Same thing sure enough. Had a ton of places to be after work and car wouldn't shift out of park. I work at a govt facility and the badge and pass office is closed so I'm gonna have to wait until tomorrow to get it towed. Tried turning the steering wheel, turning the alarm on and off, turning the car on and off, etc. Just bought the car used through a dealership exactly 31 days ago!!! Dealer is sending a tow truck. But this forum helps so at least I can show them whats wrong and hopefully I can have my car back before the holday weekend. AUGH!!!!!

Dodge really needs to do a recall. and i hear the piece that causes the problem is plastic?!?!? What kind of sense does that make?!?! SMH

this annoying problem occured yesteday (8/31/10) afer I got off work. After sitting all day parked, I drove my car about 3 miles to a Rite Aid with no problem, but when I came out and tried to put the car in reverse it was stuck in "park," even though I had my foot on the brake. I was stuck for about 2 hrs before my wife showed up to pick me up. Fortunately, a mechanic saw my hood up and I told him what the problem was and he was able to jury rig something so I could manually shift the gears after taking off the gear assembly case cover. The auto-reset button which is accessible through the cupholder was disengaged also and would not work. This problem makes this care totally unreliable, since it can happen anytime or any place without any prior indication or warning.

When I called the dealership, to say they were "less than helpful," would be a gross understatement. The service mgr had a "don't care, not my problem," type attitude...especially when I said "no" to his question about having an extended warranty. He sternly gave me the "complaint number" for Chrysler which I immediately called, and after blowing off much steam was politely told by the representative that they had just recently (Monday, 8/30/10) issued a recall (number K16). Boy I was happy to hear this, cause I had already read some of the nightmare stories out here on this site last night where people had mentioned how much money they had to pay to get this fixed. I was especially happy because I was between paydays and didn't have any money set aside for such an emergency. In a few months I wil be trading this car in, and getting a Maxima because it has a good report from consumer reports. Thanks goodness Dodge did the right thing (finally)!

I am just very disappointed to experience this problem with a 2008 vehicle. It is sad to see so many others are experiencing the same concern. I wonder if there is a recall on this problem. If not there should be, this is not right. I'm trying to help the economy by investing my money in American made vehicles and this is what happens. Very discouraging. I was only able to move the vehicle by lifting up the cover to the gear shift and moving the pink cable cord towards the back with a screwdriver. I read this on one of the other messages. It was a big tip. I was looking at $100 towing fee. Until I can get some money together or find out if under warranty I am driving around with a screwdriver hoping and prayering this will work each time.

when it rains very heavy or snows the car gets wet and stalls when trying to stop. I have had it to the dealer 3 times but they cannot find anything unless the car is having the problem. One day I'm sure it will kill me when someone rear ends me in the bad weather. Not being able to get the car out of park is the worst though. You are stuck with no idea of what is wrong. You have to research the problem yourself, and find out about the pink reset and use a screw driver to override it to move your car. A new car with 36,000 miles should not be having these problems. You have to pray in the state of MD the dealer has the parts and perhaps you can get if fixed without having to win the lottery.

They were aware of this problem when they sold me the car in October of 2009. I would have rather paid the expense of replacing the plastic part then instead of paying for it to be towed, miss 2 days of work, then pay a $400 bill to have it repaired when it's 110 degrees outside. The exact thing as stated by everyone else on here is what happened to me. I got to work on a Monday morning, went out to deliver some mail and my car was stuck in park. Very frustrating. They should have to reimburse me for this.

I drove my car yesterday morning, no problem. Got up to take my daughter to school and car wouldn't move out of park. Called Dodge, they claimed not many people are having this issue. Had my car towed to repair shop and found out I needed to replace my gear shifter and in addition this is an ongoing issue with Dodge Avengers and Chrysler 300's that the manufacturer refuses to address. Because it is such a big problem the dealership actually sold out of the gear shifters within a few days of having in stock. I was told they have to reorder at least every few days after having 30 gear shifters in stock. I will never buy Dodge again, EVER!!!!

I drove to work today, went on lunch break and my car starts but will not move out of park. I call my husband, my brother and a few patients and orther people looked at car, could not get it out of park. I called about the warranty and they told me they do not think it is covered under my EXTENDED warranty plan. HOW can something that does not allow your car to shift out of gear not be covered on warranty or without warranty? I havent had car 2 years yet and it would not be an issue if they would just fix it...NO CHARGE.

I have had several cars FORD, TOYOTA, MAZDA, that were way older than this car that probably would have been recalled before now to have problem fixed. It's not the money it's time lost, not eating lunch, having car towed, finding a way to work...JUST FIX IT before someone else gets stranded or cant turn off car. I MAY NOT EVER BUY A DODGE again and it's a shame my husband loves DODGE. Signed very frustrated.

Well, at least I'm not the first to have this happen to. Like many other complaints, the car was in the driveway, no prior warning until this morning when my wife was going to run errands and she said the shifter was "stuck in park". I did all the things I knew to do, i.e. step on the brake, etc. I called the dealership and told the service manager that the transmission was locked up. He said it probably wasn't the transmission but instead was the shifter, (his statement was, "There have been some problems with the shifter locking up on this model.") I called AAA and had it towed to the dealership to see what the problem really was.

The tow truck driver said there is a shifter release lever in the console and you can access that lever by pulling back the rubber cup holder insert nearest the shifter. There is a slot there and you can stick your finger in and feel the lever. Press down on it and it is suppose to release the shifter as long as everything else associated with the shifter is operating correctly. Secretly, I was hoping it was a transmission problem because I have the extended warranty and would get a new tranny out of it, but as luck would have it, that wasn't it and this part is not covered under the warranty.

I have learned a lesson before on things like this, so everyone that has had to pay out of pocket for this repair.......HANG ON TO YOUR RECEIPT and the WORK ORDER. Whenever the magic number of repairs for this problem is reached, they have to issue a recall and if you're able to show you paid out of pocket for the repair, they MUST reimburse you for the repair. (Thanks GM for that lesson) Total cost of repairing this problem: $302.00 + the frustration.

My husband drove the car to work with no problem. After working an 8 hour shift he got into the car only to realize the car would not shift out of park. After about 30 minutes of him trying to get the car into gear he had to find a ride home. When he made it home, since we did not have a manual and of course the dealership was closed, I had no way of receiving help. I looked online for a manual and stumbled on this website, so I sent my husband and his friend back to the car. He took the silver part around the gear shift off with a butter knife and underneath it was the pink button that was mentioned on this site as his friend pushed the brakes, my husband pulled the pink part towards the back of the car and put the car in reverse and then into drive. Once he made it home and put the car into park it was stuck again and would not go into a different shift. I did not try the pink button again. This car is not that old is this is definitely a manufacturer problem that needs to be fixed for free. That is not a normal wear and tear. It is very dangerous and I can not image if I were out of town. ( We were planning to go out of town next week in the car.) I'm going to try to exchange my car because I do not want to deal with another issue with this car. It is wayyyyyyyy too soon. I want to thank you all for the help. That saved me from paying a tow truck. But as far as dodge goes ..........from my point of view none of their cars are good including the dodge stratus. I think I'm going to swap my ride for a ford. Perfect timing.