Chevrolet Trailblazer
Problems & Worst Years

If you're shopping a used Chevrolet Trailblazer, one phrase should be on your checklist: "shift to park." In the 2022 model year — the heavier of the two years on file, with 80 complaint occurrences across only four problem types — a Shift to Park error accounts for 44 reports, and a closely related transmission-side version of the same complaint adds 22 more. That's over 80 percent of the year's complaints describing a vehicle that argues about whether it's actually in park. Exhaust system failure (9 reports) and forward collision avoidance system failure (5) fill out the short list.

The 2021 tells a broader story at slightly lower volume: 66 occurrences spread across 12 problems, two of them safety-severity. Faulty shift-to-park functionality again leads at 16 reports, followed by engine power reduction (11), infotainment system failure (6), an intermittent brake system failure flagged at safety severity (6), and fuel system leaks (5). The 2021 also carries one NHTSA recall campaign, 20V588, so run the VIN and confirm it was addressed.

On a test drive, the checks are straightforward. Cycle the shifter into park repeatedly — cold and warm — and watch for error messages or a vehicle that won't recognize it's parked, since that is the dominant complaint by a wide margin. On a 2021, pay extra attention to brake feel given the safety-severity brake reports, sniff for fuel odors, and note any power-reduction warnings under acceleration.

Neither year's totals are enormous in absolute terms, and that's worth holding onto: these figures represent complaints owners filed with NHTSA, not measured failure rates, and vehicles this recent have had comparatively little time to build up a record. The individual example in front of you — verified by a pre-purchase inspection and supported by service records showing whether the shift-to-park issue was ever addressed — matters far more than which of these two model years it happens to be.