I bought this car on Saturday. On Monday, I was leaving work and the car would not shift out of park. Needless to say I was extremely pissed. It was under warranty so I called and a tow truck arrived. The tow truck driver said that he has towed a lot of Chrysler cars because they all have the same problem. You can take apart the shift console and pull back the pink lever and the car will shift. As I had just bought the car I felt that I shouldn't have to do this. My car is in the shop and will be ready in 2 days. It was really an inconvenience and it should not have happened on a car that is only 2 years old. I don't see myself buying another Dodge in the future.

This car is just a mess of problems. I purchased this 2008 Dodge Avenger SXT brand new in 2007. The car was great for about 2 months and then it started having issues. The first problem that started was the security light would start flashing while driving and the keyless entry would not work. I would go to the store hit the lock button and it wouldn't lock. Then I opened the door to do it manually and the damn alarm would go off and I would be standing there looking like a jackass because I couldn't shut it off. The solution- The dealership reprogrammed the vehicle and my keys. Then about a week later I was locked out of my car because the keyless entry would not open the door. I then used my key and the alarm went off again. Then shortly after that got fixed I would say about 3 weeks tops. My car started to stall when decelerating or when at red lights.I stalled at stopping to pay bridge tolls, driving in rush hour traffic, turning corners etc.. I had the car 4 times in the shop but I was told they could not recreate the issue and no codes were appearing. I left the dealership and on the way home I stalled. I got out of the car called the dealership and told them my car just stalled. I told them I'm not touching it so send a tow truck to get it. Once again the car sat at the shop for about 3-4 days and they couldn't find a problem. Just this past summer my Radiator blew on me and on November 2009 my engine went. The dealership had my vehicle in the shop for over a month because they ordered the wrong parts. The entire engine was replaced and covered by Chrysler but I had to pay the $100 Deductible. Even after all these problems and out of a lot of cash I am still having problems. The car doesn't stall as frequently but it still should not be happening at all. The vehicle has less then 50,000 miles right now. Another kick in the balls was when I asked the dealership how my "new" engine was covered under the warranty he told me for only 50,000 I thought he meant another 50,000 on top of what was on there but the asshole said no your covered for about another 8K!!!! I remained calm paid my deductible and went home and contacted 1-800-Lemonlaw. I now have a case against Chrysler and tons of paperwork to back up my claims.

I was stranded after class and had to Google the issue. I dismantled the center console and pushed in this cheap hot pink and spring allowing me to drive the vehicle to job where I was informed that this issue wouldn't take long and if they diagnose the issue quickly i wouldn't be charged. They didn't start looking until after lunch. (i brought the car in early morning.)I looked around online and found that this is a very common problem. And the dodge guy even told me that he agreed that something should be done. This car was already recalled for electrical problems whats one more? My car is 2 years old and I had to dish out 350.00 for a problem that had nothing to do with wear and tear. Please report to SAFERCAR.GOV if you have the same issue.

Car drove fine, parked in driveway, went back out ten minutes later and it wouldn't shift out of park. And the override the owners manual suggests wouldn't work either. I called the dealer and they want $105 just to look at it! Called Dodges corp. complaint dept. and opened up a case against Dodge. PS. the extended warranty they talked me into only covers the shift linkage and not the shifter assembly..Very upset, this isn't the first problem I have had with this car.

Update from Jun 3, 2010: today at 46k miles I pulled into parking space and shifted into park, took my foot off brake and the shifter was in park and transmission in reverse. after callig Dodge I had it towed in again this time they informed me it would not shift because of all the change and paper clips in with the shifter, I had the tech. show me how they got there, he did. When I got home I took it apart to show my boyfriend and they left the 8 cents and paperclips in there. I had this shifter replaced less than 7 months ago, and the coins were no where near anything, hust laying on the plastic in the bottom, Dodge will be getting another call from me tomorrow.... :)

I was leaving a kickboxing class and got into my car as usual. I cranked it up (have had no previous problem with the transmission or any other issues) with no problem and continued to put it in drive like always. My car would not go into drive. I will try a few of the remedies in the morning such as, taking the plastic plate off to make sure that trash or what ever is not stuck in there and call Dodge to find out what can be done with out me having to pay out of pocket. I will continue this conversation in the morning.

