NHTSA Complaint #10692315 — 2007 CHRYSLER 300

AFTER MY CAR HAD BEEN SITTING AT WORK FOR ABOUT 10 HOURS, I FOUND THAT I WAS UNABLE TO GET MY CAR OUT OF PARK. THE SHIFTER WAS LOCKED UP, AND WOULD NOT MOVE INTO GEAR. I GOOGLED THE ISSUE, AND FOUND THAT THERE WAS AN UNDER DESIGNED PLASTIC PIECE IN THE SHIFTER ASSEMBLY LOCATED UNDER THE SHIFT KNOB THAT WAS KNOWN TO BREAK AND CAUSE THIS ISSUE. I HAD TO TEAR APART MY CENTER CONSOLE AND USE A SCREW DRIVER TO MANUALLY PULL ON A CABLE IN ORDER TO UNLOCK THE SHIFTER AND ALLOW ME TO GET OUT OF PARK. HAD I NOT HAD THE CORRECT TOOLS IN MY VEHICLE, I WOULD HAVE BEEN STUCK. I HAD THE PART REPLACED, BUT EXPERIENCED A SECOND OCCURRENCE ABOUT 4 MONTHS LATER. THIS TIME I FOUND THAT MY CAR WAS STUCK IN GEAR. I WAS FREELY ABLE TO MOVE BETWEEN DRIVE, NEUTRAL, AND REVERSE, BUT WAS UNABLE TO MOVE THE SHIFTER INTO PARK. TO ADD TO THE HEAD ACHE, BECAUSE THE TOURING EDITION HAS A SLAP STICK FUNCTION (SIMILAR TO A MANUAL TRANSMISSION CAR), PUTTING THE VEHICLE IN GEAR DOES NOT CAUSE THE TRANSMISSION TO LOCK UP. THIS FACT, COMPOUNDED BY THE FACT THAT THE PARKING BRAKE DID NOT SUPPLY SUFFICIENT STOPPING POWER TO HOLD THE CAR AT A STANDSTILL ON EVEN A MILD GRADE SLOPE, I WAS UNABLE TO SECURE THE VEHICLE FROM ROLLING AWAY UNLESS ON A COMPLETELY FLAT SURFACE. I HAD TO PLACE WOOD BLOCKS UNDER THE WHEELS TO AVOID THE CAR FROM ROLLING AWAY. *TR