem prior to the warranty expiring, they will have to honor the same problem even after expiration. Dealing with someone else first will cause you to lose the warranty help if you are not quick.

Transmission controls are not like they used to be, paddle shifters etc., I have not even read up on how to use them, put it in drive and go is all I need. Read the manual in case maybe you have to have your foot on the brake to lock it in park, who knows.

My guess is that you thought it was in P, but it actually wasn’t. Was the direction it moved downhill, level, or uphill? Drivers , including myself, get out of the car with the engine running all the time to open gates, garage doors, etc, but definitely common sense to set the parking brake when getting out of the car, irrespective of the P gear, as mentioned above.

That made me think, I actually don’t know if I could put my vehicle in park without foot on brake pedal. I want the vehicle held stationary when go from park to drive , reverse or the other way around.

It was at 600 miles when we got it.

2015 Impala factory made bi fuel, CNG and gasoline, and that what I needed. We have our own CNG station, and it costs me 50 cents a gallon to fuel my car. I had CNG Honda Civic 2012 bland new with no problem ever, when my husband found luxury bi fuel Impala, so we traded in Honda. Impala was 42000$, loaded, but lemon. Now, how many chances you have to get another car and it would have flaws, too? ((

Thank you. Will do on Monday. The thing is, I am here on this forum because during all my married /driving life my husband used to take care of all our vehicles, this used to be his expertise, to arrange the insurances, to buy, sell, fix, resell, he loves cars. My car was always filled with gas, fixed and payed off, I am very lucky, I guess. But now after this happened, my husband shrugs it off, won’t discuss with me nothing, I know he has some hard times right now, so I understand, but I am lost what I have to do next, so I contacted the car talk brothers, and they steered me to this forum. Thank you for all the help, The dealership in in another state, the car was delivered.

personally I trusted my husband, it is a CNG and gasoline bi fuel vehicle, hard to sell, so no, we were not worried. We have three same Impalas in the moment, for myself, my hubby and my stepson, because on CNG option.

All you have to do is prove that the gear selector comes out of park on its own, shouldn’t be to difficult if it occurred twice in 30 minutes.