Some of the most common problems with the Acadia are with the transmission, leaks in the gasket, driveshaft detachment, and fuel pump leaks. Despite these issues being known, Kelley Blue Book has also gone as far to say that Acadia is “premium 3-row SUV but without a premium price tag”.
Taking a closer look at the issues will show the severity of them, but the good thing is that most of these issues didn’t take place on the same model, making it rare to experience yourself.
The first issue is with the transmission. This is one of the oldest issues, being around in the 1st generation. This would cause the transmission to outright fail, leaving your Acadia inoperable where you are.
The second issue was around towards the early 2010s, and while there weren't many large issues like the one before, the gasket leak could be costly if left unattended.
The next two issues were in back to back years 2017, and 2018 respectively. The first issue is with the fuel pump, where a few people saw theirs leak and catch fire. While this one sounds like an automatic dealbreaker, it forced a recall to be handled by GMC. The second issue was with a faulty driveshaft. This was the most common problem for these two year models.
If your Acadia were to experience this problem, you’d find yourself losing propulsion, and while on the road, that can be especially dangerous. If you were in park, or even on an incline, your vehicle may slowly start to roll backward.