2018 Terrain won’t start
Asked by GuruW6XHB May 24, 2018 at 03:45 PM about the 2018 GMC Terrain SL
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
2018 won’t start. Battery completely drained, no lights,
signals nothing. Tried to jump start; no luckk, tried battery
charger no luck. Had it towed to GM dealer who have had
it for 4 days and all they can find is bad battery. I
understand that this is not a one off occasion with this
model with an undetermined drain on battery. Cars have
gone dead on sales lot and with owners. If not driven
daily. Ideas?
8 Answers
batteries sometimes just go dead for no reason.
On my 2018 GMC Terrain, battery went dead & had to be jumped. Still wouldn't start. Had to depress the brake pedal 3 times to reset computer & it started right up. With only 850 miles on it, took to dealer who said GM is aware of dead battery problem & is working on a solution. When exiting the vehicle, the interior & dash lights go out in 10 seconds, but the 5 (FIVE) lights in the Hill Decent switch & Driving Mode Knob stay on for at least 12 minutes.
One of the five lights that stay on for 12 minutes is the Lane Departure switch. Also found that the 13 lights on the steering wheel stay on a lot longer than the interior and dash lights. All these lights that are staying on have to drain the battery. Until GM's computer geniuses figure out what's draining the battery, the dealer advises that the vehicle MUST be started and run every day. Sometimes that's not possible. This appears to be a major "Lemon Law" problem for GM
Click on "GMC Terrain Questions" and then click on "Battery Drain on 2018 and 27 other Models of GMC Vehicles." GM claims it's the owners fault for causing "Radio Frequency Interferewnce" that effects the vehicles electrical system.
I vote for “Lemon Law!” Why wasn’t there a dealer notice about this? Or was there, and the dealer I bought my used 2018 Terrain from chose not to mention it? I did NOT want my vehicle towed, which should be my prerogative, so I got a AAA battery installed. I still hope to have my original one pro-rated, and will fight for some compensation.
2018TerrainShip answered 5 years ago
Anyone figure this out? All my lights turn on but won’t start. Jumper started it. Ran fine. Sat for two days same thing. But this time the jumper box isn’t starting it. Again still have lights and accessories. But no start.
I'm the "proud" new owner of a gently used 2018 Terrain Diesel with the same issue... Battery stone cold dead TWICE since it was purchased this past September, when left and not driven for more than a few days... It's at the dealer now... No parasitic draw that they can find and all they would do for me was to do a deep full charge on the battery and advise me to "take it out and drive it at highway speeds AT LEAST a Few times a week, and NOT let it sit idle for more than a few days"... They agree that the Trickle Charger I purchased MAY Help, but would offer no guarantees... WTF?! I'm a technology guy, and I LOVE all the cool toys in the beast, but how about coming up with a simple battery backup dedicated to all the "computers and sensors in the vehicle that draw down the battery if left idle" (quoting the dealer's service department woman who offered her advice) instead of drawing off the main... This is a sickening development that may have me turn my back on GMC...
I have had the same problem with my Terrain. Twice now I haven't driven car for a few days and batteries were completely dead. Dealer ship replaced batteries on both occasions, but cannot find the reason for the drain. Getting a little frustrated.
