I just had my automatic shift lever go out - he first sign of trouble was one morning, it was very hard to squeeze the release **** at top. It was then fine during the day, but each morning harder to squeeze.. eventually it would not shift one morning.

So if this happens to you, two thoughts:

1) I did find that letting the car run for a few minutes, it would start to shift (possibly a temperature issue?).

2) The manual indicates there's an emergency shift release - it's a tiny loop inside the shift lever housing. I thought from the manual you were supposed to pull it out, but it turns out you just need to pull it up a bit while you move the lever back.. in order to make that practical I'd advise carrying a small bit of some stout cord or a strong shoelace with you as a backup. I managed to break it off even with what I thought was a gentle pull using a special tool means just for lifting that loop....

They had to order parts but even so it was only out two days before it was fixed. I believe they had to replace the whole shift assembly.

 

Very thoughtful for you to share that information. So - it is just a light pull when you move the lever? Also it starting to get still was a warning sign?

Bill

 

Normally it's just a light pull. The warning sign was when squeezing the release at the top of the shift lever was difficult, that's what got worse over time until finally you could not shift. That's also what freed up after a few minutes of running the car, so if it does happen to anyone just run the car for a bit and try again. Once it starts shifting it works fine for a while and being an automatic, all you need to do is get it in drive to be able to drive anywhere.