On Sunday July 11th, I was at the mall in Maryland ( I live across the bridge in Alexandria VA) and was shopping. Everything was fine with my car, I was driving from mall area to mall area trying to find a particular pair of shoes. lol

Then, one of the times I tried to pull out of a park, I stepped on the brake and pulled back and nothing. The shift knob wouldn't budge. I was so confused because I just drove the car all day and nothing was wrong with it 15 minutes before when I parked it. So, I kept trying to no avail. I finally waived down a mall security officer and him and his partner tried to also get it out of park unsuccessfully. So, they were reading my manual and it said that they need to press some kind of reset button in the console underneath my shift knob to get the shift to unlock. The manual told them to remove the rubber cupholders and there should be a hole where you can put your finger in and lift some kind of reset lever. Well, when they went to do that to my car, they felt with their fingers that my pink reset lever was broken or disconnected from where it should be, so they couldn't reset it.

So, finally after them messing around with my console for about 2 hours they figured out that if you take the whole silver covering and grey plastic assembly off, you can press another pink knob on the left side of the console to get the shift knob out of park. But once you park the car again, you have to redo everything to get it out of park again. It's just a quick fix so that you can drive the car to the dealership yourself without getting it towed.

So, I drove my car home, parked it. Next morning had to take the whole covering off around the console and do the step again. lol I drove it to the dealership and left it with them for the day. They called me and told me it was the shifter assembly was broken and needed to be replaced, and that it wasn't a part under my warranty. It cost me approx. 320 dollars (parts and labor) to replace. Now everything is fine though.

I recently had the same problem as everyone else with the gear shifter being stuck in park. I am a girl, that is mechanically inclined, and I bought the new shifter and replaced it within 2 hours. If you can do it yourself; it is not that hard and well worth the $400+ savings. It is only like 6-8 bolts and a couple clips. You can move the pink lever manually if needed until it gets fixed but it is a pain. I bought the part for $45 from the dealer and that is all I spent. I would suggest getting 2 because with all of them messing up I am sure they will be raising the price. I hope they quit getting this China junk and redesign this stupid thing. All it is, is a little pink plastic hook that holds a spring; could they not have saved a couple pennies and used a metal or something stronger than plastic to hold a spring that is so important???? IDIOTS!!!!! I will never, never buy a Dodge!

Update from Sep 24, 2010: I just want to let everyone know that that this issue is now a RECALL! Finally!!!! I just got the call today from the dealer.

Another Monday, on my way to work.....NOT!! My car would not shift out of park. Called the dealer, after waiting an hour for them to open, and NO, there was not anyway to get the car out of park so I could have it towed. Thank GOD I found this website!! I pulled off the trim AROUND the shifter (and the trim on the shifter, which I didn't need to do) and sure enough, the pink module was broken. Using my handy dandy butter knife, I was able to get the car in gear and get to work. I will also be replacing the module myself thanks to this website.

Happened to my Dodge Avenger today too! I got the car in reverse but couldn't get the car to move. Put it back in park and now the shifter is stuck. However, the gear display in the Dashboard still says the car is in reverse, so now it won't start anymore either. After reading about all the problems people are having with the pink button in the shifter console, I checked and sure enough the little pink thingy is broken in two. Will have to get it towed to a dealership tomorrow.

Update from Aug 19, 2010: Problem is finally fixed. The car was towed to the dealership on the Aug9th, didn't get the car back until Aug 18th. The said that the whole module had to be replaced, but there was a problem with the first set of parts they ordered, and had to reorder. Thankfully, everything was covered under warranty, but I can honestly say that 10 days in the shop, without any call backs (I had to call to get updates and they never called me back) plus, no offer of a loaner, this is my last Dodge vehicle. Once the lease is up - Buh-bye!!

So here I was going grocery shopping the day before payday so the commisary isn't packed on the next day. The husband and chilrden are taking their afternoon naps. I get in and out in an hour. I love it when i can get in and out so fast. But then the car is stuck in park. Im stuck and unfortunatly also have the keys to my husbands truck with me in my purse. DUH! Oh and i have a whole car full of groceries, it's 99 degrees outside, with 90 percent humity at least. so there i sit waiting for one of my husbands friends to come save me. aaaaaaaahhhhhh!

We live in PA. On 7/23/10 my son was taking my car (because it is more comfortable than his) and leaving for Oklahoma at 4:15AM. Car was already packed and ready to go. Car would not budge out of park, he tried and tried. Came into house and got his dad up to see if he knew what was wrong. Dad tried and tried. Son looked up problem on internet and found this is a WELL KNOWN PROBLEM for the Dodge Avengers! Then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! So we unpacked my car and packed his and he left more than an hour later than scheduled!! I called dealership where we bought the car as soon as they opened. YEP, it is something they are aware of, and of course gear shift would have to be ordered. This was on a Friday. Car was fixed on Tuesday and cost $116.97. I know this is not as much as some have had to pay, but it is still a pain in the butt and money I don't have to fix something that should have been recalled!!