I left work early on Thursday for a long weekend vacation. That all came to a quick halt when I could not get my car out of park.

I called the dealer and he gave me some suggestions on how I could manually get the car in park. That made me curious and I asked him if he knew what was going on. He said he thought so, but would need to see the car to diagnose it.

When I called the Tow Company, they started laughing. I was about the 25th Dodge they were going to tow SO FAR FOR THE WEEK! I guess this is a plastic piece down near the shifter that breaks in high heat. Yes, I live in Arizona where we get some heat, but it was not even over 100 on Thursday.

Long story short.. I just found out that this is not covered by my $2,000 MPP Extended Warranty. Also, I am at 39,000 miles and I asked why they did not give me a heads up about this while I was within my 36,000 factory warranty...? So, now I have to pay for 4 days rental car, $50 part and $180 labor on a part that in my opinion is a "Manufacturer Defect!" Period!!

I called Dodge at 1-800-992-1997 and told the guy on the phone that I was not hanging up until this got resolved.

He put me on hold while calling the dealership. He came back tell me that they have worked something out, but would ask that I pay $100, which is what I would have to cover for a warranty item anyway.

I agreed to do so, but I still feel this should have been picked up completely by Dodge Corporation.

They know of this defect and it's everywhere if you google search it. Anyone else having this problem..., call Dodge and tell them it's crap! They know about this issue and it's their responsibility to notify the owners of these vehicles when they are aware of something this widespread.

I will be contacting our local news, in order to get my $100 back. It's the principle of it all at this point. I should not have to fork out my hard earned money for their failure.

I just purchased this car on Wednesday, August 19th, and today, August 22nd, I went out to run and get a pizza, about two hours before my husband needed to be at work (and he was planning to drive this car), and the car would not go into gear. I kept pushing the brake in, and I turned the car off several times thinking that something would change since I just purchased the car four days ago and it should be like brand new. Nothing changed. I had to wake him up to see if he could figure out why the car would not go into gear. My husband could not get the car to do anything either. I called the dealership, and the car is still under warranty. Still, I'm concerned if this could be the beginning of a load of problems. Four days after we bought the car . . .hmm.

THE CAR IS STUCK IN PARK. CALLED DEALERSHIP AND OF COURSE THE SHIFTER IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE LIFETIME POWER TRAIN WARRANTY. SO I CALLED CHRYSLER BECAUSE I FEEL I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS SINCE THIS IS A DEFECT IN THE CAR. THEY TELL ME TO SEND IT TO THE DEALERSHIP SO THEY CAN "DIAGNOSE" THE PROBLEM AND THEN CALL THEM BACK WHEN THEY CONFIRM THAT IT IS THE SHIFTER. OF COURSE THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT THEY WILL COVER IT.

SO I ASKED IF THEY HAVE HEARD OF ANY OTHER COMPLAINTS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM AND THEY SAID THEY HAD NOT. SO I THEN ASKED IF I COULD SPEAK TO SOMEONE ELSE AND THEY TELL ME THERE IS NO ONE ELSE TO SPEAK TO. SUPPOSEDLY THEY SENT MY COMPLAINT TO THE "RESEARCH" DEPARTMENT. AND IF THEY START TO RECEIVE OTHER COMPLAINTS THEY WILL THEN LOOK INTO ISSUING A RECALL. I CALLED MY FINANCE COMPANY AND LET THEM NO WHAT IS GOING ON BECAUSE FRANKLY I AM NOT GOING TO CONTINUE TO PAY FOR THE CAR IF I HAVE TO PAY OVER $300 TO GET A DEFECTED PART FIXED. NOT TO MENTION TOWING COST AND DIAGNOSTIC CHARGE. THEY TELL ME TO CONTACT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OR THE BBB.

