The second year of the nine-speed, and the second loudest in the run at 398 complaints. The same shudder and the same Shift to Park message as 2018, but the failures land later and this is the year GM started handing out free coverage for the exhaust.

The dash says Shift to Park, the car is already in park, and it will not switch off or lock. 'The contact stated that while the vehicle was in park(P), the vehicle failed to turn off with the message Shift to Park displayed.' 'When placing the vehicle in park, whether it's on a flat surface or an incline, the SHIFT TO PARK notification displays. In addition, the notification chime rings consistently until [it clears].' 'The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter failed to shift into park. The gear shifter was shifted back and forth fo[r a while].' GM published thirteen bulletins on this message and every one of them stops at model year 2019. The first is a Preliminary Information admitting 'Engineering is still investigating the root cause. The PI will be updated to a bulletin once the final root is understood,' and later issues carry an actual repair procedure. Two mechanics who diagnose it on video land in the same place, and it is worth knowing before a shop starts talking about gearboxes: one scans the car and finds 'no fault in the engine, no fault in the transmission,' then opens the steering column trim and points at the park position sensor in the shifter; the other simply replaces the shifter assembly. It is a component swap, not a transmission job.

The weld holding the mounting bracket to the front exhaust pipe cracks, the bracket separates, and a hole opens in the pipe. You hear a rattle, then a roar, and in the worst cases owners report fumes reaching the cabin. GM's Special Coverage language: 'certain vehicles may have a condition that could cause the mounting bracket on the front exhaust pipe to separate from the pipe. If this condition occurs, a hole may develop in the exhaust pipe at the bracket location, and a rattling or increased exhaust noise may be heard. Dealers are to replace the front exhaust pipe as necessary. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.' 2019 is named directly in one of these bulletins. The version filed for 2023 cars is the only one that states terms, and they are the most generous coverage anywhere in this model: 'a period of 15 years or 150,000 miles (240,000 km), whichever occurs first, from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service, regardless of ownership,' plus reimbursement for owners who already paid. Two GM internal numbers, N212356540 and N222385510, come from owners quoting their paperwork in NHTSA complaints rather than from a GM document, so use them as a pointer for the dealer, not as proof. A Special Coverage is not a safety recall: an owner-mechanic on video was refused the free repair because his car had a rebuilt title, and the dealer told him 'GM would not cover the recall since it was not a safety recall.' Out of pocket he was quoted $380 for the dealer to fit the pipe, or $175 for the part alone.

2019 picks up two Customer Support Programs that 2018 does not. A Customer Support Program, or CSP, is the industry's quiet extended-warranty coverage for a specific known defect. The first, GM number N192220190, is about a transmission fluid leak: the car 'may have a right axle seal that is not seated in the transmission housing bore firmly. This may cause transmission fluid to leak onto the transmission housing, driveway, garage floor, or ground. If the leak is not remedied, potential transmission issues may occur.' The remedy is not a seal but the whole torque converter housing. If you see fluid under a 2019, this is the first thing to ask about. The second is a Special Coverage for 2019 Traverse and Enclave cars with the 3.6L engine, option code LFY: the 'evaporative emissions purge valve' may not fully close, and 'if this condition occurs, the engine could run rough, hesitate, or stall at idle speeds,' with the check engine light on and a code stored. Dealers replace the valve at no charge. The purge valve is the part that meters fuel vapour from the tank into the engine to be burnt, and it is a known weak point on this engine family going back to the previous generation, where a mechanic calls it 'the number one problem.' One owner in this file lists it alongside everything else that came back after repair: 'purge valve failure regardless of replacement.'

Recall 18V-774 (GM number 18365) is the sharpest of the three and it is specific to 2019 builds: the Sensing Diagnostic Module, the computer that decides whether to fire the air bags, 'may not have been turned off of manufacturing mode, preventing the air bags from deploying in the event of a crash.' Dealers reprogram it free; the recall began 6 November 2018. Recall 20V-668 (GM number N202313440) covers 2018 to 2020 Traverses and a long GM sibling list where 'the start/stop accumulator endcap may have missing bolts,' which 'could result in a transmission oil leak and may progress to a loss of propulsion,' plus fire risk near an ignition source. Start-stop is the system that shuts the engine off at a light and restarts it when you lift off the brake; the accumulator holds transmission pressure while the engine is off. Free inspection and replacement. Recall 21V-246 (GM number N202321200) covers side curtain air bags that 'may not be properly attached,' remedied by realigning or replacing weld nuts; its summary reads 2010 to 2019 Traverse but resolved on NHTSA's campaign-number endpoint it covers just 108 vehicles across every make and year, so it is unlikely to be yours. All three are free. Check all three by VIN.

The smaller threads in this year's file, and the ones that show up on a careful test drive rather than in a workshop. Owners report infotainment and electrical faults alongside the mechanical ones: one summarises the whole ownership as 'infotainment electrical issues, purge valve failure regardless of replacement, transmission failure regardless of replacement, exhaust bracket break regardless of replacement.' A reliability channel describes the same pattern across this generation: 'touchscreen freezing, Bluetooth connectivity drops, and app crashes. The MyLink system has seen multiple software updates, but issues persist.' Another lists 'infotainment freezes, lagging rear view cameras, wireless chargers that randomly stop working, and even driver assist systems deactivating without warning.' Separately, GM ran a Customer Support Program on 2018 to 2020 cars with second-row bench seats, where the middle seat belt buckle 'can fall down between the second row bench seats and be damaged when one portion of the bench is moved relative to the o[ther].' Dealers add an elastic strap and inspect or replace the buckle. Bench-seat cars only; captain's chairs are unaffected.