Shifter stuck in park. There are probably hundreds, possibly even thousands of Mercedes owners that have experienced this problem. For no apparent reason and without any warning the shifter locks in park. You turn the car on and it will not move even if using a 16 pound rubber mallet to bang the shifter. I would consider this as a potentially dangerous situation if the person was out in the wilderness or a mother traveling with children in the car. This problem is well documented at www.mbworld.org this particular forum is a great source for problems associated with Mercedes Benz. It is caused by a $4 piece of plastic located inside the shifter box that moves back and forth to activate the solenoid.. once the plastic piece breaks it locks the shifter in place. Mercedes could easily fix this problem by using more durable materials. Instead, they charge you up to $1500 to replace the shifter box. I know because it happened to me and several other people I personally know. The car literally can not be moved and has to be dragged on a flat bed truck and taken to the repair shop. For a car this expensive, it is totally ridiculous.

- Durham, NC, USA

Shifter stuck in park due to the only plastic part ( shifter module) in the shifter box. Mercedes headquarters take no responsibility for such an expensive fix when plastic part breaks.

- Tujunga, CA, USA

The vehicle (2003 mb slk320) was purchased on 4/14/2004 in AZ and began noticing problems on the drive back to nm. The most significant safety problem involves the transmission, which has been serviced by the manufacturer 8 times without resolution. The vehicle slips in and out of gear at highway speeds. The vehicle has spent a total of over 68 days in the shop for unsatisfactory repairs in a one-year period. To this date, the manufacturer has been uncooperative in resolving these problems forcing me to seek legal services.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA