Same trouble as others with the tran. will not shift out of first. took it to a dealer and they said it needed a new tran that would cost about 5000.00 to fix. like im going to dig that up and get it done. factory will not help less then 3ys old great looking car but a piece of if you cant drive it. going to put it out in the front yard and plant flowers around it. very upset with dodge. will never bye or recommend to NO one to buy a dodge.

Update from Oct 14, 2011: not Tran. animal chewed wiring, replaced. No help from factory or dealership. took it to someone i new and got it fixed for 75.00. big difference.

I had the same issue today. My car isn't under warranty but the dealership replaced it because it is an "open recall". The tow for it wasn't free but it was covered under my insurance. It took 3 hrs to fix. The price listed on form is $37.57 so even if I would of had to pay it wouldn't have been so bad. It was just a pain in the a$$ to get it fixed. It would have been nice to know about the recall before 530 am on a Monday morning. I also had to tell the dealership that it was a recall. They had to look it up to make sure. You'd think they'd know. Esp. since the guy with the tow truck saw it was a dodge and immediately knew what was wrong. He said he had seen plenty of dodges with the same issue. He was a pro at pulling off the stuff to push the pink thing. I live on a hill with a narrow driveway shared at the end by the neighbor so he didnt want to back the truck up the hill and take a chance of hitting the neighbor's car.

My shifter went out on my car and I had to take it apart, and every time I wanna put it in drive I have to put my finger down between the gears and pulled the pink thing towards me. Once I do that I have no problem shifting it, I called dodge and they talking about 600 to replace the shifter. At the time the shifter went out I was pregnant and about to pop. Dodge is full of sh*t and MONEY HUNGRY. They wont fix the right thing they always finding something else that's wrong with your car instead of fixing what you came in for.

My experience is the same as what i am reading from others. It was 10 pm at night and I walked out from work and started the car. It ran fine in park but would not allow me to shift out of park. It was stuck in park. I called the tow truck and he stated that this year and model of Dodge Avengers has had this exact problem often.

Someone needs to force Dodge to recall this part and repay consumers for the bad part that was made. It is sad when a company does not take action on an obvious problem and bad design. I had just gotten the car and with one month it broke. I paid 3,000.00 for an extended warranty and they said it was not covered. Until I am reimbursed, I won't ever buy a Dodge/Chrysler product again and will tell others not too also.

My shifter locked up, (the only problem I have ever had with this car) but I guess I don't understand what the big deal is. It happened Saturday morning, I opened my glove box, accessed my owner's manual, thumbed to the transmission section, found how to override the problem by sticking my finger in a hole in the cup holder. I drove the car the rest of the weekend by simply doing the same thing each time I needed to shift out of park. I took the car to my local dealer on Monday, they took my car into the shop while I sat in their lounge drinking a cup of coffee and watched TV, in less than an hour they handed me my keys, done, fixed, $0.00. My biggest disappointment with the whole situation is that I didn't get to finish watching the show I was engaged in!

I have a 2008 Dodge Avenger, and it is really annoying the crap out of me. Since I brought the car brand spanking new it has been giving me problems. Recently, I drove my car to class, came home for a break and attempted to restart my car. The car came on; however, the shift would not move out of park. I tried and tried and finally I gave up and called a tow truck. The tow truck guy new exactly what the problem was. He said that he has had numerous calls regarding the same situation with the dodge avenger. He showed me how to temporarily get the car out of park by lifting up the pink lever under the cup holder. I have not gotten my car fixed yet; however, I am truly pissed to know that of other people are having the same problem with their car and that they have to come out of their own pocket as a result of a dysfunction on the manufacturers part. I would not recommend a Dodge Avenger to know one. It seems as if they intentionally make cheap parts so that you will have to keep coming back to the dealership to spend money. If anyone knows where to file an official complaint to dodge dealership I would truly appreciate the information. Thank You for allowing me to express my complaint. I hope i have saved someone from buying this piece of crap they call a Dodge Avenger.

I can't believe this problem has not been recalled yet. I Googled it specifically for 2008 dodge avenger and there were over 10,000 searches. I just went out and pulled up the trim and found the infamous "pink thingy". When I used a pen to push it backward with my foot on the brake my gear shift worked effortlessly. Unfortunately when I put it back in park it was stuck again. I am not sure if it is safe for me to drive it or not after I move that thing manually. Will it jump out of gear on its own? What the hell!?

Also, every time it rains the floorboard on the drivers side is soaked. Anyone else have this problem?

Same problem as everyone else on here. I have a 2008 Dodge Avenger RT with 37,000 miles and the shifter would not come out of park. The dealer i bought it from was Liccardi Dodge Chrysler in NJ. A year after I bought it there they decided to cease selling Dodges. i called them about this problem and the service manager was very rude and told me they cannot fix my problem and I would have to take it elsewhere, Also he said that it was not covered under warranty when I was only 1,000 miles over the basic warranty of 36,000 miles. So I had to take it to my regular mechanic who fixed it for $412. Needless to say I am selling the car and never buying another Dodge, or any car from Liccardi in Greenbrook NJ!!!!!!!!!!

I work night shift and was getting ready to leave at 8 am. Car would not go out of park. My handy dandy husband came to my rescue quickly and thought I didn't have my foot on the brake, wheels might be locked? After his lengthy assessment, he called the dealership...(oh so sorry, it is out of warranty, but we can give you a towing company that knows how to get it to shift to get it to the dealership for repair)....After looking at this website, I see that I am not alone with this problem. My husband is going back with a butterknife and needle nose pliers and is going to attempt disassembly of the gear shift to see if he can release this "pink" plastic piece. Will follow up with details when I know more...hhmmmm...the ford fusions are looking better and better to me right now!!!

Just like the rest of you Avenger owners that have had or will have the shift assembly inoperative, I found a FREE solution of repair that you can do on your own. I've done some research on minimal cost of repair and stumbled on U-Tube. The two part video showed step by step instructions on how to repair this problem. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCPSisFXrfg&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU39ieOlUjg&NR=1). After I saw the videos, I got the required tools and went to work. It took me 20 minutes from start to end. Not to mention it saved me a towing fee and dealers repair fees.

Required tools are; flat tip screw driver, 10mm socket screw driver or wrench w/extension, needle nose pliers, and a 1/16 drill bit w/drill.

Remove the silver cap off around your shifter console (flat tip screw driver if you can't do it with your fingers). Remove the grey piece underneath that as well.

In your storage console, there are four bolts that have to be remove with the 10mm socket. Two more bolts in the front of the compartment underneath your radio. Once all six bolts are remove, the entire plastic console comes off. note...raise your emergency break all the way up in order to remove the console upward.

You will see the pink assembly and somewhere on your floor board you will see the spring that once was attached to it. The spring should have a colored band around it.As you are looking at the pink assembly, you will notice a broken hook piece that use to be there. Take your 1/16 bit and drill very carefully somewhere close to where that hook used to be. About 1/8 of an inch behind the hook. Take the spring and re-attach the pink assembly and the catch hook that's approximately 2 1/2 in from the assembly. That should do it! If not, then cut off about a 1/8th of the spring until the problem is solve. *note....continue to cut until the assembly is engaged by the spring.

Assemble your console in reverse mode.

I've had no problems thus far and I'm more satisfied of the fact that with a little bit of labor and some handy tools, I saved hundreds..

Good luck all!!

I am back again, the day aftr I replaced the alternator on my car the shifter would not engage out of park, after tering apart the console and finding the problem, by the way the parking override did not help this issue, I found the shifter to be in pieces and a spring laying on the bottom of the shfiter assembly. After calling Dodge and raising holy hell about this issue they informed me they have just recently recalled the shifter asaembly, the recall file number is K-16, a part that is important as this you would think that it would not be made of cheap plastic with a spring holding it togehter. The assembly costs 40 dollars at the dealer but that is beside the point, I have never had to replace a shifter assembly or had any problems shifting any car I have ever owned. What a piece of smelly steaming @#%*#@# this car is. I am seeing other recalls on this car that makes me hope the gas tank recall burns it to the ground so I can buy another without having out of pocket expenses.