I AM SO FRUSTRATED! I FEEL LIKE CALLING THE LOCAL NEWS AND HAVING THEM INVESTIGATE AND PUT THIS ON THE AIR. MY HUSBANDS BOSS' SON HAS A CHRYSLER 300 AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO HIM LAST WEEK, HE PAID OVER $400. THE GUY WHO TOWED HIS CAR SAID THAT WITHIN THE PAST FEW MONTHS HE HAS PICKED UP OVER 30 CARS WITH THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. MY COWORKER WHOS HUSBAND BELONGS TO A DODGE CAR CLUB SAYS 2 GUYS ONE WITH A CHARGER AND ONE WITH A MAGNUM HAD THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPEN. AND THE SERVICE GUY AT THE DEALERSHIP EVEN SAID HE HAS BEEN SEEING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM HAPPENING A LOT. AND EVEN HAD A CHRYSLER 300 YESTERDAY WITH THE SHIFTER LOCKED UP.

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW I CAN GET CHRYSLER TO PAY FOR THIS? I REALLY TO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY OUT OF POCKET.

I'm soooo pissed. This car has been a complete pain in the a_ _ since I purchased it. I have had 8 recalls on this piece of junk and still counting, and now the damn shift gear will not go out of park....what the hell. My daughter is getting ready to graduate from high school, so I thought the headache was over and I could officially give her this car...yeah right!!!! I'm getting a lawyer, I still paying a car note on this sh_ _ and I can't keep it out of the shop long enough to enjoy it. I would not recommend this hunk of junk to anyone. I can not believe with all of the complaints regarding the shift gear why in the hell is that not on the recall list. I be damn if I'm getting screwed on this, I have had it, I'm contacting a lawyer in the morning, and suggest others with these cars need to do the same.

My wife called me at work today on the hottest day so far of the summer complaining that the car would not go into gear. The gear handle was locked in park and wouldn't move. I called a local Dodge dealership and asked the service rep what the problem was and how to go about getting my wife home. His comment was that he has seen this alot in the 2008 Dodge Avenger and she should try rocking the car and to make sure that she was pressing the brake all the way down. Needless to say 3 hours later and a tow truck to the Dodge dealership the car still wont go into gear. Someone out there please tell me what i need to do. I'll be going up to the dealership in the morning as soon as they open, what should I tell them.

ON Saturday August 1st I took my 2008 Dodge Avenger to Greenway Dodge for an oil change. When I purchased my car almost 2 years ago I purchased the maintenance plan which I later found out only gave me oil changes. Anyway I had an appointment at 9AM that morning. Myself and my 4 year old granddaughter arrived promptly at 9AM. My service advisor Penny came out and wrote up the order and mentioned to me I might need an alignment since I had just put 4 new tires on my car- I asked her what they charge and was told $89.95. I told her no thanks because I get coupons in the mail all the time for 49.95 from places like Good Year etc. She said she would speak to the Service Manager and see if they could do it for that. My granddaughter and I then went in to wait and sat down to watch TV while they were changing the oil. The service advisor , Penny, came back to inform me a back light out and that the alignment would cost me $59.95. I told her I would get the alignment done somewhere else since they were more expensive but to go ahead and replace the bulb for 19.95. She advised my ready would be ready in just a few minutes.

I continued to watch the TV with my granddaughter until the SA- Penny and the Service Manager Mike Natalie were standing in front of me. They proceeded to tell me that my car would not shift out of park. I just sat there in amazement for a min as I had to have the car towed in at 34,000 miles while still under the original 36,000 to have this replaced once. My car probably has 49,000 right now but since I don’t have the car right now I cannot state the exact mileage. They then proceeded to advise they wouldn’t be able to do anything until Monday when they could verify if this would be covered under the extended warranty and the cost to me would be 100.00 per my deductible under the warranty- Of course I was unaware of the deductible but that is a whole other story. Also when I bought this car it had 22,000 miles on it and my salesman Michael Garrett who I no longer with Greenway told me this was a demo that salesmen used. I was told this was a rental before it was sold to me- If I had known this I NEVER would have bought this car.