My story is just like everyone else's. Came home from work in the evening and the next morning my car wouldn't shift out of Park. Called AAA and had it towed to the dealer. Found out from the tow truck driver that he'd had seen this happen to the identical make and model car earlier this month. A co-worker who owns an Avenger had the same thing happen, and it was going to cost over $200.00. Her cousin, to whom it also happened, told her how to disassemble the gear plate and get in there to flip the 'pink plastic thing' each time she has to switch gears now but she didn't pay to have it repaired. Mine is under an extended warranty but I still had to rent a car to keep from missing work. It's a total pain in the ass and I'm saying what everyone else is. Recall!

Like most other complaints I've read, I was at work and tried to leave after a long day... only to find that my car would not shift out of Park. Now what, I tought. Called and spoke to a Service Tech at my dealer of choice. He was sympathetic to my situation, but unfortunately not able to help, other than to give me possible reasons for my problem (Shifter Mechanism being the 1st and most likely). He indicated that if it is the Shifter Mechanism, this is something they have seen quite a bit of. Further, he stated "unfortunately it has been recalled at this time". That's BS, Dodge!!! Apparently you know the part is crap and yet you force all of us who trusted you and are giving you our hard earned dollars each month to be stranded unexpectedly and then have to pay even more to get the car back on the road.

Very disappointed with this. I will be calling the number the dealer parts person gave me to complain (800-84-MOPAR) and request a recall and refund. I'm not expecting to get much from them, but if enough of us call, we might just save others from having to pay the high price of using cheap parts in the future.

On vacation in Tennessee shifter locked in park. Had to tow to a dealership in Knoxville they were great had it fixed in about an hour.They said it was an ongoing problem with these cars and no recall. Had repaired to that morning and as I was leaving one was coming in on a rollback. I have had this car almost 3 years and this is the first trouble I have had. At time of purchase I bought and extended warranty but it was worthless did not cover the shifter. I had to use vacation money to pay for this and my 7 year old didn't get to go to Dollywood.

Went to get in my car that was parked in my garage, started right up but couldn't get it out of park!!! I can't believe I expected to actually drive my vehicle! There are 3 of us at work that have 08 Avengers and I asked them today if they have had this issue. The one girl said her console is tore up right now waiting on the part to come in, 50,000 miles. The other girl had this happen to her in May trying to leave work, 47,000 miles. So three of us have the same car and all three of us had this happen...hmmmm. AND no recall!!!!!! Unreal!

I was getting ready to leave work yesterday got in my car and the car would not go into reverse. I went back inside asked my boss to come out to see if he knew what the problem is and he didn't know. I called a tow truck driver and after about almost two hours he arrives. The tow truck driver tells me that this is common in these cars and the Chargers as well. He had to manually put me into gear and followed me to Ontario Dodge. I was told that this was not covered by my warranty and would cost me $295.00. I could not believe it. I have less than 50,000 miles and I had to replace my shifter.

I had a 1994 Honda Accord and barely sold it this year and not once did I ever have to replace my shifter or have as much work done on it as I have on this piece of junk car. The person at Dodge says that this is a common problem and he gets between 3 to 4 cars with the same problem a week. Dodge makes a car that is a piece of crap and charges their customers to pay to get these defects repaired. My husband and I are so upset that we even purchased this car. We will never purchase another Dodge vehicle!!! We are trying to see what we can do to return this one!!!

I've never financed a car in my life, but finally decided to after dealing with crappy cars that kept breaking down on me and wanted to get into something RELIABLE because I had a baby on the way. Well, 4 months after buying this vehicle(and bringing it into the service shop every 2 weeks for brakes shaking) I get into my car to drive to work on my 2nd day back from maternity leave and the gear shifter won't budge!!! LUCKILY, I still had 900 miles until my 36k factory warranty is up so they covered the tow and everything but what's gonna happen when this happens again after the warranty ends and there's no recall?!??!

Same as the rest of ya, but foolish me didn't check net till after car has been at dealer for 3 days. BTW, the first dealer I called said "bring the car in" My reply of the *ing car is stuck in park you moron was not well received, like I give a *. Added my own *'s just wondering how Dodge is going to get past the lifetime powertrain warranty which was incentive for purchase of Avenger over Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion?!? Irony is that I traded a perfectly good 06 Ford Taurus in, cause I was getting a Lifetime warranty....

PS Dodge, won't happen again!!!!