Anyway I am left sitting in the service with my 4 year old grandchild so I asked for a rental. I was told they could not authorize a rental until Monday either when they called the warranty company. Penny said “Can’t you find a way home?”- Considering I brought my car in there for an oil change with my car operating correctly- then while in Dodge’s possession the shifter goes and I am left to sit there with no way home and no offer of a rental car.

I have been on the internet and see the numerous issues with the shifters in the 2008 Dodge Avengers so why should I be expected to pay a deductible for a well known issue and one that has already happened to my car so this is now the second time-

Also the Sales Manager there was very proud to tell me they have # 1 customer service in Orlando. How they received that title when they were willing to leave myself and a 4 year old walking down the road to get home when my car was operational when I drove it in there is beyond me

Dodge needs to stand up and do something about this- I am supposed to pick my car up around 500 and pay $100.00 for a well know issue- How is this fair?

This is my fiance' car and she works full time and is a full time college student so in july of last year we bought this avenger and since then i've had to have it at the shop twice. July 29th she was leaving to go to class and realizes that the car is stuck in park she comes in and gets me and being a guy who is pretty knowledable about cars thinks that she isnt depressing the brake so i go out and sure enough it will not budge! So now we're without a car because this P.O.S is broke down once again. Ive been MOPAR only since i was a little kid but this is getting kind of rediculous and something needs to be done i paid good money for this car and have had nothing but headaches from it

I am having the same problem as well awful customer service from the Corpus Christi Lithia Dodge dealership.

On Monday I went to get into my 2008 Dodge Avenger at lunch and found that the gear shift would not go into drive. The shifter would only go into reverse. I then attempted to read the owner�s manual and unlodge the shifter using the override that is installed on the vehicle. After this failed I called Patrick in your used car sales department and requested information regarding the shifter. He was going to have a service guy return my call. This was about noon on Monday. I then drove 3 levels backwards out of my parking garage to get the vehicle onto the street level in order to have it towed. After calling a friend to help we were then able to take the console apart a little further and find the problem which allowed us to bypass the system and get the shifter into gear. It is a small spring that has broken in the shifter guts itself. I then drove the vehicle to Ace Transmission to have it fixed. They were unable to get to the vehicle that day. I returned to work to finish my work day and had to drive to Sandia, Texas in order to borrow another vehicle to drive as I am a single mother. I received a call when I arrived in Sandia, Texas around 6:30 pm from Patrick who informed me the shifter itself was under recall. I told them that I would have the vehicle moved to your dealership in order for you guys to fix it. My vehicle was moved Tuesday afternoon and I spoke to one of your service guys who took down my information. I left the vehicle in your care. I called today to find out a status on your vehicle and first off the girl could not find my car at all! After 10 minutes of them searching for the mysteriously invisible car � she returns to the phone to inform me that the tech is looking at it. Then Daniel Ramos gets on the line and starts talking about the recall on the tire sensors already being fixed. He never mentions the shifter until I inform him that my vehicle is not in there regarding the tire sensors. He says, �oh you have the Avenger that will not shift?� He puts me on hold and finally returns to the phone to inform me that it is not under recall! I am pissed at this point!

This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced at a dealership. I told him that Patrick told me it was under recall and this was the only reason I had the vehicle moved from Ace Transmission to your shop. He basically tells me he doesn�t know what else to say! I requested to be transferred to Patrick wherein I had to leave a message and have yet to receive a call back. My car has been there for 2 days now and they haven�t even looked at it until I called this morning and are now informing me it is not under recall! WE HAVE A PROBLEM! I expect this to be resolved in a very amicable and satisfying way. I then look on line for recalls and find 5 additional recalls that your tech (Daniel Ramos) never even mentions to me. I informed them when I dropped off the vehicle I wanted all recalls fixed. THIS IS THE LAW!! I expect a prompt phone call regarding my vehicle immediately. For your information I am also providing you with a listing of the recalls regarding my vehicle since your dealership cannot seem to keep up with the Dodge literature that is published at their very fingertips!